My husband and I were married this past June. We planned our wedding in less than three months and had limited options for photographers (everyone we wanted was booked). We hired PVN as a "better than nothing" choice and hoped for the best.
When we signed the contract we were told we would have the option to have some black & white pictures, the proofs on a CD as we were told we were NOT allowed to buy the negatives, and the photographer would be carrying two professional cameras on him ("not one left in the car, but he'd be carrying them both in case something happened to one of them"). The photographer showed up on time and seemed to take a lot of photos during the ceremony and luncheon that followed (we did not have a formal reception), though I only saw him with one camera.
The photographer was far from a professional. He had us stand in the cheesiest "high school prom" poses — every shot seemed to be the exact same pose and he rarely snapped any candid shots. About 6 weeks after the wedding we were sent our "proofs" which was a book of tiny (1"x1.5") versions of our photos — they were almost impossible to view. We were told to review the "proofs, " pick our prints and make an appointment to order them. When we went in to order the prints there was no way of viewing a larger version (i.E. Digital version), no way of looking at any back & white prints, and (this is the icing on the cake) they now offered to sell us the negative for an additional $500!
When we argued that we weren't offered the negatives initially and we would gladly cancel the digital proofs and pay the difference they told us that was not an option. We ordered our prints and left PVN very upset (they LIED to us!). We ordered our prints on September 7, on November 29 we were finally able to pick them up (we did not order a video, album, or anything complicated, just loose prints).
When I went to pick up the prints I wanted to cry — 95% of them are totally washed out — the colors in the photos are horrible. A lot of the prints are blurry, and not that they are normal-sized pictures I've noticed a lot of errors in the shots (i.E., weird faces, closed eyes, shiny foreheads, etc.) that were IMPOSSIBLE to see from the mini-"proofs." I expressed my extreme dissatisfaction with the rep. He didn't seem to apologetic. He also offered me the negatives again — when I told him the course of events regarding the negatives, he FINALLY offered to trade the proofs in for the negatives and have me only pay the difference (at the tune of $300).
I told him "no thanks, you've taken enough, I'm not paying one more cent!" While PVN upheld their end of our contract (though there were no black &whites) the quality of their work and customer service is substandard. My best wedding pictures are snapshots taken by guests. I would never use PVN again and would do everything in my power to keep others from using them as well.
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