It was a doomed plan right from the start. We were already an hour late.
Dad gave up navigating the 3rd-mile maze of four-storey shophouses. All dressed in formal and in our very best, we were due to be at the My Wedding Collection studio for a photoshoot appointment at 4.30pm. Nobody knew exactly where was it, only a vague idea that it could be in 3rd-mile.
The clock ticked 5.30pm. Regretting he hadn’t made sure of its location beforehand, Dad rang up the studio.
“Hello? Is this My Wedding?”
Sis and I let out a chuckle.
“May I know where is your studio located? Near Hung Hung Inn? Okay.”
Which is, of course, nowhere near 3rd-mile.
So we made it to Hung Hung Inn but the studio was nowhere to be found. As if things couldn’t get any worse, it started raining really heavily. The 5pm rush hour traffic wasn’t of much help either. So we circled the area scanning every nook and canny for the studio while Mum tried frantically to call the studio to reaffirm their exact location.
Desperate, I used Dad’s phone to do a Google search on the studio’s address but found nothing but negative reviews of My Wedding Collection on a few discussion boards. Little did I know I’m gonna write one myself.
Because, guess what, we must have called them a good 20 times or more but nobody bothered to answer. Even the answering machine got sick of trying to get the point across that nobody’s picking up.
Frustrated, with a good two hours after the appointment time, tired, hungry and worried with the negative reviews of the studio’s service on the Net, we aborted the photoshoot and headed back home. We never heard from My Wedding Collection studio ever since that day.
The set at the Hollywood Bridal studio.
The next day, Mum managed to arrange another appointment. This time with the Hollywood Bridal studio, who were good enough to update my mom on a free slot available when they earlier said they were occupied for the rest of the week. My Wedding Collection studio didn’t even bother to contact us considering we didn’t show up the day before. Go figure.
So for the second time in a week, we dressed up in formal and all. This time taking no chances, knowing fully well the location of the studio and departing well before the appointment time.
Look at what my mum’s standing on!
So screw My Wedding Collection.
The photos turned out so good, we have only this to say to our experience the day before: Good riddance.
The Family.
A week later, the photos were ready for collection — two 8R prints, a 4R print and two 4R-sized soft copies.
The sister and yours truly.
Damn, my sister’s catching up with my height. Can’t..Lose. Gotta. Eat. More. Grow. Taller! =(
The prints were a nightmare to scan though, as they came with a bloody matte textured surface. Photoshop couldn’t be of much help.
That’s what you have to resort to when they charge a whopping 20 bucks each for a soft copy. =\
I’m so gonna run a photo studio with that kind of moolah!
Wow.. no wonder so many people are into photography now..
anyway, the 1st shot (white background) looks awesome!!
Tuan nampak hensem!
@cdason, Exactly, it’s really good business. =D Thanks, I liked that particular shot too!
@Hans L., Memanglah! =D P/s: Are you gonna leave your next comment on my blog in Spanish? You’ve tried German and now Malay. Try.. Japanese next time! XD
???????????????
Remind me to bug you about SJIS support on your blog.
Oh screw that stupid studio. I’ve never come across one that can be as bad as that. Even those tiny little photo studios in my grandma’s village had the courtesy to mail them a map to their studio a week before the appointment.
I was pretty frustrated with bad customer service (but not with studios). I was planning this last minute trip home for the Deepavali holidays and when I called the bus company’s service counter, the line was occupied — for THREE hours. I called every 10 minutes or so. And I was desperate to know whether they still have any tickets left. When I managed to rush my ass over there, this snooty lady was ON THE PHONE and she didn’t even bothered to attend to me. When she finally ended her three-hour phone call (or multiple long ones), she said that I couldn’t use my debit card to pay because the system was down.
And I had to rush all the way to an ATM machine, to miss the earlier evening bus (and to settle for the super late one at 9pm), only to rush back and realise that SHE WAS BACK ON THE PHONE. I didn’t know whether should I laugh, cry, or kick up a big fuss.
Anyway, nice photos! Sorry to hear about your experience with the crappy studio. Be sure to check their reviews next time, heh!
You’re so tall dammit. I’m like 100000 times shorter than you. Be happy! 😀
@Hans L., ごめんなさい!
@Teddy, Mail a map a week before the appointment? Wow I doubt if any of the studios in Kuching do that at all! Then again that’s probably because we kinda did the bookings last minute and all. Perhaps next time we should resort to those studios in your granma’s village instead! They sound like they offer really good customer service. =D
Woah, the nerve! I’d be boiling to the seems if I were in a situation like yours. Heck, I’m already disturbed by merely reading your experience.
If I were you, I’d cry then laugh THEN kick up a big fuss. =
Experiences like this often remind me never to take up a job in the customer service line. They all look like utterly miserable souls and treat their customers like trash. Go figure. >< I’ll surely be checking reviews next time! Actually our initial thought was how bad can a photo studio be? You just go there, pose, and they snap and voila! But if you’d ask me that now, I’d give you a 10 minute rant. =P I’m not tall at all, Teddy. XD It’s a family of shorties LOL! I’m sure we’ll measure up pretty well side to side. =D
woii. i know u were standing on some bricks and books tooo.…lolx yea. when i go back to malaysia next year. ima try to persuade my mom to get a family photo (if my sis happened to be there) =DDDD
It must be dreadful to get that kind of service and to be lost for so long. I hate companies like that, and it just makes you seem like they don’t want your business. Good thing your family was able to find another place to go to, this one was a better choice for sure. Everything happens for a reason! Imagine if you had gone through with My Wedding and it came out as a bigger disappointment, not only would you have to dress up formally once again, you would have to be dishing out the prices again. The pictures turned out great by the way! Cute siblings!
aiseh.. han ge ge become so eng dao already. but.. i wonder if you’re standing on something like your mum too. xD
@Joycy you nut! If I were to stand on bricks and books, you’d be tipping over a freaking tower crane and even that wouldn’t be enough to place you tall enough if you were to take a photo next to me. HAH! =P
Great! I’ll be trying to spot bricks and books at your feet when you post those photos on your blog then. =D
@Destiny, I can’t help but notice the similarity between what you said and your nick — Destiny! XD But you’re absolutely right, it’s all destiny, like the story of the father who didn’t despair when his son fell off his horse and broke his leg.
It’s a blessing in disguise! =D
@wying, NOW you’re talking. =P And for the millionth time, I was standing on nothing but my uh… sandals! Pfffft. =(
oh maybe I shouldn’t focus on the handsome han di di but the pretty shu yi too. xD
It is indeed surprising to find that smaller, niche companies are better at attending to customers than those in bigger towns. Weird. But maybe because it is in a village where people tend to be more courteous and kind and all. Hah!
You’re almost as tall as your dad! Wooots!
@wying, Sorry but you’ve already focused on me! Bwahahaha. And what happened to ‘han ge ge’? =(
@teddy, Indeed! My mom was once a headmistress in an ultra rural school and boy the parents there were the best folks you’d ever meet! Apart from being courteous all the time, they’re also really generous with gifts, respect and all!
When my mom was transferred back into a town school smack in the middle of the city, it took some time for the change to set in. It was a switch between two wholly different worlds.
Hah! If you’d ask my mom, ‘almost as tall’ doesn’t suffice. She’d always say; you’re not even taller than you dad! He’s one of the shortest in his family you know? Blah blah blah.. Parents. 😉
;_; i talked to my dad, he said our camera will do just fine…
LMAO. Your dad is awesome. =P
LOL… it’s actually very easy to find just roadside only, not very far from the inn. It’s a house. Anyway, at least now you got the photo taken.
Exactly! But the person at the other end of the phone said it was ‘in the same block as Hung Hung Inn’. How would you interpret that sentence? =(