Recent AdoramaPix promotion...

[rossbilly]

Ok, I know several people here discussed the $5 special on 16x20's lately - it was mentioned in a few different threads... Anyway, thought I'd post my own experience with the offer & see other's reactions:

I managed to get an order in by the 6th... seems they were totally over-run with customers on this offer! I placed three separate 'jobs' within the same order, so each shipped at different times - the free 4x6's, a bunch of regular/lustre 16x20's, and a few 16x20's duplicated as metallic prints.

The 4x6's came pretty quick (5 or 6 days) but, after waiting nearly a week, I received an email about their falling behind on the massive number of 16x20 orders (it was an apology - fair enough). Then I noticed on their website that they follow Jewish Holidays & would be closed for several MORE days (not that I really mind; faith is good).

Just received the initial set of 16x20's (lustre) last night - nice, but slightly underexposed / dark looking compared to MPIX or SmugMug. I hope to receive the metallic prints tonight when I get home! Receiving the majority nearly 2 weeks after placing the order doesn't meet my standards, nor my customers (I hated having to call the excited Senior & explain a slow shipment, especially since I'm relying on her to help spread MY good name!!) The orders shipped USPS & were supposedly trackable, yet the tracking system barely showed any record of being received FROM adorama but was already delivered to my door (ie - had no idea of when i'd actually GET the order!!!) Just be very aware of their time lines & ship with a more reliable carrier if it's a critical order...

Overall, I'm not totally dissatisfied with them, and will definitely keep an eye out for future sales, but will continue to use MPIX / SM for everyday order fulfillment. It was a good deal - just don't think they were ready for the response they got. Although, i DO wonder about the online 'one touch correction' option, and plan to test it with their next sales promotion; hoping it will help with the brightness / contrast.

Would love to hear if anyone else tried this offer, or other experiences with AdoramaPix... thx!


Billy

[jfrancho]

Do you profile/calibrate your display using measured luminance and black point?

[rossbilly]

I don't yet have the equipment for that, which is why I'm definitely willing to give their service another try (this was my very first time using AdoramaPix)... guess you could say it'll be 'them giving me another chance' LOL

Also why I was hoping to hear from others (including you!) <grins>

[jfrancho]

I've ordered prints from several places, including Smugmug (EZPrints), Mpix, Shutterfly, WHCC, Snapfish, and even some other local places, including the grocery store. No one's have come back darker or underexposed looking, irrespective of whether they are corrected by the lab or not. I suspect two things are at play, your display is not as consistent as you might think, and/or some labs are auto correcting and others aren't. I'm guessing that you monitor might be a bit light (most are), and your orders are usually corrected. When you get uncorrected prints, this results in slightly darker prints. Make sense?

[rossbilly]

sounds like something I need to watch for then, as I've always ordered prints uncorrected

thank you for the tips!

ETA - I arrived home tonight & the metallic prints were waiting for me.....


SPECTACULAR!!!


(also, the first prints to arrive WERE color corrected by Adorama & turned out slightly dark... but then I should not have chosen that option - don't get me wrong, I am still giving them to my customer, as the difference is miniscule.)

Did I mention that the metallic prints are amazing?

[jfrancho]

Mmmmm.....metallic.

[Tom Swaman]

Could anyone tell me why anyone adores Adorama? Every couple of years I buy one item from them and I end up swearing that I will never do business with them again. I find their handling and freight charges to be high, their service slow and their overall prices do not seem to be any bargain. Is this just me?

Tom

[jfrancho]

Never used them.

[brice]

I recently stopped buying from them. I wrote to them on every order that "the order is complete, I do NOT wish to be contacted about accessories or other offers. Ship as is." They have always insisted on contacting me before they ship and it is always to up sell. I've told them in emails and on the phone if they didn't stop this practice on my orders, I would stop it for them. They told me it was for my own good. For my own good, I switched to B&H. Much happier. No delays.

[captlen]

Sounds to me like switching to B&H was for your own good.