photos ordered not the right size- do I have any rights?

penguingirl

I ordered 621 6x4 photos from photoworld last week. They had all been taken on a digital camera. When they arrived the photos were too small (approx 5 1/4inches long instead of 6). I have since found out that this is because they were taken on a digital camera (like I would assume most pics are these days!) and the aspect ratio is not 6x4. All the other websites I've used for photos in the past (Tesco, Asda, snapfish etc.) just crop the photos slightly so they fit the 6x4 page.

I have found on photoworld's website that they do refer to this problem (here- the 5th tab along at the bottom under 'photo printing') and say that they print at variable length. I don't think this information is clear enough, especially as it seems to come under the 'sales' type information about their photos, not clear terms and conditions or small print. When I placed my order and selected '6x4' there was no warning that came up that my photos wouldn't be this size and my invoice also just states 621 prints at 6x4 (which they aren't!). I'm really disapointed as I feel I purchased photos that I expected to be 6x4, which they advertised as 6x4 and I have spent nearly £30 on photos that don't fit the albums I have! I understand their reasons for not cropping, but think they could make it so much clearer as proper 'small print' or terms and conditions, not just a brief mention of it hidden away on their website.

Doing a search online it seems that people have complained about this in the past to them but generally don't get offered a refund or reprints. Do I have any rights? I have composed them an email (that basically just says the above), but haven't sent it yet as I thought I'd post here for advice first. Thanks!

[Deleted User]

Sorry can't help you on your rights but do have a look in the menu and see if you can set the picture ratio to 3:2 and this will give the right proportions for 6x4 for next time

arcon5

I think this is a bit of a loose loose situation for them if i'm honest. If they print a 6x4 and the aspect:ratio is not that of 6:4 then your photos would look stretched which would me they receive a whole different complain. Whereas if they maintain the original shape you run into problems like this.

Your best bet would be to email them. Many of these companies offer new customers 50 free prints (some even 150) as the margins of photo prints are so so high (the real cost is in the equipment costings £XX,000s) so they are more likely to be accomodating to you -- although if this is a common complaint it may be quite the opposite as replacing order continuously is going to eat into profits.

Sounds to me though you photos are suited for the 7x5".

It does state this in the description though, so i'm not really sure you have any legal redress as the items are as described:
"We print Variable Length, which means your digital images will be printed in the aspect ratio you photographed them at."
Just uploaded a few myself (square images) and got to agree there could be a warning.

penguingirl

shrimper1 wrote: »

Sorry can't help you on your rights but do have a look in the menu and see if you can set the picture ratio to 3:2 and this will give the right proportions for 6x4 for next time

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an option to do this (that I can find)

arcon5 wrote: »

I think this is a bit of a loose loose situation for them if i'm honest. If they print a 6x4 and the aspect:ratio is not that of 6:4 then your photos would look stretched which would me they receive a whole different complain. Whereas if they maintain the original shape you run into problems like this.

All the other services I have used crop them slightly at the top and bottom (so they aren't stretched), and I assumed that this was the norm.

I'm just frustrated that I ordered so many photos from a company I hadn't used before...lesson learnt there. I will email them and see what they say. I just think it's odd that they aren't clearer about this as I was so disapointed when I got all my photos through.

arcon5

penguingirl wrote: »

I'm just frustrated that I ordered so many photos from a company I hadn't used before...lesson learnt there. I will email them and see what they say. I just think it's odd that they aren't clearer about this as I was so disapointed when I got all my photos through.

You can't compare the systems of one company with another. But having ordered photos at a couple of places you usually get warnings or the icon preview is usually showing how the print will look -- so I 100% understand how easy it is.

Appeal to their good nature and hopefully they will offer something (even if you pay just cost price).

penguingirl

arcon5 wrote: »

You can't compare the systems of one company with another. But having ordered photos at a couple of places you usually get warnings or the icon preview is usually showing how the print will look -- so I 100% understand how easy it is.

Appeal to their good nature and hopefully they will offer something (even if you pay just cost price).

Yes I know you can't compare, but it is so easy to assume that ordering photos off one website will just be like ordering from another. Will let you know how they respond. I'm not holding my breath, and in the grand scheme of things it will only be £25 lost but it's just annoying!

maninthestreet

OP - what is the make and model of the camera used to take the pictures?

pinkshoes

Their website clearly states:

Traditional analogue film has an aspect ratio of 2:3 which produces 6 x 4" images. Your digital camera saves your images with an aspect ratio of 3:4 which is similar to a television picture. This means the image is saved at a size that may not fit exactly into standard print formats e.g. 6x4 and 7x5". We print Variable Length, which means your digital images will be printed in the aspect ratio you photographed them at. This ensures that you receive your full images without them being cropped or given a white border to fit an exact print format. This means that if you order 4" variable prints your photographs may vary slightly in size as we print and cut each image to fit the aspect ratio of your image perfectly.

If they don't crop the image, and don't leave white bands, then the only other option is changing the length to fit the aspect ratio you supplied the photos with.

I'm afraid you have no rights in this situation, so put it down to experience. I think you'll also find lots of people that complain when photos are cropped too, or have white bands.

penguingirl

maninthestreet wrote: »

OP - what is the make and model of the camera used to take the pictures?

An Olympus 760- not sure that would make a difference though? I'm also not sure all the pics are from the camera, some were emailed to me by friends etc.

pinkshoes wrote: »

Their website clearly states:

I'm afraid you have no rights in this situation, so put it down to experience. I think you'll also find lots of people that complain when photos are cropped too, or have white bands.

I don't think it is that clear, but I guess that's a subjective thing (to me clear is an obvious piece of small print that is referenced from the order, or a warning that comes up, or even a clearly visible FAQ about ordering prints)

I do know what you mean about people complaining about them being cropped- but I have always been warned when this was going to happen. It's the lack of clear warnings/information that annoys me. I think a better service would be to offer a choice about whether to crop or provide smaller pictures.