Avoid FOTO.com!!!

CaptainHaddock_2

Just a warning to others: In spite of a five-star review on Expertreviews.com, FOTO.com should be avoided unless you are prepared to put up with:
- unacceptable delays
- only contact path is email
- they can take up to 14 days (!) to respond to emails
- sometimes they do not respond at all
- weird fees applied without prior warning

I ordered photos on the 6 December 2012. FOTO.com's published lead times were 2-3 days delivery. If you dig into the web site, you will find they have a production time (not specified) and then a delivery time. At the time, it wasn't clear what the "2-3 days" on their front page referred to.

After placing the order, I discovered that they had charged me a "matching fee" of £2.15 (see this thread). I sent them an email on 7/12 asking them what this was. I only received a reply on the 12/12!!

If you order more than one size of photo, you can choose whether to have different sizes delivered together or separately. I chose together since I thought I would save on postage. Instead, FOTO.com charges a "matching fee" if you combine different sizes in one shipment. It is more expensive to combine orders than to receive them separately. What is worse, they do not inform you of this when asking you to make a choice.

On the 9/12, my order status changed to show it was all done and ready for delivery. It stayed that way until the 16/12, when it changed to dispatched. During that time, I sent them four emails (increasingly concerned) but the first reply I had about delivery status was only on the 21/12, 14 days after my email.

FOTO.com is incorporated in Belgium and has no office in the UK. The UK address on their website goes to the Belgium/Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce. They list no UK phone number. On the Belgian web site, there is a phone number if you dig deep enough, but if you phone it you will just get a recorded message directing you to the web site.

Summary: A site that can produce high quality prints is completely let down by appalling attitude to customer service. Avoid like the plague.

neilwoods

So because 1 single bad experience by yourself, your suggesting everyone should avoid it, because you decided to order some photos at one of the busiest times of the years for any retail or manufacturer.

CaptainHaddock_2

neilwoods wrote: »

So because 1 single bad experience by yourself, your suggesting everyone should avoid it, because you decided to order some photos at one of the busiest times of the years for any retail or manufacturer.

One way of looking at it. Or, I could have looked more carefully at, for example, the 75 reviews with an average score of 1 star / 5 here, or all of the negative reviews with an average of 2 stars /5 here.

My mistake not to have consulted these beforehand. If you do, you will find many descriptions of experiences similar to mine, not from "the busiest times of the years [sic]".

LeifGR

neilwoods wrote: »

So because 1 single bad experience by yourself, your suggesting everyone should avoid it, because you decided to order some photos at one of the busiest times of the years for any retail or manufacturer.

I placed a large and mixed order (about 120 photos, a couple of enlargements and some calendars) from Photobox on the 14/12. The photos arrived on the 17/12 and the calendars on the 20/12.

So...another major retailer in the same industry didn't seem to have any problems with a busy period.

I'd been thinking of trying out foto.com, so I found the information provided useful - thanks Haddock!

CaptainHaddock_2

Just to add that today, 4/1, I received a reply to an email I sent them on the 12/12. Regardless of it being over the Christmas period, I think this is an astonishing delay to just reply to emails.

This review on Ciao shows, however, that I was lucky -- this person had to wait three months for the order, with no email contact at all. Mine only took 18 days...

El_Ingeniero

(copying reply as I see you opened two threads, hopefully someone will read it to order carefully)

I made exactly the same mistake - stupid me, I should have read reviews more carefully. I've sent them a complaint because that "matching fee" is a joke and completely abusive