FH and I met with Patken tonight and the girl who was trying to get us to book with them offered us incentives to book. The incentives were only good if we gave them a deposit right then and there....needless to say FH and I were not ready to drop a deposit with the first photographers we meet with. Especially since I've gotten mixed reviews about them from reading past posts.
What I didn't like is that the CD (that will give us rights to the pics) will cost us $300 and will take 6 months to a year to get. I think this is CRAZY! Other photographers that I've talked to include a CD with their package and will not charge you for the rights to the pics.
The girl was NOT willing to work with us when it came to prices. I didn't like the fact that they pretty much choose your photographer for you and they are unwilling to take the albums away. Not to mention they will not shoot with 2 photographers.
Has anyone had this kind of experience???? For all the Patken brides out there what made you book with them?? How much did they work with you....did they come down in price or throw in any extras for you??? HELP!!
I'm going crazy trying to find a photographer who has the photojournalistic (sp?) style but won't break the bank!
Why did Thomas Paul have to be booked
helenkoor
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Re: Patken
Wow I havent been here that long but i'm surprised they treaded you so badly, i've heard good things about patken
What do you mean about rights to your pics????
Ms Sawney
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I wanted Thomas Paul too I am still in limbo about that
MrsOlszewski
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Posted by helenkoor
Wow I havent been here that long but i'm surprised they treaded you so badly, i've heard good things about patken
What do you mean about rights to your pics????
The package I was told about gives you 5x5 copies of all your proofs, a 20x20, 1-11x14, 2 8x8's, a leather bound album with 24 pics and 1 8x8 pic from your engagement shoot but this does not include a cd of all the images or online posting of the pics.
I asked about having rights to the pics, so that way if I ever wanted to in the future to do enlargement, another album....etc I would be able to and that's when she told me about the CD because it's not included in the package.
So basically FH and I would have to pay an extra $300 to have rights to the pics.
nifheim
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Only a few photographers will give up the cd with out a charge to you but who they are I have no clue.
I do agree that they were willing to come down i price but that was with getting rid of somethings in order to meet FH adn I's budget. Yes they wanted us to book that moment which did stink but we did it because we met them last after a series of photographers and they were the only one who was in our budget and was the quality I wanted.
NO they don't pick out your photographer if you don't want them too. You can have it on contract exactly who you want but you must request it before sigining it.
Sounds like you weren't happy - so I would look at other photographers and then figure out where you want to be. You can always look at other photographers nad if you still want Patken go back and make an appointment with someone else possibly doug and see if htey can work with you.
teenigrrl
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Wow, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with them. We had the total opposite. They were the last photog we met with, and we knew that if they were in our price range, we were going to book them. We still got them to give us some extras too like our epics on CD, the CD w/ all of our proofs, the nicer thank you cards (where the outside are pics of your choice). we asked for them, and the woman had to call up the main office to see if they could do it for us, and they did. she said it was because we were getting married in the off season, so sometimes you'll get more since they want the business during the slow times. and you can pic your photographer if you know who you want. we requested Steve, and that's who did our epics and will be doing our wedding.
but if i were you, after the way you were treated, i don't blame you for looking elsewhere. have you tried right angle studios or artisan? we met with both of them, they do great work, do a lot of photojournalistic photos, and are in the same range as patken. good luck!
skinny237
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Honestly I had the same experience with them. I know a lot of girls on here are using them, so I am not trying to bash a vendor at all, I'm just saying that I personally didn't have a good experience there.
The woman kept saying, 'What can I do to entice you to sign today?' She offered all kinds of deals that were only good that day. Once she realized that we weren't going to sign that day, she wasn't nearly as helpful.
I think my experience may have been unique w/ a particular employee, but nonetheless, I decided that they weren't the photographers for us.
HeatherRose
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Re: Patken
we used proline, and they have everything your looking for and they worked with us on price and were amazing!! you should try and make an appointment with them. I needed extra stuff but didn't want ty cards so they took them out and worked with us. we also used a photojournlist with them and it was great. we get the cd, and its part of the package, we didn't have to pay extra. you don't get it for a few months, but i think thats just cause they have to upload all the pics, to it and that takes some time. the pics are not copywritten on it either. FM me if you need any help.
BrideChrissy
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My SIL is looking to make an appt with Patken. What is there price range because she is on a budget. What do they start with for a nice package?
Thanks!
skinny237
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Posted by BrideChrissy
My SIL is looking to make an appt with Patken. What is there price range because she is on a budget. What do they start with for a nice package?
Thanks!
Sent u FM.
nicopico13
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We had the complete opposite experience as well. There was no pressure put on us at all and I don't remember any extra charge for the CD. I'm wondering if everyone who had a bad experience when meeting met with the same person. Thats horrible if they have an employee that is misrepresenting their company. If you don't mind me asking what was the person's name?
longislandlibrarian
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im sorry you had a bad experience.. haven't heard that with them.....
I am using DUET and I know that they give you the DVD/CD of almost 2000 proofs(because im having 2 photographers regular and photojournaist) and it's ours to do and print however we want.
teenigrrl
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and patken will shoot w/ two photographers. we know someone who had steve as their main photog and evan (i believe) as their photojournalist.
emcheung
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two reasons i picked patken as my photographer and videographer: the price was right and their pictures were well done. yes, i want my wedding pictures to come out nice, but come on...how many times do you think you're going to keep looking at your wedding photos before you get sick of them. they're just pictures. it's the memories that count.
sharvin09
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We are going with Imagine and we get the CD and ALL the rights to the pics. Lia from Imagine was great!!!
mjay
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IT COULD OF BEEN THE SALES PERSON YOU GOT,, BECAUSE OUR EXPERIENCE WAS TOTALLY DIFFERENT,, DIDNT FEEL PRESSURED,,AND ITS WEIRD THAT YOU SAY THEY CHOOSE YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER,, I MEAN THEY DO MAKE SUGGESTIONS BASED ON THE STYLE YOU LIKE,, BUT WE GOT TO PICK OUR OWN PHOTOGRAPHER,, WELL GOOD LUCK WITH ALL..
KimberlyScott
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We just booked Patken and Nadira was very accomidating. We we going to go with Perceptions only b/c Patken guaranteed 400 proofs. When I told Nadira that her competiton was offering at least 700. She raised the amount of proofs for us at no extra charge. The CD we get a year later but, there is no fee for that. I think the person you dealt with is misinforming you. Give them another try, speak to Nadira.
MelissaH43
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Re: Patken
I agree Nadira was great. To be honest after my e-shoot I was not thrilled with the Save the Dates. Not because they were not gorgeous, but I really wanted the magnets that I saw online. With one call, they dropped the date cards and instead gave me 5x7's of my e-shoot instead. I was happy because it would have cost a pretty penny otherwise.
Working with Patken is pretty good, I think you just need to ask... even if you can't have FH do it! Let them work a little.
