France Paris 法国巴黎
- Thread starter mehhh1501
- Start date
i went to taiwan for photoshoot... service was excellent... until the choosing of photos
i didnt like it when we were forced to top up the nunber of photos so that the album is more complete... they kept pushing us to buy the $10k top up package...
when i told them i didnt have money... they say things like... wedding once in a lifetime... use card la... go back can slowly pay...
at that moment we were stuck... we didnt have enough photos to make up an album but we cant leave the shop as we had taken our photos...
so ended up paying another 3k for top ups...
What do you mean by not enough photos to make up an album? How many photos are needed?
Handsom3
New Member
Franceparis 法国巴黎bridal is not to be chosen.
Lousy selections on dresses and suits
Lousy photographer with low resolution photos
Service standard 1/5 stars after u paid $
Before u pay $ service is 5/5
When choosing photos for editing, they will send wrong selection for editing and troubling you to choose again and making everything delay.
Dun take it personally, i am a individual who hate bridal service providers to ill treat newly weds, making our day so bad that its better off not getting a photoshoot from such places.
This thread made to let everybody who experience in bad bridal service, and post here to let known so that newly wed next time can have an enjoyable wedding process.
My experience is your gain.
Lousy selections on dresses and suits
Lousy photographer with low resolution photos
Service standard 1/5 stars after u paid $
Before u pay $ service is 5/5
When choosing photos for editing, they will send wrong selection for editing and troubling you to choose again and making everything delay.
Dun take it personally, i am a individual who hate bridal service providers to ill treat newly weds, making our day so bad that its better off not getting a photoshoot from such places.
This thread made to let everybody who experience in bad bridal service, and post here to let known so that newly wed next time can have an enjoyable wedding process.
My experience is your gain.
SunshineRegina
New Member
Hi! Joey Wang. I'm a bride to be this coming nov. I just signed a pre wedding photoshoot with them last month. Gonna do photoshoot next month so can't share my experience. I come back already I share with you!!! Have you signed with them?
Hi Regina, I have signed up PW and AD package with them , my PW is at Taiwan.I very disappointed for the photoshoot. the gown selection is a lot in taiwan but suit only 6 type , other than that all have to TOP up , the photo all taken feel like very old fashion , totally don't feel the photo taken in taiwan. I'm now worry about actual day , worry the gown selection too little
SunshineRegina
New Member
What? I thought you were just asking for advise. Now I'm worry for myself! Shit! I do see some good reviews from other bride to be using France Paris also. Siannnnn.
Suit 6 only? Ok la. Main focus is you! You chio can already! ;D
Suit 6 only? Ok la. Main focus is you! You chio can already! ;D
SunshineRegina
New Member
What TOP up they ask you to TOP up?
Ur photoshoot is in SG or taiwan ? We TOP up 2000twd for one suit >.< have you signed up their AD package ?
SunshineRegina
New Member
Wah why go top up suit? I thought guy suit jiu normal standard only? No need so good one?
I signed pre wedding shoot with them only! Actual day I'm still looking for it. France Paris did offer me actual package with photographer 3k but I've yet go down to see their gown in the bridal shop.
I signed pre wedding shoot with them only! Actual day I'm still looking for it. France Paris did offer me actual package with photographer 3k but I've yet go down to see their gown in the bridal shop.
SunshineRegina
New Member
I think most likely I won't be signin with them for actual day package. I heard from my friends who got married, they told me Taiwan gown always very kuazhang one. I'm actually only looking for classic kind of gown.
They only provide 6 type suit , all design very old fashion ! We TOP up 2000twd just for a very simple suit!!! How much is your PW?
Loveinstills
Loveinstills Photography
it will be such a waste to have spent so much for your AD and the PG mess it up for you, hope you gals make the right choice.
SunshineRegina
New Member
Pls tell me the gown selection in Fp Singapore if you go select your PW gown
I don't think I will be going their FP sg outlet. I'm considering beautiful love wedding now! Today I went a few BS at Tanjong, most of them told me that my AW date is a auspicious date, all photographer is taken up. Some even BOTH photographer and MUA taken up. So I don't want to spend my time there. I went to Beautiful love wedding once. Their service and everything really so much better than any of the services in Tanjong pagar BSs.
I bought my pre wedding at less than 2k. The Taiwan lady want us to be their model, 样本. Say can select from all selection. Photographer give the best. Everything give the best. Also dk real or not. Taiwan people mouth very sweet! When I go on may, I share with you guys!
SunshineRegina
New Member
Actually right, I do heard from friends that FP always like to ask people to TOP up. But that was after I bought my package with them then I did my 'research'. But ok la. Just think it as a investment. So you will feel better! At the end of the day, you will look Super beautiful with those pre wedding photoshoot.
I've seen many sg pre wedding shoot. 看来看去 都没有比台湾的美. Taiwan also do a better photoshop than sg. Sg just do mild photoshop.
Dear Friends from Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia & All Around the world,
Do take some time to read my review if you want to save BIG in your wedding. This is my experience when I flew to Taiwan to take my Pre-Wedding Photoshoot.
This Bridal Shop have some unethical technique to extort your money, especially during the time when you select your photos
1) The worst part! They will randomize all your photo and you only can pick the photos one at a time, so that’s mean your photo is not in order and is harder for you to choose, you may have a similar pose with the same gown but because of the randomization these photos will be split out. Thus imagine, we have 380 ++ photos to choose from and you must remember which one you already pick. I ask them a few times whether we can choose the photos in the correct order but they refuse to do so and say this is the only way to choose the photos. But after we paid them SGD 4,183 (TWD 88,000 or MYR 12,550) for additional 100 photos, viola! suddenly we can choose the photos in the correct order and have drag and drop function like how it should be!!
2) Full of lies and pressure and hard sell! They will keep on pressure you to take up more photos by using time factor and also the story board of your album. For the overseas newlywed, time is essential and they will use this to pressure you, as we only stay two more nights in Taiwan, they offer to print us our 床头照 first for us to take back if we can choose the photo’s before 4pm, which seem to be a nice gesture to help us save our shipping fees. However, this is just another technique for them to pressure you to choose faster (Choose more photos with less thinking time), now I think about it initially they ask us to pick our time slot 130pm and 4pm, so does it mean if we pick 4pm they can’t print it out for us and they didn’t even inform us about this beforehand. Thus, don’t be fool as I think they can get this done by one working day. Stay Calm and take your time to choose your photos.
3) About the story board, as we pick the album that they called “排版”, which is just actually a collage of 2-3 photos in one page instead of one photos in one page, they will use this to pressure and say if too few photos they can’t do it, they initially offer a package of additional of 200 photos for SGD 9K ++ (TWD 200K ++ or MYR 28K ++ ). They mention you need to have at least 120 photos to do that album but in the end I pick 136 photos and they suggest me to split into two albums. So actually, in my opinion just around 60 photos is more than enough to do the “排版” album, don’t be fooled like me. They never give us a less than 100 photos option by the way as they are worried about their commission and hard sell you the best as they can.
4) They abuse your kindness, if you choose less photo they will say your photographer will be sad and words like 对不起你的摄影师 but the true fact is they just want you to add more photo and get more money out of you. So stay firm my friends! They are good in talking you in to sign more and even cry along with my wife, they are very good in what they do (Cross Selling you more photos), thus be calm, stay firm and remember you have the right to not choose additional photos or even just add 1 or 10 photos to your liking, is your money (and they desperately want it!)
5) Thus, my advice to you all that already sign their package is not to worry, discuss the amount you want to spend beforehand with your partner, go earlier on that day so you will have more time to choose, use a pen and paper to help you select the photo such that you are not affect by the randomization, if you have 5 set of gown write down each set you want to choose how many photos so that you stay organize and optimize the number of photos you need in your album. The photos and makeup artist is good so don’t worry too much!
Oh and for my overseas friends, if you use your credit card to pay, remember to pay using with the local currency(TWD) instead of your own card country currency (SGD or MYR or..) as the conversion rate will be bad and you will incur some currency conversion fees. For my example, I should have pay only SGD 4000 but the sales person without my consent just decided to charge me using my card currency (SGD) and the total came out to be SGD 4,183 and when I check my bill my bank charge me another SGD 42 for the currency conversion, thus my bill came out to be SGD 4,225 which SGD 225 more (ouch!). Thus, you can either ask France Paris to negotiate more and absorb the exchange rate or you must bear all the charges!
Finally, they wanted to use my photo as ‘model’ photo to display in their shop, thus the price I paid is so called “discounted”, thus I paid SGD 4200 ++ (MYR 12,670, TWD 92,400) just for the additional photo excluding the initial pre-wedding photoshoot charges, you can imagine the huge of bill I got myself into, hope you all stay calm and think wisely before making any decision. Good Luck my friends.
Hope my review will help you all please comment or PM me if you need more advice/help. And I also truly hope France Paris法國巴黎 to not use this kind of technique especially “randomization” of photo.
P/S: This is just my point of view, if you go do more research in Taiwan google, you will see a lot of people give negative review too. This is one of the top post when you search 法國巴黎評價 in google Taiwan: http://shirley310.pixnet.net/blog/post/25847109-法國巴黎~~凹很大之選婚紗照
They have start doing this since 2009… read and decide for yourself..
Do take some time to read my review if you want to save BIG in your wedding. This is my experience when I flew to Taiwan to take my Pre-Wedding Photoshoot.
This Bridal Shop have some unethical technique to extort your money, especially during the time when you select your photos
1) The worst part! They will randomize all your photo and you only can pick the photos one at a time, so that’s mean your photo is not in order and is harder for you to choose, you may have a similar pose with the same gown but because of the randomization these photos will be split out. Thus imagine, we have 380 ++ photos to choose from and you must remember which one you already pick. I ask them a few times whether we can choose the photos in the correct order but they refuse to do so and say this is the only way to choose the photos. But after we paid them SGD 4,183 (TWD 88,000 or MYR 12,550) for additional 100 photos, viola! suddenly we can choose the photos in the correct order and have drag and drop function like how it should be!!
2) Full of lies and pressure and hard sell! They will keep on pressure you to take up more photos by using time factor and also the story board of your album. For the overseas newlywed, time is essential and they will use this to pressure you, as we only stay two more nights in Taiwan, they offer to print us our 床头照 first for us to take back if we can choose the photo’s before 4pm, which seem to be a nice gesture to help us save our shipping fees. However, this is just another technique for them to pressure you to choose faster (Choose more photos with less thinking time), now I think about it initially they ask us to pick our time slot 130pm and 4pm, so does it mean if we pick 4pm they can’t print it out for us and they didn’t even inform us about this beforehand. Thus, don’t be fool as I think they can get this done by one working day. Stay Calm and take your time to choose your photos.
3) About the story board, as we pick the album that they called “排版”, which is just actually a collage of 2-3 photos in one page instead of one photos in one page, they will use this to pressure and say if too few photos they can’t do it, they initially offer a package of additional of 200 photos for SGD 9K ++ (TWD 200K ++ or MYR 28K ++ ). They mention you need to have at least 120 photos to do that album but in the end I pick 136 photos and they suggest me to split into two albums. So actually, in my opinion just around 60 photos is more than enough to do the “排版” album, don’t be fooled like me. They never give us a less than 100 photos option by the way as they are worried about their commission and hard sell you the best as they can.
4) They abuse your kindness, if you choose less photo they will say your photographer will be sad and words like 对不起你的摄影师 but the true fact is they just want you to add more photo and get more money out of you. So stay firm my friends! They are good in talking you in to sign more and even cry along with my wife, they are very good in what they do (Cross Selling you more photos), thus be calm, stay firm and remember you have the right to not choose additional photos or even just add 1 or 10 photos to your liking, is your money (and they desperately want it!)
5) Thus, my advice to you all that already sign their package is not to worry, discuss the amount you want to spend beforehand with your partner, go earlier on that day so you will have more time to choose, use a pen and paper to help you select the photo such that you are not affect by the randomization, if you have 5 set of gown write down each set you want to choose how many photos so that you stay organize and optimize the number of photos you need in your album. The photos and makeup artist is good so don’t worry too much!
Oh and for my overseas friends, if you use your credit card to pay, remember to pay using with the local currency(TWD) instead of your own card country currency (SGD or MYR or..) as the conversion rate will be bad and you will incur some currency conversion fees. For my example, I should have pay only SGD 4000 but the sales person without my consent just decided to charge me using my card currency (SGD) and the total came out to be SGD 4,183 and when I check my bill my bank charge me another SGD 42 for the currency conversion, thus my bill came out to be SGD 4,225 which SGD 225 more (ouch!). Thus, you can either ask France Paris to negotiate more and absorb the exchange rate or you must bear all the charges!
Finally, they wanted to use my photo as ‘model’ photo to display in their shop, thus the price I paid is so called “discounted”, thus I paid SGD 4200 ++ (MYR 12,670, TWD 92,400) just for the additional photo excluding the initial pre-wedding photoshoot charges, you can imagine the huge of bill I got myself into, hope you all stay calm and think wisely before making any decision. Good Luck my friends.
Hope my review will help you all please comment or PM me if you need more advice/help. And I also truly hope France Paris法國巴黎 to not use this kind of technique especially “randomization” of photo.
P/S: This is just my point of view, if you go do more research in Taiwan google, you will see a lot of people give negative review too. This is one of the top post when you search 法國巴黎評價 in google Taiwan: http://shirley310.pixnet.net/blog/post/25847109-法國巴黎~~凹很大之選婚紗照
They have start doing this since 2009… read and decide for yourself..
Really very useful advice for all the BTBs!
SilenceDan
New Member
Hi cheryl89,
Can advise if the 30" bedroom frame was hand carry or checked in baggage?
Hi, I have a France Paris法國巴黎 package hope to let go in this year.
This only pre-wedding photo shoot + AD package, not include AD photography.
The packages i signed on April 2017, valid for 5 years.
PM me if you are interested.
After you get this from me, I will update France Paris staff my package transfer for you and I will cc you in the email.
So you can continue arrange your plan with them.
Here are the details of the pre-wedding package:
1. 1 set 24" PVC photo album made from 36 photos+ 12 unedited digital photos
2. 1 set Canvas photograph, carved frame in 24" x 30" for bedroom frame
3. 1 set Crystal frame for 10" photo
4. 1 set CD of all selected photos (36+12)
5. Total of 5 sets of bridal gown & evening gown (All range selection, no additional charge)
6. Professional make up of up to 5 styles
7. Bridal veil, hair ornaments and gloves
8. 2 sets of Groom's tuxedo & suit
9. Waist cummerbund, shirt, boutonniere for groom
10. Studio shooting and outdoor shooting for a whole day (night photography included, no additional charge for additional time)
11. Choice of top photographer, MUA at no additional charge
12. Choice of PS in SG or Taiwan at no additional charge (2 choose 1)
13. Ferris wheel decoration with photos
14. 2 x palm sized photo album
15. 1 x signature scroll
Here are the details of the AD package:
1. 1 set Chantal Wedding Gown (Latest Design)
2. 1 set Chantal Evening Gown
3. 1 set Tea Ceremony Dress
4. 1 set ROM Dress
5. 2 set Imported Bridal accessories with head pieces
6. 2 style AD Bridal makeup with hairdo
7. 2 sets of Groom's tuxedo & suit
8. Bridal Hand Bouquet (Fresh Flowers)
9. 6 set Flower Corsages
10. Bridal Car Decoration
Thank you.
This only pre-wedding photo shoot + AD package, not include AD photography.
The packages i signed on April 2017, valid for 5 years.
PM me if you are interested.
After you get this from me, I will update France Paris staff my package transfer for you and I will cc you in the email.
So you can continue arrange your plan with them.
Here are the details of the pre-wedding package:
1. 1 set 24" PVC photo album made from 36 photos+ 12 unedited digital photos
2. 1 set Canvas photograph, carved frame in 24" x 30" for bedroom frame
3. 1 set Crystal frame for 10" photo
4. 1 set CD of all selected photos (36+12)
5. Total of 5 sets of bridal gown & evening gown (All range selection, no additional charge)
6. Professional make up of up to 5 styles
7. Bridal veil, hair ornaments and gloves
8. 2 sets of Groom's tuxedo & suit
9. Waist cummerbund, shirt, boutonniere for groom
10. Studio shooting and outdoor shooting for a whole day (night photography included, no additional charge for additional time)
11. Choice of top photographer, MUA at no additional charge
12. Choice of PS in SG or Taiwan at no additional charge (2 choose 1)
13. Ferris wheel decoration with photos
14. 2 x palm sized photo album
15. 1 x signature scroll
Here are the details of the AD package:
1. 1 set Chantal Wedding Gown (Latest Design)
2. 1 set Chantal Evening Gown
3. 1 set Tea Ceremony Dress
4. 1 set ROM Dress
5. 2 set Imported Bridal accessories with head pieces
6. 2 style AD Bridal makeup with hairdo
7. 2 sets of Groom's tuxedo & suit
8. Bridal Hand Bouquet (Fresh Flowers)
9. 6 set Flower Corsages
10. Bridal Car Decoration
Thank you.
Review of France Paris
The main reason for me to write this review, is that I hope my review could serve as a reference to the younger couples out there who are considering on the different options of pre-wedding photo shoot package, such that you could have a better view and able to make a better informed decision. In my review I would also include some of the (presumed) common tactics by the vendors to tout more money from you. So I hope all these little advices could be of some help for you in the process of selecting and bargaining with your vendor.
Disclaimer: I have no intention to create unnecessary / untrue rumors about any company. This review serves strictly as a review of the company of which me and my partner had experienced with.
1 Roadshow
I remember me and my partner attended the BOWS roadshow in Bugis, where we foolishly and impulsively signed a package. We didn’t have any intention to sign any package from the beginning actually. What we wanted to do was just to walk around and see what are some of the vendors, what are the price range etc, basically just to understand what BOWS had to offer in general. However, this incident has taught us a hard lesson: never attend such roadshow “half-heartedly”, ie, if you are not sure you can stand firm and not sign anything you have little knowledge about, do not attend such roadshow. If not, the price you pay would be very high, literally and metaphorically.
When we first sat down in front of the saleswoman in their booth, she showcased all the pretty wedding shoot photos from her iPad. After we looked it through for quite a while, she started introducing the different packages. In general there are 3 categories, A, B and C, with increasing choices of gowns to choose and thus with increasing price. And in general, for pre-wedding photo shoot package, that ranges from SGD7-8k already. After that, she also introduced the actual day package to us that ranges from SGD 2-3k in general, so that total up to around SGD 10k.
Tactic #1.1 Act nice +praise + customer’s potential to bring more customers for them
Actual Situation:
She kept saying we are so young, definitely most of our friends are not married yet, so we are the high potential customer who can bring in more customers for her, acting over-familiar with us etc. And for this reason, she was able to discount for us, so it would be around SGD 6k (for pre-wedding photo shoot and gown rental on the actual day).
Tactic Psychology:
This tactic here is the soft skill of salesperson. Trying to act nice and close to you. And definitely, a lot of words to let you feel good about yourself, to increase your “value” as a young couple, let you feel that you have the bargaining power (which actually she manipulates / creates it).
How To Counter:
Understand clearly the reason why you are here: to just understand the price range and not to sign anything. Remind yourself and each other about it. And of course, if possible, know what exactly you want and put that as your bargaining power, instead of letting the salesperson manipulates / creates it for you which you think you have but in fact no.
Tactic #1.2 Half-priced from a heavenly price
Actual Situation:
So the person went on to take her calculator out, slowly pressing here and there, “trying” to give us a better price, telling us that she is considered senior amongst the salespersons there, so she could make decision there, but we cannot tell others the price she gave us blah blah blah. In the end she discounted to around SGD 5k. And now, from the original SGD 10k, now is half-priced already, would you be enticed?
Tactic Psychology:
Imagine, you ask for a price of something that you are considering buying. After a while, they say there is a promotion and it is only 50% off at this instant! Would that sound enticing enough for you?
How To Counter:
Once again, know the exact true value of the thing / service that you are considering. Most of the time, for similar thing / service, it can be obtained at a cheaper price with similar quality than what you were offered with. Remind yourself about that. High price doesn’t guarantee quality, I guess you have some experience about such truth.
Tactic #1.3 Last call, deal or not deal + free gifts + guarantee + chop
Actual Situation:
So definitely me and my partner were wavered by the price already. But definitely we were not sure whether we wanted this company. So we requested to see their photo shoot albums again to check if their gowns, their styles, their photo shooting skills were to our liking and requested her to give us some time to discuss. After sometime, me and my partner had our conclusion. That is, we would ask her to hold the price for us and we continue walk around to see other companies first. Of course, we were faced with a cold and harsh “NO”, she can’t hold anything for us. When she said that, I have no intention to continue talking to her already since she can’t hold a price that she promised us. Unexpectedly, she further dropped the price (see her desperation?), to SGD 4k. Plus, she added a lot of “free gifts”, showcasing all the different free gifts to us. Other than that, she made a guarantee that if we are not satisfied with the photos, we can request to have another photo shooting again without adding any price. And the photographer assigned would be their Number 1 photographer etc. And she said this would be her last call, so it is up to me decide whether to deal or not deal. She also said if no deal we could just leave, there is no point wasting her time like that. And in the end, we gave in, because of the photos that we looked through were generally quite good and quite the style we want. Just never did we imagined that, it was yet another tactic…
Tactic Psychology:
And now you are told the item you want to buy is at 60% offer, with countless of free gifts, and now comes with a guarantee. How does it feel to you?
How To Counter:
Again, know the exact true value of what you want, and of course know exactly what you want. If not, you are bound to be taken advantage of, and being fooled around with your psychology unable to keep up to their tactics.
Tactic #1.4 Best gowns, best suits, best photos, best variety of everything
Actual Situation (on hindsight):
Yes, their gowns, suits, photos, have the best variety of everything. It seems they can suit any style we want it. However, bear in mind that they are here for a roadshow, everything they showcase here definitely would be their best of the best. So sometimes, it will not be a safe gauge as to their general standard. Also, we were not told that:
1. Suits included in the package are only black and white. If you want any other color like any other suits you saw in those albums, you need to pay (significantly) extra. And surprisingly, there isn’t many black and white suit showcased in the photo albums. Now you know why it looks so nice, cause there is this hidden cost inside that they will never tell you.
2. They would try their very best, to give you a lot of excuses / lack of information, to mislead you to eventually decide to go to their wedding shoot theme area to have the shooting, which you need to pay a starking NTD 3,000 for. So, once again, all those nice public places, mountain areas, pretty beaches etc, eventually you will not likely to have your shoot there.
3. And… A lot more to come… Stay in tune~
Tactic Psychology:
Salesperson makes use of human’s maladaptive mental skill of assuming to win more sales. They won’t tell you every single detail. They would just show it all in front of you, and they would be happy if you make the assumption and the linkage yourself. Cause ultimately, it will be your fault if you never ask properly and assumed too fast, too much. They will not think they have the obligation to tell you every single detail. And yes, they won’t feel guilty about it. Remember, what is shown, what is seen, may not be true and may not be what you will get when it’s your turn. And again, most of the people just get married once in life and have pre-wedding shoot once, so definitely they can make all promises and guarantees under the sun, cause even if it fails, you can’t possibly want to do it the second time. And this gives them the confidence to bullshit you about anything, everything. Thus, if they say you can bring in more customers, then they are telling lies. Cause what matters the most to them, it is the current customer right in front of them of which they can earn hard cold cash from. Potential customers remain as ghost customers if they never appear, and do you think they would prefer to invest their time and money on that, or on you?
How To Counter:
You need to be more proactive and detailed, be nitty-gritty, ask every single thing you can find, as all the answers will give you a clearer and clearer direction as to whether this is a good and worthy company to choose from or not. You need to be FULLY involved. Hard lesson learnt.
The main reason for me to write this review, is that I hope my review could serve as a reference to the younger couples out there who are considering on the different options of pre-wedding photo shoot package, such that you could have a better view and able to make a better informed decision. In my review I would also include some of the (presumed) common tactics by the vendors to tout more money from you. So I hope all these little advices could be of some help for you in the process of selecting and bargaining with your vendor.
Disclaimer: I have no intention to create unnecessary / untrue rumors about any company. This review serves strictly as a review of the company of which me and my partner had experienced with.
1 Roadshow
I remember me and my partner attended the BOWS roadshow in Bugis, where we foolishly and impulsively signed a package. We didn’t have any intention to sign any package from the beginning actually. What we wanted to do was just to walk around and see what are some of the vendors, what are the price range etc, basically just to understand what BOWS had to offer in general. However, this incident has taught us a hard lesson: never attend such roadshow “half-heartedly”, ie, if you are not sure you can stand firm and not sign anything you have little knowledge about, do not attend such roadshow. If not, the price you pay would be very high, literally and metaphorically.
When we first sat down in front of the saleswoman in their booth, she showcased all the pretty wedding shoot photos from her iPad. After we looked it through for quite a while, she started introducing the different packages. In general there are 3 categories, A, B and C, with increasing choices of gowns to choose and thus with increasing price. And in general, for pre-wedding photo shoot package, that ranges from SGD7-8k already. After that, she also introduced the actual day package to us that ranges from SGD 2-3k in general, so that total up to around SGD 10k.
Tactic #1.1 Act nice +praise + customer’s potential to bring more customers for them
Actual Situation:
She kept saying we are so young, definitely most of our friends are not married yet, so we are the high potential customer who can bring in more customers for her, acting over-familiar with us etc. And for this reason, she was able to discount for us, so it would be around SGD 6k (for pre-wedding photo shoot and gown rental on the actual day).
Tactic Psychology:
This tactic here is the soft skill of salesperson. Trying to act nice and close to you. And definitely, a lot of words to let you feel good about yourself, to increase your “value” as a young couple, let you feel that you have the bargaining power (which actually she manipulates / creates it).
How To Counter:
Understand clearly the reason why you are here: to just understand the price range and not to sign anything. Remind yourself and each other about it. And of course, if possible, know what exactly you want and put that as your bargaining power, instead of letting the salesperson manipulates / creates it for you which you think you have but in fact no.
Tactic #1.2 Half-priced from a heavenly price
Actual Situation:
So the person went on to take her calculator out, slowly pressing here and there, “trying” to give us a better price, telling us that she is considered senior amongst the salespersons there, so she could make decision there, but we cannot tell others the price she gave us blah blah blah. In the end she discounted to around SGD 5k. And now, from the original SGD 10k, now is half-priced already, would you be enticed?
Tactic Psychology:
Imagine, you ask for a price of something that you are considering buying. After a while, they say there is a promotion and it is only 50% off at this instant! Would that sound enticing enough for you?
How To Counter:
Once again, know the exact true value of the thing / service that you are considering. Most of the time, for similar thing / service, it can be obtained at a cheaper price with similar quality than what you were offered with. Remind yourself about that. High price doesn’t guarantee quality, I guess you have some experience about such truth.
Tactic #1.3 Last call, deal or not deal + free gifts + guarantee + chop
Actual Situation:
So definitely me and my partner were wavered by the price already. But definitely we were not sure whether we wanted this company. So we requested to see their photo shoot albums again to check if their gowns, their styles, their photo shooting skills were to our liking and requested her to give us some time to discuss. After sometime, me and my partner had our conclusion. That is, we would ask her to hold the price for us and we continue walk around to see other companies first. Of course, we were faced with a cold and harsh “NO”, she can’t hold anything for us. When she said that, I have no intention to continue talking to her already since she can’t hold a price that she promised us. Unexpectedly, she further dropped the price (see her desperation?), to SGD 4k. Plus, she added a lot of “free gifts”, showcasing all the different free gifts to us. Other than that, she made a guarantee that if we are not satisfied with the photos, we can request to have another photo shooting again without adding any price. And the photographer assigned would be their Number 1 photographer etc. And she said this would be her last call, so it is up to me decide whether to deal or not deal. She also said if no deal we could just leave, there is no point wasting her time like that. And in the end, we gave in, because of the photos that we looked through were generally quite good and quite the style we want. Just never did we imagined that, it was yet another tactic…
Tactic Psychology:
And now you are told the item you want to buy is at 60% offer, with countless of free gifts, and now comes with a guarantee. How does it feel to you?
How To Counter:
Again, know the exact true value of what you want, and of course know exactly what you want. If not, you are bound to be taken advantage of, and being fooled around with your psychology unable to keep up to their tactics.
Tactic #1.4 Best gowns, best suits, best photos, best variety of everything
Actual Situation (on hindsight):
Yes, their gowns, suits, photos, have the best variety of everything. It seems they can suit any style we want it. However, bear in mind that they are here for a roadshow, everything they showcase here definitely would be their best of the best. So sometimes, it will not be a safe gauge as to their general standard. Also, we were not told that:
1. Suits included in the package are only black and white. If you want any other color like any other suits you saw in those albums, you need to pay (significantly) extra. And surprisingly, there isn’t many black and white suit showcased in the photo albums. Now you know why it looks so nice, cause there is this hidden cost inside that they will never tell you.
2. They would try their very best, to give you a lot of excuses / lack of information, to mislead you to eventually decide to go to their wedding shoot theme area to have the shooting, which you need to pay a starking NTD 3,000 for. So, once again, all those nice public places, mountain areas, pretty beaches etc, eventually you will not likely to have your shoot there.
3. And… A lot more to come… Stay in tune~
Tactic Psychology:
Salesperson makes use of human’s maladaptive mental skill of assuming to win more sales. They won’t tell you every single detail. They would just show it all in front of you, and they would be happy if you make the assumption and the linkage yourself. Cause ultimately, it will be your fault if you never ask properly and assumed too fast, too much. They will not think they have the obligation to tell you every single detail. And yes, they won’t feel guilty about it. Remember, what is shown, what is seen, may not be true and may not be what you will get when it’s your turn. And again, most of the people just get married once in life and have pre-wedding shoot once, so definitely they can make all promises and guarantees under the sun, cause even if it fails, you can’t possibly want to do it the second time. And this gives them the confidence to bullshit you about anything, everything. Thus, if they say you can bring in more customers, then they are telling lies. Cause what matters the most to them, it is the current customer right in front of them of which they can earn hard cold cash from. Potential customers remain as ghost customers if they never appear, and do you think they would prefer to invest their time and money on that, or on you?
How To Counter:
You need to be more proactive and detailed, be nitty-gritty, ask every single thing you can find, as all the answers will give you a clearer and clearer direction as to whether this is a good and worthy company to choose from or not. You need to be FULLY involved. Hard lesson learnt.
2 Corresponding Via Email
Tactic #2.1 Packaging it extremely well
Actual Situation (on hindsight):
We informed the salesperson and confirmed our date of shooting in Taiwan almost 4 months before the shooting date (as we had to confirm our dates with them before booking our flight).
Then we discussed our places of interest with the salesperson, and she helped to sort into 3-4 different routes with different places of interest. That is because the places of interest are far from each other and we can only choose 1 route from the options due to the time factor. Otherwise, our travelling time would be much more than photo shooting hours. She also claimed she has sought the advice from photographer and there shouldn’t be any problem.
Also, she suggested us to bring our own clothes for photo shooting. However, once again, there is no explicit mention that groom’s suits included in the package are white and black only. Also, there is no mention of any additional fees involved if you were to choose other color etc.
In the process, we also sent her some photos to give them an idea of the style and atmosphere that we prefer, as requested by her.
Tactic Psychology:
They will definitely let you feel they are trying very hard to accommodate to you, to your request, your styles, your dates, your timing, trying to show you they are taking care of every single detail to make sure you have a good experience. However, please be reminded that this is yet just another kind of packaging, which will soon be unraveled to only find rotten quality of work inside the package. Again, this is the common tactic of telling you all the nice things but do another. Also, many crucial information are actually missing.
How To Counter:
Again, be a detailed person and ask them every single thing you would like to know. And remember every single details that you have discussed and confirmed with her. Otherwise, when you don’t know what you don’t know, what can you do about your ignorance? Basically nothing.
Tactic #2.1 Packaging it extremely well
Actual Situation (on hindsight):
We informed the salesperson and confirmed our date of shooting in Taiwan almost 4 months before the shooting date (as we had to confirm our dates with them before booking our flight).
Then we discussed our places of interest with the salesperson, and she helped to sort into 3-4 different routes with different places of interest. That is because the places of interest are far from each other and we can only choose 1 route from the options due to the time factor. Otherwise, our travelling time would be much more than photo shooting hours. She also claimed she has sought the advice from photographer and there shouldn’t be any problem.
Also, she suggested us to bring our own clothes for photo shooting. However, once again, there is no explicit mention that groom’s suits included in the package are white and black only. Also, there is no mention of any additional fees involved if you were to choose other color etc.
In the process, we also sent her some photos to give them an idea of the style and atmosphere that we prefer, as requested by her.
Tactic Psychology:
They will definitely let you feel they are trying very hard to accommodate to you, to your request, your styles, your dates, your timing, trying to show you they are taking care of every single detail to make sure you have a good experience. However, please be reminded that this is yet just another kind of packaging, which will soon be unraveled to only find rotten quality of work inside the package. Again, this is the common tactic of telling you all the nice things but do another. Also, many crucial information are actually missing.
How To Counter:
Again, be a detailed person and ask them every single thing you would like to know. And remember every single details that you have discussed and confirmed with her. Otherwise, when you don’t know what you don’t know, what can you do about your ignorance? Basically nothing.
3 Taiwan Days
Here comes the major scam of the century that me and my partner couldn’t stop feeling ever since the point that we made direct, face-to-face contact with the saleswoman there.
Scam #3.1 Where is the A, B and C category of gown selection?
Actual Situation:
Remember we were told that there were 3 categories of gown selection for bride? And our package is category C where we can choose from all gowns. However, in the studio for gown selection, obviously there is no clear section of different category of A, B and C. Clearly, this is just another tactic put up by vendor to “force” customers to choose the most expensive category C, or to “show” you that they are so kind and can help you to have a free upgrade to category C without additional charge, where in fact, there is no such differential category at all.
Tactic Psychology:
When you were told that the item you want to buy has a range of selection, and because of various reasons they can freely upgrade you to the best range, you feel happy right? However, please note that this is just another tactic that vendor specially created to make you feel that you have the best quality item, seemingly without having to pay additional charge for that (because they definitely factor in all the cost to the “package” they offered you already). Another layman example: I have 99 apples from the same farm. Their qualities are all the same. But I take 33 out and categorize them as A grade apple, 33 as B grade apple, 33 as C grade apple. And I will try to persuade people to buy for A grade apple, or, to start with a heavenly price and tell people “look, I am trying to be nice here, by right with this price you can only get C grade apples, but now I freely upgrade it and allow you to choose from A grade apples”. You get my point?
How To Counter:
By having such awareness, at least you now know such differential category might just be another phony tactic to tout more money. I do not know how to counter it per se, but this should strike you and make you to be more cautious when a company is trying similar tactic on you. When it happens, be sure to retreat yourself and do not waste your time further.
Scam #3.2 Groom’s suits only black and white are included
Actual Situation:
So, we were told to visit a tailor shop nearby their store. Upon arrival, then I am aware that only black and white suits (with no pattern) are included in the package. There are 2 black and 3 white suits to choose from. If you prefer any other type of suit, then you have to pay NTD3,000 for rental and that is only for suit. If you want to add the vest of the same style, there is additional charge of NTD1,500. For your information, with this amount, you can buy a full suit (shirt, vest, pants) of your liking in Singapore already. I tried the suits, and realized it is generally very dull, boring, unattractive.
Tactic Psychology:
Because of all the lack of information about it, and their purposefully exclusion of such information, when customer reach there with no own preparation of suits, you are bound to be at their mercy to rent something from them at such a high price, unless you are really ok to make do with their simple suits without any vest. However, customer’s psychology would be, “I have travelled all the way here already to have photo shooting”, “of course I want to make sure my photo albums are pretty”, they definitely have the upper hands on this.
How To Counter:
Really, just buy your own suit (the whole set) in Singapore and bring it there. Ultimately, it is much worth it, and you can still wear it on actual day. Needless to say, it would be so much nicer than what is “complimentary” for you in the package. Do not repeat the same mistake as I did. If you were to pay for rental of other suits at their tailor shop, you can use the same amount to purchase for a full set suit of your liking and own it.
Here comes the major scam of the century that me and my partner couldn’t stop feeling ever since the point that we made direct, face-to-face contact with the saleswoman there.
Scam #3.1 Where is the A, B and C category of gown selection?
Actual Situation:
Remember we were told that there were 3 categories of gown selection for bride? And our package is category C where we can choose from all gowns. However, in the studio for gown selection, obviously there is no clear section of different category of A, B and C. Clearly, this is just another tactic put up by vendor to “force” customers to choose the most expensive category C, or to “show” you that they are so kind and can help you to have a free upgrade to category C without additional charge, where in fact, there is no such differential category at all.
Tactic Psychology:
When you were told that the item you want to buy has a range of selection, and because of various reasons they can freely upgrade you to the best range, you feel happy right? However, please note that this is just another tactic that vendor specially created to make you feel that you have the best quality item, seemingly without having to pay additional charge for that (because they definitely factor in all the cost to the “package” they offered you already). Another layman example: I have 99 apples from the same farm. Their qualities are all the same. But I take 33 out and categorize them as A grade apple, 33 as B grade apple, 33 as C grade apple. And I will try to persuade people to buy for A grade apple, or, to start with a heavenly price and tell people “look, I am trying to be nice here, by right with this price you can only get C grade apples, but now I freely upgrade it and allow you to choose from A grade apples”. You get my point?
How To Counter:
By having such awareness, at least you now know such differential category might just be another phony tactic to tout more money. I do not know how to counter it per se, but this should strike you and make you to be more cautious when a company is trying similar tactic on you. When it happens, be sure to retreat yourself and do not waste your time further.
Scam #3.2 Groom’s suits only black and white are included
Actual Situation:
So, we were told to visit a tailor shop nearby their store. Upon arrival, then I am aware that only black and white suits (with no pattern) are included in the package. There are 2 black and 3 white suits to choose from. If you prefer any other type of suit, then you have to pay NTD3,000 for rental and that is only for suit. If you want to add the vest of the same style, there is additional charge of NTD1,500. For your information, with this amount, you can buy a full suit (shirt, vest, pants) of your liking in Singapore already. I tried the suits, and realized it is generally very dull, boring, unattractive.
Tactic Psychology:
Because of all the lack of information about it, and their purposefully exclusion of such information, when customer reach there with no own preparation of suits, you are bound to be at their mercy to rent something from them at such a high price, unless you are really ok to make do with their simple suits without any vest. However, customer’s psychology would be, “I have travelled all the way here already to have photo shooting”, “of course I want to make sure my photo albums are pretty”, they definitely have the upper hands on this.
How To Counter:
Really, just buy your own suit (the whole set) in Singapore and bring it there. Ultimately, it is much worth it, and you can still wear it on actual day. Needless to say, it would be so much nicer than what is “complimentary” for you in the package. Do not repeat the same mistake as I did. If you were to pay for rental of other suits at their tailor shop, you can use the same amount to purchase for a full set suit of your liking and own it.
Scam #3.3 There is an issue with the route that we chose 1 month ago, approved by them?
Actual Situation:
On the same day, we were told that there seems to be a little problem with the route that we chose, as our photo shooting day (the following day) would be a Sunday, and somehow (only by now) it is not advisable that we follow such route, as it will be heavy traffic jam, crowded on the places that we chose, much time would be wasted etc. And she is trying to get our photographer to come down later at night to talk to us again on the route. One very important thing that I observed is, she sounded as if she is doing us a big favor to ask the photographer to come down and talk to us, as if it wasn’t supposed to be the case, as if she is doing extra mile for us, even though when we first signed the package, we were told that we will have to communicate with the photographer 1 day before photo shooting on the route and styles etc such that photographer is able to understand what we want, as well as she told us in the email that we will communicate with photographer 1 day prior to photo shooting. But now, it suddenly becomes an additional “caring service” to customers. Wow. She said something like that: “I specially called the photographer to update him about your route. And he has some concerns about it (due to being a Sunday, crowded and traffic jam condition). So he said he must meet you all later to talk about it. Can you come back here later at 8.30pm?”
Tactic Psychology:
Again, the lack of information allowed many hip-cups along the way. And when you think of it, it is definitely purposefully one. Why? First, we have confirmed with them our shooting date almost 4 months ago, however, during our email correspondence, there is no mention from them raising the concern of traffic jam and crowded condition. Second, we decided and informed them about the route we chose 1 month ago, and she claimed that she has consulted photographer and there was no issue. But, only when we came all the way to Taiwan and have our photo shooting the next day, suddenly all problems come. Why? Because we are at their mercy. If we don’t listen to their (last minute) suggestion, they could easily blame us if they don’t take enough nice photos etc. And due to the time pressure, they definitely have the upper hand to push you to take up their suggestions. Believe me, when you go all the way there, have your photo shooting the next day, everything and anything that is left unsettled, you will most likely give in as you just want it to go smoothly. Don’t you? And now, they sound like they are doing an extra favor of inviting the photographer to communicate with you, expecting you to be appreciative? Wow.
How To Counter:
Double check your date and day, see whether it coincides with any Public Holiday, weekend, big festival etc, and ask them whether there will be any issue / concern or not. And, more likely than not, you need to be heavily involved in it yourself. You can never have your hands off and just let others plan it for you. It will not be something that you will like in the end.
Scam #3.4 Whole France Paris team has no communication.
Actual Situation:
So we came back to their shop by 8.30pm again, after we last left at around 6pm. The photographer talked to us, and was trying very hard to psycho us to take up his suggestion, ie, to go for the photo shooting themed park which will cost NTD 3,000, and it will be paid fully by us. He shared extensively on all the benefits of going the themed park and all. For instance, if you go to outdoor places, the sun would be too bright, we can’t open our eyes, photos won’t be nice. There might be traffic jam, very rush and tiring for us, no toilet / changing place. After much talking, I sensed that if we are not going to take up his suggestion, he is going to blame us as he kept mentioning we might waste our time stuck in a traffic jam, and it is hard to do photo shooting due to crowded condition etc. So in the end, I gave in. Again, all these were not told to us beforehand, about the issues with Sunday. And surprisingly, when we agreed, there is no issue with regarding the bright sun and we can’t open our eyes already.
We also showed him some of the photos that we sent to the salesperson earlier, as a reference of the photo shooting styles that we prefer. However, his reactions definitely tells that he sees these photos for the first time, and his comment was “all these are too easy, no challenge”, “no content”, “and if you want such photos you no need to go to the places that you chose, you can just go to this theme park”. But on the other hand, he kept telling us the places we wanted to go is too “adventurous”. And the most important thing is whether “couple can immerse themselves and create that feeling or not”. From there, I know that they do not communicate with each other at all. What we have communicated to the salesperson, she did not convey the message to the photographer, until 1 day before photo shooting.
And definitely from how he talks and how he interacts, I am sure, he is not the so-called Number 1 photographer as promised to us. However, I already promised my partner that I will just try to make it smooth and don’t argue with them. So I didn’t raise anything up, I swallowed everything, again.
Tactic Psychology:
At this point of time, there isn’t much psychology here. As it is pure scamming tactic here. They purposely exclude some important information from you, and only to inform you 1 day prior to photo shooting, to use the time pressure against you and force you to agree with them. Why? Because it is hardly that you will say no. And it eventually ease their job very much.
How To Tackle:
Be specific when you ask or send something, corresponding in the email. Because you need to make sure their whole team understands your request since very beginning. If not, you have to go through the hassle to inform everyone in their team over and over again about your requests, and there will be a risk that you will be kept in the dark of some information. But if you are specific and detailed enough, you might be able to prevent any such lack of information and thus scams.
Actual Situation:
On the same day, we were told that there seems to be a little problem with the route that we chose, as our photo shooting day (the following day) would be a Sunday, and somehow (only by now) it is not advisable that we follow such route, as it will be heavy traffic jam, crowded on the places that we chose, much time would be wasted etc. And she is trying to get our photographer to come down later at night to talk to us again on the route. One very important thing that I observed is, she sounded as if she is doing us a big favor to ask the photographer to come down and talk to us, as if it wasn’t supposed to be the case, as if she is doing extra mile for us, even though when we first signed the package, we were told that we will have to communicate with the photographer 1 day before photo shooting on the route and styles etc such that photographer is able to understand what we want, as well as she told us in the email that we will communicate with photographer 1 day prior to photo shooting. But now, it suddenly becomes an additional “caring service” to customers. Wow. She said something like that: “I specially called the photographer to update him about your route. And he has some concerns about it (due to being a Sunday, crowded and traffic jam condition). So he said he must meet you all later to talk about it. Can you come back here later at 8.30pm?”
Tactic Psychology:
Again, the lack of information allowed many hip-cups along the way. And when you think of it, it is definitely purposefully one. Why? First, we have confirmed with them our shooting date almost 4 months ago, however, during our email correspondence, there is no mention from them raising the concern of traffic jam and crowded condition. Second, we decided and informed them about the route we chose 1 month ago, and she claimed that she has consulted photographer and there was no issue. But, only when we came all the way to Taiwan and have our photo shooting the next day, suddenly all problems come. Why? Because we are at their mercy. If we don’t listen to their (last minute) suggestion, they could easily blame us if they don’t take enough nice photos etc. And due to the time pressure, they definitely have the upper hand to push you to take up their suggestions. Believe me, when you go all the way there, have your photo shooting the next day, everything and anything that is left unsettled, you will most likely give in as you just want it to go smoothly. Don’t you? And now, they sound like they are doing an extra favor of inviting the photographer to communicate with you, expecting you to be appreciative? Wow.
How To Counter:
Double check your date and day, see whether it coincides with any Public Holiday, weekend, big festival etc, and ask them whether there will be any issue / concern or not. And, more likely than not, you need to be heavily involved in it yourself. You can never have your hands off and just let others plan it for you. It will not be something that you will like in the end.
Scam #3.4 Whole France Paris team has no communication.
Actual Situation:
So we came back to their shop by 8.30pm again, after we last left at around 6pm. The photographer talked to us, and was trying very hard to psycho us to take up his suggestion, ie, to go for the photo shooting themed park which will cost NTD 3,000, and it will be paid fully by us. He shared extensively on all the benefits of going the themed park and all. For instance, if you go to outdoor places, the sun would be too bright, we can’t open our eyes, photos won’t be nice. There might be traffic jam, very rush and tiring for us, no toilet / changing place. After much talking, I sensed that if we are not going to take up his suggestion, he is going to blame us as he kept mentioning we might waste our time stuck in a traffic jam, and it is hard to do photo shooting due to crowded condition etc. So in the end, I gave in. Again, all these were not told to us beforehand, about the issues with Sunday. And surprisingly, when we agreed, there is no issue with regarding the bright sun and we can’t open our eyes already.
We also showed him some of the photos that we sent to the salesperson earlier, as a reference of the photo shooting styles that we prefer. However, his reactions definitely tells that he sees these photos for the first time, and his comment was “all these are too easy, no challenge”, “no content”, “and if you want such photos you no need to go to the places that you chose, you can just go to this theme park”. But on the other hand, he kept telling us the places we wanted to go is too “adventurous”. And the most important thing is whether “couple can immerse themselves and create that feeling or not”. From there, I know that they do not communicate with each other at all. What we have communicated to the salesperson, she did not convey the message to the photographer, until 1 day before photo shooting.
And definitely from how he talks and how he interacts, I am sure, he is not the so-called Number 1 photographer as promised to us. However, I already promised my partner that I will just try to make it smooth and don’t argue with them. So I didn’t raise anything up, I swallowed everything, again.
Tactic Psychology:
At this point of time, there isn’t much psychology here. As it is pure scamming tactic here. They purposely exclude some important information from you, and only to inform you 1 day prior to photo shooting, to use the time pressure against you and force you to agree with them. Why? Because it is hardly that you will say no. And it eventually ease their job very much.
How To Tackle:
Be specific when you ask or send something, corresponding in the email. Because you need to make sure their whole team understands your request since very beginning. If not, you have to go through the hassle to inform everyone in their team over and over again about your requests, and there will be a risk that you will be kept in the dark of some information. But if you are specific and detailed enough, you might be able to prevent any such lack of information and thus scams.
4 Photo Shooting Day
Generally on photo shooting day, there isn’t any other scam (available on that day anymore).
However, I would just like to mention a few incidents about their professionalism.
Situation #4.1 MUA reached the shop late by 10-15 minutes, black face throughout, no apologize.
Situation #4.2 MUA stays in the shade most of the time during photo shooting, complaint about the bright weather
Situation #4.3 MUA asked me to wear set A, but photographer asked me to wear set B. No communication again.
Situation #4.4 Photographer gives unclear instruction for poses, with no one understands what he actually wants most of the time, instead of professionally leading the couple to interact with one another and capture the natural feel
Situation #4.5 Photographer only have 1 popular pose: nose to nose, eyes closed, everywhere, anywhere
Situation #4.6 Their company baoche came and claimed we booked, even though we clearly told them that we didn’t as we have our own baoche. Again, no communication within the team.
Situation #4.7 We booked our own baoche for NTD5,000. If I were to know that we will only go to 1 place, we wouldn’t have booked a 10 hours baoche. And just imagine, if we book the company’s baoche, we will let them eat up another NTD5,000 for nothing.
Generally on photo shooting day, there isn’t any other scam (available on that day anymore).
However, I would just like to mention a few incidents about their professionalism.
Situation #4.1 MUA reached the shop late by 10-15 minutes, black face throughout, no apologize.
Situation #4.2 MUA stays in the shade most of the time during photo shooting, complaint about the bright weather
Situation #4.3 MUA asked me to wear set A, but photographer asked me to wear set B. No communication again.
Situation #4.4 Photographer gives unclear instruction for poses, with no one understands what he actually wants most of the time, instead of professionally leading the couple to interact with one another and capture the natural feel
Situation #4.5 Photographer only have 1 popular pose: nose to nose, eyes closed, everywhere, anywhere
Situation #4.6 Their company baoche came and claimed we booked, even though we clearly told them that we didn’t as we have our own baoche. Again, no communication within the team.
Situation #4.7 We booked our own baoche for NTD5,000. If I were to know that we will only go to 1 place, we wouldn’t have booked a 10 hours baoche. And just imagine, if we book the company’s baoche, we will let them eat up another NTD5,000 for nothing.
5 Photo Choosing Day
Scam #5.1 All photos are not arranged / sorted nicely, they are all randomly scattered
Actual Situation:
We already noticed of this, when we first came to the shop and saw some customers who were choosing the photos from the computer. So this time round, we already told ourselves, no matter what, we will just remove all the photos and choose 36 pieces which is in the package. We will not buy any extra photos. In general, we have around 300+ near 400 photos. But ALL of them are randomly scattered in the system, and there is (miraculously) no way to sort them nicely, accordingly to the timing, or to have a minimized view of all photos. And note that, only 10% of the photos reach the passing standard. Even though she claimed all the photos have been filtered before by photographer, however, we saw quite a lot of photos with weird expressions, poor lighting, wrong angle etc! And we were repeatedly told (psycho-ed) that for album to look lively, we need to choose a series of photos, so there is connection and story line. But we can’t view it nicely organized. Contradicting, isn’t it? And, there is a caution paper stick on the computer saying that camera is not allowed here. But when I asked whether we can take note down on photos that we have chosen, the salesperson said “you already taking the notes down what”, “nobody stops you”.
Tactic Psychology:
Apparently, such system would slow down the speed at how you choose the photos. And you will definitely have a hard time remembering how many photos of such background have you chosen and difficulty comparing which pose is nicer. This will lead to customers keep toggling back and forth to check the photos, and in the process, waste much time. On one hand, this will frustrate customers and make customers to just decide to buy extra photos. On the other hand, the staffs there would use your long duration choosing the photos to reason with you that was because all the photos are too nice and you can’t bear to remove it away. And same tactic used here, heavenly price and heavenly discount.
How To Tackle:
Be firm, and go with a decision in mind that you will not buy any extra photos. Be cruel, just delete all those photos that is not nice. And to be honest, there is only 10% of photos that is normal. The other 90%? Weird expressions, messy hair, angle not right etc. Bring a pen and paper, note it down from the very beginning, how many photos you have chosen with such background / such gown. If they question you, just reply them “you never say cannot use pen and paper”.
Scam #5.2 If you choose basic album, there is no design
Actual Situation:
Now suddenly, our album will have no design, even though when we signed the contract the salesperson in the roadshow mentioned that there will be design. The salesperson in Taiwan when talked to us, even turn the agreement towards us and asked us where is it written on the agreement? Then we were so ridiculed, and replied that the salesperson we met during the roadshow said there will be design. Then she replied “ok lor if she told you there is design then we will do the design for you”, “we won’t say A and do B”.
Tactic Psychology:
Again, they are trying to play a trick with their contract and agreement. And again, they are at the upper hand. Cause there is no clear indication of the album design in the agreement. It is all just verbal. And blame ourselves as being a stupid customers for that.
How To Tackle:
Really, again, be detailed and ask them to write every single details in the agreement.
Scam #5.3 We choose too little photos, it will be hard for designer to design your album
Actual Situation:
They sold us the package of 36 photos in an album. But when we finally chose 36, they told us that the photos we chose too little and it will be hard for designer to design our album. Again, they tried to psycho us to buy more extra photos again. And claimed that with such little photos, designer cannot design it properly, as designer “needs the material”.
Tactic Psychology:
Again, just another tactic to psycho you to buy more extra photos at heavenly price. (but too bad we were so frustrated with them at this point of time already and we will not buy in any coaxing from them)
How To Counter:
Frankly speaking, if 36 photos are not enough material to design an album, then from the beginning, they shouldn’t sell such package to customers. Secondly, if a designer cannot design an album using 36 photos, then what is the function of the designer? So, just be firm with them. DO NOT LET THEM TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU.
Scam #5.1 All photos are not arranged / sorted nicely, they are all randomly scattered
Actual Situation:
We already noticed of this, when we first came to the shop and saw some customers who were choosing the photos from the computer. So this time round, we already told ourselves, no matter what, we will just remove all the photos and choose 36 pieces which is in the package. We will not buy any extra photos. In general, we have around 300+ near 400 photos. But ALL of them are randomly scattered in the system, and there is (miraculously) no way to sort them nicely, accordingly to the timing, or to have a minimized view of all photos. And note that, only 10% of the photos reach the passing standard. Even though she claimed all the photos have been filtered before by photographer, however, we saw quite a lot of photos with weird expressions, poor lighting, wrong angle etc! And we were repeatedly told (psycho-ed) that for album to look lively, we need to choose a series of photos, so there is connection and story line. But we can’t view it nicely organized. Contradicting, isn’t it? And, there is a caution paper stick on the computer saying that camera is not allowed here. But when I asked whether we can take note down on photos that we have chosen, the salesperson said “you already taking the notes down what”, “nobody stops you”.
Tactic Psychology:
Apparently, such system would slow down the speed at how you choose the photos. And you will definitely have a hard time remembering how many photos of such background have you chosen and difficulty comparing which pose is nicer. This will lead to customers keep toggling back and forth to check the photos, and in the process, waste much time. On one hand, this will frustrate customers and make customers to just decide to buy extra photos. On the other hand, the staffs there would use your long duration choosing the photos to reason with you that was because all the photos are too nice and you can’t bear to remove it away. And same tactic used here, heavenly price and heavenly discount.
How To Tackle:
Be firm, and go with a decision in mind that you will not buy any extra photos. Be cruel, just delete all those photos that is not nice. And to be honest, there is only 10% of photos that is normal. The other 90%? Weird expressions, messy hair, angle not right etc. Bring a pen and paper, note it down from the very beginning, how many photos you have chosen with such background / such gown. If they question you, just reply them “you never say cannot use pen and paper”.
Scam #5.2 If you choose basic album, there is no design
Actual Situation:
Now suddenly, our album will have no design, even though when we signed the contract the salesperson in the roadshow mentioned that there will be design. The salesperson in Taiwan when talked to us, even turn the agreement towards us and asked us where is it written on the agreement? Then we were so ridiculed, and replied that the salesperson we met during the roadshow said there will be design. Then she replied “ok lor if she told you there is design then we will do the design for you”, “we won’t say A and do B”.
Tactic Psychology:
Again, they are trying to play a trick with their contract and agreement. And again, they are at the upper hand. Cause there is no clear indication of the album design in the agreement. It is all just verbal. And blame ourselves as being a stupid customers for that.
How To Tackle:
Really, again, be detailed and ask them to write every single details in the agreement.
Scam #5.3 We choose too little photos, it will be hard for designer to design your album
Actual Situation:
They sold us the package of 36 photos in an album. But when we finally chose 36, they told us that the photos we chose too little and it will be hard for designer to design our album. Again, they tried to psycho us to buy more extra photos again. And claimed that with such little photos, designer cannot design it properly, as designer “needs the material”.
Tactic Psychology:
Again, just another tactic to psycho you to buy more extra photos at heavenly price. (but too bad we were so frustrated with them at this point of time already and we will not buy in any coaxing from them)
How To Counter:
Frankly speaking, if 36 photos are not enough material to design an album, then from the beginning, they shouldn’t sell such package to customers. Secondly, if a designer cannot design an album using 36 photos, then what is the function of the designer? So, just be firm with them. DO NOT LET THEM TAKE ADVANTAGE OF YOU.
Scam #5.4 Use 苦肉计, and ridiculous meaning of her expensive and our expensive
Actual Situation:
So the salesperson continue to psycho us, and when we expressed that we don’t have enough budget for any extra photos, she used 苦肉计 and act pity, started telling us that photographer specially cancelled his leave that he wanted to take to spend time with his family, just to shoot for us, cause that day is a big day for wedding and a lot of photographers would go to shoot for actual day. But obviously she was contradicting herself again. If that day is a big day for wedding, why would he be on leave? Shouldn’t he be more busy? And that we only chose 36 photos out of almost 400 photos, we wasted his effort. But then again, isn’t this a photographer’s job? To take as many nice photos as possible for customers? So what is the big fuss there? She continued to tell us how other customers bought 200 photos etc. Which we wonder if there is really such a case, cause the photos standard are really bad. And she even told us it can be paid by installment. When we again expressed that we don’t have that extra budget, she became angry and started making sarcastic remarks. “If you only want to choose 36 photos, then just take a few shoots for each background then can call it a day already, no need to shoot until so tiring”. And she even ridiculously asked us to save our travelling expenditure on meals. Erm, think about it, even if we skip 1 meal of NTD100 each day, over the course of 10 days, I can only save NTD1,000. But she is selling almost NTD2,000-NTD3,000 per photo. We expressed that it is not cheap for us, and she replied “I realized we have very different definitions of expensive”. “To you, expensive just means high price, the price digit is big”. “But to us, expensive means that item is not worth that much”. Oh gosh, how I want to say right to her face that I have the same definition as her.
Tactic Psychology:
All sorts of tactic are out there just to force you to buy. Mostly are very direct, so there isn’t much psychology behind. They will just continue to find ways to attack you.
How To Tackle:
Again, just be firm. Whatever they say is going to make you feel bad, if you feel that way, they win.
Scam #5.5 After we finished choosing 36 photos, then only they told us each background should have 3-4 photos for the album design
Actual Situation:
So we have finally finished choosing our 36 photos. We called them, and they come to us and consolidated our photos. And jang jang, suddenly all the photos are arranged nicely, according to the background / timing. But now, then they told us “each background should have 3-4 photos for the album design to be nice”, “cause you only have 12 pages in the album”. Ok, so we asked them to let us change out some of the photos to make sure each background has 3-4 photos then. But then they said “cannot change already”, “you can only add extra photos”. Again, clearly wanting you to add on the photos only.
Tactic Psychology:
They kept using the lack of information against us. And they will only inform you something after you have chosen / decided on something. I am so speechless that they are such a heartless and unethical vendor, who keeps trying to suck more money from you.
How To Tackle:
Now you know about all these, so make sure at the photo selection stage, you choose 3-4 photos of the same background. Start right, to prevent pitfalls!
Actual Situation:
So the salesperson continue to psycho us, and when we expressed that we don’t have enough budget for any extra photos, she used 苦肉计 and act pity, started telling us that photographer specially cancelled his leave that he wanted to take to spend time with his family, just to shoot for us, cause that day is a big day for wedding and a lot of photographers would go to shoot for actual day. But obviously she was contradicting herself again. If that day is a big day for wedding, why would he be on leave? Shouldn’t he be more busy? And that we only chose 36 photos out of almost 400 photos, we wasted his effort. But then again, isn’t this a photographer’s job? To take as many nice photos as possible for customers? So what is the big fuss there? She continued to tell us how other customers bought 200 photos etc. Which we wonder if there is really such a case, cause the photos standard are really bad. And she even told us it can be paid by installment. When we again expressed that we don’t have that extra budget, she became angry and started making sarcastic remarks. “If you only want to choose 36 photos, then just take a few shoots for each background then can call it a day already, no need to shoot until so tiring”. And she even ridiculously asked us to save our travelling expenditure on meals. Erm, think about it, even if we skip 1 meal of NTD100 each day, over the course of 10 days, I can only save NTD1,000. But she is selling almost NTD2,000-NTD3,000 per photo. We expressed that it is not cheap for us, and she replied “I realized we have very different definitions of expensive”. “To you, expensive just means high price, the price digit is big”. “But to us, expensive means that item is not worth that much”. Oh gosh, how I want to say right to her face that I have the same definition as her.
Tactic Psychology:
All sorts of tactic are out there just to force you to buy. Mostly are very direct, so there isn’t much psychology behind. They will just continue to find ways to attack you.
How To Tackle:
Again, just be firm. Whatever they say is going to make you feel bad, if you feel that way, they win.
Scam #5.5 After we finished choosing 36 photos, then only they told us each background should have 3-4 photos for the album design
Actual Situation:
So we have finally finished choosing our 36 photos. We called them, and they come to us and consolidated our photos. And jang jang, suddenly all the photos are arranged nicely, according to the background / timing. But now, then they told us “each background should have 3-4 photos for the album design to be nice”, “cause you only have 12 pages in the album”. Ok, so we asked them to let us change out some of the photos to make sure each background has 3-4 photos then. But then they said “cannot change already”, “you can only add extra photos”. Again, clearly wanting you to add on the photos only.
Tactic Psychology:
They kept using the lack of information against us. And they will only inform you something after you have chosen / decided on something. I am so speechless that they are such a heartless and unethical vendor, who keeps trying to suck more money from you.
How To Tackle:
Now you know about all these, so make sure at the photo selection stage, you choose 3-4 photos of the same background. Start right, to prevent pitfalls!
PM-ed you!
kayyyyeyeann
New Member
Hi Prozed! Thank you so much for the review. Could you kindly share your Photographer and Coordinator's name? We are going over in November for a shoot as well.
Just curious, I have a few more questions:
1) did you manage to not buy any extra photos?
2) have you received your album?
3) how's the quality of the album?
4) did you manage to bring back the big frame at the end of the trip or you choose to post everything?
Sorry for long post..
Just curious, I have a few more questions:
1) did you manage to not buy any extra photos?
2) have you received your album?
3) how's the quality of the album?
4) did you manage to bring back the big frame at the end of the trip or you choose to post everything?
Sorry for long post..
PM you on Coordinator and Photographer! 
1. Yes, we managed not to buy any extra photos in the end. To be honest, when you really focus on the quality of photos taken, it is not hard to delete those "ugly" photos. And the ok ones, are not that many. It is just that their selection system is obviously skewed and advantageous for them as I shared above that makes the selection hard.
2. Nope we haven't. And to be honest, we have received 1st batch of edited photos. Which again, rendered us speechless. Some of the photos are very poorly done, that you can literally see a blur patch, irregular and inappropriate brightening that made the photos look extremely fake, some leftover flaws that are left there just because we didn't circle every single one of them etc etc. Sorry to say, but this is yet another kind of disappointment.
3. Haven't gotten the album yet so I am not sure.
4. Didn't manage to get the big frame at the end, cause as they said, it is too rushed and they don't have enough time to get it done before we fly back. So yes, everything by post, which again, will amount to a great sum.
I think my post is so much more longer than yours lol so no worry. I just hope that you all can share my experience, to let more people know of their tactics, to prevent more victims. Thank you so much sincerely!
1. Yes, we managed not to buy any extra photos in the end. To be honest, when you really focus on the quality of photos taken, it is not hard to delete those "ugly" photos. And the ok ones, are not that many. It is just that their selection system is obviously skewed and advantageous for them as I shared above that makes the selection hard.
2. Nope we haven't. And to be honest, we have received 1st batch of edited photos. Which again, rendered us speechless. Some of the photos are very poorly done, that you can literally see a blur patch, irregular and inappropriate brightening that made the photos look extremely fake, some leftover flaws that are left there just because we didn't circle every single one of them etc etc. Sorry to say, but this is yet another kind of disappointment.
3. Haven't gotten the album yet so I am not sure.
4. Didn't manage to get the big frame at the end, cause as they said, it is too rushed and they don't have enough time to get it done before we fly back. So yes, everything by post, which again, will amount to a great sum.
I think my post is so much more longer than yours lol so no worry. I just hope that you all can share my experience, to let more people know of their tactics, to prevent more victims. Thank you so much sincerely!
Hi, thanks for the detailed review. It will really help us to be more prepared for our shoot. Are you able to PM me the photographer & coordinator name as we are going next year.
L0llip0p**
New Member
Hi im selling my france paris pkg, pls pm if keen!
Email: [email protected]
Valid from Jan 2017 - Jan 2025 (8 years)
1. Pre-wedding shoot:
(a) 30" canvas photograph, carved frame
(b) 36 photos
(c) 5 wedding gowns for photoshoot - able to select from all A, B, C categories (including premium Pronovias collection)
(d) professional make-up and modeling for 5 styles - able to choose top make up artist at no additional cost
- free earrings, head accessories, manicure and eyelashes
(e) bridal veil , hair ornaments and gloves
(f) groom's tuxedo and formal suits - 2 sets
(g) waist cummberband, shirt and boutonniere for groom
(h) studio shooting and outdoor scene shooting - able to choose top photographer at no additional cost
(i) bridal bouquet upgraded from artificial flowers to fresh flowers ( i chose sunflowers )
Other expenses (not included)
- MUA fee to follow you around: $230
- Driver & Car : $20++ per hour
- Courier fee for album to sg: $23 per kg (or you can ask friends or family traveling to Taiwan to bring it back for you)
- Additional photos: $65++ per piece
2. Actual day
(a) 1 wedding gown, 1 evening gown and 1 kua/tea gown (if you don't find any you like in singapore you can get them to bring over from Taiwan)
(b) 2 suits for groom with shoes and ties
(c) flowers for bridal car & hand bouquet
(d) make-up x 2 times, hair accessories and eye lashes
(e) 2 father's Jacket
(f) 6 bridesmaid's dresses
(g) 6 corsages
Other expenses (not included) :
- ampoule
- MUA transportation on AD
Email: [email protected]
Valid from Jan 2017 - Jan 2025 (8 years)
1. Pre-wedding shoot:
(a) 30" canvas photograph, carved frame
(b) 36 photos
(c) 5 wedding gowns for photoshoot - able to select from all A, B, C categories (including premium Pronovias collection)
(d) professional make-up and modeling for 5 styles - able to choose top make up artist at no additional cost
- free earrings, head accessories, manicure and eyelashes
(e) bridal veil , hair ornaments and gloves
(f) groom's tuxedo and formal suits - 2 sets
(g) waist cummberband, shirt and boutonniere for groom
(h) studio shooting and outdoor scene shooting - able to choose top photographer at no additional cost
(i) bridal bouquet upgraded from artificial flowers to fresh flowers ( i chose sunflowers )
Other expenses (not included)
- MUA fee to follow you around: $230
- Driver & Car : $20++ per hour
- Courier fee for album to sg: $23 per kg (or you can ask friends or family traveling to Taiwan to bring it back for you)
- Additional photos: $65++ per piece
2. Actual day
(a) 1 wedding gown, 1 evening gown and 1 kua/tea gown (if you don't find any you like in singapore you can get them to bring over from Taiwan)
(b) 2 suits for groom with shoes and ties
(c) flowers for bridal car & hand bouquet
(d) make-up x 2 times, hair accessories and eye lashes
(e) 2 father's Jacket
(f) 6 bridesmaid's dresses
(g) 6 corsages
Other expenses (not included) :
- ampoule
- MUA transportation on AD
Hi, able to share Coordinator and Photographer with me? And is it possible to advice where to take photos in Taiwan. Thanks.
fPM you on Coordinator and Photographer!
1. Yes, we managed not to buy any extra photos in the end. To be honest, when you really focus on the quality of photos taken, it is not hard to delete those "ugly" photos. And the ok ones, are not that many. It is just that their selection system is obviously skewed and advantageous for them as I shared above that makes the selection hard.
2. Nope we haven't. And to be honest, we have received 1st batch of edited photos. Which again, rendered us speechless. Some of the photos are very poorly done, that you can literally see a blur patch, irregular and inappropriate brightening that made the photos look extremely fake, some leftover flaws that are left there just because we didn't circle every single one of them etc etc. Sorry to say, but this is yet another kind of disappointment.
3. Haven't gotten the album yet so I am not sure.
4. Didn't manage to get the big frame at the end, cause as they said, it is too rushed and they don't have enough time to get it done before we fly back. So yes, everything by post, which again, will amount to a great sum.
I think my post is so much more longer than yours lol so no worry. I just hope that you all can share my experience, to let more people know of their tactics, to prevent more victims. Thank you so much sincerely!
Hi prozen can you pm me the Coordinator, Photographer and MUA too?
I just bought their PWS and AD :/
Forestgreennn
New Member
Hi Ziyang, and fellow BTBs who signed with FP! I'm in the same shoes, got blindly convinced and signed with them in Feb this year without doing any research! And to top it off I signed for PWS and also for the gowns etc on AD
Am feeling a huge sense of dread right now and I haven't been to the local boutique physically, so was wondering if any has been there and could share how good (bad) the selections there are?
They mentioned at the roadshow that in the case we do like one of the gowns in the Taiwan boutique they can have it flown over to us.. but I'm seriously doubting it can be really done now based on the reviews I've read thus far..
Forestgreennn
New Member
Am super appreciative of these informative posts too Prozed! Could you also PM me the details of the coordinator, MUA and photog TOP? Thanks a million!PM you on Coordinator and Photographer!
1. Yes, we managed not to buy any extra photos in the end. To be honest, when you really focus on the quality of photos taken, it is not hard to delete those "ugly" photos. And the ok ones, are not that many. It is just that their selection system is obviously skewed and advantageous for them as I shared above that makes the selection hard.
2. Nope we haven't. And to be honest, we have received 1st batch of edited photos. Which again, rendered us speechless. Some of the photos are very poorly done, that you can literally see a blur patch, irregular and inappropriate brightening that made the photos look extremely fake, some leftover flaws that are left there just because we didn't circle every single one of them etc etc. Sorry to say, but this is yet another kind of disappointment.
3. Haven't gotten the album yet so I am not sure.
4. Didn't manage to get the big frame at the end, cause as they said, it is too rushed and they don't have enough time to get it done before we fly back. So yes, everything by post, which again, will amount to a great sum.
I think my post is so much more longer than yours lol so no worry. I just hope that you all can share my experience, to let more people know of their tactics, to prevent more victims. Thank you so much sincerely!
Thank you Prozed for your very detailed and helpful review of France Paris's service. Could you PM me the names of your sales, photographer and MUA please? We were in the exact same situation and just attended the BOWS yesterday. It was a horribly stressful 'interrogation' and we succumbed to it (sadly). Thank you very much for the review, sigh...only if we had read it earlier....
Hello all,
Thought i'll share my experiences with FranceParis and hopefully provide some valuable insights to all couples who are contemplating whether to sign with them or what to expect if you have already signed with them.
My fiancee and I had our pre-wedding shoot with them in Feb this year in Taiwan. Like many of you, we were highly skeptical after reading so many unpleasant reviews online and were worried that we would face similar experiences.
Pre-shoot
We went down to the bridal shop to select her gowns and also my suit for the shoot which was scheduled for a few days later. I must say their service wasn't too bad, friendly, helpful and kind of put our worries to ease. Our sales coordinator was helpful in planning our schedule for the shoot, chipping in with relevant and sound advice to accommodate our needs. The assistant who helped my Fiancee with the gown fittings was also very helpful and provided honest opinions to aid in our selection. Honestly speaking, I think the number of gowns to choose from was extensive enough, but unfortunately we didn't find ones that we really raved about. They were passable, at least in our standards (subjective). We still managed to select 5 gowns for the shoot though. Suit for the groom was unfortunately limited to only a few basic ones, the rest commanding a top up fee which we felt was not worth the top up (thankfully i read through some of the reviews and brought along my own suits for the shoot, otherwise i'd probably be wearing either their Black or White suit, or pay additional fees to get other selections). We also managed to run through our thoughts for the shoot with our Photographer who happened to be in studio that day, so he helped planned the route to ensure that it would be a smooth itinerary and minimal time wasting from inconvenient travelling. He also helped match our attire with the venues we had requested for. Please check with the sales coordinator on your package again to ensure that they do not throw in any unnecessary items and/or no additional fees other than those already agreed for.
Actual Day
We were told to report early (7.30am) to get our hair and make up done up so that we can make full use of the day to get our photos taken well. Our MUA was early and was already preparing (plus point) when we got there. She was really helpful and asked if we had any preferred hairdos otherwise she would provide her expert opinions based on our face shape, outfit and locations. All in all, we took about 2-2.5 hours to have our hair and make up done up and by the time we set out, it was about 10am (some other couples who had arrived after us got theirs done much faster and set out ahead too (again, subjective as different people do things differently, the amount of work required could be different too). We rented their vehicle for the shoot and the driver helped loaded all our stuff into his car whilst we had prep lessons with the photographer's assistant who told us what to expect, and some pre-shoot advice on how to pose and all (really helpful for first timers or people who aren't into posing for the camera). Long story short, the entire shooting experience was actually fantastic to our surprise. Our photographer was able to guide us well and getting us into the mood and bringing out our emotions for the shots. His assistant was equally capable in understanding what the photographer wanted and was thus able to work seamlessly with him. I would say without the assistant, the shoot would have probably taken another 1-2 hours in total (plus point). We also engaged the MUA to follow us on site and she helped touched up on our make up as and when and also reset my Fiancee's hairdo from set to set to suit the ambience (another plus point). Even the driver was very helpful in setting up the changing space (they had a portable tent to change our outfit) and also in engaging us in small talks during break times (plus point). By the time the shoot ended and we returned to the studio, it was about 9pm (13.5hrs in total). The driver charged us from 10am to 9pm (make sure they start counting from set off and not from when they reach the studio!) and even gave us a lift back to our hotel (plus point)!
Post-shoot
We went back the next day to select out photos, it's quite amazing how they can edit over 300 photos overnight. Some of the edits were really good, some were passable, some were bad to be honest. Unless you're willing to splash the cash to purchase additional photos, I don't think most of us would have problems picking out the excellent edits. The only problem most of us faced would be to cut them down to the number of photos within the package (negotiate for a better package if you can, lose some of those throw-ins if you don't need them and convert them into additional photos - of course this must be negotiated prior to the shoot, else you won't be in a good position to ask for things). Like what a lot of the posters pointed out, the photos were randomnised so it is a little hard to remember what you have picked and what else should you pick. Some good advice would be to limit the number of same setting/pose to just 1 out of the rest (choose the one you like best!). Eliminate those that you don't go WOW on first look, don't force yourself to try and find something good out of the photos, these would be the ones that will give you a headache later on. Straight away cross out those that has either one of your disapproval, go for those that both of you agree upon and then cut from there. If you can cut 10, you can cut 20. and if you can cut 20, you can cut 50. Our first cut returned us with about 100 photos out of 320. This is where they will try to sell you their "current" promotion if you purchase additional photos. stay firm and carry on, they will remove those that you have cut out from your first cut and leave you with the rest. From the next cut from 100 we trimmed down to about 70 (slightly harder as technically these 100 are the ones you like and have chosen, but you can't be buying all 100, it's going to cost you in excess of thousands of dollars). This is where they will try a lot harder to push you to purchase additional photos, using both soft and hard approach. STAY VERY FIRM. On your last cut, (this is what some of our friends suggested) try to memorise the number of photos that you can possibly cut, if you can get close to your intended number of photos, JUST DO IT! Needless to say, when our sales coordinator realised that we were not going to purchase any additional photos, her attitude turned 180 degrees. She became cold and uninterested and looked as if she couldn't wait to send us away (not that we cared, we were just glad the shoot turned out more enjoyable than we had imagined)
Really, just be firm, trust me you won't regret it. We were also sad that we had to cut away some of the photos which we really liked, but give it a few days, out of sight, out of mind. The few hundreds/thousands of dollars that you spend on these photos, I don't think you see it anywhere in your married friends' houses anymore do you?
PS: We were told the final edits would be sent to us within 2 working weeks, it was however delayed for about a week (no biggie but thought to just give a heads up). We also took their actual day, but couldn't find any gowns/suits to our liking so we'll be getting ours elsewhere and just taking the make up package.
Hope our review gives all couples out there a clearer insight as to what to expect with FranceParis!
Cheers
Thought i'll share my experiences with FranceParis and hopefully provide some valuable insights to all couples who are contemplating whether to sign with them or what to expect if you have already signed with them.
My fiancee and I had our pre-wedding shoot with them in Feb this year in Taiwan. Like many of you, we were highly skeptical after reading so many unpleasant reviews online and were worried that we would face similar experiences.
Pre-shoot
We went down to the bridal shop to select her gowns and also my suit for the shoot which was scheduled for a few days later. I must say their service wasn't too bad, friendly, helpful and kind of put our worries to ease. Our sales coordinator was helpful in planning our schedule for the shoot, chipping in with relevant and sound advice to accommodate our needs. The assistant who helped my Fiancee with the gown fittings was also very helpful and provided honest opinions to aid in our selection. Honestly speaking, I think the number of gowns to choose from was extensive enough, but unfortunately we didn't find ones that we really raved about. They were passable, at least in our standards (subjective). We still managed to select 5 gowns for the shoot though. Suit for the groom was unfortunately limited to only a few basic ones, the rest commanding a top up fee which we felt was not worth the top up (thankfully i read through some of the reviews and brought along my own suits for the shoot, otherwise i'd probably be wearing either their Black or White suit, or pay additional fees to get other selections). We also managed to run through our thoughts for the shoot with our Photographer who happened to be in studio that day, so he helped planned the route to ensure that it would be a smooth itinerary and minimal time wasting from inconvenient travelling. He also helped match our attire with the venues we had requested for. Please check with the sales coordinator on your package again to ensure that they do not throw in any unnecessary items and/or no additional fees other than those already agreed for.
Actual Day
We were told to report early (7.30am) to get our hair and make up done up so that we can make full use of the day to get our photos taken well. Our MUA was early and was already preparing (plus point) when we got there. She was really helpful and asked if we had any preferred hairdos otherwise she would provide her expert opinions based on our face shape, outfit and locations. All in all, we took about 2-2.5 hours to have our hair and make up done up and by the time we set out, it was about 10am (some other couples who had arrived after us got theirs done much faster and set out ahead too (again, subjective as different people do things differently, the amount of work required could be different too). We rented their vehicle for the shoot and the driver helped loaded all our stuff into his car whilst we had prep lessons with the photographer's assistant who told us what to expect, and some pre-shoot advice on how to pose and all (really helpful for first timers or people who aren't into posing for the camera). Long story short, the entire shooting experience was actually fantastic to our surprise. Our photographer was able to guide us well and getting us into the mood and bringing out our emotions for the shots. His assistant was equally capable in understanding what the photographer wanted and was thus able to work seamlessly with him. I would say without the assistant, the shoot would have probably taken another 1-2 hours in total (plus point). We also engaged the MUA to follow us on site and she helped touched up on our make up as and when and also reset my Fiancee's hairdo from set to set to suit the ambience (another plus point). Even the driver was very helpful in setting up the changing space (they had a portable tent to change our outfit) and also in engaging us in small talks during break times (plus point). By the time the shoot ended and we returned to the studio, it was about 9pm (13.5hrs in total). The driver charged us from 10am to 9pm (make sure they start counting from set off and not from when they reach the studio!) and even gave us a lift back to our hotel (plus point)!
Post-shoot
We went back the next day to select out photos, it's quite amazing how they can edit over 300 photos overnight. Some of the edits were really good, some were passable, some were bad to be honest. Unless you're willing to splash the cash to purchase additional photos, I don't think most of us would have problems picking out the excellent edits. The only problem most of us faced would be to cut them down to the number of photos within the package (negotiate for a better package if you can, lose some of those throw-ins if you don't need them and convert them into additional photos - of course this must be negotiated prior to the shoot, else you won't be in a good position to ask for things). Like what a lot of the posters pointed out, the photos were randomnised so it is a little hard to remember what you have picked and what else should you pick. Some good advice would be to limit the number of same setting/pose to just 1 out of the rest (choose the one you like best!). Eliminate those that you don't go WOW on first look, don't force yourself to try and find something good out of the photos, these would be the ones that will give you a headache later on. Straight away cross out those that has either one of your disapproval, go for those that both of you agree upon and then cut from there. If you can cut 10, you can cut 20. and if you can cut 20, you can cut 50. Our first cut returned us with about 100 photos out of 320. This is where they will try to sell you their "current" promotion if you purchase additional photos. stay firm and carry on, they will remove those that you have cut out from your first cut and leave you with the rest. From the next cut from 100 we trimmed down to about 70 (slightly harder as technically these 100 are the ones you like and have chosen, but you can't be buying all 100, it's going to cost you in excess of thousands of dollars). This is where they will try a lot harder to push you to purchase additional photos, using both soft and hard approach. STAY VERY FIRM. On your last cut, (this is what some of our friends suggested) try to memorise the number of photos that you can possibly cut, if you can get close to your intended number of photos, JUST DO IT! Needless to say, when our sales coordinator realised that we were not going to purchase any additional photos, her attitude turned 180 degrees. She became cold and uninterested and looked as if she couldn't wait to send us away (not that we cared, we were just glad the shoot turned out more enjoyable than we had imagined)
Really, just be firm, trust me you won't regret it. We were also sad that we had to cut away some of the photos which we really liked, but give it a few days, out of sight, out of mind. The few hundreds/thousands of dollars that you spend on these photos, I don't think you see it anywhere in your married friends' houses anymore do you?
PS: We were told the final edits would be sent to us within 2 working weeks, it was however delayed for about a week (no biggie but thought to just give a heads up). We also took their actual day, but couldn't find any gowns/suits to our liking so we'll be getting ours elsewhere and just taking the make up package.
Hope our review gives all couples out there a clearer insight as to what to expect with FranceParis!
Cheers
glorybreath
New Member
Hi, has anyone tried their PWS locally with them?
Celestinekrx
New Member
I went for my first consultation with them today and I really love a gown I tried on today that I almost sign the actual day package with them!
My only worry is that they will bring u nice gown to make sure that u signed the package with them, but the nice gowns will be somehow not available on your gown fitting day/actual day.
Is my worry uncalled for?
My only worry is that they will bring u nice gown to make sure that u signed the package with them, but the nice gowns will be somehow not available on your gown fitting day/actual day.
Is my worry uncalled for?