Happy Easter everyone! I hope you all have a great weekend with your families.

Was talking with my DM and yesterday during our studio visit and she was saying that the transaction did go through and that she's looking into getting me a raise. She said that all is great with the company and that she wouldn't be doing studio visits and being put up in hotels if it wasn't. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

oh ya I hear ya. I had a customer the other day chew me out because her free 10x13 had to be in the same pose as the one pose coupon. i chuckled and told her that all coupons regardless of where you shop have restrictions. that just happened to be one of the restrictions with that coupon. she was not happy lol. kind of made giggle on the inside. gotta love it when people don't want to pay you for your time and get everything for free.

Just a tad eh? We were supposedly supposed to know if the transaction went through in the first few weeks of March. That never happened so I would assume the transaction didn't go through and the letters are null-in-void. I just wish they would give us an definite answer and stop dragging this out.

Like I mentioned before my DM and RM are coming up on Wednesday. Not really sure what we'll be talking about. All I was told was to make sure my studio was PROs. Also found out from my DM that Barb (the head trainer) is no longer with the company. Not sure when that happened. Anyone else have some new news?

I am getting a visit from my DM and RM on Wednesday. ..should be interesting. My signage is not pro's and still no word from my host store manager if I can put signs throughout walmart. Wonder how long it will take my RM to notice.

Ya we are to. We just had a region wide contest with spin to win. All because Michael's team got "1000" sits booked last wednesday.

so do i... :(

There is no question that there is life outside of CPI. I am looking forward to a Saturday off (Vacations don't count). The agonizing question is when? We are told to sign these letters for Photos Unlimited but no news of whether or not that transaction went through. We were supposed to be told in the first few weeks of March. We're now through the first week of April and Easter is in two weekends from now.
The lack of communication from this company is appalling. They keeps making updates, and giving us new products (that we can't order yet) and telling us that new things are coming. But when we ask our DM about it, she's not allowed to say anything. That is fishy to me. I've never worked for a company that didn't share the good news. Even if it wasn't up and going yet. And if they weren't allowed to say anything to us, they never even hinted to something new. Everything just seems sketchy and a cover for what is really happening.
Either way the resume is ready to go and I'm looking for a new job, but I'm here until the end. I'd rather be laid off and collect EI then quit and get nothing. However, if they're not Photos Unlimited, and the close the doors, they better get ready to pay up! Hear that little spy? If that transaction didn't go through, and the doors close, those letters mean nothing. And we will compensated.

lol i hear ya. it's the same through out the week. No one comes in after 5pm. Or at least the don't here. Then again, most people are no shows to their appointments here anyway. Why come inside an old out dated studio, with outdated props and backgrounds when you can have someone go where you want them to. There are 13 professional studios here in my town, and all but us will travel to where the client wants to go. And that's not including all the "pros" on facebook that advertise around here. Here's hoping our little spy's on here see that and start to get with the program. We do all the hard work with sh!t to use. *sigh* doesn't matter anyway.

Ours we not cut either. However we are now closing from 2-3 on saturdays and sundays when we never have before.

Our internet is out at the studio and when my associate called the number didn't work. Had to call our DM to get a number. When he got through with the right number, no one answered. He was on hold for two hours.

I just had to deal with them last week about a lighting issue. they said they couldn't help and told me to call my DM. Like my DM can fix a lighting issue.

Raise? I have only received two. One when I became manager 4 years ago and another one when they moved me from sears to Wal-Mart. I haven't seen a raise since then. We bust our asses and get nothing in return. We get "incentives" that don't work and then we "win" we don't get the pay out. Anybody in here ever win from the period photo contests? Did you ever get the new props promised? Doubt it. Who uses p
rops as an incentive anyway? If there are new props EVERYONE should get them. Not just a select few.

Interesting. The need to get their sh!t together and give everyone the same info. This is so confusing.

I was told yesterday by my DM not to contact Lorna as she has been put into a new position. If we have any HR related questions we are to call our DM and she will pass it along to the right people.

Why can't we contact Lorna?

I see the company has changed the one pose package. Its gone from 12.99 to 13.99. I have a huge hate on for this 365 day a year coupon. Talk about cheapening our buisness. This coupon needs to vanish...like it never flippin existed. Or at the very least make the extra subject fee $5.00 PER person and not just a flat $5.00 for as many people as they like. Hate this coupon Soooooooo much.

Has anyone read the new communicate? It was mentioning about pet and outdoor photography. Thoughts? I know I am a bit weary. We are nine days out from the year "anniversary" of the abrupt closure of the state studios. I wonder if this is just a cover.

If you can I haven't found it yet. It would be nice but there is a lot you can do with wedding that yiu can't do in suites.

Auto pop is the only thing I like about it. Wedding had so many other options.

Ya I feel your pain. You'll hate suites. The autopop feature is nice but the rest of it is crap. I was trained on portrait and wedding and hate suites since they moved me to the Wal-Mart side of the buisness. Just remeber to breathe when it crashes.

what changes are you talking about?

Ya... I'm not winning lol. I need a new job to. I hurt frim being stressed out all the time. My body has had enough.

We were told not to use the new ones yet either.

Basically we have to book 5+ outreach per shift. When we reach 5 we email our DM saying Rabbit in the hole. If we don't get up to 5 by the end of the shift the rabbit is still running. who ever has booked the most appointments by the end of the week gets a 20 walmart.gift cars.

Any other studios playing "rabbit in the hole" to get more sits? We have been doing this since Monday to increase the sits in our district and I'm terrified to book anyone in passed April 1st.

I wish there was a like button right now lol.

ok eddy2, so I'm a little confused with all that you wrote. So are we the titanic sinking to our doom or not?

Best of luck Ruffy. You did the right thing.

lol... looks like i will now.

Yesterday on my conference call (we finally had one) we were told lots of new and exciting things were coming our way. ...but my dm wasn't allowed to tell us yet. That doesn't make any sensem why can't we know now. If everything is as good as she's claiming, then why can't she tell us what's coming?

Ya we were told to do it last week to and then when we noticed it wasnt updated on the browser, we were told it would be this weekend. Now we're told its been cancelled for this weekend.

So we were told there was inventory last weekend. It was cancelled. We've been told all week that tomorrow we will have inventory. Guess what? It's been cancelled again. Just doesn't make sense. Yet I am "reassured" that we're all good. We are NOT all good. Why do they feel the need to lie to us? We're not stupid.

something fishy is going on and i don't like it lol.

has anyone else noticed that this stock has had a zero volume for a few days now? kind of like it's flat lining. that should be a hint right there i think.

From my understanding photos unlimited is our current executive board who are trying to buy assets of CPI. And of course the letter is a formality. It's to cover their a$$es. Basically they will be able to let us all go without having to pay us a red cent. That is how I am interpreting the information I have.
My DM was supposed to have a conference call this morning and when we all went to sign in it says the passcode was invalid. It did that last Monday to. Average tickets are no longer available and the shipping schedule only added 2 more weeks to it... or something like that. 45 day audits hasn't been updated since February of last year. I made up my own to stay on track.
There is a lot going down that makes me question everything they are doing and its making it hard to stay happy for the clients with this impending doom lurking over my head. I don't know how to tell them to get the CD without making them nervous.
I am wondering if they did something similar to the states.

My goal is to be gone before Christmas. That is if the company even makes it that far and I have a sinking feel it won't be. My gut hasn't been wrong yet since being with this company.

That's what I'm afraid of.

Its not a done deal. Transaction should go through today or sometime next week. that is if it goes through at all