Prestige Portraits Deliberately difficult to use website, does not honor discount codes, confusing and misleading, Internet

The nationwide Prestige Portraits website is difficult to use and frustrating for students and parents alike.  This company has a near monopoly on public school photos and should be investigated and regulated due to their advertising and software schemes.

They send out "discount codes" by email which are not vaild upon checkout.  Their online software does not allow a parent to see their completed package of photos before purchase.  The website appears deliberately designed to be confusing and difficult, causing parents to add additional items at exorbitant prices to their shopping carts.  I've spent nearly 3 hours trying to purchase a simple package with no luck.  Their 800 number has limited availability, yet they bombard you with emails 24/7. 

The website seems as if it was designed by psychologists to cause people to "invest" a great deal of time designing photos and layouts so that they feel obligated to purchase the final packages which range from $400 to $1000.  The photos are arranged in a confusing order with a very unnatural numbering system.  It makes it hard to sort and organize your favorites.

If parents insist on using this company, set-up a website account but DO NOT buy anything.  After a couple months, they'll start sending 20%, 30% and 40% discount codes.  The codes they sent me didn't work, but I plan to demand my discount over the phone if they want me to purchase anything.  By the way, my other child's photos are on their from 2 years ago, so don't feel rushed.... this company will wait until you are are ready to pay.

I'd recommend finding a good local photographer and getting an honest price for exactly what you want.  Prestige is playing games with the minds of parents and children who are excited about graduating high school.  They have them invest hours in posing in multiple outfits and backgrounds.  They then make it worse by sending poorly organized proofs so that you spend more time trying to figure out what photos you like.  After that, log on to the confusing software and waste more time. At that point, you'll purchase out of sheer frustration.  What a terrible business model!  Who has hundreds and hundreds of dollars for their lousy photos?  Get a local photographer for a couple hours --  you'll probably spend $100 or $200 and they'll give you a disk with the right to reproduce.

Prestige should be ashamed and the Department of Education and Commerce should investigate them for using exploitative tactics against parents.