Light Impressions

Hi All

I attended Photo Plus yesterday and stopped by the Light Impressions (LI) booth, met John Sexton and also spent some time talking to Larry Proctor (last of the and my former account managers) at LI. Larry has given me the go ahead to post this information. I spoke with Larry regarding concerns and the fact that many of us (including many here at APUG) were Professional Photographers who had had accounts with LI. Last year they changed their practice much to the dismay to many of us. Larry told me that he was not in favor of what had happened, but he said had the changes not taken place, we would not have been talking yesterday (meaning they would be out of business).

Now, there has been another change to LI with a new President and they are having a new direction. Larry is in our court about what we want and what he would like to happen. He is in the process of changing things so that there will be a 2 tier system for Professional accounts the present one for bricks and mortar business with their $10,000 minimum order and a new second tier for those of us that are Pros that have our accounts reimplemented. Along with this change, I believe that he will push for our account agreement reimplemented for our time for payment.

I spoke with Larry about the possibility of offering a discount to APUG members as a collective group since there is a membership of about 17,000 and probably the lions share of the membership here in the US and Canada. Larry indicated that he would have no problem trying to implement a discount for all of the APUG membership. I will try to keep the members updated on this as things develop.

I am wondering however, how many of us here at APUG do or have used LI for a source of some or much of your framing needs. Please make any comments about this below.

I have included a poll for the discussion as well.

Rich

I used to use LI, but their service was poor. I won't use them again.

Peter De Smidt said:

I used to use LI, but their service was poor. I won't use them again.

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Exactly my experience. And their prices were just too high.

I've used LI several times and not once have I had a problem. For the stuff I buy (and yes, I've compared numerous competitors) their prices are very much in line with the others.

There are certain products I have a very hard time finding from anyone else other than LI (8-ply mat board, in any size, let alone in 32x40 sheets, for example), and so I find myself forced to order from them. I do find their website rather confusing sometimes. I also find their knowledge (or lack thereof) of what is in stock at the time I order to be annoying. It is very frustrating to order things and find them indefinitely backordered, and only be apprised of this when the rest of your order arrives and it's marked on the invoice. If they could improve upon that, it would go a long way to increasing the volume of stuff I would order from them.

Last time I ordered from Light Impressions they TOTALLY SCREWED UP!!!! I mean really bad, so much so I wonder how they can stay in business. Twice I had to return the wrong item, at their expense and ended up getting the items for free.

They make good products, do not buy from them, but try another outlet like Calumet.

Peter De Smidt said:

I used to use LI, but their service was poor. I won't use them again.

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Same experiance here, so no more for me..

Dave

I have apprised Larry Proctor of problems that have arisen for my orders and alluded to some that I know that others have had. I will direct him to this thread. I know that LI has been having some problems for some time. But I believe that Larry and the new President want to improve service and eliminate or at least minimize the problems that we have observed. Additionally, from what Larry had indicated their financial situation has improved since this time last year. They are also aware that they have probably lost millions of dollars of business since they changed their business practice last year due to the arrangements with their Pro accounts and problems and concerns that have been mentioned. They want to recover the business that they have lost. Larry has also indicated that he is in the process of a training program to better train those in the call center so that service will improve. I am also sure that they wish to have shipping problems resolved as well. Many of us have noted a decline in their service since they moved from Rochester to California.

Rich

I didn't see a choice in the poll that would apply to me. I have used and continue to use LI products...pre-cut mats...and like them very much, but I don't buy in enough bulk to warrant any other than the occasional free shipping, or 15% discount that comes along every now and then. (Actually, I am waiting to order some mats until such an offer is made.) LI is the only place I've come across that offers some of the stuff I need, so I buy that from them, but in general, their prices are just too high. It's been an adventure to find alternatives, but they're out there. It's a tough decision, I guess, to price your merchandise high and lose some business, or cut the prices, do more business, but not make as much. I wish them well.

BTW, it was a pleasure to see them at PHOTOPLUS yesterday (Saturday) and meet John Sexton and see one of his actual prints. Yes, I'm buying the book.

jovo said:

I didn't see a choice in the poll that would apply to me. I have used and continue to use LI products...pre-cut mats...and like them very much, but I don't buy in enough bulk to warrant any other than the occasional free shipping, or 15% discount that comes along every now and then. (Actually, I am waiting to order some mats until such an offer is made.) LI is the only place I've come across that offers some of the stuff I need, so I buy that from them, but in general, their prices are just too high. It's been an adventure to find alternatives, but they're out there. It's a tough decision, I guess, to price your merchandise high and lose some business, or cut the prices, do more business, but not make as much. I wish them well.

BTW, it was a pleasure to see them at PHOTOPLUS yesterday (Saturday) and meet John Sexton and see one of his actual prints. Yes, I'm buying the book.

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Hi John,

Part of the reason I did not include what you may be looking for in the poll is because the intent and what Larry and I have been discussing would apply to a discount at any time. That will be due to the potentially large number of orders coming from so many APUG members. Nothing has been indicated what that discount might be at this point. That is still something in the works and something that Larry and Light Impressions would have to determine. Once I hear what they would consider a discount rate I will report this. But, as I indicate, as far as I know this discount would apply to any purchase. It would probably be set up based on an account code specific to APUG members.

But, please feel free to respond to the poll. I do want Larry to read the thread and see the outcome to the poll. The total amount saved by an individual could be small or substantial depending upon you the individual and your purchases; but enough additional sales will certainly be welcomed by LI.

Rich

I use Light Impressions, mostly for mouting supplies. Sure is cheaper than buying it locally. They did royally mess up one of my orders and all of my requests for action went unanswered. However, I will continue to buy from them because they sell things I need that are hard to find elsewhere and are still expensive if you do find them.

naturephoto1 said:

But, please feel free to respond to the poll. I do want Larry to read the thread and see the outcome....

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Okay. I voted to welcome a discount as an ongoing customer.

i was a customer for over 10 years. and had ups and downs with various orders; however, having an account rep was helpful as one could talk with the same person and developed a working relationship.

i had no trouble when they changed the way they desided to do away with my discount as i only spent a few thousand dollars a year. The problem was , i was not advised and had an order out there somewhere , and if i hadn't called to find out how things were coming along i would never had known it ; it hadn't even been touched let alone filled.

the other issue, ordering things that had to be back ordered, all the time. It got to be tiresome and at times a real problem even when ordering things weeks in advance.

i like some of their products and would like to do business again but only when i feel confident that they are going to make an attempt; a serious attempt at changing basic customer service.

Until last year when they upped the commitment to $10,000, I had a retail account with LI for several years. I spend a lot with them, but it is still shy of the new requirement. Although they did make a few mistakes over the years, most were with packaging damage and all were handled to my satisfaction and in a timely manner. Even though I was very unhappy with losing the discount, I cannot complain about any other facet of my dealings with them. I am happy they have survived and will continue to deal with them. A group discount would be very nice however. I'm sure as a group we could easily do 10,000 a year. Count me in.

Bill

I've always had good luck with Light Impressions, never had a problem.

I use them all the time. I've never had any problems and a discount is always welcome.

I have never used them for a lot, but when I need them they come through. I have only had one mistake and they made good on it right away, when the item, that was lost somewhere in the system, did finally show up, whoever I talked too told me not to worry about sending it back. When I need to order stuff again, I will from them.

t_nunn said:

I've used LI several times and not once have I had a problem. For the stuff I buy (and yes, I've compared numerous competitors) their prices are very much in line with the others.

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This is pretty much my experience. I order annually and generally get exactly what I need at a price I'm willing to pay. When they opened the CA shop, however, I grumbled a bit (and still do) about having to now pay CA sales tax on top of shipping (which isn't geting any cheaper).

I'd welcome any kind of affinity-group discount they may consider. If offered I'd buy more than the normal supplies -- I seriously need to re-do all of my neg storage systems.

I used to use LI all the time, but they've just screwed up too many times for me to want to use them again. Orders shipped to a completely wrong address twice (the only similarity being the same city), damaged matboard (including the replacement), poorly manufactured sleeves (unsealed when they should have been sealed), the list goes on. I use University Products instead.
Keith.

My opinions shouldn't carry much weight, with only a few hundred dollars a year in purchases over many years. However, despite a recent decline in delivery time, I intend to continue buying from them, discount or not, as long as they are competative.

naturephoto1 said:

It would probably be set up based on an account code specific to APUG members.

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I think this should be Apug subscribers, not members.

Jeremy Moore said:

I think this should be Apug subscribers, not members.

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Hi Jeremy,

When I discussed the possibility of discount with Larry Proctor, I suggested it for all members (not differentiating Members from Subscribers). Nothing has been discussed with Sean about the discount. I took this upon myself for investigation to benefit both LI and the APUG membership. If Sean, David, Ole, and John think it appropriate that only Subscribers receive a discount, I will suggest it to Larry. Obviously, a larger base for APUG purchases would benefit LI as well as the purchaser.

Rich

I thought enough of LI to purchase their lifetime subscription to "The Light Impressions Review" in the mid 80's. I think it apparently was also discontinued in the mid 80's. I'm a pretty small buyer of their products compared to the big guys and have not purchased from them for two years or so. I have now backed away from them because of problems stated in this forum. If they have things straighted out I would probably go back to buying from them. An APUG discount would be greatly appreciated.
Jim

I've been buying from LI for a few years now and spend a few thousand dollars with them each year. There has been a few mistakes on their behalf, but nothing serious that was not fixed right away. For example, they shipped my order to my BILLING address instead of my SHIPPING address a few times, but they had FedEx pick up the packaged and I had it 2 days later at no cost to me. Another time I had some matboard get slightly foxed on the corner, however they sent me out a replacement RIGHT away.

So all in all...I've been VERY pleased with their products and their service and will continue to buy from them for the years to come. A small 10-15% discount would actually make me buy more from them, since everytime I get one of their discount cards in the mail I usually place a huge order!

All the best,

Ryan McIntosh
www.RyanMcIntosh.net

I've used LI for years and only had one problem which was resolved. While I do think their prices are on the high side, it is the price mark-up on the shipping that I object to. Now I only order when there is a free shipping offer.

I have to agree that a discount should only apply to subscribers. Say a "subscriber only" link to LI. with automatic discount. I would think that that would benefit both LI and APUG.