We keep hearing about how desperate JCPenney is to get customers and their wallets inside the doors these days. Well, they’re not going to get reader Kristen and her family’s money anymore. It’s too bad, too: Kristen and Mr. Kristen have twin babies. Do you know how fast kids outgrow their clothes? In duplicate? They had made an appointment at their local JCP’s portrait studio, and found the studio abandoned. The ostensible reason: the camera was broken. You’re running a portrait studio without a backup camera?

She sent this letter to the only executive e-mail address she could find for JC Penney, but hasn’t received a response.

I am writing to you as a dissatisfied, loyal customer. On Saturday, November 17, 2012 at 1:10 PM we had an appointment with your Portrait Studio at the [redacted] location. We have been there many times in the past and had a great experience. On this day we were scheduled for a family sitting, me, my husband and my twin 9 month daughters. We arrived at the appointment 10 minutes early after driving 45 minutes to get there. After waiting for about 10 minutes someone from the salon next door came over and informed us that the portrait studio was closed due to the fact that the camera was broken. We understand that things happen, my issue is we did not receive a call to inform us our appointment was canceled. Nor did we receive a call the next day apologizing for the inconvenience, asking us to reschedule or to offer us an explanation. I had planned on purchasing a larger package along with Christmas cards. Needless to say we were very disappointed, it is not easy to get out of the house with twin infants and I would like to reschedule however I have a “bitter taste”.

JCP is not the only option in this area. I would like to continue to patronize this location but I need a resolution.

JC Penney, you may not have heard about it, but there’s this thing called “desktop publishing.” t’s simple and easy for families to slap a digital family portrait taken at home on cards that they print themselves. As department stores are becoming less and less relevant to our lives, maybe you could try having a working camera sitting around when a young family that remembers you offer portrait services and is willing to pay for them show up.

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