• Picaboo

Picaboo

Is this your business?
Write a Review

Overview

Picaboo has a rating of 1.7 stars from 149 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Picaboo most frequently mention customer service, photo book, and christmas cards problems. Picaboo ranks 135th among Photo Printing sites.

  • Service
    12
  • Value
    15
  • Shipping
    14
  • Returns
    6
  • Quality
    13
Positive reviews (last 12 months): 0%
Positive
0
Neutral
0
Negative
1
12
See all photos
How would you rate Picaboo?
Top Positive Review

“Picaboo made up for not getting an order shipped out in time.”

Anne S.
1/12/17

We have used Picaboo several times and are very pleased with the design tool and the quality of the printed books. Recently, Picaboo didn't ship out my order when they said they would and my books did not make it to my house before we left on vacation for Christmas -- even though I had paid for 2nd Day Shipping. I had to have a neighbor pick them up off my porch and overnight them to us before Christmas. The good news is that Picaboo refunded us both shipping charges. Because they made up for their mistake we will definitely use this company again.

Top Critical Review

“Lay flat books come unglued”

Angela S.
1/3/24

I have been making books for 10 years now. I usually make the lay flat books so the photos don't get lost in the seam. The books are quite expensive so I always watch for sales. The big issue I am having with these books is that the glue holding the pages together is deteriorating and the pages are coming apart. Unfortunately they only stand behind their books for 30 days. I have spent thousands of dollars on books that will all probably fall apart in a few years….

Reviews (149)

Rating

Timeframe

Other

Reviews that mention popular keywords

photo book (36) customer service (65)
Thumbnail of user aliciap4
Illinois
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 3rd, 2013

Horrible experience ordering Holiday cards. When I placed the order, the only estimate I received was 2-7 days delivery. I finally got the confirmation email 3 hours after I placed the order with a delivery date of 14 days. The email said I had half an hour to cancel my order through a provided link. When I tried to cancel, it said it was in production and could not be cancelled. When I finally got through to someone in support, they said it could only be cancelled 30 minutes after the order was placed 3 earlier! I told him I wouldn't have known to cancel then since the 14th day estimate was only provided in the email and the email said I have 30 minutes to cancel, presumably from the time I received it. They didn't give an inch. Horrible, horrible, horrible. I should have stuck to tinyprints!

Thumbnail of user stephw4
Canada
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
January 6th, 2014

I read a lot of reviews and worried a little when I decided to use them to build my photobook - but I wanted access to all the "shared" materials for my Disney book. The tool to build the books is online now and I found it easy to use. You could select to hide pictures you've already used or it automatically put a checkmark on pictures you'd used. It let me know when my pictures were too low resolution and it was easy to upload a large number of photos.
The book shipped within days of ordering - NYE was during the wait period. The book was delivered within 3 days and was well packaged.
I have no complaints about the quality of the product. I had some pictures that were grainy and fuzzy - which was my fault for using a phone instead of a camera. I would order from them again - and the buy one get one free was a good deal.

Thumbnail of user mariaz5
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
August 27th, 2013

Terrible system! Placed an order then cancelled it almost immediately and was short changed $30! Contacted customer support and apparently nothing they can do. Never ordering from picaboo.com again!

Thumbnail of user thomasb66
Oregon
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
July 7th, 2013

Customer service is a nightmare. The photo quality I received was worse than Costco, and their Satisfaction Guarantee is garbage. Avoid this company! Try shutterfly instead.

Thumbnail of user lesn
Oklahoma
1 review
4 helpful votes
  • Send Message
May 20th, 2014

I have been loyal Picaboo user for several years, but I will no longer recommend them. The last two projects just dreadful. I purchased their best product, full hard cover & layflat pages. The layflats imply don't print well. All photos fuzzy. And the hard covers shown as you work are not accurate. "Stuff" that's clearly in the nonprintable area is printed & ruin the covers. Their customer service people are just dreadful. When they tell you that a manager will call that's the kissoff. Too bad, their site is easy to use and provides some variety that othr sites do not.

Thumbnail of user patv22
California
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 3rd, 2018

I have ordered over 50 photo books from Picaboo and each one is amazing! I started ordering from Picaboo over 8 years ago and found them to have the best quality of any other printing website on the internet. Picaboo's program is easy to use and allows you to use either pre-prepared templates or custom the books to meet your personal needs. This is a huge plus for me! For the price that you pay, it's the best deal in town, especially when you wait for their special offers. I usually have one or two books ready to go to send in as soon as they advertise "All extra pages free." Customer Service goes above and beyond in order to meet all of my concerns. I have only had one situation that needed to be solved and within 90 minutes of when I made my initial contact, a replacement book was being printed and on its way to my home. Shipping is fast and I have received each of my orders at least 3 days before the date that I was initially promised. Each printed page is clear and done extremely well. Working with Picaboo has been a very positive experience! Thank you, Picaboo, for giving me a means of "saving my memories"!

Thumbnail of user cassyo
Canada
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 12th, 2013

This is the most USER-UNFRIENDLY website I have used in over a decade or more! I cannot believe I wasted hours and hours trying to create a photo book. After hours of laboring on the first book, I found out that the photos that I edited had not even loaded. I spend more hours reloading and editing everything, and just when I thought I had the perfect book, the page went blank. I am so frustrated with Picaboo. Please save yourself the trouble, and find another site!

Thumbnail of user jourdanc
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
December 3rd, 2013

I was almost finished with a photobook project to give to my parents for their 40th anniversary. The book was made up mostly of photos of my 2 year-old twins' lives to date. Picoboo had a promotion, which is why I started the project. I had internet issues the last night of the project and couldn't complete the order. I contacted them the next day to ask if I could still complete my purchase with the promotion. I was told no, and the hours of work I spent on the photobook has now all gone to waste as I cannot afford their regular prices. They should honor their promotions based on when the project started and especially since I wanted to finish the project and pay them the very next day. Not good customer service.

Thumbnail of user patrickk16
California
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
November 23rd, 2013

Ugh. Spent hours creating a photo book that was just 54 pages. When trying to add it to the cart to order it, it gets stuck on the 'Preparing for Upload' stage for hours and hours. Even left it on overnight and still hadn't uploaded. On top of that, the darn page doesn't sync so I can't even order it from my desktop. So I redid the whole photo book again, and same problem. Picaboo's Support team doesn't really know what they're talking about. They aren't knowledgeable and all they tell me to do is check my internet speed (which is fast enough) and doesn't provide any solutions. DO NOT ever order from here.

Thumbnail of user vickil127
Ohio
3 reviews
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 11th, 2019

They sent my books to the wrong address twice and would not refund me or give me new books. This is a terrible company with terrible customer service. Very disappointing

Thumbnail of user sarj
Utah
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
November 21st, 2019

Got three vouchers and was forced to use them seperately - thereby tripling my cost. Very frustrating and not customer friendly. Will think twice about using them next time.

Thumbnail of user amyh79
Texas
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 16th, 2015

I have used Picaboo in the past and not had any issues, but when I recently tried to place a large print order everything kept crashing. When I called they said my project was too big, break it up. I did. Still crashed. Called again 45 minutes later after telling me to connect to a landline - super inconvenient, even though we tested my internet speed and they decided it was more than adequate. If I didn't have vouchers that I needed to use I would've already gone elsewhere. I requested to talk to a manager... more than one person told me, "The managers don't talk to customers." Are you kidding me? Apparently they are too busy to talk to customers but will email me. This is an ongoing problem. I've spent hours working on adjusting my prints and none of my work will save and I can't even get into my cart. Customer service can't either. I asked for a refund on my vouchers and was simply told, they are past the 30 days that they will refund them. So what am I to do? SO DISAPPOINTED! This is absolutely ridiculous!

Thumbnail of user joyceb503
Pennsylvania
1 review
0 helpful votes
  • Send Message
January 18th, 2021

I ordered my son a large canvas and spent $85. Once I submitted it I sent them a question asking if they felt that I should submit a different picture because the eyes on the dog were whitened by the flash. I never heard from them. Tried calling them on the next business day and they never returned my call so I emailed them again and someone did return my email by saying it went to production and there is nothing they can do about it. And "However, as a one-time courtesy, if you would like to edit/reorder the project, we can offer you a 80% discount on the new order. To take advantage of this, simply make the edits needed, place a new order with no promotions or discounts applied, and reply to this email. Make sure the new order is for the same size/quantity/page count, and I will then manually issue a refund for 80% of the product cost, not including shipping or tax. Please note: This offer is not able to be combined with any other discounts or promotions."
For it being in production, it took 3 weeks to get the picture to me.

Sadly for them, they not only lost my business and money, but people who I know looking for recommendations will not get from them.

I know it's not their fault for the picture I chose, but I reached out to them immediately.

Stick with Shutterfly, they have better customer service!

Thumbnail of user marys807
California
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
April 27th, 2018

Received a photo canvas as a gift. Picaboo did a horrible job, leaving a black line across the bottom and not calling it out. They are re-doing it BUT CHARGED FOR THE REPLACEMENT! Don't believe their "100% Satisfaction Guarantee." It is a lie.

Thumbnail of user gregn57
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
October 23rd, 2019

They charge two or three times what their competitors charge for no real added value. Better off to go to one of the more reasonably priced competitors.

Thumbnail of user sn85
Arizona
2 reviews
6 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 19th, 2019

100% satisfaction is a farce! Poor customer service, no one will EVER CALL YOU BACK... The pictures DO NOT LOOK LIKE WHAT YOU SEE WHEN BOOK IS PRINTED! Do not order from this company... I have also filed with BBB regarding this company

Thumbnail of user jennib3
Georgia
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
January 10th, 2014

DO NOT ORDER FROM THIS COMPANY! I had guaranteed delivery by 12/24 and did not receive my package. I think contacted them and requested a new package and they sent it to the wrong address. I contacted them for the third time and they refused to refund my money! I would never order from this site again.

Thumbnail of user joanneb38
Canada
2 reviews
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 7th, 2015

I have used Picaboo for every photo book I have made. I travelled extensively for a year, and created books for all of my trips. I did read the reviews about the images appearing dark in the final product, so I lightened the pictures before printing to avoid that problem. The lay flat books are expensive, but I love the one that I made. I love their unlimited pages deals, as I have created a couple of these for my more extensive trips. As for the shipping costs and product arrival dates that people have complained about, if you look on the website, the costs and dates of product arrival are clearly indicated, so even though it might stink to pay for those costs (which aren't unreasonable), you can order or not with full information. Picaboo is easy to use, the options for page layout are as simple or as complicated as you wish for them to be, and the uploading of images takes a reasonable length of time (never hours!). My feeling is that the angry, dissatisfied customers have been enraged enough to write reviews, but happy customers that will continue to order fabulous Picaboo products have just neglected to post their stories of satisfaction.

Thumbnail of user evem46
Oregon
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
December 19th, 2018

Ordered photos 12/4 for w delivery date 12/18. Just found out Picaboo contracts with Fed Shxxpost to deliver. Shxxpost subcontracts w USPS and once delivered to USPS will not garantee deleivery or delivery date. My photos are now due to arrive 12/26 ( if at all)
I have used picaboo in the past and will not use them in the future if they contract their shipping out and cannot garantee delivery.

Thumbnail of user torit2
Florida
3 reviews
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
October 9th, 2013

The offers are for products they don't even have to offer on their website, so you do their 10 page book, instead of the 20 page book, so as not to go over your voucher, the book offered was 8x8, NOT what the voucher stated! Then, website absolutely TERRIBLE, and I do this every day! So, in the end, ordered 1/2 of what the groupon offered from picaboo, took me 1/2 hr. To even get the book to the shopping cart! (kept taking me back to my projects when I selected "order"! Then, groupon said "+FREE SHIPPING"... but they charged me 7.99 shipping! Get this, they said I was being charged shipping because I ordered lay flat pages instead of original pages... LIKE THAT HAS ANYTHING TO DO WITH SHIPPING! Groupon or not, seriously, STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY... WILL BE BACK WHEN I RECIEVE MY BOOKS... IM SURE THEY WILL BE AS GOOD AS THE WEBSITE AND THE CUSTOMER CARE PEOPLE! WHAT A JOKE AND SCAM!

Thumbnail of user katiep64
New York
1 review
3 helpful votes
  • Send Message
October 10th, 2017

I also must be part of the minority that actually likes Picaboo, but I have never had a problem with them and actually had a great customer service experience with them. I've ordered books from them in the past and two Christmases ago, I created a scrapbook for my mom/aunt who visited me in Italy. The one for my aunt was going to be a Christmas gift. The book ordered maybe a week or so before Christmas and had a printing error of some sort-there were white blotches printed on some of the pages. All Picaboo asked for me to do was send a picture of what it looked like so they could forward it to the right department and they overnight shipped two more books (what I originally purchased) and didn't require me to send back the misprinted ones. So not only did I have the new book in time for Christmas, it was also completely hassle-free to me. As far as their prices- I think the books are amazing quality so you get what you pay for. Their website/vouchers also CLEARLY STATE that you cannot combine coupons so the people who are very pissed off should've taken the time to educate themselves first. I also like the ease of using the website- a ton of different layouts to choose from, great background options, stickers, etc. I travel/scrapbook a lot and I will 110% always use Picaboo!

Thumbnail of user wendyb559
California
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
August 24th, 2020

First off, this site is extremely user-unfriendly. I teach online, so I am tech savvy, but the tutorials they have are only for photo books and not for other products. I have used Shutterfly, Costco, and Sam's Club card making services with no problems, but Picaboo is awful and you have to fight your way through it with no assistance. Secondly, I have a voucher that I purchased at a fund-raising raffle, which states on it that it can be used on cards. The site says it CANNOT be used on cards, so I called to inquire. The rep told me that it is a mistake when they were printed and they can't be used on cards. The company refuses to make good on their own mistake, which says a lot about their lack of integrity as a company. It seems other people have had the same issue with the poor customer service and the lack of integrity of this company. Give your business to a more reputable company where they will properly support their website and will own up to their own errors in good faith. SO SO DISAPPOINTING.

Thumbnail of user darab13
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
  • Send Message
December 31st, 2014

I have used Picaboo for several years to produce calendars for my parents and my in-laws for Christmas. Additionally, I had produced a photobook of our wedding. I have been happy with all these purchases.

I was worried this Christmas (2014), as I saw many negative reviews about the quality decreasing over past years. The calendars that arrived were wonderful, as always. Very happy with the continued quality. In fact, my mother commented on a couple of the images that were old slides we've had converted... that they looked better and brighter than they ever have printed anywhere else. As well, I ordered the calendars on the last day that they guaranteed Christmas delivery and was pleasantly surprised that they arrived with at least a week to spare.

I can't really comment on customer service as I haven't had to deal with any unfortunate issues.

Something new I did learn this year. Though... if you have a Groupon/deal/etc and the expiry date passes, you do still have the purchase amount as credit, but you can't combine it with any other discount offers that might be happening. It seems you must use it for regular priced product. I'm not necessarily thrilled with that, but a)it's my own fault that I couldn't finish a project in the 6 months before expiry and b) there's enough special offers and sales out there that next time, I'll finish a project first and then wait for the deal to print it with. It seems to be an issue with the fact that that you can only use 1 code per order, so after you use your gift certificate code, you can't put in the code for the deal/sale pricing

Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user loum25
Pennsylvania
1 review
2 helpful votes
  • Send Message
December 16th, 2013

I ordered 4 calendars for Christmas gifts with photos of my boys. One of the calendars - the pages were not even bound into the wire binding - the page fell out. Called and waited for 11 minutes and then they hung up on me! On line chat - they wanted me to take photos of their broken product and send it to them in order for them to reprocess the order and send me a new one! TERRIBLE PRODUCT AND TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Thumbnail of user michaeln69
California
1 review
5 helpful votes
  • Send Message
January 13th, 2016

We tried to use software to put together photobooks. Not only was it cumbersome to use, there was no way to sort pictures or an autofill feature (after the initial option). Stay away from Picaboo

Sitejabber for Business

Gain trust and grow your business with customer reviews.

About the business

Create beautiful photo books, cards, calendars and more with Picaboo.

How do I know I can trust these reviews about Picaboo?

  • Sitejabber’s mission is to increase online transparency for buyers and businesses
  • Sitejabber has helped over 200M buyers make better purchasing decisions online
  • Suspicious reviews are flagged by our algorithms, moderators, and community members
Have a question about Picaboo?

Is this your business?

Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and manage your listing.

Claim Your Business