• Shutterfly

Shutterfly

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Overview

Shutterfly has a rating of 1.4 stars from 975 reviews, indicating that most customers are generally dissatisfied with their purchases. Reviewers complaining about Shutterfly most frequently mention customer service, christmas cards, and photo book problems. Shutterfly ranks 143rd among Photo Printing sites.

  • Service
    284
  • Value
    264
  • Shipping
    271
  • Returns
    162
  • Quality
    236

This company does not typically respond to reviews

Positive reviews (last 12 months): 8.9%
Positive
7
Neutral
0
Negative
72
160
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How would you rate Shutterfly?
Top Positive Review

“Beautiful Books and Cards”

Wanda K.
2/15/24

I've created 27 projects over the past 15 years on Shutterfly. This includes 15 different photo books. Each and every time, I've always received excellent, professional customer service and beautiful books. I custom design all my books. There may have been a couple of times over the years that I needed Shutterfly to help with a mistake. However, they stand behind there products 100%. If you aren't an experienced design person then ask for help. Use high quality photos! Remember Shutterfly didn't take the pictures. The photo quality of books and cards depend on what you upload. Low quality photos will create poor quality projects; so don't blame Shutterfly for your photos. They will make what you approve. Start your project early enough to allow for help and receive book in ample time in case the book or cards need to be possibly replaced if it's the direct fault of Shutterfly.

Top Critical Review

“Poor performance”

Beth T.
8/23/24

I ordered three photo books. The order was processed, they gave me a delivery date and then only one book came in the mail. No explanation- I figured it was an error and called customer service. I was told that it would come in two shipments---Why? This makes no sense and was a huge inconvenience. Now I see all the complaints I understand this is not a one off. I will not use them again. Way too expensive for such poor service!

Reviews (975)

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Reviews that mention popular keywords

christmas cards (114) photo book (92) delivery date (44) customer service (366) photo books (92)
Thumbnail of user cherylm152
Illinois
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 30th, 2017

I will NEVER use Shutterfly again and I urge others not to! I spent hours making a college graduation photo book for my daughter and chose expedited shipping that ensured delivery by June 29th. Not only did I not get the book on the guaranteed date, I will not have the book in time for my daughter's graduation party. When I called customer service I was given the run-around. I spoke with several different support agents and never got a truthful answer. In fact, I was disconnected twice. No one would guarantee that I would receive the book by July 1st. I have always used iPhoto for my books and I have never been disappointed. The one time when I really needed a photo book, it won't be here. DO NOT believe the guaranteed arrival date for your order - you will be disappointed just like me when it doesn't arrive in time and quite honestly there is nothing that you can do. The people at Shutterfly don't care about you!

Thumbnail of user margaritak33
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 17th, 2024

Terrible quality of acrylic prints and even worse customer service! It takes forever to return and get money back! Numerous calls and time on hold. Still haven't gotten my money back

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Value
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Quality
Thumbnail of user gillianl62
Maryland
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 11th, 2021

If I could I would give them ZERO. LIARS and THIEVES! 3 weeks I waited and nothing. Each time... "it will be there tomorrow and we will issue a refund. Well... I kept telling them I depart out of the country on 12/13, at which point this is totally pointless. You see, I am dying of breast cancer and wanted to share a holiday note. Thank you Shutterfly for ruining this for me. Liars. Thieves. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME or EFFORTS.

Thumbnail of user karene353
Florida
1 review
1 helpful vote
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November 21st, 2019

I spent two weeks creating a memory book for my mom's 80th birthday. I paid extra money for expedited shipping so it would be here on time. They even GUARANTEE delivery by that date. My book was guaranteed for delivery yesterday; no book and according to their crappy customer service people it's not even in production. Now I have to redo the book on another site and pay even more to have the book in time for her birthday. I will NEVER use Shutterfly again.

Thumbnail of user betsyl65
Colorado
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 14th, 2020

My order has no delivery status... it had one, then it disappeared. It is somewhere in limbo. The wait for customer service is over 45 minutes. The online is no better. I understand it is a COVID year, but get your act together!

Thumbnail of user alexandracawley5
Pennsylvania
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 19th, 2023

Ordered Christmas cards December 6,2023. When I called customer service last Monday they told me they had been shipped and it hadn't updated on my account yet. It is now December 19 and I'm now being told they wont arrive until December 22nd! It now says they just shipped on my account. I will never be using Shutterfly again. The guy lied just so I wouldn't cancel my Christmas cards.

Products used:
Christmas card

Service
Shipping
Thumbnail of user yuliag13
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 29th, 2021

I purchased the photoshoot on Shoot photos company site in combination with the Shutterfly post cards package. I then realized that the promo code from 510 families of 10% did not apply as it should have. The cost of the photoshoot full package was supported to be $216. But I decided to add Shutterfly package which seemed like a great deal and paid $256. And it is not. I overpaid $50 for a code that I need to use on Shutterfly which is super confusing. I don't see how 50 cards for $50 is a great deal. I wrote to Shoot to apply the 10% code and refund me the difference or cancel my Shutterfly package. They refused to do so. I find it hard to believe that Shuttefly cannot deactivate the code... Not buying anything from Shoot or Shutterfly ever again!

Thumbnail of user vladaa
Maryland
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 18th, 2020

Very bad service. Super bad customer service. Never received my order, never received my money back, never received answer from customer service. Terrible. Never will order again. Lost time, lost money.The worst experience

Thumbnail of user joycem222
Texas
1 review
4 helpful votes
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September 21st, 2019

I have been a customer for years and have always been happy until today.
I got a poster and 256 prints
Everything was suppose to be 1/2 off but was charged full price. I am very unpleased and will never be using this app again.

Thumbnail of user betha405
New York
1 review
3 helpful votes
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March 18th, 2023

I paid over $100 for a photo book with expedited shipping to arrive for a special occasion. I spoke to 4-5 customer service representatives and they cannot put me in contact with a manager. One guy promised me overnight shipping to rectify the situation but someone today said it was not approved. So he lied. I used to order from them all the time, but never again. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY.

Tip for consumers:
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. CUSTOMER SERVICE IS TERRIBLE AND YOU CAN’T SPEAK TO A MANAGER.

Products used:
Photo book.

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Thumbnail of user lizai7
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
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August 16th, 2021

Easy to use, I am not too computer savy, but was able to easily do so. I ordered a few items. They were delivered incredibly fast! One item, the metal tile had been damaged during shipping, I phoned customer service and my call was answered within a couple minutes. Maribel was attentive and efficient, immediately resending a replacement as she asked if that is what I was wanting. Waiting for the last part of my order to be delivered today, cant wait! Will definitely be ordering more in the very near future.

Tip for consumers:
Extremely satisfied overall for a first time user. Very quick delivery.

Products used:
canvas print , wall hanging canvas, metal tile, pillow

Service
Value
Shipping
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Thumbnail of user tomd137
New York
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 12th, 2017

Their online help tends to be two major site revisions behind, pointing to interface features which don't exist. Uploading from Lightroom is not possible, so you have to do a two-step export+update process. When uploading, often one or two images will fail to upload for no reason at all, and you aren't able to just retry the missing files upload. Sorting is horrible and unpredictable.

Overall, it is a horrible site that I have vowed to never use again. There are much better free photo sharing sites out there, and if you pay a little you can get *MUCH* better than Shutterfly's ad-funded abomination.

Thumbnail of user amyb227
Washington
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 23rd, 2017

I would give 0 stars, if I could. Spent several hours over many, many days making 2 calendars for grandparents (their favorite gift every year!) Paid for expedited shipping and was GUARANTEED delivery by December 22nd. Received 2 more emails with December 22nd delivery. On December 23rd I tracked my package. Although as of the morning of the 22nd, it's about 30 miles from my house, the new "estimated" delivery date is December 26th! For "2 day shipping!" 2 day shipping turned into maybe 6 day shipping! (Of course they never contacted me that my guaranteed package was going to be at least 4 days late!) Unless you have an open ended amount of time, do not order! Went on Walgreens website, made a calendar, picked it up 2 hours later. So sad the grandparents won't receive a gift on Christmas and since they leave to go back home on Christmas night, I'll have to spend more $ to ship it to them as a late gift! So disappointed!

Thumbnail of user normanm17
Indiana
1 review
1 helpful vote
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February 27th, 2016

If you are ordering a gift from Shurrerfly, plan way ahead or use a different company. Lots of great deals and discounts mean nothing when their shipping is so slow. Our calendar was shipped in the 19th, and as of the 27th, we still haven't received the package.

Thumbnail of user alliew18
Canada
1 review
2 helpful votes
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April 4th, 2017

They give false tracking numbers to shippers, never deliver, ruin photo quality and are overall a sloppy unreputable business that I highly recommend you AVOID. They are costly, crappy and time consuming.

Thumbnail of user viviamt
Canada
1 review
2 helpful votes
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December 18th, 2017

I ordered the Christmas card on November 26th. It's now December 18th, I'm still waiting for it. It says the cards were shipped on Nov 28th. I don't understand why it takes more 3 weeks to get to Canada, I mean we are just across the border! And we are in Toronto, not some remote areas. So it's only 4 days to Christmas and I still haven't got the cards yet. They provided me refund (if it actually gets into my account), but it doesn't save me from the hustle of having to buy a box of random cards and mail out. Never order time sensitive prints from Shutterfly again!

Thumbnail of user kerrya68
Minnesota
1 review
13 helpful votes
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May 7th, 2020

I ordered our wedding invites last November, but due to COVID19 we have to limit the number of guest we can have at our wedding. I needed to re-order 200 invites stating the limiting of guests. Shutterfly reimbursed me for the 200 new invites I had to order, all I had to pay was shipping! I have never been disappointed by their product or customer service! Would recommend to all my friends & family.

Thumbnail of user tarindat
Bahamas
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 8th, 2020

I've ordered with them a few times, but this one time I was extremely disappointed. I orders a picture in a frame. The quality of the print was poor! It looked as if it was printed with a cheap machine on cheap paper. Wasn't worth the price at all. Very disappointed.

Thumbnail of user al413
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
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February 11th, 2022

I placed an order on the 12th of December 2021 and as of writing this review I have received no updates or emails at all about my order. Checking the website the estimated delivery date was between the 25th to 29th of December 2021. Yet here I am in the dark wondering if I've just gotten scammed.

The site is also so irritating to navigate. So if you are not savvy with technology best of luck.

Customer service is impossible to contact and their automated assistant is incompetent at best.

Go literally ANYWHERE else.

Tip for consumers:
Find a different company

Products used:
Received no products

Service
Shipping
Thumbnail of user angiet110
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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January 14th, 2021

I just had the most random problems happen with my order. The internet auto loaded an old address for the order. I contacted the business shutterfly sent my project to and they were not able to forward the package to me. I was nervous to contact shutterfly because the shipping was expensive as it was... well I chatted with Gayathri and they were so helpful. They reordered my project and are sending it to the correct address for free! I am overjoyed. And, they put it on rush delivery, so it will only take a few days. I am so grateful for such an easy answer to my issue.

Thanks shutterfly!

Tip for consumers:
Use the chat function if you need help!

Products used:
Cards

Service
Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user laurad77
Massachusetts
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 12th, 2015

I ordered holiday cards from Shutterfly and was given a delivery window of December 7th-11th. At this point, they won't arrive until December 15th at the earliest. UPS told me that if Shutterfly would upgrade my shipping to ground, I could get them sooner. Shutterfly refuses to do this even if I pay for it, insisting that my cards will not really be late until after the 15th, despite the fact the my original delivery window was for delivery by the 11th at the latest. I order a lot of things online at this time of year. I understand that there can be shipping delays. But every other online retailer I have dealt with has been better able to back up their delivery guarantees when things go wrong. Don't order from them unless you leave in several weeks wiggle room because they will not stand by their delivery promises.

Thumbnail of user judyb322
Wisconsin
3 reviews
2 helpful votes
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November 28th, 2022

I have been trying to order a personalized wall calendar from Shutterfly. I kept getting messages that the photos were blurry so I had it in my cart & worked on it for 5 days. It is a very time consuming & tedious task. The price had always been $17.99. I finally got it so that the photos were as clear as they could get. Imagine my dismay when I went to my cart & the price had jumped to $22.99. I live chatted with a CSR & she told me that the prices change routinely. I told her I thought it was because today is Cyber Monday. I used to use Collage.com. It was a much easier site to maneuver through & had better pricing. Unfortunately they were bought out by another business & they shut down. I told CSR that I would take my business elsewhere & that they were trying to rip people off. Shame on you Shutterfly!
8x11 Calendar Sale price $22.99
8x11 Photo Wall Calendar (12-months)-$17.99

Tip for consumers:
Go elsewhere!

Products used:
I did not order from them.

Service
Value
Shipping
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Quality
Thumbnail of user danielt1130
Pennsylvania
1 review
3 helpful votes
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December 29th, 2021

Thank you Shutterfly! I made an order of less than 10 photos and when 2 weeks passed by (now after Christmas) I realized I never got them. I had to reach out (they never did) and ask why they were never delivered. No explanation except a "we will resubmit the order and provide the fastest shipping available).

This would mean overnighting it. NOPE. New order could take up to 2 more weeks to come in. Waiting a full month for 10 photos? Seriously? And saying you will go with the fastest shipping service available LOL the afstest avalable is overnight not another 2 weeks.

Products used:
Photos

Service
Value
Shipping
Returns
Quality
Thumbnail of user mabelt3
Florida
4 reviews
5 helpful votes
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November 3rd, 2015

I received personalized charm bracelet as a gift and it had photos of my grandkids on the charms. It is just the most precious gift. It really is so unique and one of a kind. Shutterfly was used to make it and I in turn used it for a friend of mine for her birthday gift. You really feel special when you receive a personal gift like that.

Thumbnail of user lisay721
Maryland
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 21st, 2022

I will never order from them again. Customer services was terrible. Chatted with 3 reps and still no resolution. I ordered 4x6 photos and they all came back yellow, blurry, dark. I was told the pics resolution was too high, and that I needed to upload alternate pics. What a joke, like I have the same pics in another resolution. Besides, why not set a warning system if the pics resolution will be to high to print a chosen size? Too easy, just print and send customers worthless pics.

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From the business

Create photo books, personalize photo cards & stationery, and share photos with family and friends at Shutterfly.com.

Company Representative

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Levi H.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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