• 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 johnn2707
Florida
1 review
1 helpful vote
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April 28th, 2023

Have completed 10+ Shutterfly books of cruise travels. We always order books with the same specifications. The difference in the quality of the paper in the most recent book is very noticeable. Much thinner/cheaper. Not nearly as nice as the previous books. We'll be looking for a new vendor. A false economy, Shutterfly!

Products used:
Photo book of travels

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Thumbnail of user deannak1
California
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 17th, 2013

For the past two Christmas's I have put together several photo books. The albums are easy to create and I have been very pleased with the way they've turned out. I have never had any issues with the product, delivery or billing. Instead I've enjoyed quicker delivery then promised and have been very pleased with the products and services. I do tend to think they are a bit expensive but between Groupon and their online coupons a deal is always available. I will continue to use Shutterfly in the future for all my photo book needs.

Thumbnail of user mariond16
Illinois
1 review
6 helpful votes
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October 6th, 2015

Shutterfly botched up my last two orders and processed an order I didn't authorize. When I contacted customer service to sort things out, they refused to make the necessary corrections or refund the money on an order I never placed and was sent to the wrong address. I will not recommend this company nor will I use their services in the future.

Thumbnail of user jadeh23
California
1 review
4 helpful votes
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June 9th, 2017

Saw a lot of bad comments - some of them just made me feel like they are just computer idiots. In my opinion - Shutterfly provides a professional design with such inexpensive price! I have used many photo printing service and I have to say by far Shutterfly has offers the best quality along with the great price. There are so much more options with products. They are just getting so much more creative. I love them!

Tip for consumers:
Their customer service are great. ( i had two experiences with different issues and THEY ARE SO HELPFUL and nice)

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Thumbnail of user sherryl485
Texas
1 review
1 helpful vote
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November 24th, 2022

Don't do business with this company. I ordered photo Christmas cards. When I received my order they cut off one person at the end. They told me they would not refund my money but I could place another card (costing me more money). I expressed my anger that they did not inform me the complete picture would not fit on the card before sending to print. So I have 60.00 spent on cards that I have to trash. Of course the work is outsourced and I had a very understanding the foreigner talking. Pitiful customer service. Do not use them. They will cheat you.

Tip for consumers:
Do not use Shutterfly. They do not try to keep the customer satisfied.

Products used:
Photo Christmas cards

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Thumbnail of user asdfghjkls
Texas
1 review
1 helpful vote
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March 25th, 2016

I ordered two photo books for easter, and paid for expedited shipping 3/18. I then received a conformation email saying thank you for my purchase. About a few days later, I received another email on 3/22, which stated that my purchase had shipped. I tracked my package everyday up until 3/25, when I realized it had not shipped by UPS on 3/25, I called Shutterfly explaining to them what had happened. The girl that i spoke to blamed the shipping occurrence a problem by the weather, then the other two people said it would be here on its scheduled date 3/26. I called UPS, who told me they had never received the package. I have always recommend Shutterfly, but this time i will not, in fear this will happen again. If i could rate this from 0-5, i would rate below a zero.

Thumbnail of user jessicac1329
Texas
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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May 6th, 2021

My package arrived empty! A completely empty intact envelope. I asked them to reship the actual prints overnight because I was in a time crunch and couldn't wait another week. They refused, they lost a customer. Will be refunded in 7-10 days.

Tip for consumers:
just don't use Mpix

Products used:
prints

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Value
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Thumbnail of user johnsonm48
Massachusetts
4 reviews
8 helpful votes
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April 30th, 2019

I love Shutterfly! They also have wonderful customer service. The prices are actually very reasonable. I actually love ordering stuff from you, but it's really frustrating that photos don't get printed in order and putting them in the right order take days

Thumbnail of user craigl576
New Jersey
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 8th, 2023

****** Ease of Use
* Shipping
*** Quality of photos
** Prices related to quality
* Arrival of products
Although, they have made it convenient to order photos, the product is really not so great. It is a very long time to receive orders. All in all, if you're looking for quality products, reasonable costs and timely deliveries, they have fallen way short.
I do not have a picture to take, as my order never made it to our home.

Thumbnail of user brookec268
Ohio
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 6th, 2023

I supported this company for 17 years but they recently changed some important things up and I am seeking to sever all ties with them as soon as possible. They claim they guarantee 100% satisfaction but they don't live up to this. Not at all. If I try calling them, then I typically am stuck on hold and then disconnected. If I finally get someone on the phone, they assure me they are trying to resolve my issue and someone will follow up with me, but nobody does. Weeks pass and I have to go through the cycle again. It is maddening. Save yourself a headache. Work with a different company.

Products used:
Share Sites (now discontinued)

Service
Quality
Thumbnail of user erint189
Massachusetts
1 review
0 helpful votes
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November 13th, 2021

I stupidly ordered a $99 sherpa blanket from shutterfly with a photo printed on it, obviously. The material of the blanket is not sherpa but some cheap china $#*! they want to pass off as sherpa. What a joke. What a waste of money and no response when trying to contact them. NEVER again.

Tip for consumers:
Do not buy blankets for Shutterfly.

Products used:
None its trash

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Thumbnail of user soniyam1
Georgia
1 review
1 helpful vote
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December 4th, 2017

I ordered a calendar for a friend and it came in incorrectly with events/birthday's printed on dates that were taken from an earlier personal calendar I created. I did not want to gift this calendar to my friend when it had birthday's of my own family printed on there. I complained 3 times and each time they sent me a new calendar with the same error printed on it! They were not able to assure me a correct one would come even though the preview showed it correctly but the delivered product was incorrect. I have wasted a lot of time and effort in this and am upset that they are not able to resolve this issue and instead offered me a refund. I really wanted them to figure out how to correct the situation which they never did. They told me to recreate the calendar and I do not have time for that, it took me a very long time to create it with all the photos in the first place. I don't even know if I can ever order with them again for fear of the same thing happening.

Thumbnail of user sonorap1
Florida
1 review
3 helpful votes
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December 15th, 2019

I ordered this project on 11/30 and it was supposed to arrive by 12/6-12/11. It is now 12/15 and has been resent and "guaranteed" not estimated by 12/13-12/14. It has still not arrived and it is 12/15. The tracking says it will not get here until at least 12/17. Terrible first impression, very upsetting/time consuming with no real empathy or resolution from Shutterfly. I had to ask to have my $8.99 shipping refunded due to the fact that you have failed twice sending me my order on time. The order created is a special christmas gift for my father that took many days to create, and you could seem to careless. Word to the wise, do not advertise what you cannot deliver. Acknowledge and compensate for your mistakes. It is ridiculous for customers who you have wronged to have to ask for some sort of compensation. It is wrong and poor business practice.

Thumbnail of user chanas2
Wisconsin
1 review
5 helpful votes
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March 18th, 2017

Every week they're giving away free things. Wonderful. Until you get to your cart and see that shipping costs more than it would to buy a piece of furniture and have it delivered. Not complaining that I'm not getting a free item, my complaint is how misleading it is and how dishonest. The item isn't free and shipping doesn't cost that much. They are just moving the price under "shipping. To add that their photo quality is very poor and their site very difficult to navigate.

Thumbnail of user abbyp45
Canada
1 review
1 helpful vote
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January 4th, 2021

Girl I just wanted to get some posters for my room and the total ended up being $53 while there's $70 taken off my bank account from Shutterfly. I've tried to contact them to let them know that they overcharged me, but its almost impossible to get into contact with them. I don't know what I'm going to do and they literally stole $20 from me.

Thumbnail of user melissab173
Illinois
1 review
1 helpful vote
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July 17th, 2017

Every item I've ordered from Shutterfly has had shipping issues. In some cases I paid extra for faster shipping, in all cases my orders arrived late, if at all. While I enjoy the high quality products, the shipping process leaves a lot to be desired.

Thumbnail of user sarab582
New York
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
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July 6th, 2021

I ordered a bunch of items from Shutterfly including a calendar, a tumbler, a phone case, 2 desktop photo canvases and a wall canvas. They have all turned out excellent and better than I had hoped for. Especially the quality. I will definitely be ordering from them again.

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Thumbnail of user elizabethd2060
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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June 14th, 2023
Verified purchase

Placed an order & immediately noticed that I did not provide the coupon code. I called into their "customer service" line & was instructed to give the email & order number & code. I was told that this would be taken care of with an email. It was not! When I called back I was given the serious run around and ultimately was told to pound sand. I will never order from Shutterfly again!

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Thumbnail of user carlpatsmape
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
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September 22nd, 2023

Like the Desktop SF website the app us full of horrible bugs! The worst is scrolling through many years of photos, you select one to expand, and a photo from a different year pops up! Happens 90% of the time. I try to delete a photo, message pops up, won't let me delete or get rid of the message. SF is notorious for having awful websites full of bugs. They don't bother to fix them. Fed up!

Thumbnail of user dw406
California
1 review
12 helpful votes
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April 30th, 2020

I ordered a puzzle during the pandemic. Am always willing to give grace these days and didn't mind if it took longer than normal to get it. Up until the estimated date of delivery, the website indicated that the puzzle was in production and the delivery date was the same. The last estimated day, I contacted them only to find out that they are out of stock of puzzles and magnets! No where on their website does it say that--you can still order them. Not at any time was I updated about this until I contacted them. I'm ok with late delivery, but not with poor customer service and communication.

Thumbnail of user sharonp1972
Virginia
1 review
0 helpful votes
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December 23rd, 2022

On 12/10/22 I made 7 Calendars as Christmas Gifts, I paid $174.00, I have been making gifts from Shutterfly over 15 years, for the first time UPS has lost my order, the UPS site says it has been at the local facility 4 days but no one can tell me any updates. I called Shutterfly. I don't think they care, these are Christmas gifts that needed to be shipped, today is 12/23 and now it's too late to ship them. I am really disappointed, this has not happened prior, I have 3 different orders lost within the UPS system. Shutterfly used to be excellent. Not sure what happened.

Thumbnail of user harryb78
Texas
3 reviews
13 helpful votes
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December 6th, 2015

Shared photobook either will not display or displays garbled. Hours of work on this book wasted! Customer service robot says they are closed when the same recording indicates they are supposed to be open.

Thumbnail of user meiked
New York
1 review
2 helpful votes
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July 11th, 2016

So I uploaded our high resolution wedding pictures onto one of their Thank you card-layouts. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Unfortunately the printed images came out so blurry you could barely make out our facial features. No way we can send these out. Shutterfly's "customer service" (an automated email for these kinds of concerns) suggested either a gift certificate of $50 (the overall order was over $200) or a refund of 50%, the other 50% are considered a "processing fee". Oh, and obviously I also have to pay for shipping the item back, because without that there is no refund. So I wrote back to complain and received another automated email with the very same wording.
I had seen all these good ratings of Shutterfly, and yes, it's easy to use. Just the quality is terrible and the refund options unacceptable. Never again.

Thumbnail of user afalema
South Carolina
1 review
0 helpful votes
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March 4th, 2022

Very poor customer service. Shutterfly changed delivery time four times.
Communication: Finally I got a text saying "Your package with USPS has been delivered. Rate your experience: https://x.narvar.com/B52De5m" but there was no place at that link to leave a comment.
The personalized product it self was just ok. It didn't look like it did online. Proportions are different.
Even their auto chat bot doesn't work.
I will not use Shutterfly again.

Tip for consumers:
Go some where else

Products used:
The one I ordered

Service
Value
Shipping
Quality
Thumbnail of user derekc204
Utah
1 review
6 helpful votes
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December 11th, 2020

Their app continually times you out without saving your work, so you have to redo what you were working on. Once you finally get what you want, and think the order is done, their techs feel the need to change it and get it re-approved by you, causing the order to be delayed. Estimated arrival dates seem to have a range of +/- 20 days. Recommend ordering Christmas cards before Halloween if you want them on time.

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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

Thumbnail of user levih42
Levi H.
Typically does not respond to reviews

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