Bitter truth about Shakkya Studio

We got this article and we rang Shakya studio and we walk in to Shakya studio and their poor customer service the way they behave told us this article is genuine by all means.

To : Mr. Thanuj if you have a answer please send us we would like to share it as well.

Also the customer service is Nil after you pay advance. Call them they will treat you like You are nothing but a annoying caller. Walk in you wont expect any better.  All those big headed girls and designers are acting like they owns you.

Photographers... are the only people who protect the name of that falling studio.

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( We removed the Names of the people who wrote this as they requested us )

It is with much regret I write here on your wall. This by no means is to defame your institute but an honest review to provide an insight to future couples who may seek your services, and a call for the attention of the administration, the shortcomings in the services, so that future clients will not regret their choice like we did.
Our wedding was held on ****th December 2011. The choice of the photographer was something we decided on doing some meticulous research.  Our reasons for opting Shakkya studio over other contemporary wedding studios were…

1. The photos and albums on display were really creative. After all, they have been consecutively winning the award for the best wedding studio of the year up to 2008.
2. The package seemed to be well worth the money compared to other wedding studios. It’s a good deal one can expect.

What we failed to realize at that time were,

1. Why haven’t they won the best studio award after 2008?
2. Is the deal too good to be true?

The bitter truth awaited in our long tedious relationship with the studio.  The evidence of the pudding is in the eating they say..

• We booked the studio for our wedding a good 13 months before(Nov 2010). At that point, if I remember it correct, there were no other bookings scheduled for the day.  But when we came to make the schedule for the wedding in Oct/Nov 2011, we were told that there was another wedding on the same day (a relative of someone working in Rupavahini)  so  Mr.Thanuj will be attending that  wedding.  Well, it was in our view, pretty unprofessional to give preference over the order of booking… after all, we all pay the same money…same print, same value. But in this country, like in politics, connection matter more…

• However we had no problem with the photographers and the videographers on the day of the wedding. They were punctual, amiable and very easy to work with. We had a long photo shoot at 4 locations and a tight schedule. However, they managed to pull it off. They made sure that they did not interfere with the proceedings of the function. Shakil and the crew, You guys are among the few good things we remember about Shakkya! Cheers!

• 2 out of our 4 locations were novel to wedding photography.  What we expected in choosing those (and your studio, for that matter) was a trend setting creative and novel photography. (Maybe our expectations were too high) But no complains!

• There were a few hidden charges and the total amount came to more than the face value mentioned on the package. Of course we do not mind the extra couple of thousand bucks but there was some injustice. The same package that we ordered 13months before our wedding has been later revised to include a free family album. Since we had booked earlier than the revision was introduced we were not entitled for that.  Serves right for being the early bird!

• We were promised by Mr. Thanuj himself that our official wedding photo will be available for collection on the day before our homecoming. But on the day before the homecoming when we rang, we were told that the photo was not yet ready, (Well… they did not cover our homecoming. So why bother?)  If we did not pay for the signature photograph we would not have had a single wedding photo to display on our homecoming.  Getting the photograph framed and completed took three more weeks, four, five more phone calls and a final threat to complain Mr. Thanuj.

• Why is it only your studio that gives stamp size photos for photo selection that you have to painstakingly zoom out, drag here and there and finally when the album come you realize it’s not the most perfect photo?  Be kind enough to give contact sheets with bigger thumbnails or simply watermark it….

• I clearly wrote down the instructions and preferences for editing when handing over our choice of photos for the album. I gave a collection of songs for the video. When the first soft copies of album and the video came out none of my instructions have been executed.  They have conveniently lost the CD. And I have to re-do an instruction CD with all the quotes and songs I had collected over months for the album and the video.

• The initial layout of our album was a mess. It lacked creativity and lacked some of the most vital photos we have chosen. Again the studio has “LOST” the list of photos we had selected. So we had to go through all those tiny stamp sized photos on 50 contact sheets again to find the ones which were missing.  The editing was sloppy and careless plus greatly delayed. It again took a long list of written instructions, few dozen calls and one call to Mr. Thanuj to get things straight.  After all, our wedding album is nice. But if we did not demand on creativity  it would have just been a plain collage of photos.

• The video is our holy nightmare! The first time we saw it, we were so upset.  A better job could have been done on windows movie maker by an amateur. It was untidy, no sound editing at all, no transitions.  We tried to explain to the video editor what we wanted. But after all, creativity is a gift one is born with, not something that can be instilled by force.  That video completely spoiled our treasured memories.  We hide it at the very bottom of our DVD collection, because we are thoroughly ashamed to show it to anyone (yes we paid for this too!)

• I called two months after (giving ample time for all the mishaps that seem to be common in the Shakkya back office) to check if our family album is ready. I had finalized on the corrections of the initial layout and given the instructions clear, only to be told that they have accidently deleted the initial layout and asked if I still have a copy of it! Is this the professionalism in a studio of this magnitude? Is this the responsibility you show?

• When we finally got an appointment with the very owner to explain the sad plight of things that has happened to us from the very beginning, he was not ready to listen. He casually dismissed it saying that the “album out put per month from the studio has increased from 25 to 100” and that such delays and mishaps were unpreventable.  Mr Thanuj, I would like to ask you 2 questions

1. Is it our fault that you are overtaking contracts that overwhelms the working capacity of your inefficient staff?
2. Do you consider this to be something as simple as baking bread in a bakery? Have you realized that the creativity of the albums thus “out – put” lacks creativity?! My dear sir, the peak of your business is not going to sustain unless you learn to respect the concerns of your customers. Don’t think you can fool us with a casual chat and a smile.

• He promised to redo the video for us (which is highly commendable) but after 6 weeks we were greeted at the studio by the staff who lacks the basic skills of customer service,  icily to be told that it has still not been done. (After 9 months my dear sir, they ask us to wait… how long? Apparently even after a complaint, it is not classified as an “urgent job”)

• We are absolutely tired of dealing with your institute which thoroughly lacks efficiency, politeness, creativity and orderliness essential for an organization of your magnitude.  It is our fault that we were unable to see through the hype and glamour at the very beginning, that your interest just lies in our money. Not in providing a creative, efficient, polite customer service in preserving the most beautiful memories of our life. If you keep on this trend, well… we wish you good luck for the future.  

Now, I guess, it’s too late to rectify anything.  But please show some respect for the wishes of your future clients. For you it may be just another business. But for them, it’s about preserving a moment in a lifetime, a memory to cherish and reminisce over a lifetime to come.


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