and the grinch award goes too...

[elaineandmichaelsmommy]

westfield shopping mall.I couldn't believe when we took the kids to see santa tonight,a big sign right before you get to santa that said we couldn't use our own cameras. that if we wanted pictures of our kids w/ santa we'd have to buy their package. WTF!!!
i've never seen anything so assanine. Of all the lousy ways for a company to make a buck. All the kids were miserable. They talked to santa for a few seconds and then had to sit for several minutes while the dumb photographer took 3-4 pictures. the kids certainly weren't enjoying it,noone looked happy.
When we left i stopped at customer service to fill out an angry comment card. the gal noticed my writting and asked if they'd done something? Well, if figured she asked for it. So i told her exactly how i felt about it. Apparently we werent' the only parents to be upset. But still.

Lousy,rotten,grincy,scroogey,horrid idea.

Hope you all had better experiences seeing santa.

oh-dh did sneak a few pic's

Jen

[ellies mom]

Man, that is too bad. I know at least one of our local malls has the "no personal cameras" rule but our Westfield mall is really cool about letting people use their own camera. Not only that, the Santa encourages people to bring their kids by a few times before trying to take a picture so that the kids have a chance to warm up to the man. Now that is a Santa in my mind.

Unfortunately, it takes way more than a few times for DD to warm up to anyone so we haven't even bothered for the last two years. Oh well, maybe next year.

[DDowning]

I know Simon malls are pretty good about this - at least my local one is. Also South Coast Plaza allows you to use your own camera in exchange of a $5 fee.

[dules]

Short Hills has done the same thing for the past 2 years. The pics come out awful so we don't buy them but at least DD gets to sit in the big guy's lap.

Sorry - it is a real pia.

Mary

[mommyto4]

Our mall has done this for several years now. I hate it but, I never thought about putting in a complaint. Good idea. Maybe next year will be better.

[JennM]

This happened to us last year for DD's first visit to Santa. We went there directly from a Christmas gathering with some of my extended family, so my parents went with us, and my father took his video camera in. He had used it at the family gathering and thought it would be fun to catch DD's first reaction to Santa on tape. We were told in no uncertain terms that we couldn't VIDEO her. We almost left, but I really wanted her to visit Santa, so we stayed and I bought a SINGLE picture.

Then I took it home, scanned it, and emailed it to my parents in direct violation of the copyright - that was my passive/aggressive way of dealing with it. Oh, well!

So sorry you had that experience - I can certainly empathize!

[TaChapm]

Yes, It is sad when going to see Santa is more about the money than about the kids actually talking to Santa. When we went they said I could use my own camera IF I bought 1 package from them. I bought the smallest package they had which was 2 5x7 for $20. HUGE rip off!!! I had to sit there and say "Jackson are you going to tell Santa what you want?" and then he said "Oh yea, what do you want?" Very disappointing.

I did at least get individual pictures of all 3 kids with my own camera.

Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
Tyler 6-9-05
& Baby Jaci 8-10-06

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