Two California businesses that have sold photo and document storage products nationwide for more than 40 years are facing an avalanche of recent complaints from customers who say they waited months for items that never arrived. Two of the complaints are from the Tucson area.

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona advises consumers to think twice before ordering from Century Photo or Light Impressions.  Both businesses have the same office address in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.  Both have “F” grades with the BBB.

A June 9 report on Century Photo showed the BBB had received 312 complaints involving the business in the past three years, 304 of those were received in the past 12 months. The report showed that Century Photo did not respond to 287 of those complaints.

A BBB report for Light Impressions showed 178 complaints for the same three-year period, with 172 of those filed in the past 12 months.  The report showed Light Impressions did not respond to 145 of those complaints.

Most of the complainants allege a failure to deliver ordered merchandise, nonpayment of refunds and poor customer service.

“I ordered my product, and I haven’t heard a word from them since,” said Norm Rechkemmer, a customer from Tucson who ordered from Century Photo this past February. “I’ve been ordering from them for years, and I just want to see them go back to being a good company.”

Another Tucson consumer, Andrea Chambers, said she had a similar experience with the company. Chambers told BBB that she had been a long-time customer of Century Photo, until one day they stopped shipping her orders.

“I’ve been doing business with them for at least 40 years, and all of the sudden something changed,” she said. “It was very sudden.”

Chambers said that she still loves the products Century Photo has offered throughout the years, and if (more…)