MixbookReviews 53

My wife and I were gifted a vacation with a dear cousin who is a rare book dealer. We wanted to make a photo album of a quality commensurate with the gift and that would be appreciated by someone who has spent her life in the rare book world. I searched online and immediately hit on the New York Times review that selected Mixbook as the go-to vendor for a high-quality product. Their website claims "100% happiness guaranteed." I looked no further, and accepted the recommendation on Mixbook's website that a high-travel book should be 14x11 hardcover with "signature matte" paper and finish. The quoted cost was $345, but with a supplied coupon and after tax, the total was $183. I had no issues with that. When the book arrived, the first thing I saw was the back cover, which looked like dirty wet cardboard. But of greater concern was that the photo quality was mediocre, looking washed-out and with colors that didn't pop. Everything looked MUCH better on the computer screen when I was assembling the album. Photos that I have printed at my local CVS look better than this album. I have a calendar hanging in my kitchen done in small batches by a friend of her son's photos that pop more than the photos in the album. I expected it to look much better for $183. I couldn't find a phone number for Mixbook, so I used their online chat and reported the issues. The representative said (well, typed) that the cover finish was one that I'd selected. Okay, I'll accept that, but I pressed the issue of the photo quality. She said that there was nothing they could do about it because no changes can be made after 20 minutes have passed for project submission. I'm not sure how she could confuse an in-process project with a completed book I was holding in my hand. I again explained that I found the photo quality disappointing, and wanted to invoke the "100% happiness guarantee" that their emails so cheerfully promise, and would like the book to be reprinted on "Premium Lustre" paper (which, elsewhere on their website, says "combines vibrant colors with a rich texture," and "Brilliant color depth & clarity") and that I'd pay the difference, which looked to be about $50. She said no, and that the best they could do was offer me a 50% off coupon on the order of another book. Stunned, I said that I needed to speak on the phone with someone who could actually come through with the "happiness guarantee" in their emails. She gave me the customer service phone number. I called immediately, it went straight to hold, and after no one answered for an hour, I hung up. I then emailed this entire story to their support email, reiterating that someone needed to call me. No one ever has. There have been multiple emails back and forth where I've been told the same "no" and that I need to call and leave a message in order for someone to call me back. I did. They didn't. When I threatened to write this review unless, by the end of the day today, someone either sent me an email saying that a new copy is being printed on Premium Lustre paper and an invoice for the approximately $50 difference is being sent me, or called me by the end of the day (today) to discuss the problem, I received an email, a portion of which added that "We can request a refund to our team, we will let them review further your concern as a courtesy and we will get back to you within 24-48 hours to share an update." I replied: "To be clear, are you refusing to do what I'm asking, which is to: 1) Have someone call me to discuss whether reprinting the book on Premium Lustre paper will make the photos look better, and 2) Then preprint the book on Premium Lustre Paper and charge me the difference?" FOR THE FOURTH TIME, PLEASE CALL ME." I then received the following email, portions of which are excerpted: "Could you please take a picture of your actual photo book when you received it and also can visible the error from it? I will use it as my reference and proof as well. Looking forward to hear from you. Also, as of now our call line is not available we've encountered a system issue that's why we can't be able to call you as much as we want, but don't worry we're still working on it for us to be have available the call line and I will personally call you once the issue is resolved. Thank you for understanding." I have sent them photos of a sample printed page as well as the much more colorful image files that went into it. We'll see what happens. After four days of this, I received this email: "Thank you for your understanding. We would be happy to request a replacement reprint for your order. However, please be aware that our internal reprint process allows us to reproduce the order with the same specifications as your initial order. This means the paper type, cover finish, and other selections from your original design will be retained. If you would prefer to make changes to the specifications of your book, such as a different paper type, we can certainly forward your case to our refund team. They will be able to discuss alternative options with you, which may involve a refund for the original order, allowing you to create a new project with your desired specifications." In other words, FOR FOUR DAYS, I WAS CORRESPONDING WITH A BRANCH OF THE COMPANY WHO WERE NEVER CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING MY PROBLEM TO BEGIN WITH. I have requested a refund. I cannot for the life of me understand how a company that's riding high on a New York Times recommendation for a high-quality photo album, a company that promises "100% happiness guarantee" in their emails, has customer support this awful.

Don't trust Mixbook
Don't trust Mixbook. Look elsewhere.
Delayed shipping because they didn't like the location - despite my assurances that I have sent many things by courier that have been delivered fine.
Slow turnaround on customer service.
I placed the order on Nov 24 with an expected delivery date of Dec. 9. It is Dec 19 now and they still have shipped it. So much for that special Christmas gift for my daughter.
I've been a long time customer but they let me down. They broke my trust.
They also really have no clue what or where Canada is - so Canadians should avoid them all together.

I was assigned a project to build a very large (85 page) photo book for a long-time client with very little time to get it done. My priorities were (1) an easy on-line interface for building the book with lots of flexibility for the layouts, (2) a high quality printed product, (3) fast delivery options.

Mixbook has a great webpage that lays out when the book needs to be submitted for printing combined with different delivery options (budget, standard, priority, express) and the delivery date. It has ALL the info I needed to set my deadlines.

The interface for building the photo book is excellent! I've been working with Adobe products (Photoshop, Premiere, Illustrator) for years and consider them to be 2nd to none. (They could use some improvement but no other company comes close.) Mixbook is also 2nd to none, right up there with Adobe. Is it perfect? No. But I was never frustrated during course of building an 85 page photo book. There were tons of headshots in the book and each one had a name label. Sometimes, it was tough to grab a label and drag it a different area of the page. But a little patience got the job done. I was particularly impressed with how quickly the system uploaded my images! It was pretty fast!

Mixbook's themes are a good starting point for designing a photo book but users aren't chained to page layouts. I was able to pick out a standard frame to keep all the headshots the same size. When I loaded photos of events, I easily placed them wherever I chose on the page and readjusted the size. For the theme I selected, there were a substantial variety of page backgrounds which can be reorganized at the user's discretion.

One aspect that impressed my client was that the system allows different levels of collaboration. I was able to allow the department manager access to edit the book and the CEO to review it without giving editing permission.

Customer service is terrific. Early on in the construction process, I had a minor problem with the interface. The chat support was quick and very helpful. We got it fixed. After I ordered the book, I received a notification that the book would be delayed. Given that the book needed to arrive in time for a special presentation, I panicked a little. (I had left a 5 day margin from the delivery date to the presentation date because we aren't located in an urban area. Winter weather and delivery systems can cause delays that would have been beyond Mixbook's control.) I called Mixbook's customer service and they made sure that the photo book would be delivered on time. There was no delay.

Working with Mixbook was a great experience and I will use them again for personal and professional photo book projects.

I ordered a calendar that started in February and ran through January of the next year. They printed it wrong, and put the next January at the beginning of this year, which meant the February picture was the back of the calendar and upside down. Total mess up. I did a chat and they have promised to send a new one. However I am also overall very disappointed with the quality of the prints. They are dull and lackluster. I was hoping for a glossier calendar look. Will not use them again.

I was making a 60 page 225 photo photo book. I have at least six hours of time with customer service service much less how much time I had replacing pictures that were no longer there. The first problem was I worked until, but I was at 3/4 of the way through the project. When I opened it back up That page 50 on all of the layouts were gone and it was set with just one picture per her page. When I called customer service basically they called me and said there was nothing that they could do and I had to put in my pictures again they too I had reformatted maybe a third of them then the button that you use to delete pictures that are duplicates or pictures you don't want to use disappeared. They had no idea what it was or how to use it and told me, guess what, I had to put the pictures in all by myself. Today I saved my book went did something else and I came back and at least half of the pictures that were in the layouts were missing. I asked to please restore the pictures from my save in my back up. Well, that's a lie they do not have any save her back up. There's nothing to save, the software saves any every minute so if you open it and then there's a problem you need to I don't know what you need to do because in one minute it'll be saved and you can't go back and there is no restore so don't believe them. The software and the app after all this time is absolutely crazy. I'm working on Shutterfly and have some hopes that I get better luck with them never ever use

Quality product, great pricing, on-time delivery, abundant design options AND superb customer service. THE BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE.

I ordered a custom layflat photobook from Mixbook to gift to my parents, filled with photos and memories from our wedding this past summer. This was not just a purchase; it was a sentimental token meant to encapsulate one of the most special days of our lives.

Sadly, the experience turned from excitement to disappointment when the photobook arrived dented, diminishing the quality and appearance of what was supposed to be a premium product. The emotional setback of receiving a flawed version of something so meaningful was profound.

Upon contacting Mixbook's customer service, I was met with responses that felt dismissive. Despite explaining the sentimental value and the inconvenience caused, the resolution offered was a mere $12 shipping refund. This felt like a token gesture and in no way matched the level of disappointment we experienced.

This experience has unfortunately overshadowed the joy we hoped to share with our parents. Mixbook's failure to adequately address and resolve an issue tied to such an emotionally significant product has left me deeply disheartened. I had expected a company that promotes creativity and connection to be more understanding and responsive to a customer's emotional investment in their product.

To others considering Mixbook for special occasions, please be cautious. While their products may seem ideal, my experience suggests that their customer service might not be equipped to handle issues with the care and understanding they deserve, especially when it comes to items of significant personal value.

I ordered a photobook to use during my wedding proposal. I paid for express shipping and everything to make sure it arrived days before I needed it. When it arrived they had put someone else's cover on the book. I contacted them right away about getting it fixed. They said they would have it reprinted right away and shipped the fastest way possible. Days later and got no update so I contacted them again. I was told it had been reprinted and should arrive in a week! A wk! 9 days to reprint and ship is not doing anything to fix their mistake in time for the important occasion. I even looked on their site and according to it I could order a new book and it would it arrive the same day they had just told me. How is that them trying to make it right when it had supposedly already be reprinted. Avoid this overpriced company at all costs. Use Shutterfly or literally anyone else.

With the printed result of my photo book. It was a professionally bound, beautiful volume that displayed my photos and text beautifully. It was easy to create and I am so happy with the result.

Don't waste your money. This company is very slow to print and ship. If you pay for expedited shipping, they leverage the additional time to demote the print priority.

I placed an order last week and paid for expedited/overnight shipping, as I needed it by a certain date; however, the status had not changed on my order for a couple of days, so I reached out to their customer service (who are nice, but didn't have an answer outside of a placating apology) to get a status - since it would need to be shipped out by tonight in order to get to me tomorrow morning. When I had first reached out this AM, they said they would email the printers and get back to me...well, no one got back to me, so then I reached out again and they just said, "we had an email out to the printers, but they have not responded" --- this is about 6+ hours later when I followed up.

So now, I have no idea if the book will go out tonight and I have a feeling that I won't receive it in time. Very frustrated and disappointed that they don't have more internal visibility or proactively follow-up with their customers.

Please note, this review is not based on the quality of a product, but rather their shipping expectations. DO NOT be enticed by their coupon offers to not receiving your order as promised. I am still waiting for my book after their shipping date has come and passed. I paid for the quickest shipping possible, gave them the ample 3 days production time and still no shipment. They did offer a shipping refund ($36), but that does not equal the pain of not receiving a gift on time. I have used Shutterfly for years and will NEVER use MixBook again.If you need it by a certain date, don't expect receiving it.

I am so happy with the mixbook album I ordered, the pictures are the same as on my phone and price is unbelievably affordable

I just received my printed book. I'm so disappointed. Horrible quality, way over charged for a piece of@#%&. If I'd printed them on canvas would be cheaper than this. Never will do business with them again.
Customer service is even worse.

I have made yearly photobooks for my family for 15 years...each book contains 150 pages. This year I decided to try Mixbook. After months and months of work on it I finally had it ready to order. In past years I have gladly paid approx. $100 for each book. When I put it in cart and applied any/all discounts I could find (including several calls to Mixbook) I couldn't bring the price down any lower than $258 per book!
I haven't even received the book yet but I have to say...no matter what...never again! A word of warning before you spend months creating a book that is insanely overpriced!

I`ve been using mixbook for 10 years and I thought is was great. But the last time they sent me my albums in a different page order and they put the photos of another person. I am looking for a new album service if someone can recommend one

Thank you

Ordered Christmas cards on December 10 and paid $224. Upon confirming my order I was given no indication that my Christmas cards would take 13-15 days to arrive. After waiting seven days without an updated status, I reached out and was told that even with priority mailing, that they would not arrive until December 23 at the earliest. This was not going to allow any time for people to receive the cards before Christmas. I have used both Shutterfly and Minted for printing cards and would highly suggest these two reputable companies over Mixbook if you want to receive things timely. Customer service was only performed by chat and when I asked to speak with a manager or receive a manager's link, I was not given one. I also requested a link to write a review and also was not given one. I'm very frustrated that they I have such poor communication about the expected arrival date for items that are needed on a timely basis.

I was so excited to get my book. I thought the creative process was easy and plenty selection; however I had to pay for standard shipping. Then, I got an alert saying my item was in the way. It showed a tracking number and a label created and it never changed. It is now a week past when I should have received it and it still shows label created. I contacted them via chat because I couldn't locate a phone number. The customer support was worthless. She told me a label was created and they can't control the couriers. I'm extremely unhappy and will tell everyone I know not to use Mixbook.

I've ordered many books from them (at least 10 a year) and they aren't perfect but have been relatively good and reliable. Based on this, I decided to try their holiday cards. I created the cards and hit preview and the card looked amazing. I got no messages to indicate low resolution on any images (actually I did on 1 image and I changed them). The cards came and 3 of the pictures were blurry and the pictures that were very high quality were almost white washed. I immediately went on customer service and raised my concerns. They asked me to upload a picture of what they sent to 'verify' what I was saying. Then they blamed me for using low resolution photos. I explained that they didn't indicate they were low resolution and the 'preview' of what would print was clear and beautiful. They offered me 50% off my reorder (so I absorb the entire cost of the 1st order and am expected to just try again but for 50% off). This still didn't help with the faded white washing of my kids school pictures that were uploaded at the highest resolution.
So I'll order books again in the future but never again will I order anything else.

I recently ordered 9 photo books containing pictures of a once in a lifetime family reunion. I put 17 pages in the book and made sure all the photos were sized correctly on each page. The books arrived with at least 2 pictures extended into the spine of the books making them very hard to see. The books were so flimsy I reached out to customer service to voice my complaint and I was told that because I only entered 17 pages they wouldn't be of the best quality. They mentioned that they recommend 20-21 pages for the best results. I reviewed their website and found nothing that mentioned the above recommendation. Short story, their 100% guarantee wasn't honored. They gave me a 50% refund for the 9 books and still took no responsibility for the issue. So, I guess their guarantee is really 50% for their less than acceptable product. Quality is everything to me when I make any purchase so needless to say I won't be making any future purchases from Mixbook