Ede and Ravenscroft Reviews 

Absolutely dreadful experience and a total rip off!
My son Graduated from Bournemouth as had my daughter the year before. The graduation process is a productions line with 3 ceremonies per day for a week. Each gown by the end of the week will have been worn up to 15 times and it shows. They charge £74 a pop!!
The digital image is a further £45 and 2 weeks later still has not been delivered. The web site states up to 6 weeks which is utterly ludicrous for a simple digital image.
The graduation is a milestone event in someone's life after 3-4 years of hard work and enormous debt. In steps Ede Ravenscroft who suck all the joy out of the event with their extortionate prices and woeful service. They should be wearing masks!

Edited following reply below”

And then you get the cut and paste reply that is given to every complaint. I have no intention of engaging with this firm and advise others to look for alternatives for you own big day. The Universities who permit this monopoly should be looking for alternatives too.

I am deeply disappointed and angry at this company's predatory business practices. They were the official photographers at my university graduation, which I now see as a huge mistake by the university.

Here is the trap they set for students:

You pay a £20 deposit (or "sitting fee") which they vaguely promise will be "refunded".

This is not a refund. It is a "discount" that you can only use on their outrageously overpriced packages.

I went to their website hoping to get my digital images. I discovered there is no option to just buy the digital files.

The website is deliberately designed to force you into buying a package, such as one print, a frame, and a USB of that single image for over £100 (mine was £107!).

Worse, when I tried to find a cheaper workaround (like just buying the USB), the website conveniently produced a "payment error" every single time. It is clearly a deliberate trap to block you from choosing any option other than their most expensive ones.

What kind of business model preys on students, many of whom are financially stretched, during what should be a happy celebration? You are exploiting a captive audience.

I blame my university for choosing this company, but I blame this company for its dishonest and manipulative sales tactics.

My advice to other students: Do not pay their £20 fee. It's a con. Just take more pictures on your own phone. You will be much happier and won't be supporting this awful business.

I couldn't recommend their professional, welcoming and efficient service highly enough, and the quality is superb.
I visited the Oxford branch last Tuesday, and it was well worth the 7 hour round trip to do so. A member of staff (Hermione) had ordered the necessary sizes in advance and I was helped and advised throughout by Andrew who could not have done more to assist, their aftercare service for alterations has been excellent and well advised.
The fantastic range held in store, the lifetime quality of their products and their excellent customer service is worth its weight in gold, I now wouldn't think of going anywhere else and am happy to drive from deepest Somerset to visit, the difference in every particular is well worth it.

Lovely staff. A gentleman showed around the shop. He was very knowledgeable and friendly.

I had a graduation ceremony last week and the service provided by Ede & Ravenscrott is a pure scam. I paid at the ceremony 30£ to get photographs, as advertised on the banner. Next day I was informed that I paid for the right of the photographer to take pictures of me. By the Act 2015 of the consumer rights, I have not received anything tangible in return from them. They are refusing to refund me or provide photographs in any form (digital, unedited and etc.) this is a pure scam, as a people are not informed what they are paying for and at the end customers receive “air”. Avoid using the services.

At Aberdeen NEScol graduation I had the misfortune of dealing with this company.

I pre-booked photography on the day, queued for ages and eventually got my turn. The photographer spoke no words to me and quickly posed me. I felt very uncomfortable and stiff in the pose I was given.
They then started taking photos, there was no countdown or anything just silence. I felt deeply uncomfortable and awkward.
This is then reflected in the images I was given, I hate the images. I am extremely awkward in the images.

Customer service - Null.
The customer service first response was basically "we can partially refund and that's it. Sorry no sorry."
I then wrote a large complaint email which again fell on deaf ears with a basic response and fake sorry followed with "either take the refund or select your image as ordered" .
They did mention a sitting fee which basically said I paid £20 to even get my images taken, hence the partial refund.
I find this sitting fee ludicrous and it is just to extort students and family's on such an important day.

You do not get shown the image on the day so you do not know if it is a good photo or not until you get them. Considering you are urged to pre-book photos, you should be shown the images and at least be offered a retake of 2 images.
Or at the very very least be refunded all the money you paid for the photos. None of this sitting fee rubbish.

I absolutely cannot recommend this company and urge you not to pre-book photos. Just don't get any photos

I used this company for my graduation. The photos were sent but stayed in the box, when reframing them the I noticed there was flaws in the photo. I contacted them and was asked to send a copy of the photo to highlight the bad areas. I did so just to be told that after 28 days nothing will be done anyway. Firstly, why bother asking me to send a photo of the original if nothing would be done after 28 days, secondly, this is poor for a photography company where digital copies are easy to store and photoshop/rectify. All I can say is they aren’t very good. Maybe universities should find another contractor.

Had to use them for my graduation, unfortunately 2 days before I was trapped abroad and unable to make it back.
I contacted them the moment I knew but had no reply.
I chased them up a few days later and they only said their policy would allow refunds with 7 days notice.
Despite being an extreme situation, they just repeated the policy and said I had 12 months to use the order for a future graduation but I would never get a refund.
It was very frustrating as the issues abroad cost money, my hotel booking, bookings for my family all extra costs and ultimately I missed my graduation.
They just cared about their policy.

ADDITION!
I responded to their reply below and included the email chain they asked for details again and then told me again that I wasn't due a refund!!!
Absolute time wasters and a disgusting level of customer service.

I paid £80 in advance for studio graduation photos and simply can’t get them. The links don’t work, they suggested I had to download chrome (who does that?) but that didn’t work and now a deafening silence. I asked for e-images because the website is sooo difficult to navigate but am planning now to contact my bank to cancel. So great …. no graduation pics!🥵

Extremely poor photo quality

Most confusing ordering system ever. I inadvertently cancelled my first tickets so reordered them with the gown etc. It is still not clear as to whether I actually have tickets as customer services can’t give me a straight answer. My app & bank account say one thing but customer services say different.
Please sort your website & ordering system so it’s more user friendly. I use computers everyday & your website is not one of the better ones.
It has made what should be an exciting achievement very stressful.

This was the most disappointing experience I've encountered. The quality of the photographs was subpar, and I was provided with the incorrect gown for the ceremony. Customer service was unsatisfactory, and I paid £200 for their services. It appears that they have a dominant position in the university graduation market.

I had previously paid for my gown hire for my graduation. Which I no longer went to and had asked this company to hold the gown till next year. To find out my university is no longer using them for this years graduation so I then asked for a refund which they said they will give. I have waited weeks and now I don’t even get a response back from them. There very unprofessional and you should not hire your gown from them. They have stopped communication which makes sense as to why they don’t have a telephone line wnd why my university is not using there services moving forward.

I pre-booked and paid for gown hire and photography with Ede & Ravenscroft in 2020 for my graduation ceremony. Due to the pandemic, the ceremony was postponed. At the time, I called Ede & Ravenscroft and was given the choice of a refund or to wait for a rescheduled ceremony. I chose to wait. In 2025, I booked my rescheduled ceremony with the university within their specified deadline. It's important to note that the university only arranges a few London ceremonies per year, with limited slots that fill up quickly. Plus, due to work commitments, I was unable to book sooner. Even so, I still booked my ceremony within the deadline. Despite this, Ede & Ravenscroft required me to pay again for the same services. Their terms and conditions do not address long-term postponements, which is the exact situation I was in. I feel this is unfair and am disappointed.

"Beyond furious with your absolutely pathetic and poor service!
We had a highly disappointing experience with this E&R company. The website lacks essential information, making it difficult to understand the services offered. Attempts to contact them by phone were unsuccessful, as calls often went unanswered. Instead, communication is restricted to email, but responses if they arrive are slow and unhelpful.

Customer service is virtually nonexistent, and the pricing for photography and gown hire is significantly higher than expected, especially given the basic quality of service. It feels as though the company takes advantage of students who simply want to celebrate their special day. With limited alternatives available, they impose high fees for a service that should be smooth, professional, and stress-free.

My concerns regarding poor communication and service have already been raised with the relevant authorities.

If you want a hassle-free and enjoyable graduation experience, I strongly suggest considering other options but NOT with this company. In today's world, high-quality photos can be taken with a mobile phone, making traditional photography services and costly gown rentals an unnecessary expense. Graduation should be a joyful milestone, not a frustrating and overpriced ordeal.

PS: E&R, instead of repeatedly apologising for your poor service, take meaningful action to fix the issues. I don’t need another insincere apology from you if you don’t mean it. Focus on improving your service for future graduates. "I can NOT see this happening"

Terrible graduation picture with no response to emails/ contact. Overpriced items of horrible quality. Their purpose and role is to capture special moments. My friends and I did not have this experience. They don't seem to get much right.

I ordered my graduation photo in good faith, expecting to receive it in a timely manner. However, after a considerable delay, I contacted your team for an update and was informed that Royal Mail had disposed of my photo, accompanied by a picture of it in the bin.

I never specified that the bin was my safe place for deliveries (why would it be?!), yet your company seems to have accepted this as the final proof of delivery. This is both confusing and disappointing, particularly as I have not received any satisfactory resolution despite multiple attempts to reach out.

As a customer, I believe that I am entitled to receive the product I paid for—especially when it pertains to something as significant as a graduation photo, which is a once-in-a-lifetime memento. Unfortunately, I am now left £50 out of pocket with no photo and no recourse from your team, as my emails have gone unanswered.

I find this situation both unacceptable and frustrating. I would appreciate an immediate resolution to this matter, either by providing the photo I ordered or offering a refund. It is crucial that your company addresses customer concerns in a timely and responsible manner, as my experience has left me disheartened and dissatisfied.

I urge prospective customers to reconsider using your services based on my experience, as it appears that your company is quick to take payment but unwilling to fulfill its commitments. Even with the selection of photos, half of them taken had my eyes closed so I couldn’t even have a variety to pick from.

Rude and unfriendly staff with no communication between colleagues. I provided my address to them in person and over the phone and they still asked for it again over email saying that they didn’t have it.
I was told by one of their members of staff to purchase a specific product for my photo which only now I find out is completely wrong and have to amend or cancel my order.
Not once did they apologise for their communication issues or incorrect information or say sorry for the inconvenience, and I was made to feel like everything was my fault.
They will probably reply to this review with a generic ‘please contact our customer service and we will do our best to help you’ response but I know that they don’t intend to help at all. It’s just a shame that universities choose to use this company as you don’t have a choice but to order your photo through them!

Absolute scammers.

The robe was dirty on the day, the hood was far too big and kept sliding off - supposedly this was the smallest size they had. They do not have gowns for smaller people. The graduation hood on my professional photo that the staff took was flipped over the wrong way making the photo look unprofessional.

You are only given 7 days to choose a photo - what if you were abroad or away and didn’t have access in this time.

Tried to communicate with them via the website and no response.

If it wasn’t chosen by my university, I would never use this company.