Parents have expressed exasperation after a top Christchurch department store started using a smartphone to take photos of kids with Santa Claus this Christmas.

The 170-year-old Ballantynes store is known for its upmarket brand selection and its annual Santa’s grotto is always popular with local families.

But this year’s grotto has copped backlash online, with parents taking to social media annoyed at paying $25 for photos taken on a phone.

“I can take great photos on my iPhone and some look professional ... but definitely not something that anyone should pay for,” said one mum on a Facebook page for local mothers.

“I’m hoping this is some misunderstanding as a lot of people have paid for a quality photograph,” said another.

“I did think when I saw it that it’s a bit s*** using a phone,” another added.

One local said they found it “quite disappointing” to pay $25 for “someone to take a picture of my kid with Santa on a phone”.

A Ballantynes spokeswoman told the Herald it changed to a phone camera this year to speed up the process for customers.

“We were advised by experts that this phone camera would provide a better photo and an overall better experience for our customers,” she said.

Ballantynes posted on its social media account explaining the new photography set-up.

“Photos will be taken using a Google Pixel phone with a 64-megapixel camera,” it said.

“Our trained photographer and new studio-grade lighting will ensure every moment is beautifully captured.”

Despite this, patrons on Facebook claimed the resulting photos were not up to par.

One woman took her partner and daughter along for their annual photo, and she was gutted with the result.

“Such poor quality compared to last, pixellated and colours are all off.”

She said the photo was discoloured and the angles were all “zoomed in”.

“Our printed photo was really orange, it made us all redheads,” she said.

Ballantynes said it is taking the complaints “extremely seriously” and wants to ensure every customer’s photo is perfect.

“We are working with customers individually by way of refund or whether they can retake the photo so that they are happy with the end result,” the spokeswoman said.

The department store said it is investigating each complaint to make sure customers are satisfied.

“Going forward we will be doing quality checks with each customer to make sure they are getting the very best.”