David S Irvin The Portrait

Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my dispute Please enter your reason(s) for rejecting the business response below Regards, [redacted] While no, I do not disagree that we signed the form and left without any high pressure sales tactics, I still have issue with this company and their scheming way to get you to pay astronomical prices for photos.First of all, because I was at a charity function where you assume things have been donated because the charity asked for it or someone has experience with the company and would recommend them, my guard was downI did not do any of the research I would do any other time I would consider purchasing anything from an unknown companyHad I done a quick Google or Yelp search, I would have seen several other complaints about this company dating all the way back to describing the exact experience I hadThey were given or purchased the gift certificate from a charity function and were astounded at the pricing, either purchasing the photos and feeling horrible buyer's remorse or opting to not purchase anything as the prices are ridiculously highIt is my fault for not doing my due diligence and for that, I understand.However, these claims that Jennifer is astounded and baffled by this is absolutely not trueAgain, any search on Google or Yelp would show her all the other complaints lodged by customers like meAlso, after bringing it up at work, a coworker told me she had the exact same experience back in and ended up paying $for photosNot including the digital copies of the photos we already purchased is ludicrousYou simply add your watermark to the bottom (like they've done on the printed ones) and that alleviates any issue with copy write lawsAlso, they only offered to ship the photos for free because they were about weeks late in shipping them in the first placePhotos were ordered on June 18th and we were told they would take 5-business days to arrive after the order was completedWe actually received the order on Friday July 15thThe order had already been completed by the first time I called because Jennifer told me I couldn't preview them before they were sent to the printer because they were already sentSo clearly they can't keep their word on shipping eitherThe photo quality is nothing special, especially considering the outrageous pricingThere were no candid photos done, no special moments captured, no "artwork" as they claimSimply stiff photos of my family posing, that frankly anyone could have set up and taken with an iPhoneAll in all, I will continue to spread the word about this horrible experience and let everyone I know to stear clear of David SIrvinThey should be ashamed of their business practices, duping people into spending way too much money for something others charge 1/of the price forDavid SIrvin may have photographed presidents for all I careHe didn't photograph my family so the idea that we should feel privileged to work with him is once again, ludicrous

I am writing you to address the complaint made to your organization from [redacted] Needless to say, we are a bit perplexed by this, as we have never had a complaint about pricing after someone has purchased something. In over 51 years of service, we know not of any written complaint of our prices...

or for any other reason to Revdex.com. Anyone who has not liked our pricing has simply opted not to purchase anything, or simply get what their gift certificate value included. [redacted] won the gift certificate for a $120 donation to a charity at the event she was attending and received a certificate for a $550 value ($275 for a full family session/$275 print credit towards enlargements.) We did not receive any of this money. The gift certificate was donated to the charity organization, and it clearly printed on there what the gift certificate included. She did her session, and came in to view and select her portraits recently.   We have a very no pressure system here when we present photos for purchase. We help them select the best photos from each pose, put them up on the screen, show them the print options (i.e. canvas, classic, painting, Bright View LED, metallic, etc.), hand them the price list and a clip board, and then allow them to ask questions. At the end when they finish with their order, we total it up, explain the cancelation policy and the 72 hours before it goes to lab, and then the order is finalized with their signature.   Four days after her order, [redacted] called and was very upset about the prices. She ordered quite a few prints, and her order totaled up to be $903 after tax. She signed the order with the total on it and the credit card receipt, prices were not hidden from her, but she insisted we throw in the digital copies for free. Of course we do not give away digital copies since once they have those, they can print at will. We do sell digitals, and once we do so they have printing rights to them, as well as social media rights, etc.. I explained our policy to her, but she was quite upset. She did admit that at no point did our viewing specialist pressure them into anything. Later her father called at her request, and he was also at the view, and admitted that our viewing specialist again did not pressure them into anything.   Her chief complaint is that our prices for prints are high. I explained to her that it’s the difference between [redacted] and perhaps a Walmart or even a Burlington Coat Factory. You can get clothing at any of those stores, but the quality and designer level of those types of clothing, as well as level of service are different. We are a Presidential level white glove photography studio and experience, having photographed 6 presidents of the united states.  I did explain to her that we have quite a few people that come in and only use the Gift Certificate amounts and never get anything else, and that’s fine with us. She wanted to order more, and we didn’t have a problem with that. The majority of our customers fall in love with their artwork we create for them, and order significantly more.  We never pressure anyone into a sale, our portraiture and quality sell themselves.   At this point she has left several bad reviews, called and abused my employees telling them that they work for a bad company and should get another job, and made countless threats over calling you, calling the news, calling the charity in question, etc.. She has behaved most unprofessionally, and it has been a concern. I did call and talk to the charity in question, and they were mortified over her behavior, apologized and disavowed any direct affiliation with her other than her attending one of their events, and thanked us for our ongoing relationship with them.     It’s so rare to have anyone be upset after a purchase that no one forced them to make. If people don’t like our prices, they normally get what they can for the value of the Gift Certificate and leave be. They may wish they were less expensive, but to throw a fit like this after making a purchase is unheard of.  I’ve never seen someone after a purchase have an issue like this. We are actually quite baffled by this. Yes, our prices are high, being at the level of quality, service, and experience we provide. We never strong arm anyone into paying for anything. We do, in fact, stress to the clients that they are under no obligation at any time for anything. I’m sorry that [redacted] feels we didn’t shout our prices to the world, but anyone who ever calls in asking for a price list, before, during, or after a session, will have one gladly e-mailed to them. We would rather match up with customers who are accustomed to our level of product, service, and pricing.   I have offered her free shipping for when the photos come in so that she doesn’t have to drive to pick up the images. Beyond that, I’m not sure how to help her. She made a willing purchase, did not contact us in the first 72 hours as written in our agreement and approved by her signature following her purchase, and simply wants more for free. I am sorry that I cannot accommodate her simply because she is unhappy with our pricing, which she was not forced into by any definition.   Thank you for your attention in this matter.     Best regards,   [redacted] Director of Marketing & Office Manager   [redacted]
[redacted]
Fort Worth, Texas 76109 [redacted] Fax: 817-926-2465

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint [redacted] and have determined that this does not resolve my dispute.
Please enter your reason(s) for rejecting the business response below.
Regards,
[redacted]
While no, I do not disagree that we signed the form and left without any high pressure sales tactics, I still have issue with this company and their scheming way to get you to pay astronomical prices for photos.First of all, because I was at a charity function where you assume things have been donated because the charity asked for it or someone has experience with the company and would recommend them, my guard was down. I did not do any of the normal research I would do any other time I would consider purchasing anything from an unknown company. Had I done a quick Google or Yelp search, I would have seen several other complaints about this company dating all the way back to 2012 describing the exact experience I had. They were given or purchased the gift certificate from a charity function and were astounded at the pricing, either purchasing the photos and feeling horrible buyer's remorse or opting to not purchase anything as the prices are ridiculously high. It is my fault for not doing my due diligence and for that, I understand.However, these claims that Jennifer is astounded and baffled by this is absolutely not true. Again, any search on Google or Yelp would show her all the other complaints lodged by customers like me. Also, after bringing it up at work, a coworker told me she had the exact same experience back in 2009 and ended up paying $400 for 2 photos. Not including the digital copies of the photos we already purchased is ludicrous. You simply add your watermark to the bottom (like they've done on the printed ones) and that alleviates any issue with copy write laws. Also, they only offered to ship the photos for free because they were about 3 weeks late in shipping them in the first place. Photos were ordered on June 18th and we were told they would take 5-7 business days to arrive after the order was completed. We actually received the order on Friday July 15th. The order had already been completed by the first time I called because Jennifer told me I couldn't preview them before they were sent to the printer because they were already sent. So clearly they can't keep their word on shipping either. The photo quality is nothing special, especially considering the outrageous pricing. There were no candid photos done, no special moments captured, no "artwork" as they claim. Simply stiff photos of my family posing, that frankly anyone could have set up and taken with an iPhone. All in all, I will continue to spread the word about this horrible experience and let everyone I know to stear clear of David S. Irvin. They should be ashamed of their business practices, duping people into spending way too much money for something others charge 1/3 of the price for. David S. Irvin may have photographed 11 presidents for all I care. He didn't photograph my family so the idea that we should feel privileged to work with him is once again, ludicrous.