McCall Doyle Photography

Hi [redacted] ,I'd like to address the complaint filed on 10/21/by [redacted] , requesting his deposit of $be returned on the grounds that I was sick on the day of a scheduled photo shoot His interpretation of the wedding contract was that I didn't fulfill my commitment to his daughter and he wanted the deposit he'd paid refunded in full immediately, and the contract to shoot his daughter's wedding next year on 9/17/to be terminated Here are the facts:*I was scheduled to photograph an engagement shoot for his daughter [redacted] and future son in law [redacted] on Sunday, 10/16/16.*On Saturday, 10/15/16, I had a sore throat that I thought was brought on by allergies After running errands with my husband, I stopped in to an urgent care clinic just to double check that it was, in fact, allergies It wasn't A rapid response test showed that it was strep throat I was told that I would be contagious for hours and to take the prescribed antibiotics.*I immediately texted [redacted] and told her that I had strep, that I was ready to shoot her session but that I didn't want to get her sick I asked if she had any alternate dates to reschedule.*She said she would check with her fiance ***, and got back to me quickly with a new date of 11/5/ She said he had to ensure he could get off work that day and they'd let me know for sure*I let her know that I was only going to be contagious for hours and that I was available to them, any day of the week, any weekend day, any time I was so sorry for being sick and at their disposal for a new engagement shoot date[redacted] seemed kind and understanding and not at all upset about having to switch the engagement date.*Later that evening, I received another text from [redacted] asking for clarification on what would happen in the event I was sick for her actual wedding date because she was "just curious" I explained the procedure that we had in place...that we prepped significantly before a wedding to stay healthy in the first place, but we also pay another professional wedding photographer a stipend to be "on call" for the day of the wedding The week before the wedding they receive all the info on the wedding including contact info for the bride & groom, and the bride & groom also receive contact info for the back up photographer This way, in the event of serious illness, accident, hospitalization, or family emergency, someone competent would be able to step in seamlessly She thanked me for clarifying and that was it.*On Tuesday, 10/18/16, [redacted] , [redacted] 's father, sent an email saying that since I had an "illness", "was unable to perform" and didn't provide "another competent professional" for the engagement shoot, that according to the Liability section of the contract, I should refund their full deposit of $and terminate the contract.*I was working under a very heavy editing deadline that week Because I don't believe in automated responses and answer all client emails/inquiries personally, I wanted to acknowledge that I had received the email from [redacted] and sent a note back saying I was under deadline but would respond that evening.*I sent a reply to [redacted] the next day (on 10/19/16), after clarifying some items with the attorney who originally reviewed my updated contract when it was drafted two years ago, and received no response However, when I received the Revdex.com complaint, I checked my business email account and found that my response had gone into my DRAFT folder instead of sending to the client's father I have stated the incident as clearly as possible Here is why I believe that I do not owe the [redacted] family a refund:*First, my contract is with [redacted] & [redacted] *** They were offered an opportunity back in July to have her father co-sign the contract, but after explaining what that meant in detail to [redacted] , she opted not to have her father on the contract As they are both adults, I feel that despite her busy schedule, she should have approached me directly if she no longer wanted me as her wedding photographer.*Second, [redacted] stated that the scheduled date of the engagement shoot was 10/9/ That is incorrect It was scheduled for 10/16/16.*Third, it is a wedding contract and it's clear that the terms of it refer to the wedding date specifically Yes, the engagement shoot is listed in what the particular package includes; however, the liability section, as well as the rescheduling & cancellation sections, pertain to the wedding day itself, and not to the engagement sessionThere are a few reasons for that, the most important being that while I can photograph an engagement session on literally any day, whether it's before or after the wedding, but one cannot photograph the wedding itself on any date other than the official one Also, I permit my clients to reschedule their engagement sessions any time, without penalty, for any reason I only reschedule in times of poor weather or, as in the case of the [redacted] engagement session, in contagious illness I have personally photographed engagement shoots and weddings with colds, with back pain, with broken toes, etcYou get the picture *Most importantly, the date listed on the wedding contract for the engagement session was not 10/16/ It is listed as "TBD"...that is because at the time of signing, we hadn't yet picked an engagement session, we just mutually agreed that it would be at some point in the autumn There was no actual date on the contract for me to have violated.*To that end, [redacted] herself changed the date of the engagement shoot after she set one up! She originally chose Sunday, 10/23/ Three weeks later, she asked if we could change it to Sunday, 10/16/ I agreed without any problem, without any sort of change fee or hassle It didn't matter that I already had something else planned for the new date-I moved it because it's my policy to bend over backwards to make my clients happy.*On a smaller note, [redacted] mentioned that the date for the engagement session was the only one they had available due to their "very busy schedules", yet when we were initially figuring out dates for the engagement shoot, [redacted] said they were available for five dates in October And when I did see if we could reschedule, she had another one just three weeks later at the ready *Again, if we're going by the wedding contract alone, from the Liability section verbiage that [redacted] quoted in his Revdex.com complaint, it says that "if she cannot provide another competent professional, all money received by Photographer, minus expenses, will be returned to Client" "Minus expenses" is important here because I did, in fact, incur expenses with reference to this weddingPrior to signing the contract, and during these last few months, [redacted] has sent me 50+ text messages, 50+ emails, and had me draft not one but two versions of the contract with special terms so that she could have different payment optionsThose things take valuable time, and time is moneyAfter signing the contract and locking in the date of 9/17/for [redacted] & ***'s wedding, I had another request to shoot a wedding that date which I had to decline September is a huge date for weddings in this area, and so I lost out on another wedding opportunity, which also translates to money.*Last but not least, I come to the bottom line on why I feel that [redacted] is not entitled to the refund of his $deposit When I told [redacted] I was sick the day before the scheduled engagement shoot, she didn't say that day was the only one available and that it needed to happen or we couldn't proceed She didn't ASK for another "competent professional" to take my place If 10/23/was the ONLY day available for their engagement shoot, she had three options: My husband and partner, Brian D***, who was scheduled to shoot her wedding alongside me in the contract, could have easily done the engagement sessionI could have shot the engagement session and simply worn a medical mask to contain my germs and not hugged the couple-I would have let Brian handle anything requiring physical contactIf neither of those options would have been acceptable for [redacted] , I could have called a back up photographer But she DID.NOT.ASKNot for a back up, not for Brian, not for anything at all.I cannot provide what I am not asked for Therefore, if none of the other reasons above suffice as an explanation of why the deposit of $should not be returned to [redacted] , I believe the last reason provides a very rational explanation as to why the deposit should not be returned.***I have everything stated above in writing and can provide the emails & texts if required.***On a personal note, I am so disappointed by all of this If [redacted] had sounded at all upset, or panicked about not having another available date to shoot her engagement session, I would have been there in a heartbeat, strep throat be darned Or Brian would have photographed it Or I would have put another pro in my place But everything was so nice, and so casual, and I didn't have a clue that there was any of this discord brewing behind the scenes.And I'll be honest If [redacted] herself had come to me and just said that she'd found another photographer and wanted to work with them instead of me (which is what I suspect happened here), I most likely would have refunded the money, despite all my losses Why? Because I'm not in this for the money, and I don't want to work with people who don't want me specifically In fact, I make very little I do many discounts and free sessions throughout the year because I love what I do, and I want all people to be able to work with me if they want to, even if they don't have the funds I try very hard to make everyone happy My one big flaw is that I tend to give too much for too little, and as a result, am often late with my editing Most photographers give their clients a max of finished final images I often give 1000-final images, all hand edited And that takes a lot of time Luckily, many have let me know personally that the photos were worth the wait And that makes it all worth it to me.My one mistake here was a technological one: having the email that I spent two hours writing and re-writing to [redacted] in the wee hours of the morning, trying to be as polite as possible despite being shocked & upset, and sending it to my Draft Folder instead of to him I hadn't realized he never received it because [redacted] , who friended me on Facebook when she signed her contract, was still my friend online I figured they understood what I wrote in response to his request and that we were still able to be friendly despite not working together I had no idea that nothing could be further from the truth and that I was about to receive my first formal complaint ever in the five years I've been working as a photographer I am still friends online (and sometimes in person!) with many of my brides, their moms, their other family members, their wedding parties, etc I try to be so much more than just a vendor I try to be their friend and make their big day as wonderful as possible, on the actual day and through their photos that will live on for a long time to come I was so excited to work with [redacted] & *** I thought we'd really bonded I'd even gotten them multiple special gifts to present at their engagement shoot, not only as a thank you for choosing us but because I thought we had a lot in common and were going to have a terrific working and friendly relationship Please let me know if there's anything I've left out, [redacted] I know this was long-winded and I apologize I am really passionate about what I do, and usually I'm a fluffy marshmallow who gets taken advantage of a lot But when this happened, I knew I had to stand up for myself and my business that I have built up on referrals & reputation alone in spite of many obstacles along the way Please feel free to give me a call at any time if we need to discuss any detailsMy number: ###-###-####

Hi [redacted],I'd like to address the complaint filed on 10/21/16 by [redacted], requesting his deposit of $350 be returned on the grounds that I was sick on the day of a scheduled photo shoot.  His interpretation of the wedding contract was that I didn't fulfill my commitment to his...

daughter and he wanted the deposit he'd paid refunded in full immediately, and the contract to shoot his daughter's wedding next year on 9/17/17 to be terminated.  Here are the facts:*I was scheduled to photograph an engagement shoot for his daughter [redacted] and future son in law [redacted] on Sunday, 10/16/16.*On Saturday, 10/15/16, I had a sore throat that I thought was brought on by allergies.  After running errands with my husband, I stopped in to an urgent care clinic just to double check that it was, in fact, allergies.  It wasn't.  A rapid response test showed that it was strep throat.  I was told that I would be contagious for 48 hours and to take the prescribed antibiotics.*I immediately texted [redacted] and told her that I had strep, that I was ready to shoot her session but that I didn't want to get her sick.  I asked if she had any alternate dates to reschedule.*She said she would check with her fiance [redacted], and got back to me quickly with a new date of 11/5/16.  She said he had to ensure he could get off work that day and they'd let me know for sure. *I let her know that I was only going to be contagious for 48 hours and that I was available to them, any day of the week, any weekend day, any time.  I was so sorry for being sick and at their disposal for a new engagement shoot date.[redacted] seemed kind and understanding and not at all upset about having to switch the engagement date.*Later that evening, I received another text from [redacted] asking for clarification on what would happen in the event I was sick for her actual wedding date because she was "just curious".  I explained the procedure that we had in place...that we prepped significantly before a wedding to stay healthy in the first place, but we also pay another professional wedding photographer a stipend to be "on call" for the day of the wedding.  The week before the wedding they receive all the info on the wedding including contact info for the bride & groom, and the bride & groom also receive contact info for the back up photographer.  This way, in the event of serious illness, accident, hospitalization, or family emergency, someone competent would be able to step in seamlessly.  She thanked me for clarifying and that was it.*On Tuesday, 10/18/16, [redacted]'s father, sent an email saying that since I had an "illness", "was unable to perform" and didn't provide "another competent professional" for the engagement shoot, that according to the Liability section of the contract, I should refund their full deposit of $350 and terminate the contract.*I was working under a very heavy editing deadline that week.  Because I don't believe in automated responses and answer all client emails/inquiries personally, I wanted to acknowledge that I had received the email from [redacted] and sent a note back saying I was under deadline but would respond that evening.*I sent a reply to [redacted] the next day (on 10/19/16), after clarifying some items with the attorney who originally reviewed my updated contract when it was drafted two years ago, and received no response.  However, when I received the Revdex.com complaint, I checked my business email account and found that my response had gone into my DRAFT folder instead of sending to the client's father.  I have stated the incident as clearly as possible.  Here is why I believe that I do not owe the [redacted] family a refund:*First, my contract is with [redacted] & [redacted].  They were offered an opportunity back in July to have her father co-sign the contract, but after explaining what that meant in detail to [redacted], she opted not to have her father on the contract.  As they are both adults, I feel that despite her busy schedule, she should have approached me directly if she no longer wanted me as her wedding photographer.*Second, [redacted] stated that the scheduled date of the engagement shoot was 10/9/16.  That is incorrect.  It was scheduled for 10/16/16.*Third, it is a wedding contract and it's clear that the terms of it refer to the wedding date specifically.  Yes, the engagement shoot is listed in what the particular package includes; however, the liability section, as well as the rescheduling & cancellation sections, pertain to the wedding day itself, and not to the engagement session. There are a few reasons for that, the most important being that while I can photograph an engagement session on literally any day, whether it's before or after the wedding, but one cannot photograph the wedding itself on any date other than the official one.  Also, I permit my clients to reschedule their engagement sessions any time, without penalty, for any reason.  I only reschedule in times of poor weather or, as in the case of the [redacted] engagement session, in contagious illness.  I have personally photographed engagement shoots and weddings with colds, with back pain, with broken toes, etc.. You get the picture.  *Most importantly, the date listed on the wedding contract for the engagement session was not 10/16/16.  It is listed as "TBD"...that is because at the time of signing, we hadn't yet picked an engagement session, we just mutually agreed that it would be at some point in the autumn.  There was no actual date on the contract for me to have violated.*To that end, [redacted] herself changed the date of the engagement shoot after she set one up!  She originally chose Sunday, 10/23/16.  Three weeks later, she asked if we could change it to Sunday, 10/16/16.  I agreed without any problem, without any sort of change fee or hassle.  It didn't matter that I already had something else planned for the new date-I moved it because it's my policy to bend over backwards to make my clients happy.*On a smaller note, [redacted] mentioned that the date for the engagement session was the only one they had available due to their "very busy schedules", yet when we were initially figuring out dates for the engagement shoot, [redacted] said they were available for five dates in October.  And when I did see if we could reschedule, she had another one just three weeks later at the ready.  *Again, if we're going by the wedding contract alone, from the Liability section verbiage that [redacted] quoted in his Revdex.com complaint, it says that "if she cannot provide another competent professional, all money received by Photographer, minus expenses, will be returned to Client".  "Minus expenses" is important here because I did, in fact, incur expenses with reference to this wedding.1. Prior to signing the contract, and during these last few months, [redacted] has sent me 50+ text messages, 50+ emails, and had me draft not one but two versions of the contract with special terms so that she could have different payment options. Those things take valuable time, and time is money. 2. After signing the contract and locking in the date of 9/17/17 for [redacted] & [redacted]'s wedding, I had another request to shoot a wedding that date which I had to decline.  September is a huge date for weddings in this area, and so I lost out on another wedding opportunity, which also translates to money.*Last but not least, I come to the bottom line on why I feel that [redacted] is not entitled to the refund of his $350 deposit.  When I told [redacted] I was sick the day before the scheduled engagement shoot, she didn't say that day was the only one available and that it needed to happen or we couldn't proceed.  She didn't ASK for another "competent professional" to take my place.  If 10/23/16 was the ONLY day available for their engagement shoot, she had three options: 1. My husband and partner, Brian D[redacted], who was scheduled to shoot her wedding alongside me in the contract, could have easily done the engagement session.2. I could have shot the engagement session and simply worn a medical mask to contain my germs and not hugged the couple-I would have let Brian handle anything requiring physical contact.3. If neither of those options would have been acceptable for [redacted], I could have called a back up photographer.  But she DID.NOT.ASK. Not for a back up, not for Brian, not for anything at all.I cannot provide what I am not asked for.  Therefore, if none of the other reasons above suffice as an explanation of why the deposit of $350 should not be returned to [redacted], I believe the last reason provides a very rational explanation as to why the deposit should not be returned.[redacted]I have everything stated above in writing and can provide the emails & texts if required.[redacted]On a personal note, I am so disappointed by all of this.  If [redacted] had sounded at all upset, or panicked about not having another available date to shoot her engagement session, I would have been there in a heartbeat, strep throat be darned.  Or Brian would have photographed it.  Or I would have put another pro in my place.  But everything was so nice, and so casual, and I didn't have a clue that there was any of this discord brewing behind the scenes.And I'll be honest.  If [redacted] herself had come to me and just said that she'd found another photographer and wanted to work with them instead of me (which is what I suspect happened here), I most likely would have refunded the money, despite all my losses.  Why?  Because I'm not in this for the money, and I don't want to work with people who don't want me specifically.  In fact, I make very little.  I do many discounts and free sessions throughout the year because I love what I do, and I want all people to be able to work with me if they want to, even if they don't have the funds.  I try very hard to make everyone happy.  My one big flaw is that I tend to give too much for too little, and as a result, am often late with my editing.  Most photographers give their clients a max of 500 finished final images.  I often give 1000-1500 final images, all hand edited.  And that takes a lot of time.  Luckily, many have let me know personally that the photos were worth the wait.  And that makes it all worth it to me.My one mistake here was a technological one: having the email that I spent two hours writing and re-writing to [redacted] in the wee hours of the morning, trying to be as polite as possible despite being shocked & upset, and sending it to my Draft Folder instead of to him.  I hadn't realized he never received it because [redacted], who friended me on Facebook when she signed her contract, was still my friend online.  I figured they understood what I wrote in response to his request and that we were still able to be friendly despite not working together.  I had no idea that nothing could be further from the truth and that I was about to receive my first formal complaint ever in the five years I've been working as a photographer.  I am still friends online (and sometimes in person!) with many of my brides, their moms, their other family members, their wedding parties, etc..  I try to be so much more than just a vendor.  I try to be their friend and make their big day as wonderful as possible, on the actual day and through their photos that will live on for a long time to come.  I was so excited to work with [redacted] & [redacted].  I thought we'd really bonded.  I'd even gotten them multiple special gifts to present at their engagement shoot, not only as a thank you for choosing us but because I thought we had a lot in common and were going to have a terrific working and friendly relationship.  Please let me know if there's anything I've left out, [redacted].  I know this was long-winded and I apologize.  I am really passionate about what I do, and usually I'm a fluffy marshmallow who gets taken advantage of a lot.  But when this happened, I knew I had to stand up for myself and my business that I have built up on referrals & reputation alone in spite of many obstacles along the way.  Please feel free to give me a call at any time if we need to discuss any details. My number: ###-###-####