MD Photography

The photographer/owner, [redacted], of this small business was seemingly trustworthy and professional initially. However, after being paid for her services to take 1 year old photos of my only son and family photos, some digital pictures were not given to us specifically ones with my husband in them. She reported them to be 'corrupted' and that someone was trying to recover the files for her. The package purchased was 1 full session with 20 digital pictures and $50 goes toward prints. The digital pictures given to me had many duplicatesonly they were in black and white. These were counted towards my 20 digital copies. She proceeded to tell me if I want more family pictures that she could schedule another sitting with $50 off. This would have costed me another $125! I proceeded to order prints with her because it was in the contract. These were never delivered and I was charged for the entire service of the sitting fee, digital pictures, and prints. I had called and spoke to her about the prints and about how I would like her to redo our family pictures. She told me we would have to pay for another full session and that she would send the prints the following week. It has now been 2 weeks since the prints should have been mailed to my home. I have tried to contact her on numerous occasions and left voicemails and never received a response.Product_Or_Service: PhotographsDesired SettlementTotal paid was $200. I request a full refund.Business Response The client, [redacted] ([redacted] on Facebook) contacted me to book a session for her 1 year old, and we arranged a time and place to meet. We had to reschedule due to weather once, but the day we met the weather was a little chilly. Before we began the session, [redacted] and I sat in my vehicle and went over my client-photographer contract. I had her initial by all the terms of the contract as I went over them with her and she paid $100 of her session fee ($175). One of these terms is that the photographer is not to be held responsible for photos not taken due to lack of cooperation from the client and/or parties associated with the client. In this case, the husband. During our session, the husband, [redacted] was obviously unhappy to be participating in the photos and continuously complained about the weather being too chilly for their son, who had been sick. During the session, we took approximately 30 photos total, less than 10 of which I would feel comfortable presenting to a client due to focusing issues, lighting, etc. Feeling rushed and unable to work to my full potential, I suggested we meet the next day free of charge because the weather would be warmer. The client agreed. The next day, I met [redacted] and her 1 year old son - but the father did not show up. We continued on with the session. At one point, [redacted] stated that she mainly wanted these photos of her son. We got a few shots with [redacted] as well, and called it a day. When I sent [redacted] the link to her gallery, her exact words were "Wow! These are great!" (sent via Facebook Message). I also received a text message from [redacted]: "Hi, can you resend the link of the pictures through fb again? I can't get it to open now - trying to share it and promote your business at the same time :)" [redacted] and I met once more to place her print order, as the $175 session fee included a $50 print credit. During the final meeting, the client mentioned in passing conversation that her husband has a temper. (reason for mentioning this information provided momentarily). A week or so after the final meeting, I received a very angry, aggressive (VERY unlike any former communication between the two of us) phone call from [redacted] demanding that I give them a free session because I had not done my job properly and she was far from satisfied with the photos I provided because her husband was not included. When I explained to her that I thought her husband would be joining us for the second session and that's why I felt comfortable rescheduling, she refused to listen. She put her husband on the phone, who proceeded to talk down to me as though I were far below him and gripe me out for a good 20 minutes and tell me I was "feeding him a load of BS" and that I was a horrible business owner. He stated that if he went to the studio in the mall and was unhappy that they would give him a free session. I explained that I am not the studio in the mall and that the second day's meet up was the free session, to which he did not show. I firmly believe the only reason [redacted] called that day is because her husband insisted. She and her husband were trying to bully a small business owner and throw his [redacted] weight around to threaten me in to giving them what they wanted, and when I didn't, they ended the phone call on a very impolite note. Since then, I have ceased all verbal communication and [redacted] left a very rude, threatening voicemail on my phone, stating he was going to be contacting my husband (who is deployed to [redacted] and get in touch with his Chain of Command on post. Very inappropriate, and unnecessary to try and uproot my husband's military career just because he believes he has "officer privileges on post." I have proof their prints have since been delivered via [redacted] and do not believe the clients deserve a refund because I provided them with quality images from their session, as well as the prints she requested. [redacted] has since posted on a public [redacted] page about my services, slandering my business, saying how rude I was (screenshots available). However, I had a person present when I took the first phone call who can vouch that I maintained my cool and was nearly screamed at over the phone. Their voices were audible even not on speaker phone. I do not blame [redacted] entirely for the actions listed above. As stated, [redacted] mentioned her husband has a bad temper, and I firmly believe he is the one who insisted on things going this far. I wish for no further communication from the client, as I already offered the free session the day after our first meeting, and her husband chose not to show up. I cannot take photos of someone who refuses to show up for a session. Thank you.Consumer Response First of all, I never mentioned that my husband had a 'temper'. Offline the photographer and I had discussed similarities or our husbands as far as with our children falling or injuring themselves and how frustrating the other spouse can be. This discussion was not about the pictures and should be dismissed. If this was considered, then I would assume that the photographer's spouse also has a temper. As far as the conversation, I kept my cool and did not even raise my voice. I had even offered to pay a small fee for the pictures to be redone. I was not coerced to call [redacted]. I had called to ask about pictures that she ''misplaced/lost" or were "corrupted". My husband did not raise his voice when speaking to [redacted] either. I purposely gave the phone to my husband so that I would remain professional and polite. The pictures that were taken on day 1 would have been sufficient if the photographer had not 'lost' them or if they were not 'corrupted'. These photos were taken and were expected to be given to us regardless of if we continued the session on the next day. Further more, [redacted] used words against me when I said that my husband does not like pictures. It was not that he 'refused' to be there for pictureshe had to return to work. [redacted] refused to reply to our messages to confirm delivery of our prints which is why my husband called her. Due to no response we chose to contact her husband which is protocol for any legal issues when dealing with military families. Rank has nothing to do with a complaint to the military. We did not 'threaten' to get her husband in trouble however we wanted to see if he could help resolve the issue. And after my husband had left the message with [redacted], we received our pictures post marked the same day as the call which means she was with holding the prints. Lastly, I never stated that the photos were horriblethey were amazing! But it's a shame that the photographer is not professional nor trustworthy and takes advantage of people's money. It's a shame that we did not get our family pictures.