Photography by Karen

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and have determined that the response would not resolve my complaint For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below We have had nothing but issues since we signed with her to do My wedding on April , She never called and confirmed anything with us all calls were made via me and the first call was April 12th a week before the wedding asking detailed questions about how she would be taking pictures and confirming that we would be getting the rights to a CD and that we would be getting all pictures taken for the price we paid her and also addressed certain pictures that I wanted taken and she said she had written the details down and also she had to have an email of what needed to be done with that I ended the conversation and emailed her exactly what I needed done On April 15,I called Karen Photography and spoke with her asking if she had received the email I had send her regarding what I wanted taken and to further outline the wedding because I had received no response from her She said she printed out all the documents I sent her and she would be bringing those with her the day of my wedding and fallowing that I then closed the conversation nicely On the day of the wedding April , She arrived at the wedding and said she was going downstairs to take pictures of the groom and his family which she said was not to take long After her not returning upstairs for a long period of time my bridesmaid went down at hour before the wedding was supposed to start to ask her to come up and take pictures of me getting into my wedding dressShe then told my bridesmaid that she was not coming up because she still had to take pictures of his family She did not come back up until a very late time and missed the time I was getting into my dress Which was very upsetting because this was a requested picture to have been taken and it was not Further more she did not bring the documents with her regarding the pictures that needed to have been taken She said oh I forgot the document in my car in a laughing rude toneShe also said she was just going to shoo t pictures and do what she normally does at wedding and not bother to get any the list of pictures I needed one I was not at all happy about this because she was taking pictures that were not requested and she did not follow what I had outlined of pictures I wanted taken before, during and after the wedding After the wedding she was still shooting pictures of his family which I did indeed ask why is this being done since you took such a long time before the wedding why are you still taking these pictures She said well they have pictures that they still wanted and I am going to accommodate them I told her that we have a strict time to get back to the reception and that we needed to get other pictures done also She then kept taking pictures for another hour of his family and didn’t start going outside to take the rest of the bridal party until it was almost minutes until we needed to be at out reception We ended up at the reception and hour late due to the fact that she was not following the certain time we needed to arrive at the wedding This was very upsetting because we were rushed to be seated the minute the entered the reception and people were complaining how long they had to wait for us to arrive During the wedding she was going around taking shots of pictures of just the guests which was never requested and furthermore we have received many phone calls stating that the guests did not appreciate a camera being in their faces while they were eating or talking at their tablesKaren the photographer was going around and asking guests to stand up and for she could take pictures of them and handed out her business card and told people they could buy the picture she took of them off thereThis was not a selling session and the pictures she took of the guests were horrible no one was ready or interested in having any pictures taken After receiving the pictures she had taken they were less then desirable they were not edited she only edited a few and left the others in original form On April 20th I called and explained to her in a nice tone that I was not happy with the quality of the pictures and they were not edited by any means and asked why this was She very harshly said I cannot change how to camera takes the pictures I said I understand this matter but I am still not happy with the fact that they were less then desirable pictures and also stating the fact that we had received many calls from guests stating how angry they were at us for being late at our reception I politely asked if she would refund a portion of the money due to the fact that we were not satisfied by her quality of pictures and also due to the fact that she was not keeping time during the wedding we ended up at the reception late and also many pictures she missed because she did not follow what I requested She then went on rudely yelling and accusing falsely trying to blame us for being late to our own reception and when I addressed the fact that many pictures were not taken that I wanted she then said I could not take the pictures you wanted of you wedding party due to the fact of the sizes of your people I felt her stating I had fat bridesmaids was very out of line and hurtful She said she was not refunding a dime of our money and she hung up the phone and kept going on stating she was a profession photographer In regards to her falsely accusing me of lying about how she handled my wedding was wrong Everything I have given is the truth and have explained detailed phone calls and also how she acted during the day of our wedding I have been very nice to her and we were never late on any payment to her and she was paid in full way before the wedding I am requesting a refund because I am very dissatisfied and that is the only reason and since after the phone calls she refusedI went straight to the Revdex.com to file a complaint stating the issues we had with her If anything else is requested please contact me Regards, [redacted] ***

I am not quite sure where to start with this complaint but I will try to explain everythingI have every detail written down about the wedding as I do with every
weddingUnfortunately, I write it all down to always cover myself because you never know if something like this could happen and your memory fades very fast of that particular wedding when you do many weddings each month and I want to make sure that I have all the detailsAs you will see in this email I am a very thorough person and somewhat of a perfectionist
I quickly realized after the wedding that the bride was trying to get a refund for her wedding but the worse part is that she is making such extreme accusations that are quite frankly infuriating but most of all dishonestI have been in the wedding business for years and owned my own company for of those years and I have never received a bit of troubleI run my business on integrity and honesty and I could give you hundreds of referrals of people that I have dealt with over the years that would back me up
I will start with meeting the bride at the bridal showOn November 2, *** and her mom came to visit my booth at the bridal show***'s mom Melissa did most of the talking for her and asked all the questionsMom and daughter were both pleasant and we had a great conversation and they decided to book with me that day and sign the contract for April 18th which was ***'s wedding dayThe next few months we had very few conversations until a month before the wedding which is typical for weddingsWe talked through some details over a couple phone calls and then the month before I told *** that if she wanted to send me any ideas of pictures that she liked she was more than welcome to do thatI told her that by emailing the pictures it was not a guarantee that I would take those pictures but it was more to give me some ideas of what she might likeThe week before the wedding I called her and we once again went over every detail of the wedding dayI quoted times to her and guidelines that I would be following on her wedding dayWe both agreed that the timeline I set forth would work and be compatible for everyoneWhen I give brides guidelines I always build time into the day in case of any setbacks or delaysI give myself plenty of time to cover everything without feeling rushed or panickedI don't work well in that kind of environment and I like for my brides and families to be relaxed on their wedding dayWe went over in detail everything I was going to do and at what time I would do itWe went over pictures that I would take and *** was agreeable to everythingWe ended the conversation in a pleasant way and we were both looking forward to her wedding dayShe had a few unrealistic times set for the day but we worked through everything and both agreed on the day and timesI pride myself on being very flexible with my brides and I am a people pleaserIt has always been my goal in my business to pleaseFor years I have never had a complaint against me or my picturesI am very picky and I take pride in everything I do and I take pride in the way I treat people
With that said I will get to the wedding dayThe following is a timeline that I created after the weddingI always do this for every wedding
Wedding April @ 3:- *** and *** *** (I copy and pasted this for youThis is what I do after the weddings)
Talked to *** weeks before the wedding and went over all details of the wedding
We once again reviewed the time frame of the day and she clearly understood what we would be doing and at what time
1:Arrived at the wedding and set up
1:Went to bridal room to take pictures of bride dressing and she had her make up on but her hair was not doneI took pictures of her dress on the hanger and a few of her starting to get her hair doneCouldn't do much more than that
1:Was introduced to ***(groom) who was walking in the church to go get somethingHe was in his street clothes stillMade him aware that we were supposed to start pictures at He said he knew but he was running behind a little bitI told him once he got dressed he and his guys should meet me here in the church
2:No one was coming out so I went back to the dressing room to check on the guys and only of them were dressedThe groom had his pants and shirt on but was still doing other things(cuffs, tie, shoes, socks)I took a few pictures and left him to complete getting ready
2:The guys came out and we pinned their flowers onNot sure where the wedding coordinator was but I did all the pinning
2:Got started on groom pictures with his groomsmen and familyWe were minutes late at that pointThings went well and groom, groomsman and family all cooperated and were very pleasant
2:Bridesmaid came out to tell me *** was putting on her dress and I told her I was very sorry but I could not come right away because of time I needed to get guys pictures doneI told her we had started minutes lateI told her to go ahead and put the brides dress on and I would be up soon as soon as possibleI had already taken pictures with the dress hanging on the hanger and I could stage some shots once I came up to her dressing roomI took minutes to do groom, groomsman and his family
2:Went up to see the girls and bride had trouble figuring out strings on the back of dressI helped with those and bride still did not have veil onThe girls said they would just put the veil on in the elevatorI left them at the elevator and I ran down the stairsDon't know what happened to them but they did not come down for another minutes2:Started on Brides pictures with bridesmaids and familyI told bride I could not get them all done before the wedding because I usually like to have her back in her room by (minutes before the wedding) to rest and relax and reapply any makeupAt this point she was running minutes late too because we were supposed to start with her pictures at 2:She said that she would be fine if I took minutes to do what I could doWe hurried through and got a lot of them done before but we still had more to take after the wedding
3:Told bride that guest were arriving and to go upstairs to her roomAt her request she wanted to take a few more with her ring bearer in his wagonWe did that
3:Wedding startedWent as plannedI did inform bride that I could only do girls coming down stairs and not guys too because they came down separate stair casesShe was ok with that
4:Wedding was overB and G came out and greeted bridal partyUshers were supposed to release by pews but that did not happen because of tooling that was connected on inside of pews and wedding coordsaid she did not know how to take it down and ushers did not so ushers just started releasing all pews at one timeAll guests just gathered in foyer area and b/g were talking to all
4:I asked wed coordabout clearing everyone out to do bubbles and she said b and g wanted to mingleAt that time they were talking to only wed party not mingling so I asked if we could clear out the foyer so we could do there fake getaway and then get started with picturesThey said yesI asked best man to help me
4:Bubbles and fake get away
4:B/G backGot everyone in church and started family pixFamily cooperatedThen Bridal partyB and G pixI went through my usual routineBrides family first, grooms family, Wedding party and then B and G
5:Took bridal party and b and g outside to do pix
5:Told B/G what time it was and that we were running a few minutes late and we should leave now if they wanted to be to reception by but also told them that we needed to still get a few more of them togetherI was told as stated on my contract that we should be at the reception by 5:for reception to start at Groom went back in church and was gone for minutesI did some pictures of b alone and goofing around with sunglassesShe seemed fine at that time and never mentioned to me that she was worried about being a little late for the receptionWe talked about the fact that we could go as soon as G came back and then get a few at the reception after dinner but once groom came back outside we decided to knock a few out and be done with it so they could enjoy the reception
5:Announced to them time againWe spent a few minutes taking some pictures but told them I did not have everything I wanted but we should probably go so we could get to reception
on time
6:Pulled into the reception parking lotWe were a few minutes late for reception but B and G were pleasant and not worried about itWe talked all the way into the reception and everyone seemed to be having a good time and B and G were pleasant
6:Bridal party announced in
Everything went slow at receptionThere was long periods of time in between everythingDJ was a family friend and did not have a good handle on crowd, time management etcMusic was crackling and not clear.PA system was low and non existent at times
I told b and g that we could go outside and do a few more pictures with all the down time but groom was done with picturesB agreed with him
9:Went around and talked to parents and b and g and told them I would be leaving soonThey were all satisfied and happy with my servicesThey said they did not think that there were any pictures left to be takenGrooms parents said that they could tell I love my job and it showedThey thanked me once again
Bride's mom was very happy tooShe said I did a great job and thanked me
They were all very grateful for my guidance(' was once a wedding coordinator) during the day and my pleasant attitudeThey said I did a great job and really knew what I was doing and how to work a crowd
9:Left reception
Home by
I know this is a long timeline but I just copy and pasted to you the details of the wedding day as I do after every weddingIf I don't do it right away I forget the details so it is my routine to do it that night or the next day
April 22nd 7:00p.mI returned Bride's callShe was NOT happyShe yelled at me for minutes telling me how I had ruined her wedding day, I had made them late for their reception and EVERYONE at the reception was complaining to her about how late she was to the receptionShe said that I broke my contract and did not follow the times that I had told her I would followShe said that I did not take ALL the pictures she emailed me and she was demanding a full refundShe repeated herself numerous times telling me this over and over again and letting me know that she wanted a refundI did not say one word while she yelled at meI worked in customer service for many years before my business and you should never interrupt the customer yelling at youI then asked her if I could go over the facts and time frame of the day
I gave her all the times of the day and what went on at different timesShe said that she did not realize all of the details and that "she didn't know the time frame because she did not wear a watch or have her phone out"When I told her the groom was minutes late she did know that eitherI then went over the contract in detail pointing out to her that in the contract it states Pre Ceremony pictures will take approximately 45-minutes and that is exactly what I didI then said that per the contract traditional shots after the wedding will take 45-minutes and that is exactly what I didI followed everything I told her down to every detailI also told her that I took all the pictures that time and setting would allowShe had wanted pictures on the grassAt the church there was no big sections of grass unless we went around frontBecause of time we did not go around the front because it was a long walkI did offer to go to the front but B/G said noShe wanted a picture of the bridesmaids crouching down and the groomsman jumping over themI told her that with her wedding party I did not think that would be a very good picture because of the setting(no grass only parking lot)I told her that I substituted another picture for that oneDuring the course of our conversation she began to listen to meAt the end of the conversation she seemed ok and accepted all that I had told herAs we continued our conversation and she realized that I had back up of timeline and facts for everything that she was complaining about she then started to complain about every vendor there and told me she would be calling all of themShe was not happy with her flowers, the videographer, the reception hall and catering and definitely was unhappy with the church coordinatorI reminded her that she had a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding and she looked gorgeous that dayI also gave her the advice to be happy about all of it and her goal at the end of the day was to be happily married and that was accomplished
We ended the conversation in a cordial way and I then once again told her that if I thought that I had done anything wrong or was not following my contract in any way I would be the first to admit it and give her a refundI have built my business on integrity and that is why I have done so well for so many yearsI then told her that I would edit all her pictures, put them up on my website and once they were on the website she would know that she could contact me and pick up her CD at that timeI also reminded her that she had a free 11xcoming to her and she should email me the number of the picture that she wanted that enlargement to be once the pictures were up on my websiteShe was agreeable and pleasant when we hung up
May 3rd I got the pictures edited and I put them on my websiteI let her know that they were up there to be viewed and her CD was ready to be picked upShe acknowledged that she had looked at them and in text she responded "thank you and they look great!"
May 28th I texted *** once again to remind her that I still had her CD to be picked upShe sent her mom to pick it up
June 22nd I received a call from the brideOnce again just like the previous conversation I had with her on April 22nd she just started yelling at meShe made a lot of acquisitions towards me and my companyOnce again I let her go on and on not interrupting herWhen she was done yelling at me I asked her if I could speak.) stated facts and truth to her but she kept interrupting me and would not listenAfter minutes of this behavior I calmly told her that I was done with the conversation and she would have to email meShe told me she was going to report me to the Revdex.comI told her if that is what she felt was necessary then go forward with that actionThat is where you come in
June 24th I received your letter with multiple accusationsI then decided that I would have to prepare this lengthy explanation so that I could give you the background and what had happened to lead up to this pointSo, you might be able to assess the situation as a third party
June 25th began to somehow try to put all of this in to some order for youI will now address the accusations stated in your letter to me
CUSTOMER'S STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
*** states "She did not do what she stated she would do via the contract" - I have attached my contract for you to viewWhat did I not do? I followed my contract to the exact letterI followed all time frames statedI have asked her for specifics of this statement and she can not produce them
*** states "She took 100% of the time allotted to shoot his family" As you can see by photos attached here are only a
few example of pictures that I took of her familyHere is the breakdown:
Pre Ceremony Girls - pictures
Pre Ceremony Guys - pictures
Wedding Ceremony - pictures
Family - Grooms family pictures, Bride's family pictures Wedding Party - pictures Reception - pictures
Total before editing - pictures Total after editing - pictures loaded on to my website and CD given to bride
*** states "She did not come upstairs to shoot pictures of me getting into my wedding dress as she was asked and even asked the day of by one of the bridesmaidsShe very strongly told my bridesmaid that she was not coming upstairs
and sorry she was busy taking the grooms family shots and she couldn't bother to come upstairs to take pictures of the bride."
As noted in my timeline aboveI was in the brides room but she was not readyI took pictures of her getting her hair done and of the dress on the hangerWhen the groom ran minutes late I had to get pictures of the groom, groomsman and familyWe were all gathered outside and I was working as fast as I could to get what I stated I would do which was to get both the brides family and the grooms familyThe bridesmaid did come down to ask me to come up and I told her that I needed to finish the guys and his family and that I would come up as soon as I couldI told her to let *** know I was sorry I could not come right at that minute but to go ahead and put her dress on and I would be up in about minutesI was almost done at that pointWhen I went up to the room she was still putting on her dress but I never take shots of that because I don't ever want to shoot pictures that might be misunderstood of a bride in her undergarmentsI waited for the dress to be on and then I helped with all the laces in the back of the dressThere were a lot of people in a small dressing room and I suggested that we get out of the dressing room since we were running so late on timeShe agreedWe took her veil and walked out of the room to the elevator(See timeline above for more details.) What wedding photographer do you know that doesn't LOVE to take pictures of the bride? Why would I not want to not "bother" going upstairsI love taking those shots and I am a people pleaserI WANT to please the brideThat is how I have run my business all alongI am flexible, honest and want to pleaseMy goal is to please both families and I promise the bride and groom that I am there for both familiesWhat bride wouldn't want pictures of the groom and his family?
*** states "Her pictures are less than desirable and she made us late by an hour to our reception because after the wedding she kept taking picture of the grooms family that should have been taken way before that time"The pictures are beautiful and if you would like a full CD copy of all the pictures I can give you thatYou will see for yourself they are beautiful and the bride even said on a text "They are great!"As you can see by the breakdown that I provided to you I DID NOT spend more time on the groom's side verses the bride sideThe groom's pictures Pre Ceremony were taken and the bride and groom did not see each other before the wedding so the Family pictures taken after the wedding with both the bride and groom in the picture were equalIf anything I took more of the bride's familyWhat does the statement mean that the grooms family pictures should have been taken way before that time mean? They were not together before that time
I
asked her what she meant by that on the phone and she could not tell me she just repeated herselfOnce again she would not give me specific examples of her accusations
*** states "She missed many pictures that were told to her via the contract and her words back was well it's all your fault I just didn't have time to take what you wantAnd even gave reference to the size of my bridesmaid stating they were over weight and she couldn't accommodate us because of their sizes" In my contract it states in #" The studio does not guarantee any particular pose or special effect, but will produce all that time, lighting, building characteristics,
location, decorations, weatherwill permitGoing back to my timeline above I spent the exact amount of time on thepictures that I stated I wouldI took the exact pictures that I stated I wouldI would NEVER tell someone that they were over weight nor would I say to a bride that it's all your faultI am not exactly skinny myself and that would NEVER be professional to say thatI did tell her that there was one picture where the guys are jumping over the girls and the girls are crouched down that it wouldn't workThe girls had shorter type dresses on and it would not look good to have them crouch downI also told her that all we had was blacktop to work with and not grassIt would be dangerous to have the guys jumping over the girlsI did restage the shot and I had the guys sit on the curb and I posed the girls behind the guysThe bridal party was hot and tired and ready to get to the receptionI took all pictures that they would allow me to takeThe groom was totally done with pictures at this point!
*** states "She did not edit my pictures" I told *** on the phone several times that every single one of her pictures were edited by meShe then told me that my contract states that " in order for the pictures to be edited I charged an extra $300" I told *** that my contract does not state thatShe did not believe me and said that she had my contract right there and that is what it saysI then told her to scan that part in and send it to me in an email because it does not say anything like that in my contractI edit EVERY wedding I shootIn fact, I have brides that compliment me because of my editingI usually spend about 8-hours after the wedding editingI am very proud of the work that I do and take great pride in it
*** states "I called her a few days after the wedding asking for a simple maybe half price refund she said no because she didn't feel she did a bad job"Out of all of ***'s statements this one is the mostly trueShe did call me and actually asked for a full refundWhen she saw that she was getting no where with me she then asked for half of a refundI told her at that time "*** if I felt I did ANYTHING wrong I would be the first to give you a full refund or partial refund but as I have stated in this conversation and by facts of the timeline(above) and of the day I have done nothing wrongYou have gorgeous pictures!"
I have not done anything wrong with this weddingI have been nothing but gracious to *** and put up with her yelling at me and making a lot of negative remarks and accusations against me personally and my businessI have never raised my voice or been nasty to herThat is NOT my personalityI have remained professional to the very endI have spent more time talking, editing, being upset by being yelled at and now this rebuttal trying to defend myself than I care to admitThis wedding has not been worth the $that I receivedIt has caused me a lot of stress and now at your mercy I am hoping that you can be the "go between" to let her know all of the factsI do not want anything bad said of my companyI have been in the wedding business years and of those in my own business and have never had this problem nor have I ever been accused of these thingsI think if you took the time to contact all the vendors from her wedding you would see that she was not happy with ANY of the vendorsShe told me on the phone that "they all did a bad job and she was going to demand money back from them" this is after she knew she was not going to get any money from me
I have attached the actual wedding document in two partsI will also send you a 2nd email with a few pictures
If there is anything I can provide you with or any thing I did not cover please let me knowI would also like to know how it all turns out and I am hoping you will see that I have a very reputable business and I do not want anything like this on my records
Thank you for your time!
Karen
Photography by Karen
www.photography-by-karen.com 317-979-

I am not quite sure where to start with this complaint but I will try to explain everythingI have every detail written down about the wedding as I do with every weddingUnfortunately, I write it all down to always cover myself because you never know if something like this could happen and your
memory fades very fast of that particular wedding when you do many weddings each month and I want to make sure that I have all the detailsAs you will see in this email I am a very thorough person and somewhat of a perfectionist
I quickly realized after the wedding that the bride was trying to get a refund for her wedding but the worse part is that she is making such extreme accusations that are quite frankly infuriating but most of all dishonestI have been in the wedding business for years and owned my own company for of those years and I have never received a bit of troubleI run my business on integrity and honesty and I could give you hundreds of referrals of people that I have dealt with over the years that would back me up
I will start with meeting the bride at the bridal showOn November 2, *** and her mom came to visit my booth at the bridal show***'s mom Melissa did most of the talking for her and asked all the questionsMom and daughter were both pleasant and we had a great conversation and they decided to book with me that day and sign the contract for April 18th which was ***'s wedding dayThe next few months we had very few conversations until a month before the wedding which is typical for weddingsWe talked through some details over a couple phone calls and then the month before I told *** that if she wanted to send me any ideas of pictures that she liked she was more than welcome to do thatI told her that by emailing the pictures it was not a guarantee that I would take those pictures but it was more to give me some ideas of what she might likeThe week before the wedding I called her and we once again went over every detail of the wedding dayI quoted times to her and guidelines that I would be following on her wedding dayWe both agreed that the timeline I set forth would work and be compatible for everyoneWhen I give brides guidelines I always build time into the day in case of any setbacks or delaysI give myself plenty of time to cover everything without feeling rushed or panickedI don't work well in that kind of environment and I like for my brides and families to be relaxed on their wedding dayWe went over in detail everything I was going to do and at what time I would do itWe went over pictures that I would take and *** was agreeable to everythingWe ended the conversation in a pleasant way and we were both looking forward to her wedding dayShe had a few unrealistic times set for the day but we worked through everything and both agreed on the day and timesI pride myself on being very flexible with my brides and I am a people pleaserIt has always been my goal in my business to pleaseFor years I have never had a complaint against me or my picturesI am very picky and I take pride in everything I do and I take pride in the way I treat people
With that said I will get to the wedding dayThe following is a timeline that I created after the weddingI always do this for every wedding
Wedding April @ 3:- *** and *** *** (I copy and pasted this for youThis is what I do after the weddings)
Talked to *** weeks before the wedding and went over all details of the wedding
We once again reviewed the time frame of the day and she clearly understood what we would be doing and at what time
1:Arrived at the wedding and set up
1:Went to bridal room to take pictures of bride dressing and she had her make up on but her hair was not doneI took pictures of her dress on the hanger and a few of her starting to get her hair doneCouldn't do much more than that
1:Was introduced to ***(groom) who was walking in the church to go get somethingHe was in his street clothes stillMade him aware that we were supposed to start pictures at He said he knew but he was running behind a little bitI told him once he got dressed he and his guys should meet me here in the church
2:No one was coming out so I went back to the dressing room to check on the guys and only of them were dressedThe groom had his pants and shirt on but was still doing other things(cuffs, tie, shoes, socks)I took a few pictures and left him to complete getting ready
2:The guys came out and we pinned their flowers onNot sure where the wedding coordinator was but I did all the pinning
2:Got started on groom pictures with his groomsmen and familyWe were minutes late at that pointThings went well and groom, groomsman and family all cooperated and were very pleasant
2:Bridesmaid came out to tell me *** was putting on her dress and I told her I was very sorry but I could not come right away because of time I needed to get guys pictures doneI told her we had started minutes lateI told her to go ahead and put the brides dress on and I would be up soon as soon as possibleI had already taken pictures with the dress hanging on the hanger and I could stage some shots once I came up to her dressing roomI took minutes to do groom, groomsman and his family
2:Went up to see the girls and bride had trouble figuring out strings on the back of dressI helped with those and bride still did not have veil onThe girls said they would just put the veil on in the elevatorI left them at the elevator and I ran down the stairsDon't know what happened to them but they did not come down for another minutes2:Started on Brides pictures with bridesmaids and familyI told bride I could not get them all done before the wedding because I usually like to have her back in her room by (minutes before the wedding) to rest and relax and reapply any makeupAt this point she was running minutes late too because we were supposed to start with her pictures at 2:She said that she would be fine if I took minutes to do what I could doWe hurried through and got a lot of them done before but we still had more to take after the wedding
3:Told bride that guest were arriving and to go upstairs to her roomAt her request she wanted to take a few more with her ring bearer in his wagonWe did that
3:Wedding startedWent as plannedI did inform bride that I could only do girls coming down stairs and not guys too because they came down separate stair casesShe was ok with that
4:Wedding was overB and G came out and greeted bridal partyUshers were supposed to release by pews but that did not happen because of tooling that was connected on inside of pews and wedding coordsaid she did not know how to take it down and ushers did not so ushers just started releasing all pews at one timeAll guests just gathered in foyer area and b/g were talking to all
4:I asked wed coordabout clearing everyone out to do bubbles and she said b and g wanted to mingleAt that time they were talking to only wed party not mingling so I asked if we could clear out the foyer so we could do there fake getaway and then get started with picturesThey said yesI asked best man to help me
4:Bubbles and fake get away
4:B/G backGot everyone in church and started family pixFamily cooperatedThen Bridal partyB and G pixI went through my usual routineBrides family first, grooms family, Wedding party and then B and G
5:Took bridal party and b and g outside to do pix
5:Told B/G what time it was and that we were running a few minutes late and we should leave now if they wanted to be to reception by but also told them that we needed to still get a few more of them togetherI was told as stated on my contract that we should be at the reception by 5:for reception to start at Groom went back in church and was gone for minutesI did some pictures of b alone and goofing around with sunglassesShe seemed fine at that time and never mentioned to me that she was worried about being a little late for the receptionWe talked about the fact that we could go as soon as G came back and then get a few at the reception after dinner but once groom came back outside we decided to knock a few out and be done with it so they could enjoy the reception
5:Announced to them time againWe spent a few minutes taking some pictures but told them I did not have everything I wanted but we should probably go so we could get to reception
on time
6:Pulled into the reception parking lotWe were a few minutes late for reception but B and G were pleasant and not worried about itWe talked all the way into the reception and everyone seemed to be having a good time and B and G were pleasant
6:Bridal party announced in
Everything went slow at receptionThere was long periods of time in between everythingDJ was a family friend and did not have a good handle on crowd, time management etcMusic was crackling and not clear.PA system was low and non existent at times
I told b and g that we could go outside and do a few more pictures with all the down time but groom was done with picturesB agreed with him
9:Went around and talked to parents and b and g and told them I would be leaving soonThey were all satisfied and happy with my servicesThey said they did not think that there were any pictures left to be takenGrooms parents said that they could tell I love my job and it showedThey thanked me once again
Bride's mom was very happy tooShe said I did a great job and thanked me
They were all very grateful for my guidance(' was once a wedding coordinator) during the day and my pleasant attitudeThey said I did a great job and really knew what I was doing and how to work a crowd
9:Left reception
Home by
I know this is a long timeline but I just copy and pasted to you the details of the wedding day as I do after every weddingIf I don't do it right away I forget the details so it is my routine to do it that night or the next day
April 22nd 7:00p.mI returned Bride's callShe was NOT happyShe yelled at me for minutes telling me how I had ruined her wedding day, I had made them late for their reception and EVERYONE at the reception was complaining to her about how late she was to the receptionShe said that I broke my contract and did not follow the times that I had told her I would followShe said that I did not take ALL the pictures she emailed me and she was demanding a full refundShe repeated herself numerous times telling me this over and over again and letting me know that she wanted a refundI did not say one word while she yelled at meI worked in customer service for many years before my business and you should never interrupt the customer yelling at youI then asked her if I could go over the facts and time frame of the day
I gave her all the times of the day and what went on at different timesShe said that she did not realize all of the details and that "she didn't know the time frame because she did not wear a watch or have her phone out"When I told her the groom was minutes late she did know that eitherI then went over the contract in detail pointing out to her that in the contract it states Pre Ceremony pictures will take approximately 45-minutes and that is exactly what I didI then said that per the contract traditional shots after the wedding will take 45-minutes and that is exactly what I didI followed everything I told her down to every detailI also told her that I took all the pictures that time and setting would allowShe had wanted pictures on the grassAt the church there was no big sections of grass unless we went around frontBecause of time we did not go around the front because it was a long walkI did offer to go to the front but B/G said noShe wanted a picture of the bridesmaids crouching down and the groomsman jumping over themI told her that with her wedding party I did not think that would be a very good picture because of the setting(no grass only parking lot)I told her that I substituted another picture for that oneDuring the course of our conversation she began to listen to meAt the end of the conversation she seemed ok and accepted all that I had told herAs we continued our conversation and she realized that I had back up of timeline and facts for everything that she was complaining about she then started to complain about every vendor there and told me she would be calling all of themShe was not happy with her flowers, the videographer, the reception hall and catering and definitely was unhappy with the church coordinatorI reminded her that she had a beautiful day and a beautiful wedding and she looked gorgeous that dayI also gave her the advice to be happy about all of it and her goal at the end of the day was to be happily married and that was accomplished
We ended the conversation in a cordial way and I then once again told her that if I thought that I had done anything wrong or was not following my contract in any way I would be the first to admit it and give her a refundI have built my business on integrity and that is why I have done so well for so many yearsI then told her that I would edit all her pictures, put them up on my website and once they were on the website she would know that she could contact me and pick up her CD at that timeI also reminded her that she had a free 11xcoming to her and she should email me the number of the picture that she wanted that enlargement to be once the pictures were up on my websiteShe was agreeable and pleasant when we hung up
May 3rd I got the pictures edited and I put them on my websiteI let her know that they were up there to be viewed and her CD was ready to be picked upShe acknowledged that she had looked at them and in text she responded "thank you and they look great!"
May 28th I texted *** once again to remind her that I still had her CD to be picked upShe sent her mom to pick it up
June 22nd I received a call from the brideOnce again just like the previous conversation I had with her on April 22nd she just started yelling at meShe made a lot of acquisitions towards me and my companyOnce again I let her go on and on not interrupting herWhen she was done yelling at me I asked her if I could speak.) stated facts and truth to her but she kept interrupting me and would not listenAfter minutes of this behavior I calmly told her that I was done with the conversation and she would have to email meShe told me she was going to report me to the Revdex.comI told her if that is what she felt was necessary then go forward with that actionThat is where you come in
June 24th I received your letter with multiple accusationsI then decided that I would have to prepare this lengthy explanation so that I could give you the background and what had happened to lead up to this pointSo, you might be able to assess the situation as a third party
June 25th began to somehow try to put all of this in to some order for youI will now address the accusations stated in your letter to me
CUSTOMER'S STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
*** states "She did not do what she stated she would do via the contract" - I have attached my contract for you to viewWhat did I not do? I followed my contract to the exact letterI followed all time frames statedI have asked her for specifics of this statement and she can not produce them
*** states "She took 100% of the time allotted to shoot his family" As you can see by photos attached here are only a
few example of pictures that I took of her familyHere is the breakdown:
Pre Ceremony Girls - pictures
Pre Ceremony Guys - pictures
Wedding Ceremony - pictures
Family - Grooms family pictures, Bride's family pictures Wedding Party - pictures Reception - pictures
Total before editing - pictures Total after editing - pictures loaded on to my website and CD given to bride
*** states "She did not come upstairs to shoot pictures of me getting into my wedding dress as she was asked and even asked the day of by one of the bridesmaidsShe very strongly told my bridesmaid that she was not coming upstairs
and sorry she was busy taking the grooms family shots and she couldn't bother to come upstairs to take pictures of the bride."
As noted in my timeline aboveI was in the brides room but she was not readyI took pictures of her getting her hair done and of the dress on the hangerWhen the groom ran minutes late I had to get pictures of the groom, groomsman and familyWe were all gathered outside and I was working as fast as I could to get what I stated I would do which was to get both the brides family and the grooms familyThe bridesmaid did come down to ask me to come up and I told her that I needed to finish the guys and his family and that I would come up as soon as I couldI told her to let *** know I was sorry I could not come right at that minute but to go ahead and put her dress on and I would be up in about minutesI was almost done at that pointWhen I went up to the room she was still putting on her dress but I never take shots of that because I don't ever want to shoot pictures that might be misunderstood of a bride in her undergarmentsI waited for the dress to be on and then I helped with all the laces in the back of the dressThere were a lot of people in a small dressing room and I suggested that we get out of the dressing room since we were running so late on timeShe agreedWe took her veil and walked out of the room to the elevator(See timeline above for more details.) What wedding photographer do you know that doesn't LOVE to take pictures of the bride? Why would I not want to not "bother" going upstairsI love taking those shots and I am a people pleaserI WANT to please the brideThat is how I have run my business all alongI am flexible, honest and want to pleaseMy goal is to please both families and I promise the bride and groom that I am there for both familiesWhat bride wouldn't want pictures of the groom and his family?
*** states "Her pictures are less than desirable and she made us late by an hour to our reception because after the wedding she kept taking picture of the grooms family that should have been taken way before that time"The pictures are beautiful and if you would like a full CD copy of all the pictures I can give you thatYou will see for yourself they are beautiful and the bride even said on a text "They are great!"As you can see by the breakdown that I provided to you I DID NOT spend more time on the groom's side verses the bride sideThe groom's pictures Pre Ceremony were taken and the bride and groom did not see each other before the wedding so the Family pictures taken after the wedding with both the bride and groom in the picture were equalIf anything I took more of the bride's familyWhat does the statement mean that the grooms family pictures should have been taken way before that time mean? They were not together before that time
I
asked her what she meant by that on the phone and she could not tell me she just repeated herselfOnce again she would not give me specific examples of her accusations
*** states "She missed many pictures that were told to her via the contract and her words back was well it's all your fault I just didn't have time to take what you wantAnd even gave reference to the size of my bridesmaid stating they were over weight and she couldn't accommodate us because of their sizes" In my contract it states in #" The studio does not guarantee any particular pose or special effect, but will produce all that time, lighting, building characteristics,
location, decorations, weatherwill permitGoing back to my timeline above I spent the exact amount of time on thepictures that I stated I wouldI took the exact pictures that I stated I wouldI would NEVER tell someone that they were over weight nor would I say to a bride that it's all your faultI am not exactly skinny myself and that would NEVER be professional to say thatI did tell her that there was one picture where the guys are jumping over the girls and the girls are crouched down that it wouldn't workThe girls had shorter type dresses on and it would not look good to have them crouch downI also told her that all we had was blacktop to work with and not grassIt would be dangerous to have the guys jumping over the girlsI did restage the shot and I had the guys sit on the curb and I posed the girls behind the guysThe bridal party was hot and tired and ready to get to the receptionI took all pictures that they would allow me to takeThe groom was totally done with pictures at this point!
*** states "She did not edit my pictures" I told *** on the phone several times that every single one of her pictures were edited by meShe then told me that my contract states that " in order for the pictures to be edited I charged an extra $300" I told *** that my contract does not state thatShe did not believe me and said that she had my contract right there and that is what it saysI then told her to scan that part in and send it to me in an email because it does not say anything like that in my contractI edit EVERY wedding I shootIn fact, I have brides that compliment me because of my editingI usually spend about 8-hours after the wedding editingI am very proud of the work that I do and take great pride in it
*** states "I called her a few days after the wedding asking for a simple maybe half price refund she said no because she didn't feel she did a bad job"Out of all of ***'s statements this one is the mostly trueShe did call me and actually asked for a full refundWhen she saw that she was getting no where with me she then asked for half of a refundI told her at that time "*** if I felt I did ANYTHING wrong I would be the first to give you a full refund or partial refund but as I have stated in this conversation and by facts of the timeline(above) and of the day I have done nothing wrongYou have gorgeous pictures!"
I have not done anything wrong with this weddingI have been nothing but gracious to *** and put up with her yelling at me and making a lot of negative remarks and accusations against me personally and my businessI have never raised my voice or been nasty to herThat is NOT my personalityI have remained professional to the very endI have spent more time talking, editing, being upset by being yelled at and now this rebuttal trying to defend myself than I care to admitThis wedding has not been worth the $that I receivedIt has caused me a lot of stress and now at your mercy I am hoping that you can be the "go between" to let her know all of the factsI do not want anything bad said of my companyI have been in the wedding business years and of those in my own business and have never had this problem nor have I ever been accused of these thingsI think if you took the time to contact all the vendors from her wedding you would see that she was not happy with ANY of the vendorsShe told me on the phone that "they all did a bad job and she was going to demand money back from them" this is after she knew she was not going to get any money from me
I have attached the actual wedding document in two partsI will also send you a 2nd email with a few pictures
If there is anything I can provide you with or any thing I did not cover please let me knowI would also like to know how it all turns out and I am hoping you will see that I have a very reputable business and I do not want anything like this on my records
Thank you for your time!
Karen
Photography by Karen
www.photography-by-karen.com 317-979-

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that the response would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
We have had nothing but issues since we signed with her to do My wedding  on April 18 , 2015.    She never called and confirmed anything with us all calls were made via me and the first call was April 12th a week before the wedding asking detailed questions about how she would be taking pictures and confirming that we would be getting the rights to a CD and that we would be getting all pictures taken for the price we paid her and also addressed certain pictures that I wanted taken and she said she had written the details down and also she had to have an email of what needed to be done with that I ended the conversation and emailed her exactly what I needed done.  On April 15,2015 I called Karen Photography and spoke with her asking if she had received the email I had send her regarding what I wanted taken and to further outline the wedding  because I had received no response from her.   She said she printed out all the documents I sent her and she would be bringing those with her the day of my wedding and fallowing that I then closed the conversation nicely.  On the day of the wedding April 18 , 2015  She arrived at the wedding and said she was going downstairs to take pictures of the groom and his family which she said was not to take long.  After her not returning upstairs for a long period of time my bridesmaid went down at 1 hour  before the wedding was supposed to start to ask her to come up and take pictures of me getting into my wedding dress. She then told my bridesmaid that she was not coming up because she still had to take pictures of his family.  She did not come back up until a very late time and missed the time I was getting into my dress.  Which was very upsetting because this was a requested picture to have been taken and it was not.  Further more she did not bring the documents with her regarding the pictures that needed to have been taken.  She said oh I forgot the document in my car in a laughing rude tone. She also  said she was just going to shoo normal t pictures and do what she normally does at wedding and not bother to get any the list of pictures I needed one.   I was not  at all happy about this because she was taking pictures that were not requested and she did not follow what I had outlined of pictures I wanted taken before, during and after the wedding.  After the wedding she was still shooting pictures of his family which I did indeed ask why is this being done since you took such a long time before the wedding why are you still taking these pictures.  She said well they have pictures that they still wanted and I am going to accommodate them.  I told her that we have a strict time to get back to the reception   and that we needed to get other pictures done also.  She then kept taking pictures for another hour of his family  and didn’t start going outside to take the rest of the bridal party until it was almost 30 minutes  until we needed to be at out reception.  We ended up at the reception and hour late due to the fact that she was not following the certain time we needed to arrive at the wedding.   This was very upsetting because we were rushed to be seated the minute the entered the reception and people were complaining how long they had to wait for us to arrive.   During the wedding she was going around taking shots of pictures of just the guests which was never requested and furthermore we have received many phone calls stating that the guests did not appreciate a camera being in their faces while they were eating or talking at their tables. Karen the photographer was going around and asking guests to stand up and for she could take pictures of them and handed out her business card and told people they could buy the picture she took of them off there. This was not a selling session and the pictures she took of the guests were horrible no one was  ready or interested in having any pictures taken.    After receiving the pictures she had taken they were less then desirable they were not edited she only edited a few and left the others in original form.  On April 20th 2015 I called and explained to her in a nice tone that I was not happy with the quality of the pictures and they  were not edited by any means and asked why this was.  She very harshly said I cannot change how to camera takes the pictures.  I said I understand this matter but I am still not happy with the fact that they were less then desirable pictures and also stating the fact that we had received many calls from guests stating how angry they were at us for being late at our reception.  I politely asked if she would refund a portion of the money due to the fact that we were not satisfied by her quality of pictures and also due to the fact that she was not keeping time during the wedding we ended up at the reception late and also many pictures she missed because she did not follow what I requested.  She then went on rudely yelling and accusing falsely trying to blame us for being late to our own reception and when I addressed the fact that many pictures were not taken that I wanted she then said I could not take the pictures you wanted of you wedding party due to the fact of the sizes of your people.  I felt her stating I had fat bridesmaids was very out of line and hurtful.  She said she was not refunding a dime of our money and she hung up the phone and kept going on stating she was a profession photographer.   In regards to her falsely accusing me of lying about how she handled my wedding was wrong.  Everything I have given is the truth and have explained detailed phone calls and also how she acted during the day of our wedding. 
I have been very nice to her and we were never late on any payment to her and she was paid in full way before the wedding. 
I  am requesting a refund because I am very dissatisfied and that is the only reason and since after the phone calls she refused. I went straight to the Revdex.com to file a complaint stating the issues we had with her.
If anything else is requested please contact me.
Regards,[redacted]