Redhead Photography LLC

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because: Unforeseen events happenHowever, Business can not take Clients money and run away with itNor should they Postpone the prepaid Service IndefinitelyIt's been month since the shoot and I personally believe that we have exercise patience with your issuesHowever, You are basically telling your clients to wait indefinitely for your personal issues to passIt's been one thing after anotherRefund us the money and when you produce the pictures, we'll gladly pay for itI think that was the resolution you should have offeredJust because you contract states it, doesn't mean you you can't be considerate of your clientsYou are dragging your clients through your mud Regards, ***

I have been in bed out of hospital with medical problems and major family emergenciesClient will get their photos, albeit later than expectedOn my contract it advises them of no guarantees of time and although no one can predict life, we have had some major curveballs which have prevented me from working

I am unsure what the complaint is actually for, as this is the FIRST correspondence I have ever received from your office, which was immediately sent to me today (to my home) by my assistant who is working at the studio.  Had I received any correspondence earlier, I would have happily...

obliged.  And to stress again, I do not exactly know what the complaint is for, as apparently the person who is in charge of this is not available until tomorrow, when I will be un-reachable. However, I feel the need to at least describe the experience we had with [redacted], which may clear up any concerns that had been expressed to your office. First of all, [redacted] purchased a "Brand New" newborn session (as seen on our website, [redacted] for $695, which included a 3 hour newborn session, and 25 color, and 25 black and white high resolution digital images.  Before even going into any more detail, let me assure you that [redacted] had her session, which actually lasted 4 hours (to be discussed later), and was delivered her photos, albeit slightly delayed due to loss of childcare and health problems, approximately two weeks ago.   The link to her finished album is found here: [redacted] As you can see, her album does not contain 25 high resolution color and 25 high resolution black and white images.  It contains 35 high resolution color and 35 high resolution black and white, as well as 35 FB sized, watermarked images for her usage on online media, as promised. I'm not sure what her complain is regarding, however, she had her session, and has received the finished product, and thus there are no refunds, as we have a no refund policy (seen attached in multiple documents). TO explain the documents, there are 2 sets of agreements - the old set (which from our original system via a service called [redacted] for contracts), and the new set (which is our newly integrated system by a service called [redacted] for contracts and client organization).  Because she had booked her session many months ago, and only had put down a deposit (which we could not locate), we had her pay the remaining balance before her session (the $450 charge receipt) before her session.  She has TWO sets of agreements, both pretty much identical in nature - one, the originals which I forwarded to you, and two, the new contracts, which we had her fill out since we switched to a new system, before her session.  Both sets are included as PDF documents with this email.   In said documents, there are three important things:  1. Client session agreement - this states our no refund policy except in cases of death or miscarriage, as well as asks preferences by the client for their session. (kept pretty much identical in the new system, but again we have both copies) 2. Client Checklist- this goes over studio policies, as well as specific instructions and clarifications as to how our studio is run, and approximate delivery time of digital images, which sometimes, as it is an approximate, is variable from client to client and session to session (this also has been kept mostly the same in our new system, but again we have both copies). 3. Parental Instructions - this originally was used as a way to reinforce the checklist, as to prevent people from coming to their sessions unprepared. (it later was developed into the "client instructions" which we used to go over verbally upon booking, but which deemed better to be done written, as we had several people come in unprepared for their sessions).  Thus, we re-created it and wrote out the instructions very clearly (which [redacted] also signed and returned to us, included as a PDF attached to this email). 4. Money Back Guarantee - something we started late summer but which we abolished because we had clients that would come unprepared and thus negate the entire document, as in order for it to hold validity, the instructions had to be followed, something that [redacted] was privy to since she violated the items on that, and she was not booked with this document in place originally anyway. All this being said, the session that day was a disaster. 1.  [redacted] arrived 40 minutes late (she claimed because she was trying to "refeed baby" on route.  This caused us to start late from the beginning, and negated any "money back guarantee", even if she was privy to it, right off the bat, as part of that, and all of our instructions is that you arrive 9:45am, before your session time of 10am, as to allow baby to get accustomed to the heat and environment. 2.  [redacted] did not keep baby up prior as instructed to do, as her baby was awake 99% of the entire session, very rare if mom had actually kept the baby up 3-4 hours prior to coming to us. When she arrived, baby was both AWAKE and HUNGRY.  Both against our clear instructions. 3.  [redacted]'s baby unfortunately was uncooperative during the entirety of the session.  When we say "uncooperative" we refer to the fact that the baby was unable to settle, was awake almost the entire session, and was miserable, crying, from tummy troubles.  She vomited curtled milk onto myself and my assistant several times during the session as well as going #2, and constantly wanted to feed, leaving us very little posing time since we were forced to try and settle her in any way possible (she was screaming most of the session from gas and tummy problems), and possibly reflux, given that she vomited so many times.  Thus, we were only able to get 2-3 poses safely from her baby.  It is NOT SAFE to pose an awake baby in any other position than "potato sack" where they arms and legs are confined in a swaddle as to prevent baby from startling and "jumping" off the beanbag. 4.  Because her baby was not prepared and so unsettled, we spent most of the session trying to work with her baby, calming and soothing, and feeding, and burping so we could work with her.  Not to mention, her being late gave us even less time to work. 5.  Due to her baby being so difficult, I gave her the option (since we didn't have anyone coming in until 2pm that day), to purchase an additional hour of time to see if we could work with her baby and get her to settle down.  I was very clear in that I told her it may not be possible but we would be willing to try, and that if we could not get her to settle and get additional photos, that the money she pays would still be non-refundable, as she is paying for our time, to work with her baby. 6.  Unfortunately we were not able to get additional photos of her baby as she continuously was having tummy problems and either wanted to eat, or was crying and vomiting on us.   7.  As a measure of GOOD FAITH and to be KIND, I actually offered her half of her last hour of money back ($125), which I absolutely did not have to do, but did so because I felt bad that she had spent money for an additional hour and her baby was uncooperative, which prevented us from getting any additional photos.  I sent back $125 of her $250 for the additional hour we spent with her baby that day, even though our time was used, and she was well aware of the additional fee, what could happen, and even signed it in our original documentation.  8.  Although we were delayed in getting her final images to her, I constantly reminded her that they would be delivered, and they were.  Thus, we are unsure what this dispute is even about in the first place. My assistant for the day - Cristina A[redacted] - is going to reach out to you as well, to explain from her side the experience we had with [redacted]'s baby.  It was not pleasurable for us, either, as I went home in pain and exhaustion after dealing with a baby who had health issues (that day at least), and who was not prepared for her session, let alone mom showing up late. When we posted the images on Facebook, [redacted] she was very rude and posted "scripture" under the photos, which I contacted her privately and told her I had to remove, due to the unprofessional nature of it.  She seemed offended but she has every right to do that on her own platforms, just not our business page. Please feel free to contact me with any further questions or if I can be of any additional assistance. Deborah I[redacted]Owner, Photographer, Redhead Photography LLC[redacted]

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: Unforeseen events happen. However, Business can not take Clients money and run away with it. Nor should they Postpone the prepaid Service Indefinitely. It's been 7 month since the shoot and I personally believe that we have exercise patience with your issues. However, You are basically telling your clients to wait indefinitely for your personal issues to pass. It's been one thing after another. Refund us the money and when you produce the pictures, we'll gladly pay for it. I think that was the resolution you should have offered. Just because you contract states it, doesn't mean you you can't be considerate of your clients. You are dragging your clients through your mud. 
Regards,
[redacted]

I have been in bed out of hospital with medical problems and major family emergencies. Client will get their photos, albeit later than expected. On my contract it advises them of no guarantees of time and although no one can predict life, we have had some major curveballs which have prevented me...

from working

Complaint: [redacted]
I am rejecting this response because: The statements being made by the business owner are false. We did not arrive 40 minutes late we were 10 and Ms. I[redacted] was 30 minutes late as she was upstairs in her other business before coming down to attend to us. Also my daughter did not have any health issues that day and Mshe. I[redacted] is not a health care professional to make such diagnosis . She delivered our pictures 3 weeks past the date promised. According to what we purchased were were supposed to receive 7 different poses and only had 3 or 4 max. The 35 pictures sent were many angles of 3 different poses. She was abrasive and rude and unprofessional.She did not send the photographs until after I filed this complaint. While I no longer want a full refund I do not think she was professional and want that noted as such. Thank you .  
Regards,
[redacted]