Sherwood-Triart Photography

Review: I began my services in 2013 to hire photographers. The company stated that my proofs will not be given to me or the process to complete my wedding album will not be done unless my invoice balance was paid in full. I paid my balance in full in 2014. On February * 2015, we met with Tony to begin the wedding album bindery process. We were informed that the process takes approximately 2 - 4 months to complete. We had not heard from the company regarding any updates on the progress of our album until May. On May ** 2015, Tony informed us that our cover choice was discontinued. We chose another cover the same day and again did not hear from the company regarding any progress or date as to when the album will be completed until I contact them on July * 2015. On July * 2015 I spoke with Micheal and asked if it were possible to pick up the album before we were to leave the country in August. Michael told us the album would be done and ready for pick up the last week in July. He stated he would call me back with a specific date but never contacted us again. On July ** 2015, I emailed Tony to ask about a specific date in order to pick up the album since it was a time sensitive matter. Tony emailed me back stating he would ask a co-worker named Earl to call the bindery for an update. Tony or Earl however, never contacted us again. I called again July ** 2015 at 11:30 am and spoke with Kevin who stated he would call the bindery and contact me back within an hour. Kevin did not call back. I called again at 1:30 and asked to speak with the owner Boroe who said that he was unsure as to when the album would be completed. Which leads me to believe that from my initial start back in February * 2015 when I began the process of my wedding album binding until now that this company has not been working on completing this album. This company has not contacted me with any updates or approximations as to when this album would be done. This process has taken longer than the approximated 2 - 4 months that they informed me of. This is the second incident of this company not giving me my product in a timely manner within this order.Desired Settlement: I would like my album completed and ready for pick up before I leave the country August * 2015. If the album cannot be completed before this date I would like a partial refund.

Business

Response:

Tell us why here...We are sorry it has taken longer than expected to produce [redacted]' album. The binder has told us we will know Friday after 11AM the time to pick up the album. Earl or Tony will call the client after speaking with the bindery.

Sherwood Triart Photography came recommended to us, by the venue that we chose to have our wedding reception. We looked into several photography studios in the area, and we were very impressed with the wedding album designs, as well as the effects and quality of the pictures that we were shown at our initial meeting. After much discussion, we decided to use Sherwood Triart Photography, despite the high price tag, because it was our wedding and we wanted the best quality pictures and album design.

After the wedding we were contacted about 3-4 weeks later to pick up our proofs. Additionally at this point they decided to tack on an additional $500 to our bill, claiming they were there for 12 hours, rather than the 10 hours we paid for coverage. Our photographer arrived at my house, where I was getting ready at 11:30am, and left the wedding venue at 10pm. According to my calculations that is 10.5 hours, not 12 hours, yet we were still somehow obligated to pay the additional 1.5 hours, otherwise our proofs and prints would not be released to us. At this point we were told we were to choose 2 pictures for our thank you card. We had to pay an additional $100 for every additional 25 thank you cards that we needed. After we paid the additional amount, up front, the waiting game began. We were told we would have the proof to approve within a week, 2 weeks later; we had to call and remind them. Once the print was approved, the thank you cards took an additional 3 weeks to arrive. At the time of pick-up, the company tried to claim that we never paid the extra money for the additional thank you cards. We told them we already paid. They refused to look up the transaction on their end, so my husband and I had to show them a bank statement proving we paid.

In March 2015, we then met with one of the representatives, for our wedding album design session. At this point, they only let us choose 60 images to put in our album. We decided to add 17 pictures, which they charged us an additional $800 to do. After we finished the session, we were told the layout would take 10-11 months to be ready, which was disclosed on the contact and we were aware of the wait time. 11 months later, we were still not notified. My husband called, and they acted like they were still within the 10 month window. When we explained that we had our design session in April 2015 and it is now March 2016, they immediately scheduled us an appointment (3 weeks later) to come and view the layout. I thought that after 11 months, we would be viewing a masterpiece, with little to no changes expected.

When we went to the scheduled appointment, we were greatly disappointed. First of all, they discontinued the book style that we originally saw at the contract signing. The "photojournalism" style that we paid for is not evident in any of the pages of our album. Furthermore, it was completely obvious that they only started working on our album when we called to complain. All the background pages were plain white, with no decorative accents. There was more white space than pictures on many of the pages. I told them that I was very dissatisfied with the layout and the design. The representative was shocked, and claimed that most couples love this “modern” design. At the design session, we were never offered design options. He once again promised to have the changes emailed to me within 3 days. On the close of the third day, my husband called again, asking where the email was, and the representative stated, and I quote, "I am emailing it to you right now." He did not send us that email until 3 days after that phone call, when we had to call again. When we finally received the edited version, more changes were necessary, delaying the process even longer. It took 5 weeks of back and forth and going in for appointment after appointment, for them to produce an acceptable wedding album. To be honest, we still are not 100% satisfied with the design, but trying to talk to these people is very difficult. When you bring up elements that you do not like, they become personally offended and attempt to talk you out of making any changes. When we finally agreed on the album, we had to go in again to sign paperwork approving the album design. We decided to upgrade from the 10x10 to the 12x12, which was another $430.00. We told them we will not be paying that until the wedding album is ready. They then stated that they require payment in full. The representative then showed us to a back room displaying all the unpaid for wedding albums. To be honest, I am not surprised that so many albums have gone unclaimed. There work isn’t up to par and if I didn’t already lay out $7,000, I would have taken the loss as well. Since we already paid that much (which by the way only included: 1 photographer, the proofs, 5- 5x7 prints, 2- 8x10 prints 1-18x22, 1 wedding album (with 60 images), 1- CD of proofs (which I had haggle into the contract), we decided upgrading the larger album would be worth it. My husband explained that we have paid everything up front so far, and feel that we have now been put on the back burner because they have no other funds to collect from us. My husband explained that he was not comfortable paying the remaining $430 until the time the album would be ready. The representative led my husband to believe that he completely understood and would send the album to be printed. Four weeks later, we receive an email, not a phone call, but an email saying the invoice is ready for payment. At this point, we called again and asked for the progress. They completed nothing on their end for the entire month that we have been waiting. We were very upset at this point. They once again put our project on the back burner and decided it was not important enough to complete. When we heard that they still have not started the album, we told them we were no longer interested in giving them any more money and decided against the upgrade. The album is now entirely paid in full and we are forced to work and comply with their unreasonable time schedule. We were just notified again yesterday, that the album will take an additional 2 months to bind. I have friends who have been married for much less time than I have, and not only did they pay a fraction of the cost, but they have had their completed album for months. Furthermore, this wait time was never stated in the initial contract or at our past meetings. We were aware of the 10-11 month time frame for the album’s layout, but we were led to believe the album would be ready by then. Not take an additional 4 months on top of that. My husband and I have been married for going on a year and a half, and we still have no album to show for, even though they took our $7,000 payment. I have spoken to many photographers since, and the time frame for everything this company has given is unacceptable. I have no idea how they have managed to stay in business for as long as they have.

It is pure agony trying to contact these people. Once they have your money, they no longer care about their customers, or their reputation. The album is a simple traditional style, it did not incorporate photojournalism. Do not let them fool you at your initial meeting. You have to specifically request a design or they take it upon themselves to provide you with the cheapest album style possible. Also, with all you can do with photography nowadays, this company refuses to incorporate that in their work. At our contract signing, they ensured us that they could edit colors, change images, add filters, and when I asked to simply change the color of the an image, or fade a background they told me it isn’t possible, even though I am able to edit photo’s like that on my own computer, and I do not run a professional photography company.

I would recommend not using this company. They are very overpriced, to pay for their studio in an expensive Long Island neighborhood. Although, the photographer did a great job with taking the pictures, the company did not hold true with delivering the finished product or appropriately handling customer satisfaction. The representatives we have dealt with are rude, arrogant and pompous. They simply refuse to acknowledge any over sights on their end and are quick to blame co-workers and employees, instead of taking responsibility for their own establishment.