Hi all and Happy Thursday!! Tomorrow, Eldest Son will be home from camp!!! I can't wait to see him. Before I even begin today's post, just wanted to share this picture of the princesses from yesterday.
Okay, so on to the "real" post of the day...
I was the victim of extortion in the worst way!! Following is an excerpt from a letter I received from a photographer who photographed Eldest Daughter about three years ago for a children's boutique. I positively refuse to name this photographer, as I don't believe his name should be uttered. All I can say is I hope the $300 I gave him today will hold him over for eternity! He will NEVER see a dime from me again!!! Just to let you know, I have known said photographer for 10 years now and have used him on several occassions. No, he's not my favorite photographer, but he ran a close second. Well, until I received this...
After a short paragraph of when can I do a shoot of your family. He proceeded with this:
"I also wanted to let you know that we have updated our portraits at (children's boutique) and the portrait of (Eldest Daughter) is on hold in our studio. We currently have no display space, so before we discard the image just wanted to offer the portrait to you at the reduced rate of $295 and I will throw in the frame for free. I will keep the portrait until June 30th so let me know if you ar interested."
Okay, I'm a mom, so what do I do? Say, of course I want the now outdated, three year old picture. I most assuradely don't want her in the trash!!!! I call said photographer and say I will purchase, however as I'm not exactly next door, is there a way we can meet and exchange payment for the item. Oh no, he's NEVER anywhere but at his studio, I guess!! I drive the 40 minutes out of my way to get the portrait.
I have never felt so used in my life. He knew darn well I would pay for the picture at his "reduced rate." Why exactly is $300 a reduced rate anyway? Again, this picture is three years old AND has brought him business, WTH?!
This is how not to do business!!! Do NOT extort money from your clients, because I can assure you they will NOT come back. Not ever!!!
Okay, so I'm furious and just had to vent. I'm sure many of you can understand. By the way, the $300 portrait will be going in Eldest Daughter's room, as though it is an important part of her past, it's exacly that, a piece from three years ago, nearly half her lifetime ago!
Tomorrow, I will list some of the people who know the art of customer service. They deserve the praise and need to be recognized for their good work! I have wasted enough time on this photographer and wash my hands of him. Good luck and God bless. TTFN!
XOXO,
Kim
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Oh my Kim, that is horrible! He's obviously already done the work of photographing, printing and framing... and it sounds like allowing your daughter as his photography subject was a favor to him and promotion for his business... it seems like the least he could do is offer the photo to you for free rather than simply throwing it away. And frankly, if $300 is his DISCOUNT rate for a SINGLE 3 YEAR OLD portrait that he'd throw away anyway, he can afford to give it to you for free! LOL. I'd think at least he could offer it to you for the cost of his frame and printing... sheesh!
ReplyDeleteFirst of all the girls look absolutely gorgeous! The purple dress is way too cute! Second of all are you kidding me? Obviously anyone would buy the photo they don't want their kid just thrown in the trash and $300 is a reduced rate when we are talking LV purses or Manolo shoes... but a three year old picture really? What a jerk. If the intention was for you to have it or garbage shouldn't it have been free? Gosh I so hate people like this! Some people are just absolutely rotten. Being from Michigan and the economy being TERRIBLE there are A LOT of people like this. My wedding is there and I was trying to find someone to perform the ceremony $1500 ARE YOU KIDDING ME! You have to stand in front of us and re sight some lines and you want to charge me that much... seriously some people are just horrible.
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They are so presh!
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