August T Photography

I don't know what to do. I have waited and waited giving this photographer every opportunity to fix what has been wronged. Unfortunately the photographer will not return any e-mails or calls. Enough is enough. I never intended to use my blog for such, but I need to post this in a place where it can be seen by many and not deleted. Please read the story below:

In Mid-July my family and I traveled from several locations to vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC. Before traveling to Myrtle Beach we set up an appointment with August T Photography to take our family pictures. It was going to be so exciting and we this would be the first time for this family to take beach pictures all together. We booked the session and we were to be expecting Karen, one of his staff members that had trained under him for the past 3 years – so we were told. While on our way to the session we received a call from another lady stating she might be late because they had gotten into some heavy traffic. It was not Karen, but another lady who would be taking our pictures. As we arrived to the state park were we were taking our pictures we were required to pay a total of $50 on top of our session price, which we were not aware that would be charged. When we arrived it was actually a man that met with us saying he would be taking our pictures. So already we had been passed to 4 different people.

The session went on and the photographer did not work well with the children we had, did not take candid photos as we had requested, made my husband’s mother who walks with a cane walk up and down the beach as well as jump several times for different shots. The candid photos were a very important element of the session because we could have easily taken our own non-creative poses with our own cameras a tripod. When the photographer could not get the children to smile he was actually a little insulting. When the session was over I noticed that the photographer who shot our session was not even a part of August T’s staff; it was a completely different set of photographers.

Three weeks to a month later we finally received our proofs. They were horrible. I could not believe that someone had actually sent them to us thinking they were acceptable. Pictures were blurry, overexposed, whited out, dark; it was completely unacceptable. Immediately I contacted the photographer and could never get ahold of August, only his assistant Kristen. I relayed all of my complaints to her and let her know that I wanted a refund. I was told the pictures were batch edited and uploaded – why did this take so long if so little effort was put into getting the pictures ready?  Kristen said all refunds had to go through August and she would forward my request to him. A week later I still had not heard from August so I e-mailed back and then I heard from him a few days later. August presented me with a package of accessories including to re-edit the pictures with a 50% refund. It did not seem acceptable, but I decided to accept the offer and wait for the new pictures.

A month later I still had not heard from August, so I e-mailed him back hoping he had my pictures ready to view. I heard nothing from him so I posted a note on his business Facebook page hoping for a response. The only response I had was a deletion of the comment. The next day I commented again and was met with another deletion. This time August did e-mail me and said that we would be in touch with me this weekend and would have my pictures ready. The weekend is over, I have heard nothing, and the only thing August has done is blocked me from writing on his Facebook business page.

My assumption is that August does not care about his clients or his business at all. I also feel that August must realize how horrible a majority of the pictures are and cannot salvage them. There were a couple of pictures that I would have liked to have, but now I have nothing. He has my money and I have nothing. The only resolution that will stop this madness is a full refund and the edited pictures. The editing can be done by anyone, but unfortunately by not having any of the pictures I cannot even have that done. If August would put more effort into making things right instead of avoiding me and deleting my complaints then we would not be in this current situation. I am only asking for what, at this point, seems to be the most logical solution. After the neglect and disrespect we have experienced I feel that the refund as well as the pictures is the only fair compromise.

Because I have been blocked from his Facebook business page I had to use my own status to speak out. This is what it said:

I am not one to normally “air my dirty laundry” or bash a business, but I am left with no other choice. August T Photography, you have backed me into a corner where I have no other choice but to do what I am about to do. You e-mailed on Friday afternoon stating you would get with me this weekend with more details and my pictures. The weekend is over and the fact that you even asked me to wait longer than I already have is inexcusable. I waited and I am still waiting. I have noticed that the only thing you have accomplished in regards to my situation is to block me from writing on your business Facebook page. I guess it is much too hard for you to monitor the numerous complaints you apparently receive in regards to your lack of follow through. You have ignored my e-mails, phone calls, and requests continuously. You have shown no human compassion or decency to me whatsoever. All I am asking is for what, at this point in the game, is fair. I want a full refund and the RAW images on CD. I can have a more qualified photographer edit the photos myself at this point. Since you will not respond to me at all I will give you a list of the things I am working on right now: reporting your business to the BBB, posting on all review sites possible, writing a blog post that will spread like wildfire, and I am contemplating filing suit against you. Once again, this will not stop until you right what has been wronged. Deleting anymore posts and ignoring anymore e-mails or calls will only make matters worse.