katiedis
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 p.1 #1 · WeddingWire.com fails wedding vendors | |
I registered my business for weddingwire.com not too many months ago. Things were going along pretty well...got positive, accurate reviews from my previous clients.
However, let me say this...
BEWARE OF WEDDINGWIRE.COM
They are NOT responsible, responsive, or supportive of wedding vendors' businesses.
I am going to share a long detailed story of my personal experience because I think it is important to understand some of the details since it pertains to the weddingwire review in question:
Just like most of you, I have years of great client interactions. Never had a negative experience at all, in fact. Wonderful brides, great rapport. Until *that* one came along. It hits you out of the blue and you just don't see it coming (in fact, I seem to remember Melanie posting that she just went through this same experience of the first "bridezilla" type interaction just recently).
"Beth" booked me for her December 20, 2008 wedding. She opted for a few discounts that I offered her from my standard packages. She chose NOT to have a second shooter (saved $300) and she chose NOT to have a blog slideshow made (saved $100).
I have that well documented in our contract together. As shown below:
http://img.skitch.com/20091021-fksi9dc48jf2fkc5976j1m46xe.jpg
The final payment was due 15 days before the wedding...also a part of the contract language.
http://img.skitch.com/20091021-x2ycpw5nt5ut154xu9uxeethyp.jpg
The wedding day arrived, and I had not been paid. Unlike some people, I do still show up for wedding photography...even without payment. I know this bride wanted her photos taken, and figured that she would make the payment after the wedding. It has happened about 3 times a year, and each time it has been no big deal. The clients just pay after the wedding and it isn't a problem. Most of the time, the clients just get so busy that it is just an oversight on their part. The bride and I had pre-wedding consultations to discuss getting ready, and she gave me this schedule as follows. I was to show up at the event center at 1 pm for the hair and make-up touch-ups and the getting dressed.
http://img.skitch.com/20091021-b5rgsgncyxje24wg6x5hnnwhuu.jpg
I showed up, we did the pre-ceremony photos just like the schedule showed...and then she asks me something about the post-wedding photo stuff...when would she see them, etc. I tell her that once payment has been made, a blog post would go up in about 2 weeks time and the rest of the photos would follow within 6 weeks (per the contract, again). She says "You mean my father-in-law didn't pay you yet?" I respond No. She asks me to go find her father-in-law and he can write me a check.
I explain to her that I am not ok with doing that for several reasons. I don't have a contract with the father-in-law...it is with her. I am plenty busy with stuff to do during a wedding day...I really didn't want to spend time tracking down her father-in-law and his checkbook. I said "don't worry about it, we can take care of this after the wedding. i don't like to discuss money on a wedding day...let's just leave it for after, ok?" I reiterated that I was fine with things...not to worry. If i'd been worried about payment, I would've asked about it myself earlier.
Also during that conversation, I made it clear that payment would need to be made in order to release any photos. AND that I would take a vacation from December 23-January 1st for the holidays. She said she understood. She said she would have her father-in-law contact me to make payment. I said, ok...if he's ok with that. I would prefer payment from you, but if that's how you want to do it...ok.
Wedding goes fine.
I don't hear from anyone before my vacation starts.
Come back to the phone messages on January 1st and they are full of anger. She's pissed off that I have not called her father-in-law about payment, she's wondering where her blog post is, she's angry and yelling.
I call her and explain the issues we'd discussed previously. That I take a vacation for the holidays. She apologized, said she remembered now that I mentioned it again. She was just anxious to see her pictures. We got the balance due, she had the total and said her father-in-law would be sending a check. I said I would call when i got it.
I didn't get a check for the next 6 days. (The father-in-law lives 20 miles away) I leave town to shoot a bride and groom's emergency wedding (remember the one with the groom who died of Stage 4 cancer six days after he got married? Yeah, that emergency wedding). I leave a message on my blog that I am gone on an emergency for a few days and would be back in touch then. Leave that message on my machine too.
You guessed it...bride leaves me screaming message that her father-in-law sent the check and why have I not called to tell her and why is her gallery not up yet?! People...this is on January 12th.
I call her back and explain that I am shooting an emergency wedding out-of-town. I explain the circumstances. Obviously, she'd seen that I was out of town because she'd checked the blog several times. She rants and raves at me that "it's not her fault that I wasn't paid. it was her father-in-law that was supposed to pay. why am i holding it against her that he didn't pay? why??"
She screamed at me on the phone, cried, yelled, and hung up at least once. She didn't like that I restated the payment terms were in the contract and I expected that she could have/should have referred to them before the wedding if she wanted to avoid this delay in blog posting. Eventually, we agree that we should communicate via email for any further issues. (I should have thought of this earlier with her...since she did not seem to remember our previous verbal communications well. I still kick myself that I didn't pick up on that earlier)
When I return home, I drop everything else...process her photos (her father-in-law's check had finally come in while I was out-of-town for that cancer wedding). And, i post her gallery on January 14th, as shown on my pickpic management system, and mailed a DVD the same day.
http://img.skitch.com/20091021-nmi25f27n859c6p9yrt1jayd61.jpg
A couple more emails ensue between us to finalize things. She asks "on a few of the shots it looks like I have a double chin. What (other than a diet) can I do to fix that? Can you photoshop?" I tried, but it did not look natural since that particular photo had some really difficult stuff nearby, making it look odd. I told her that in an email.
Finally, a couple weeks later she sends me an email that says she really likes the photos. She said she was worried after all the stressful phone conversations we'd had that she wouldn't like them...but she loves them. They look great.
Fast-forward 10 months. I haven't heard anything from this bride.
Until she leaves a review on weddingwire.com. She listed me for 5 out of 5 stars on Value, Quality of Photos. But, she gives me a scathing review on professionalism and responsiveness.
While I could be ok with just the "star" ratings...since those are her opinions...the lies that she wrote in the message part of the review, I just could NOT live with.
She wrote that:
I failed to deliver products by the contract deadlines (wrong, gallery delivered in 3.5 weeks...contract gave me 6 weeks).
http://img.skitch.com/20091021-bu2gedp9efjnw11uiymn1jqp9x.jpg
I failed to deliver a blog slideshow (wrong, she specifcally opted out of it to save money).
I failed to show up for the salon preparations (wrong, she told me to come to the event center as the first thing).
I failed to edit the photos (wrong, i simply could not fix a double chin...the rest were all my contract edits).
http://img.skitch.com/20091021-kyuhcm42t6w95simsft6k35bt2.jpg
I failed to communicate and call back (wrong...i did. she neglected to remember that holidays were a part of my business' pre-scheduled time off).
I yelled at her on the phone and hung-up with her (wrong...she was yelling and hung-up).
I was unprofessional for not getting payment before the wedding (umm...ok. Fine? unprofessional for showing up without payment, taking great photos, and telling her not to worry about payment on the day so that she could focus on the wedding itself? yeah, next time I should just invoice her the day before not show up for the wedding?)
SOOOO...now you understand why I am frustrated. I disputed the review with weddingwire.com. They told me that they would review my dispute and the information I provided in support of that dispute. I provided the full contract, photos of the bridal preparations, the bride's schedule for when i was supposed to arrive, the screen shots of when the gallery was posted, emails with the bride, and narrative explaining my interactions with her.
How could weddingwire allow this review to remain posted?
Their policy states that reviews which are fraudulent, vulgar, or malicious will not be permitted.
They "reviewed" my dispute and decided that the review would stay. PLEASE explain to me how this review is not fraudulent?!
Weddingwire.com's dispute review process gives me no phone number to call. No way to further discuss with them. Their suggestion to me via the generic email? Get more positive reviews to even out the bad.
No. Not acceptable. I will not let my company's name be blemished by a bride who lied in her review. I cannot believe that weddingwire.com will allow wedding vendor's to suffer like this.
I've had no choice but to inactivate my account with weddingwire.com. Until they offer some personal form of communication to discuss this failure on their part...I have no assurances that their business is reliable and fair.
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