Complaint resolved

MrsJuicy2B · June 2011

We ultimately received a refund for the album that was never completed and we agreed to remove this post.

saintpaulJess · June 2011

I don't have any legal advice, but I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I agree that it sounds like he's using your distance against you, hoping you'll get tired of trying to make him live up to his contract.

Hopefully someone will have some good advice for you.

tegdirb2001 · June 2011

Do you have family that still lives here that can go to the studio. I would be FURIOUS. Have you threatened with legal action yet? Sometime that kicks their butt into gear. I am so sorry you are dealing with this.

quincygirl77 · June 2011

Have you considered taking him to small claims court? I know this would be kind of a pain, but that seem like a logical place to start.

First, I would probably send him a certified letter and inform him that you will be pursuing a claim if he does not respond by a certain date. Perhaps that will be enough motivation, and if not you have proof that you attempted to contact him and resolve the situation.

quincygirl77 · June 2011

Yeah, you do have to be present as far as I know. But even if you likely would not be able to file, I would still say that you plan to anyway. Another route might be to report him to the Better Business Bureau...and mention that in the letter too!

Good luck, sorry you're dealing with this!

saintpaulJess · June 2011

I'm staring law school in the fall at William Mitchell and during my school visit they said something about a self-help legal aid clinic run by students. Maybe you could try to contact them via telephone to see if you can get some advice? Unfortunately I don't have any contact info for you though.

PoliceWife104 · June 2011

This is horrible, so sorry you're haveing to go through this!

Our mod, MuSu, is in law school right now. Hopefully she see's this & can give you some advice!

GL!

PaddyB · June 2011

First, have you saved all your correspondence from him? That may be very important whatever route you take so it doesn't boil down to a he said she said type situation.

Second, I would consider reporting him to the BBB again, specifically disputing his assertion that it has been resolved.

Third, you may consider reporting him to the Attorney General of Minnesota(i think they have something similar to the BBB but with more teeth, I could be wrong). even if they can't help you, they may be able to point you in the direction of someone who can.

Fourth, as a PP said william mitchell and the other law schools in the area (University of MInnesota, St. Thomas and Hamline) all have law school clinics which have students represent individuals. However, usually there is a income max (they only take people that can't afford a lawyer generally), and your case may not be of a type they handle.

Overall your situtation appears to be something that would normally be handled in small claims court. It really is too bad you aren't here and don't have any family members here who could help out.

wittyschaffy · June 2011

I am not a lawyer so take it for what it is worth, as I understand it either you or your representative have to appear at your hearing for small claims court. If it is worth it to you to file (you'd recoup your legal fees if you win I believe), it might be worth hiring or recruiting someone to stand in for you.

as for the correspondence part of things, I'd go with the certified letter route because you have to sign for it and you'd know he got it. And I too hope that you saved every ounce of correspondence you've done with him via contracts, emails, etc. Call the BBB and talk to someone about the "resolved" issue. I don't consider that resolved and nor should they.

He didn't provide the service he promised therefore he owes you the agreed upon service or he needs to refund your money. Please say you have the 1500 extra noted somewhere as payment for the album?

It sucks you're going through this but I think that you're getting good advice from all and can reach some sort of agreement with him in the end.

EmilyW416 · June 2011

I would contact the BBB again and also the Attorney General of Minnesota. I know they wrote a letter to an employeer who never paid me. Also let the news know, when I didnt get paid from a previous employeer I contacted the news and they did a report in it

saintpaulJess · June 2011

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

jessy_gross · June 2011

can you share the photog's name so we don't give business to someone who does this?

meaganandchad · June 2011

Definitely report him to the Attorney General. They don't have a lot of power but when businesses get a letter from them the typical response is to avoid more problems and do whatever the Attorney General is asking. The BBB is good but the Attorney General typically gets more results. (I work at a bank and trust me-you don't want to mess with the Attorney General but BBB doesn't have much leverage other than to report you as a bad business) If the AG can't get a favorable response from him, go to the TV stations around the area. Kare11, etc all have options to report stories to them and as long as you have documentation of everything they will be more than happy to research your story. I'm really sorry this is happening to you! It's been one of my and my FI's worst nightmares! Good Luck!

noahwolf1 · July 2011

Good day. My name is Noah Wolf, and I am the subject of this thread. A client of ours shared this thread with us. I contacted The Knot to inquire what the policy is for vendors responding to false claims. Being a vendor, I understand that posting and/or following this board is not my place, and have never done so. Unfortunately, I have been unable to communicate with them to learn what is best to do. So, I'm going to respond as briefly and non-defensively as possible. I truly hope you will not find my posting disrespectful to this community.

If what Angie said was true, I would be just as angry as she is. Unfortunately, she has left out quite a bit of the story. What I was most disturbed about is that Angie stated that she had been waiting 2.5 years for her album. This is grossly misleading, and just plain wrong.

I hope you will agree that there are two sides to every situation, and will take a moment to consider ours.

Since she mentioned the BBB, I feel responsible to let it be known that her complaint against me was dismissed. Angie was presented all the information I provided them in rebuttal, and could not dispute our facts. The BBB concluded that we did everything possible to satisfy the client.

Here is a condensed bulleted list of our communication following the delivery of their wedding images. (Because there are three people who work in the office, we log our calls and don't delete emails so that we're always on top of our clients' needs.) A detailed account of every phone call and email was shared with the BBB, and I am happy to answer your questions about this, or anything else, directly at 612.379.1006:

After several emails keeping in touch about getting their album started, Angie did not start her album process for 11 months following the wedding. What was needed to begin the design was a list of images to include in the album. We receive the list 9.09
After the list was confirmed, she decided to change her album style. During the next two months, their lives remained very busy and she admitted being difficult to get a hold of. With the change in album, a few questions needed to be answered.
11.10 - We received the answers we needed and began work on the design. The first design draft was delivered one week later than expected (1.10)
8.10 - Angie got back to us apologizing for the 8 month delay, (we followed up no less than 5 times) and that she finally had a chance to review the design. She loved it but many of the images were the wrong ones. It was discovered that the file names sent us had been some how renumbered by her, and were not the same as our originals.
9.10 - After figuring out the correct images, we created an online gallery of the new list so that they could visually confirm her list.
10.10 - We followed up to see if she had a chance to confirm that the new list was correct but did not hear anything back.
11.10 - Jossue called to let me know Angie was very frustrated and wanted a full refund of her album. He was unable to tell me why and that she refused to communicate directly with me. Quite confused, I offered a full refund minus our actual costs of design and retouching time.
12.10 - I followed up with Jossue several times. We offered to rush their album at no charge. The last communication from Jossue was that she still wanted a full refund. They did not returned two phone calls from me asking to discuss their request further. From that point on, Angie never attempted to communicate with us, in any method. (This is only mentioned because in this thread, she states we have not returned her calls. She can easily prove if I am wrong by phone/email records showing to the contrary)

We have been in business for 11 years and have never had anything like this happen. Our number 1 goal is to provide outstanding service and excellent photography, and we will bend over backwards to achieve this every time.

Sincerely,
Noah Wolf
Owner of Noah Wolf Photography

Complaint resolved

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