Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  On Sept. 30, 2021, I hired Richard Rhee of Washington State Photography to complete a photo of the view from my grandmother's porch of the Puget Sound and Cascade Mountains beyond. My grandmother had just left her longtime home for a retirement community, and I wanted to document the beauty in a photo as a gift for her. I signed a contract and paid a deposit for a portion of the total cost plus tax, $743.18. The house was available for the photo for eight months (until end of June 2022), but ************ was not able to complete the project during this time. The only conclusion we can draw is that he did not make a good faith effort to complete the job for which we contracted. I asked for my deposit to be returned. He provided me with a partial deposit, about a quarter, justifying keeping the balance by listing the work he had done responding to emails and checking the weather.************ was always pleasant in our early interactions and appears to be a great photographer, but he never should have taken the job if he could not complete it. This was not a wedding that was cancelled and the photographer out a day of work, but an eight month time period during which he could have taken the initiative at any point to find a time when the weather was clear or informed us of his inability to complete the job.

  Business response

  07/31/2023

  I apologize for the late response. 

  I was hired to photograph the view from the house of the client's grandmother in **********, **. Our contract requires a non-refundable deposit and includes a rain or shine policy that only allows up to two weather-based cancellations with free rescheduling. I went above and beyond the requirements of the contract by scheduling a total of five trips in 2021 and 2022: October 17, November 7, February 6, March 26, and June 11, all of which were cancelled because the weather conditions were not satisfactory to the client. Once the client initiated the sale of the house, we offered everything in our power to fulfill the wishes of the client including making arrangements with another photographer closer to ********** that had more immediate availability. The client then cancelled the contract and requested a full refund of the deposit. While the entirety of the deposit was non-refundable, I offered the client a partial refund, which she had accepted prior to issuing this complaint. 

  Please see attached for the contract, a contract amendment, and some email correspondence (limited due to the maximum number of available uploads). Please note that the email chain "Photos this weekend?" is where she accepted the partial deposit. 

  I was extremely disappointed that I was unable to capture the photo due to the repeat weather cancellations. However, I am confident that I went above and beyond our contractual agreement and did everything possible to make it happen. Because of this situation, I no longer accept private non-commercial commissions. 

  Thank you,

  -Richard Rhee

  Customer response

  07/31/2023

   
  Complaint: 17935532
  
  I am rejecting this response. 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *******************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩