Hidden Clauses and Costs and Threats of Lawsuit!â??

I got engaged on August 14, 2007 and shortly thereafter, my fiancee and I wanted to do the formal engagement announcements. We placed an ad in craigslist and this is one of the firms who responded:

www.tangerinephotography.com

TangerinePhotography AT gmail.com

130 W. 6th Ave

CONSHOHOCKEN, PA 19428

[NO relation to Tangerine Media Group]

We met with the two ladies (owners and photographers) and they seemed nice enough, explaining they would take some 500-600 photos, that they would then pick a "best of" and present us with the top 100 or so. We thought that sounded great so long as they got what we wanted: a classic, regal engagement photograph of my fiancee and I that was full body or waist up, showcasing the ring. We booked a date for the shoot.

The day of the photo shoot we paid $200 for a sitting fee, which included a $50 print credit towards a digital or print photo(s) of our choosing. After waiting some two weeks for them to "touch up and process" the shots we received access to them via an online link. We were not impressed.

Their opinion of a "best of" totaling 148 "color corrected and retouched" photographs of the approximately 600 photographs that were taken on August 27, 2007 displayed inherit cropping errors, such as hands sticking out, funny faces, half-closed eyes, etc and there were only about three shots that were sub-par.

Of those, we were told we had a "limited number of photo adjustments" available to us before we were charged further fees to fix the cropping errors they did in the first place.

Furthermore, we paid in-full for all of the 600 photographs, and have the inherit and legal right to view them, especially given the fact we found none of the 148 they picked out as our engagement announcement material.

Tangerine refused to allow us to view any of the remaining photographs to see if we could possibly find others that would be a better representation of what we asked for-unless of course, we paid yet another fee.

Tangerine told us that if we liked none of the 148 photos we will get a $50 refund--which was of course unacceptable. It did not account for our loss of time, opportunity cost, expense, and the delay in sending out our engagement announcement, not to mention the fact it is contrary to what we asked them to do. In the end, we were forced to choose a photograph we found substandard simply because we were given no other choice.

Tangerine termed our opinion of their work as a "lay assessment", but it is in reality our assessment of the photos they took-and frankly, that is all that matters. They disregarded our discontent with the photos, and revealed to us that they intended to take advantage of us.

At this point, the only solution for us is a complete refund of all of our money, so we keept fighting this. That is the ethical and moral thing for this company to maintain their integrity and reputation. However, Tangerine's lawyer Donald Petrille, Jr of Scott Petri & Associates has threatened to sue us if we continue to talk or write of this issue with them and will counter-sue any small claims court complaint. Great company.

This was a lesson for us and I just wanted it to be a lesson for others. I think its only fair to let others know.