Yesterday really sucked. I mean, it was one of those days that made me wonder why I live here and how terrible working here could be. Two events occurred while dealing with vendors that made me wonder if they had ever heard the phrase "customer service" or understood the concept of "don't lie to your customers". I'll start with the photographer.
In our contract with the wedding photographer it stated that we would receive 200 prints a CD with digital copies of those two weeks after the wedding. Well, two weeks after the wedding, nothing. Three weeks, nothing. Finally, a month after the wedding he finally asks us to come to his studio to show us the photos.
First of all, his computer sucks. It's a mac, which I like, but it's slow and he doesn't seem to know how to use it. Secondly, he didn't have all the photos. He shot in film and had the negatives scanned and apparently didn't get all of them back. Third, the photos weren't in order. He tried to put them in order using iPhoto, which he didn't get right - and when I eventually got the CD they were still out of order.
Besides that the photos were fine. Not the best, but fine. Honestly, our amateur photography friends who took photos at the wedding did a better job. And the colors of the photos he took were a bit, um, dull. I mean, nothing was bright. Yes, I know the day was overcast, but this photographer even made the green grass, bright red tents, and my white dress look a bit dull. As you can see below with Carlos and his siblings (I chose this photo because of the colorful dresses)...
"Amateur" Photo
"Professional" Photo
And another pet peeve, he had the slide show set to some cheesy pop love song that kept repeating and when I finally asked him to turn the music off because I couldn't concentrate he did, but then less than a minute later turned on the radio. Arrrgh.
So we saw the photos, but he said we couldn't pick out the 30 prints that we want as 8"x 10" (rather than 4" x 6") just yet because he was waiting for a few more. I asked if when he got them all, I could have the CD and choose the 30 best one afternoon on my own computer. He said no, because one couple did that and never came back to pay the balance that they owed and his wife was really mad at him. Well, we tried to explain that we could pay part of our balance, then pay the rest when we got the prints. No. We finally agreed on me going over there one afternoon with my laptop and copying the photos onto there to choose.
So a few days later I went over to choose the 30. But we had issues copying the photos from his computer to mine. There were 233 photos and for some reason only 222 would copy. Plus, the files were all different sizes. Whoever scanned the negatives had the scanner on different settings. Some of the photos were not better quality than....well, they were pretty bad. Carlos arrived and we picked out the 30, but two of them were not on my computer yet, only on his. Fine, no problem. Then we asked the photographer to rescan the photos to the same size...
A few days later we get a call from the photographer saying that the place where he scanned the negatives won't rescan them at an equal size without paying more. Carlos explains that it's his problem, not ours, and that we agreed earlier that the scans would be of a high quality. We explained that he should have told them this before and it's his job to check this and know this. Fine, he grumbled. And he also mentioned that he had our 28 prints ready.
WTF? 28? Not 30? Well, he said, that folder you gave me only had 28. Yes, we responded, but remember that there were two photos that could not be copied to our computer and you marked them on your computer to print out as well. Oh, maybe, sort of, I'll check. We then had to describe the photos on the phone until it finally jogged his memory. He printed them a day later and we went to see the photos.
By now we are at sometime last week. We looked at all the prints and asked him to make a few changes. He said he didn't have the CD finished yet, but he would by early next week and call us to pick it up.
So, on Tuesday he calls, saying that he has the CD. Carlos says fine, we'll come over Wednesday night to take a look. No, he begs, I need the money now, otherwise they will cut my electricity and my children won't have anything to eat. Carlos says OK, come to my office. Of course, he never showed up.
Now we are at the point of why I hate this country. He never showed up and didn't call. I mean, who does that? Apparently here it's quite common, but to me that is so irresponsible and insulting. So he finally shows up as Carlos's office on Wednesday. I told Carlos not to pay him unless everything is alright. Carlos skims through the CD and all the scans are the right size so he pays him. He brings the CD home during lunch and I take a look. And, of course, something is not right.
I pointed out to Carlos that this photo is on the CD but we don't have a print, but that photo that we have a print of is not on the CD. Something is wrong. And even the number of photos don't add up, only 224 on the CD rather than the 233 we had seen before. Carlos calls the photographer who assures us that everything is there. But no, it's not. Yes, he insists, everything is there, those other photos on my computer were just duplicates. No they weren't. Yes, he insists, they were. So I have Carlos ask him to double check, just to make sure, please. And I do the same.
Fast forward through the terrible afternoon (see china rant below) to the evening, when I have discovered that we have 20 digital files that we do not have prints for, and 10 prints that we do not have the digital file for. And Carlos calls up the photographer, again. Carlos explains this issue. And the photographer just bullshits. Just lies. I mean, he starts saying how he printed out more photos for us than in the contract and the scanning problem isn't his fault but he had to pay extra for it. But Carlos wasn't having any of that, he just said that earlier today you assured us that we had everything, but we don't. All we want is the digital files of these 10 prints we have, we can deal with the missing 20 prints ourselves.
So what is the solution of the photographer? Explain what the 10 photos look like so he can find the digital files! I mean, come on. Seriously? I mean, the photographer couldn't even put these photos in order. All he would have to do is label each roll and he would know, but no, he's not even that bright. Carlos tells him that we will come by in a few days and show him the photos.
And that is where that saga ended. But I was so upset. I mean, this is a professional selling a luxury good. This is his job. How come he can't even count? From what I know, if you are selling a luxury, you rely on word of mouth and good reviews from previous clients because they will tell their friends. But he really had no idea.
Which brings us to the other issue of the day...the china.
Carlos and I had been planning on buying a set of china for about six months, but hadn't gotten around to it because we didn't have a place for storage, until now. Last week we got a china cabinet, thus we could finally buy the china.
There is a factory in town that makes hand painted china that we both really liked. This was a miracle because with design issues we never agree on anything. He likes rustic, I like modern. He like natural colors, I prefer gem tones. He likes curves, I like lines. He likes a bit of flourish, I prefer simple. But, miraculously, we agreed on the dishes.
We had gone to the factory about four months ago and had put together a list of what we wanted and were told to call back when we were ready to buy it. So yesterday he called the factory and the woman there said, yes, we have everything, come by whenever to pay and pick it up.
The hours of the factory suck. I mean, they are exactly the same as the hours that Carlos needs to work so he had to take an hour off in the afternoon to go pick up the china. And when we got there the woman said, oh, we are missing a few pieces. She said she called a few minutes a go to tell us that not everything was there, but Carlos replied that we were on our way here by that time.
So after the morning issues with the photographer, I lost it. I started to cry. And to yell. In my best Spanish, I asked the woman why she would say this morning that everything is available if that wasn't true? Why do people here think that if they agree to something, others will be satisfied to find out that it was not the truth? Then I started to try figured out a solution. Can we pick these up during lunch? No, we need to take lunch too. Can someone deliver them to our house? Well, it will cost extra. Extra?! Why should we have to do more work for something that is not our fault. Why are we being penalized for your stupidity/inefficiency/lies?
She felt bad. I felt bad for making her feel bad. Carlos apologized, saying that we already had the same sort of issue that morning. She said that she would have the other pieces delivered to our house with no extra charge. I later apologized, as we were leaving, but still I was so upset. I'm sure she was wondering why this crazy gringa was crying over a few plates. But it wasn't about the plates, it was about the system.
OK, I think that's enough of a rant for now. I'll post photos of the china cabinet and china when it's all here. And return to writing about the wedding.
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