I don't think so! I was given a quote over the phone but once I got there the price changed. If you want to spend $8K on an "average" work, by all means, go right ahead. Right as I arrived for my appointment, we were discussing prices instead of addressing to what I want. The price list is itemized into sections, so you are being charged for every little thing. Oh yea, and he charges by the hour - I mean who does that? I told him I just wanted a package that was accommodated to my needs but of course that wasn't the case. In this economy, if you want to stay in business, you need to be competitive.
I was also disappointed when Nick didn't have a variety of work samples to show me, and work seen there wasn't as exquisite as I had imagined. Come to find out that the so called "office" is a dealership - sharing an office with a brother, and doing business on his own since 2005.
Thanks but no thanks!
Business Response:
At TownHouse !Live Productions we respect and value all our clients opinions and suggestions. Even though [this customer] wasn't satisfied with our pricing, a few clarifications need to be addressed.
First of all, she called asking for an estimate over the phone. Unfortunately, exact prices cannot be made without a sit down discussion with a customer. With the limited information she provided to me, I quoted her an estimate according to her own information. At this point, I would like to clarify that my company does not engage in any “bait and switch” tactics. The quote provided was based solely on the limited amount she requested. During our consultation, she requested a quote for additional services and options that previously were not discussed over the phone.
Secondly, her biggest complaint in the pricing was the fact that we charge on an hourly basis. Unfortunately, we cannot predict the length of weddings with a simple phone conversation. Recently times have changed, some Armenian weddings take anywhere from 6 hours to 16 hours of coverage. We do not like to insult our customers’ values and traditions, by expecting that each wedding is a standard preset amount of time. To stay competitive and respect our customers, we cannot charge the same amount per wedding regardless on length.
Her additional complaint was based on our itemized services and options. In order to meet all our customers’ specific request, we itemize each and every service, in order to not to overcharge, and not provide unrequested services. In her complaint, [she] accuses me of not attending to her requests, but she contradicts herself, because I itemized every single request she had. Her revised quote of $8000 based on video production, photography, and photo presentation items was generously discounted to $7000, which was based on her wants of luxury options. Our rate start from $500, as mentioned on our website, and can escalate based on customer requested options and services, due to the fact that we are capable of catering to any high end production.
To give a clear understanding for the reason why we use a shared family business office to meet with wedding customers, is simply because of the fact, that we are not in the business of offering portrait photography. Instead, we are also in the business of Hollywood and corporate production, resulting in the bulk of our time being spent in the field. Rather than having an empty office with our post-production editing systems, and leaving opportunities for vandalism and unsecure storage of wedding content, we use a secure and private post-production home studio. This benefits the customer, because in a time of natural disaster or unforeseen emergency, we are able to secure all content due to our instantly removable hard drives, and fire-proof safe boxes, holding all original content.
[She] was also disappointed with our style of production because she came in with preconceived notions from another production company, which unfortunately was not our style of work. It would be unethical for us to replicate another artists’ work, and claim it as our own. I pride myself on making each wedding an original work of art for each and every customer. I incorporate my own unique style in every production and do not deem it fair to piggy back on other companies’ previous success.
We welcome all customers to give us the opportunity to provide excellent service and production for all needs and budgets.
I was also disappointed when Nick didn't have a variety of work samples to show me, and work seen there wasn't as exquisite as I had imagined. Come to find out that the so called "office" is a dealership - sharing an office with a brother, and doing business on his own since 2005.
Thanks but no thanks!
Business Response:
At TownHouse !Live Productions we respect and value all our clients opinions and suggestions. Even though [this customer] wasn't satisfied with our pricing, a few clarifications need to be addressed.
First of all, she called asking for an estimate over the phone. Unfortunately, exact prices cannot be made without a sit down discussion with a customer. With the limited information she provided to me, I quoted her an estimate according to her own information. At this point, I would like to clarify that my company does not engage in any “bait and switch” tactics. The quote provided was based solely on the limited amount she requested. During our consultation, she requested a quote for additional services and options that previously were not discussed over the phone.
Secondly, her biggest complaint in the pricing was the fact that we charge on an hourly basis. Unfortunately, we cannot predict the length of weddings with a simple phone conversation. Recently times have changed, some Armenian weddings take anywhere from 6 hours to 16 hours of coverage. We do not like to insult our customers’ values and traditions, by expecting that each wedding is a standard preset amount of time. To stay competitive and respect our customers, we cannot charge the same amount per wedding regardless on length.
Her additional complaint was based on our itemized services and options. In order to meet all our customers’ specific request, we itemize each and every service, in order to not to overcharge, and not provide unrequested services. In her complaint, [she] accuses me of not attending to her requests, but she contradicts herself, because I itemized every single request she had. Her revised quote of $8000 based on video production, photography, and photo presentation items was generously discounted to $7000, which was based on her wants of luxury options. Our rate start from $500, as mentioned on our website, and can escalate based on customer requested options and services, due to the fact that we are capable of catering to any high end production.
To give a clear understanding for the reason why we use a shared family business office to meet with wedding customers, is simply because of the fact, that we are not in the business of offering portrait photography. Instead, we are also in the business of Hollywood and corporate production, resulting in the bulk of our time being spent in the field. Rather than having an empty office with our post-production editing systems, and leaving opportunities for vandalism and unsecure storage of wedding content, we use a secure and private post-production home studio. This benefits the customer, because in a time of natural disaster or unforeseen emergency, we are able to secure all content due to our instantly removable hard drives, and fire-proof safe boxes, holding all original content.
[She] was also disappointed with our style of production because she came in with preconceived notions from another production company, which unfortunately was not our style of work. It would be unethical for us to replicate another artists’ work, and claim it as our own. I pride myself on making each wedding an original work of art for each and every customer. I incorporate my own unique style in every production and do not deem it fair to piggy back on other companies’ previous success.
We welcome all customers to give us the opportunity to provide excellent service and production for all needs and budgets.
Feb 13th, 2009