Issues with Froggy Photos

[srgeis.livejournal.com]

Anybody else having issues communicating with Froggy's Photos?

I emailed them trying to get the status of my .jpg picture files that I paid for, but they have hot replied to my emails.

Comments

[crazeyal.livejournal.com]

From all accounts they are understaffed, disorganized and unprofessional. They will get to you when they feel like it. If you feel ripped off, a WRITTEN letter of complaint to Dragoncon would probably do more than LJ.

[geneticlemon.livejournal.com]

Here, here. It's about time D*C got some new photographers.

[cindyloufett.livejournal.com]

Don't let this year's DragonCon give you a bad impression of Froggy. I've dealt with him and his crew many times, at DragonCon and other cons, and never had a bit of trouble. Normally, they're a well-oiled machine. This year was completely insane - I put that down to Shatner, Nimoy, and Stewart all being there, and the fact that Froggy got stuck in a tiny corner of the Marriott.

[eclecticmuse.livejournal.com]

I haven't gotten a reply to my emails about my jpeg yet either and have been contemplating some type of formal complaint to D*C--so I should send it to the D*C office?

Trying to think of how I would word it.

[kittenbiscuits.livejournal.com]

All I can say is file with the BBB.

If you're not getting responses that's what you need to do. I've filed a complaint with them. Everyone having issues needs to do that. And filing a letter of complaint with D*C would be nice as well.

Also if you paid with Paypal (like pre-paid) you need to file a complaint with them. I believe you only have 30 days to file from purchase.

Froggy

[watcher652.livejournal.com]

Froggy has finally updated their website.

http://www.froggysphotos.com/news.html

After contacting them on Monday, I requested a refund thru paypal of my $10 on Wed. It's only been a day and I haven't gotten it yet.

Re: Froggy

[eclecticmuse.livejournal.com]

Interesting.

They say they've finished sending out all the jpegs they have; my picture was taken on Sunday. I'm interested to see what reason they come up with for me not getting my picture.

[srgeis.livejournal.com]

Thank you all for your comments.

[spiderbaby23.livejournal.com]

I emailed them yesterday, sent a picture OF my picture and was told I could either get a $7.50 refund or double jpegs NEXT time around.... why would my $200 Patrick Stewart jpeg be only $7.50 when everyone else's is $10? Hmmm... anyway, I emailed Sarah at patentleather@froggysphotos.com.... she was pretty quick to reply. Try using that email. Good luck!

[sonata-ix.livejournal.com]

I emailed Wednesday morning and got a reply late Thursday night. Sarah said she'd been having computer issues but they were resolved now. (I know, who wants to hear another excuse from Froggy's, but sometimes life just sucks like that.)

[truexena.livejournal.com]

I just sent an email requesting that they find my JPGs and send them along. ;o) If not an option, gave them my paypal account email and my snail mail addy so they can refund me my $30!! Also requested a reply to the email regardless of which action had to be taken.

We'll see how long it takes for someone to get back to me about it. I'm hoping they find my 'non-edited' pics in a back up thingy.

BTW - Srsly? They edit these pics before putting them out on a table? I find that hard to believe. Is it just a 'cropping' kinda thing? Cuz it's not like they go and airbrush blemishes off the actor's faces or anything like that. Cuz with the volume of pics being taken and printed, they have very little time to actually do any type of serious editing. IMHO

[creedsgalbirdy.livejournal.com]

We heard about this editing business at the con...someone said they 'shopped a smile on to Shat's face because he wasn't smiling. We know someone who works for/with Froggy and he said that's not true. I doubt they're even cropping. Maybe just futzing with color/saturation, that sorta thing.

[leetah47.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit late in answering here, but I was in the editing room on Sunday, getting my pic and I saw them editing stuff - they edited this guy's pic where his eyes were closed - they fixed so his eyes were open, using another pic of him. Looked really good :-)

[keita-yuki.livejournal.com]

I'm now kinda glad I couldnt afford their prices. >_> But I honestly think after all the problems so many ppl have with them and Froggy isnt speaking or giving a solution that they should be banned from D*C all together.

Maybe a diffrent company would be the best choice from now on, even if that req a price change. Though I doubt they can get any more expensive.

Do the charges reflect froggys work only? Or did the stars get a cut? Because if there wasnt a cut then froggy is ripping you all off. A single digital copy dosent cost $10... so who got what of that price.

[eclecticmuse.livejournal.com]

The image quality of my hard copy isn't even all that great. Yeah, it's better than what I get off my Sony point-and-shoot, but it's not $30-professional-grade-quality.

Then again I'm an artist so what probably looks like a great photo to most people, I could bitch about the details for days.

[naytally.livejournal.com]

I could not reach them via phone, email, website, or regular mail. I filed a claim with my credit card company and they refunded my $175 for the Nimoy/Shat. You may consider doing the same.

[alexdelarge78.livejournal.com]

175. . when you say it like that. Our friend will treasure her photo forever but lordy lordy lordy.
Glad oyu got it resolved.

[rozhena-ashford.livejournal.com]

Go back to pics at the guest tables.

[srgeis.livejournal.com]

sarahspank,

I'm pretty much in agreement with you and a few other folks who've commented. They were completely unprepared and very, VERY unorganized the entire weekend. You would think as time went on, they would get better at it, but they didn't. Nothing like getting there early in line only to be one of the last ones getting your photo taken depending upon what celeb or group of celebs they wanted to shoot first (extremely poor organization during the BSG photo ops).

I know some folks have had great experiences with Froggy's, but I'm not one of them. They had multiple chances over the entire weekend to get their "act together" and failed. I will not be doing business with them ever again. And yes, I will be sending a complaint to Dragon Con.

On a positive note. There were two volunteers working at Froggy's that were very good and extremely helpful, but they were the exception.

This was my first Dragon Con. Had I known I could get pics with the celebs at the autograph table, I would have done that instead. Now, I know.

[geneticlemon.livejournal.com]

It depends on the celeb in terms of getting photos at the Walk of Fame. There are signs now (in the past there weren't) that explicitly say you can't take photos, but if you walk up to a celeb and ask them politely, they might say yes ... but a lot of them will say no, simply because it's a part of their contract.

[softershade.livejournal.com]

I sent them an email about a week after the con regarding JPGS and received a reply on Tuesday saying that all of the JPGS have been sent out and to reply with my info and a picture of myself if I still didn't have a copy (which I didn't). That was Tuesday and no word since.

[truexena.livejournal.com]

I still have heard nothing about my lost JPGs. (Just an FYI for those keeping track)

On the subject of guest giving professional photo-ops or the Walk of Fame tables. (and other such 'contract' talks i've been seeing)

My Thoughts & Opinions...

Dragon*Con does not pay a guest to attend the weekend. So saying that a guest is under contract is bunk. (I've been told this so often I can't even count how many times now)

They are invited to join the party, they are offered maybe a room or transportation, and sometimes both. (depending on how high profile that guest is in any given year)

I don't believe there is any type of contract, this is why we often see last minute cancellations (e.g. Edward James Olmos this year), and last minute additions (e.g. William Shatner this year) right up till doors open for registration.

The only way a guest actually makes any money at Dragon*Con is to have people buy their photos/autographs/books/comics/cds.

The guest even supply their own head shots and such. (some have better selections than others) LOL

The 'professional' photo-ops are a side thing that the guests agree to do, on their own. I'm sure for a per-photo fee provided by Froggy, or whoever the photo's are taken by. Or maybe a flat fee per session. But honestly I'd think it was more of a 'per-photo' type deal, as it would probably make the guest more money in the end.

I'm not sure how the pricing is decided on either, but I do know that Patrick Stewart is not a 'people' person, in that he doesn't like others touching him. So he had an outrageous price tag slapped on his Photo-Op sessions. A $200.00 price tag WILL thin the hoards of fans who'd love to have a picture with him. (it made me decide I only HAD to have his autograph and nothing more) ;o) Other guests where mostly reasonably priced. (unlike the raping of fans that Creation tends to do at their conventions, IMHO)

Since some (not all) of the guests agreed to have photo-ops with Froggy or another photographer, they now would like to rake in all the cash those photo-ops will provide. If they give away free photo's at the Walk of Fame tables, it not only takes money out of their pockets, it takes up time.

Anyhoo, those are my thoughts & opinions on why things are the way they are. I do not work for Dragon*Con nor any of the guests who attend. (Though I have worked some smaller fan-run cons in the past)

contract

[watcher652.livejournal.com]

Dragon*Con does not pay a guest to attend the weekend. So saying that a guest is under contract is bunk. (I've been told this so often I can't even count how many times now)

You have prefaced your comments with "My Thoughts and Opinions" but you end with "I do not work for Dragon*Con". So, is it a fact there are no contracts or just your opinion? What do you consider a contract? I think if there's any exchange of services, there has to be a contract, even if it's "if you come, we'll give you a room and pay for your flight".

Just because there are last minute cancellations, doesn't mean there are no contracts. It could be written into the contract that the guest has an option for a last minute cancellation because of work or other commitments.

In any case, when I talk about contracts, I don't mean between the guest and D*C. I'm talking about any deals the guest and their management make with the photographers. The photographers are vendors. There must be some contract between the guest and the photographers so each party knows what each of them will make per photo or if the guest gets a flat fee for time spent taking photos.

Refund + PS

[watcher652.livejournal.com]

Got my jpeg refund today, so that's all done with.

BTW, I just noticed on the Froggy site that a photo op with Patrick Stewart is $100 at the Chiller Theatre Expo in NJ on Oct 30-Nov 1, 2009. I wonder if the lower price is because
- There weren't many takers at $200 at D*C
- Or because Chiller is mainly a horror con and they don't expect the mob of fans like at D*C so they don't have to charge as much to hold back the number of people who want a photo.
- Or because PS has a place in NYC and can go home at night and doesn't have expenses to cover.
- Or someone heard the backlash of $200 being unreasonable for a photo op and decided to lower the price and get some good will back.

Re: Refund + PS

[srgeis.livejournal.com]

I still have not heard from them despite my repeated emails (and I have been civilized).

I'm glad you got your refund today.

[truexena.livejournal.com]

I got my $30 refund tonight (near midnight my time), with a short message "Payment sent. I'm sorry, I have none of them."

Oh well, I at least DID get the hard copies, so I'm not unhappy.

Now that all that stuff is out of the way, I will scan these pix, then get them framed.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

I didn't have any problems with the people at the tables, but the run-around trying to get my JPEG is ridiculous. I know they had problems Saturday night, but my picture was Sunday.

[srgeis.livejournal.com]

I finally received two of my JPEGs, the other two missing ones will have to be refunded. Now I'll have to wait and see how long that will take.

[pixiekingtom.livejournal.com]

Generally the contracts are between the photog and the studio, so the studio tells the celeb "no pics unless it's with our preferred vendor"
I would think that contacting Paramount about this mess would be better, as it would show that they need to step up who they contract with