UPDATE: Cindy believes portions of this review are trade secrets and violate our contract, and is…read morethreatening legal action. So I have redacted what she highlighted as I don't want to deal with this any longer.
I really went back and forth on whether to write this review, as I am generally non-confrontational. But my experience with Cindy was so awful and bizarre that I feel I need to warn any parents thinking to book from her, so they know what they might be getting into.
Long story short: I never received the pictures from her, and she went back on our contract.
Even when we booked the shoot, she [REDACTED], and seemed a bit difficult to work with. I ignored all the red flags, thinking this was normal for newborn photographers, and stressed myself to infinity making sure I followed her rules ([REDACTED]). [REDACTED] when my husband requested [REDACTED]. Her no didn't bother me as much as how rude she was about it. But again, [REDACTED], so I let it go. The shoot went fine, even though [REDACTED] (which we knew nothing about). But oh well, it was done, I was very relieved. She wasn't sure she got the family picture since my toddler wasn't cooperating, but [REDACTED].
I got her invoice the same day, but was waiting to hear confirmation on whether she got the family photo or not, so didn't pay it. I got a reminder from PayPal the next day (which I thought was automatic). I still hadn't heard from her, so I waited. The next day I got an updated invoice with a late fee. This time, I emailed her asking what was going on, and explained that I was waiting to pay since I hadn't heard whether she got the add'l shot. She said she had gotten the shot, and I was late paying. I said there was a miscommunication and to resend the original invoice, and I would pay.
She sent the new invoice at around 5pm. I was having issues with my email notifications, and didn't see it until I logged in on my laptop at 2 am. I tried to pay the invoice, but it said it was canceled. I noticed an email a little after midnight saying the invoice was canceled, and my original deposit was refunded as well. Thinking there was an error, I texted her about it, and sent the full payment directly on Paypal. The next morning, that was refunded as well. I texted her again -- no reply. I called her -- no reply. I emailed her -- no reply. I texted again the next day. I tried calling from my husband's phone. Nothing.
I finally sent a long email a day later asking for her to at least let me know what was going on instead of giving me the silent treatment. She finally replied and said she refunded me in full since I was late paying, and she wasn't "a debt collector". I thought this a bit extreme, but she had my pictures, so not wanting to antagonize her, I apologized if she felt that way, and that it was clearly a misunderstanding. I had paid her only a few hours after she sent the invoice (but I think she thought midnight was the cutoff, which she had not specified to me anywhere). I even offered to pay the late fee. She replied saying she would not be giving me the pictures, and that's that.
Her invoice said that if we did not pay within 10 days of the shoot, she would cancel the pictures. This all happened 4 days after the shoot, so she was actually violating her own contract! I am not sure why she decided to be so vindictive, but I did NOT need this level of stress while recovering from delivery with a newborn to take care of. I ended up booking another, more reputed photographer for my son's pictures -- thanfully they were able to squeeze me in for a last minute session. They were LOVELY to work with, did not stress me out in the least, and even wore a mask around the baby the entire time (turns out, photographers can work with masks!)
So parents, please do yourself a favor, and book with someone else. Of all the difficult postpartum things, my experience with Cindy was the only thing that made me cry. Having a baby in the house is a stressful and exhausting time already, and you don't need someone making your life significantly harder.
