Sentimentel Souvenirs

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As the owner and operator of Sentimental Souvenirs, I am responding to this complaint from the "Escondido mom" so that I can represent our side of the events of her visit with our company. Pleased be informed that Sentimental Souvenirs has serviced thousands of clients in San Diego County, and until now has never received a consumer complaint during our 18 years of business. 70% of our business is by referral We are proud of our customer relations and the repeat business from very satisfied clients. Contrary to the remarks of the complaint, we offer the most reasonable rates in the business. This customer submitted 16 video cassettes to be transferred to DVD format. The total charge for our services was $264., which was average of $16.50 per DVD. Although this customer told me she could get transfers to DVD for $10. each, I told her I would have to preview her material to see the length and other work that may have to be done. As I started to work on her project, I found that I needed to edit some of the content to make sure I recorded only the video she wanted transferd to DVD. A standard charge in the indusgtry for editing is $50 to $100. per hour. An attempt to call this customer as we proceeded with project was made with no response. We proceeded to complete the order, however, because we wanted to finish our work with her project and we knew that even though charges would be over the estimate, we have never refused to settle a bill to the satisfaction of the customer. When this customer came into our office to pick up her order and the charge for work was presented, I did not have the opportunity to explain the reason for the additional charge because I was immediately met with hyper-ventilation, comments of "I'm going to have a heart attack" and extreme anxiety. I told this customer not to get upset, and that whatever she wanted to pay for the project we would accept. She informed me that she would only pay $125. (less than half of the amount billed). I told her that the $125. would be fine - no problem. At no time did this customer seemed satisfied, and at no time did she thank us for the amount of time and work involved. I really did not get the opportunity to explain that I had not charged at all for editing and had discounted her order. Realizing that this customer continued to be very upset even as she left our office, I took another step to step out into the parking lot and asked her to roll down her window. I told her that it was not my intention to upset her and if I had done so in any way, I apologize. She said thank you. The costs for video media we recieve depends upon legnth, editing needed and other factors. Some estimates are approximate, depending upon these criteria. Although I did not hold to the original estimate, this customer paid only what she wished to pay, which was very close to the original estimate. There was never any intention of bait and switch as she has indicated. If our company was guilty of the complaints this customer has made, we would certainly not have the perfect record we have had for the pst 18 years. This project was performed at a loss to our company. This customer paid only what she wanted to pay. If there was any frustration she experienced from me personally, I can only say that I was very frustrated that I could not settle her down. Quite frankly, had she requested that she not pay us at all, we would have probably appeased her and written the charge off just to satisfy her. Her vindictive nature is apparent when she continues to make a complaing some 90 days or more after the transaction. We have done our best with this customer, and continue to have confidence in our long service to this community.