Website: https://wellkeptdesign.mypixieset.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wellkeptdesign/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wellkeptdesign/?hl=en
Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/well-kept-design-summerville
I cannot tell you how many times Well Kept Design has been sent in to me over the years. It never fails that something always happens when I’m swamped with weddings and I can’t get a post up.
I finally have a tiny smidgen of downtime and the thieves I was working on seem to have taken down their images so I thought it was about time I posted about Amber.
Much like her partner, Whitney (YES), Amber’s history isn’t focused just on stolen photos (although they have been part of the story) but more about her repeated backing out of sessions, not delivering sessions and not refunding when she doesn’t deliver or ghosts the client.
So grab the beverage of your choice, get comfy and your scrolling finger ready.
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Basic Info:
Well Kept Design originally started as a photographer, primarily of portraits/mini sessions, in South Carolina (I believe?) and got popular pretty quickly due to the low rates she charged for the mini sessions that she shared on every local Facebook Group.
Amber has branched out to offer rentals, decor set up and also has a team of photographers working for her in various locations mostly along the eastern shore. She has branched out into most forms of portrait photography: weddings, boudoir, birth along with her mini sessions.
Known locations she/her company operates out of/in or advertises in –
- Summerville, SC
- Charleston, SC
- Hilton Head, SC
- Pigeon Forge, TN
- Gatlinburg, TN
- Eastern Tennessee
- Lancaster, PA
- Manheim, PA
- New York City, NY
- Vermont
Summary:
If you don’t want to read the rest here’s a summation of all the things I found clients alleging after hiring Well Kept Design:
- Amber has been late to contracted sessions/projects at least 6 times
- Amber has been late to deliver photos at least 20 times
- Amber has lost photos for various reasons at least 17 times
- Amber has used stolen content at least 10 times
- Amber has ghosted clients the day of a session at least 7 times
- Amber stopped replying/ghosted clients trying to schedule sessions postponed for various reasons at least 2 times.
- Amber has had complaints about her delivered products not matching up to the quality the clients felt they booked at least 10 times
- Amber has not returned at least one heirloom item
- Amber was not able to photograph at least 4 clients due to being incarcerated and dragged out or did not refund these clients
Timeline:
I’m going to try to sum up what I know. There is going to be a lot that I miss because finding all of this online is just impossible but I’m going to try because people just keep coming to me with various complaints about WKD.
2017
Amber is sentenced to 16 months in Federal Prison after committing Healthcare Fraud in Tennessee.
Summer 2020
A client booked Well Kept Design for an engagement session that was postponed due to COVID restrictions, when the restrictions lifted the session was never rebooked and Amber ghosted the couple. A refund was not given either.
September 2020
Well Kept Design is hired to decorate a porch. She fails to show up a couple times. Eventually the porch is decorated but not without a lot of stress and irritation.
October 2020
A client hired Well Kept Design to photograph a portrait session. She claimed after the session she stopped for hot dogs and didn’t lock her car and her camera was stolen. She then claimed the other camera ‘jammed’ and offered a free session to make up for it.
November 2020
Client hires Well Kept Design for a photography session. They are told 7-10 days for a turn around time. The client doesn’t get various images from setups/groupings that they did (the most important being some of the father with his daughters) and asks after those images. Amber’s “assistant” is really rude in the reply, then Amber herself goes to a whole new level of rudeness.
A client hires Well Kept Design for Christmas Door Decorating. Amber no showed a few times on the promised dates she’d arrive blaming various things: traffic, her assistant, family emergencies.
Eventually the door was decorated by the assistant but it wasn’t as advertised. The client also did not receive the photography session that was supposed to come with the package.
December 2020
A client books a Christmas/Santa mini session with Amber which takes place in early December. The client reaches out multiple times regarding the status of the session. She’s told they were sent in December (they weren’t) and was told for a YEAR they were going to be sent.
After TWO years Amber finally replies and does offer a refund but it’s unknown if that ever was delivered.
A client hires Amber for a Christmas mini session and was promised a 1 week turnaround. Eventually the client leaves a negative review which gets Amber to reply personally but she is not very kind and demands the review be taken down. Client only receives one photo after the review is taken down. Neither a refund or the photos were ever delivered.
January 2021
I receive a tip that Amber was using another photographer’s copy from their website and images to promote her Facebook mini sessions.
A client hires Amber for newborn photos and they are never delivered. Amber offered a refund and a second session, the refund is never given.
February 2021
A bunch of clients hire Well Kept Design for a Valentine’s Day themed mini session (unclear if these were in January or February). Amber told the clients the images were lost on a corrupted memory card and offered free sessions to make up for it.
In April she tells the clients she was able to recover the files. Some did get their session, many did not. The last update I saw was in August of that year and people were still waiting.
March 2021
A client is given a complimentary session and in November posts to Well Kept Design’s Facebook that she’s still waiting for the images.
A client hired Well Kept Design to decorate their door for Easter. Amber was a no show and didn’t reply to any messages and did not refund.
June 2021
A client hires Amber in Charleston, SC to photograph her daughter’s first birthday party. Amber did photograph the event but never sent the files to the client. When the client got upset when her daughter’s images were posted to Well Kept Design’s Facebook Page but hadn’t been sent the client claims she was blocked. She never received the images or a refund.
A client hires Amber in Charleston, SC to photograph her child’s birthday party. Much like K, she never received the images. She was told that the files on the disk were corrupted. She is offered a refund but it was never sent so the client disputed the charge and was rewarded a refund via her credit card company.
August 2021
A client hires Well Kept Design for a First Birthday photoshoot. Amber is a no show and ghosts the client.
August 2021
Amber posts an ad for front porch tailgating sessions with images that are not her own. On the 4th image she cropped the photographer’s watermark out.
September 2021
A client hires Well Kept Design to decorate their porch with bats for the fall season. Amber never arrived and gave various excuses as to why she didn’t perform the service she was paid for. Client claims to have not received a refund but Amber claims one was given in her reply to the review.
A client hires Well Kept Design to deliver a bounce house for a birthday celebration. It’s a chaotic disaster and is vlogged on You Tube. The tent was late, Amber leaves and eventually the client has to sort it out herself. The tent is dirty and not decorated like how it was advertised.
A client hired Well Kept Design for a session of their children. Prior to the session it was discussed that the client wanted everything to be shot vertically and edited in black and white.
Session was delivered with half the photos in landscape and only two were in black and white.
Amber promised to correct this error but the client never received an updated gallery.
October 2021
A client hires Amber for a “Pink Figgy” mini session in South Carolina. The promised turnaround time is 3 weeks or less, they are finally delivered 7 weeks later. The images are of very low resolution and only one image the client can use that has all the families eyes open.
Amber then claims the client’s brother is harassing her but the client’s brother never did.
A client hires Well Kept Design for a Pink Figgy mini session. The clients couldn’t find Amber although she swears she was there. The client filed a dispute with her credit card company for the refund.
A client hires Well Kept Design for Halloween Porch decorations. No one ever shows up to decorate the porch.
November 2021
Multiple client hire Well Kept Design for Pink Figgy mini sessions. After promising the photos will be sent, 2 months later she tells multiple clients that her memory card failed and the images are lost.
It appears that some, if not all, of these sessions were free for breast cancer survivors so no refunds were offered but new sessions were offered (and refused by most).
A client hires Amber for a Christmas mini session which was photographed. At the time of the review, January of 2022, the client did not have the images or a refund.
A client hires Well Kept Design for a “twinkle light” mini session after she did their engagement session in October 2020 with fine results.
A client hires Well Kept Design for a Christmas mini session. The majority of the images didn’t turn out and the few that were delivered were sent about a week after being told they were being sent that night.
A client hires Well Kept Design to decorate her porch for the holidays. The top photo is what was advertised (from Pinterest, cannot find original source), the bottom photo is what Amber delivered.
December 2021
Christmas minis seem to be one of Amber’s weakest points. Every December there’s a new batch of clients upset that their Christmas photos taken in November/Early December with a short turn around time promised (2-3 days in some ads). Many of these clients do not receive their images by the holiday, some may not have ever received them.
I’m not posting every one from December 2021 but theres quite a few.
As usual, Amber is full of excuses and rudeness when approached about galleries that are beyond her promised turn around time. At least one client finds the Facebook Group about Amber and posts to it worried because she’s never had a professional photography session before and Amber loses it on the client for joining the group.
Another client gets this reply when they inquire after their photos.
April 2022
A client hired Well Kept Design for an Eastser mini session. The location wasn’t able to be used due to a closed bridge nearby. The client had a hard time getting a hold of Amber to reschedule but eventually they agree that the family will come to Amber’s in home studio.
The day of the session the client waited 45 minutes for Amber but she wasn’t there and didn’t reply to the client’s messages.
At the time of review (a month after) the client hadn’t been refunded yet.
June 2022
A client hires Amber/Well Kept Design for a session. She is told the turn around is 2-3 weeks. After 3 weeks the client reaches out for an update and Amber gets sassy and an attitude with the client. Eventually they do get the photos but they aren’t near the quality that the client expected.
August 2022
A client uses Amber/Well Kept Design and brings in a large cream crocheted blanket that the client’s grandmother made before she passed away. It was accidentally left behind.
Multiple attempts were made to get the blanket back and every time plans are made something falls through.
Eventually the client comments on a WKD Facebook post in December 2022 and it is revealed that blanket has been potentially used in several sessions since August. Amber claims that she’s reached out to the client’s husband and hadn’t heard anything from the wife and it’s been sitting there waiting for them to reclaim it.
It’s unknown if the client ever got her blanket back.
September 2022
A client hires Amber for a Cake Smash session. The setup was not as promised and the session was only 15 minutes instead of 45. Amber allegedly made fun of the client’s name and promised a refund, which the client did not claim to have received as of the time of their review.
Another client hires Amber for a Cake Smash session. The files were never delivered as they were allegedly lost on a corrupted SD card. The client was promised a reshoot but it was never completed.
October 2022
A client hires Amber for her wedding and she does show up, photograph the wedding and turn the wedding around in about 5 weeks. The image quality though is not what the client expected and the client alleges that she booked based off what she now knows was stolen images.
November 2022
Amber is hired as a Day of Coordinator and Decorator for a wedding. Amber assured the client she was the priority for the weekend. Amber arrived late to the rehearsal with her kids in tow and told client she had another session that evening so left the event early.
The day of the wedding Amber was again late and the decor was not placed as they had agreed. Amber left early and sent in someone else to be on hand for the day who arrived only 30 minutes before the wedding ceremony which was not what was contracted.
December 2022
Amber is arrested after getting caught shoplifting at Target in South Carolina.
Due to the above, Well Kept Designs posts they will be cancelling everything for the remainder of the year to their Facebook and they changed the Facebook Page to state they were temporarily closed.
Once Amber is out of jail she posts on the page herself stating she will be refunding and rescheduling.
Two days later, Amber was advertising sessions again.
A client had booked a mini session at the beginning of December. Two days before the session she was messaged by Amber’s partner stating that due to a family emergency (see above for the real reason) the session would need to be rescheduled.
The client found out about the arrest/incarceration so they filed a dispute with their credit card company after the partner posted that Amber wouldn’t be doing any sessions for the rest of the year. After Amber got out of jail, she asked the client to cancel the dispute and she’d send the refund.
As of the last update the client only got a partial refund.
Another client also filed a dispute after the arrest became public and also cancelled their dispute. Unknown if they ever were refunded.
Yet another client also only got half of their payment refunded after the cancellations due to the arrest. As of their last update they did not receive the second half.
Another client had purchased gift cards during a Black Friday sale and asked for a refund after the arrest. Amber denied their request stating she still planned on taking photos the following year.
Another client booked Well Kept Design for Christmas Porch Decoration and after the arrest she requested a refund. The client was promised a refund in 5-10 days but eventually was told they wouldn’t be refunding any porch decor bookings, despite them not being completed. The client filed a dispute, unclear if they received a refund or not.
…there’s so many more clients with similar stories from the sessions booked the weekend after her arrest that I’m just leaving it there but there are many more that have posted.
January 2023
Well Kept Design posts an ad for spring mini sessions with images that are not her own.
Most are from Pinterest and I couldn’t find the original source for.
Original source for upper right image.
September 2023
A client hired Well Kept Design for anniversary photos on Hilton Head Island. They reached back out after the promised return date and they were treated rudely. After 3ish months they still didn’t have their photos, it’s unknown if they ever received them or a refund.
A client hired Well Kept Design for a photography session. The photographer was 45 minutes late. They were given a 2 hour turnaround time estimate.
After a month the client was told the images were not usable.
The client stated they did not get a refund
October 2023
Well Kept Design posts an ad for upcoming mini sessions at Lititz Springs Park in Pennsylvania. The image she used is not hers.
September 2023
A client, A, hires Well Kept Design for party decor after previously using the company without incident for photography and for the same design set up for a previous party. WKD was supposed to set up 7 tents for a slumber party but what she got wasn’t what she paid for.
Image from Well Kept Design’s Website advertising this service:
Instead of elaborate tents with draping, mattresses and decor, she had yoga mats and bare bones decorations and only 4 tents.
This is what the client received:
Amber tried to spin this as a more minimalist design.
Well Kept Design hosts a mini session in South Carolina and at least one client couldn’t find her. It’s alleged there were more that didn’t find her.
A client hires Well Kept Design and thought Amber would be their photographer. Instead it was a new associate working under WKD and the photos were subpar. Per the client only 3-4 were good and the rest were awkward with good lighting.
The client emailed Amber and she agreed the images weren’t up to her standards and offered a reshoot.
The day of the reshoot Amber was almost an hour late and by the time she arrived their two small children were over.it. Amber promises deliver within a week due to the issues.
The client joins the Facebook Group about Amber and posts anonymously and Amber terminates the relationship without delivering the new files or a refund. She walks back her earlier claims that the first session wasn’t great and says they were good.
December 2023
A client hires Amber to photograph a first birthday party and she cancels a half hour prior to the party starting. Initially she was running late because she forgot her camera case and then she cancels completely claiming her car wouldn’t start after stopping for gas. It is unknown if this client ever received a refund.
Well Kept Design officially begins working with Whitney.
January 2024
Well Kept Design posts to Facebook excited to shoot at a venue with images that are not hers (both are from Pretty Place’s Facebook Page, uncredited photographers).
March 2024
Amber’s misdeeds finally catch up with her and a news station in Charleston, SC does a story about her. They feature multiple stories from various clients that had been burned by Well Kept Design.
March 2024
Amber posts an ad for flower sessions in Pennsylvania. The images are not hers.
April 2024
Well Kept Design posts an ad for sessions at Ronks Wildflower Lookout for June and July. The images are not hers.
May 2024
Amber cancels the day of on a client who booked a session with her in Beaufort, SC. She claims the associate in Hilton Head is under the weather. She offers up another photographer in Charleston. The client couldn’t make that drive and ended up finding another photographer. This client did get her refund.
June 2024
Amber cancels last minute on a client who booked an associate for a session in Hilton Head. She claims there are scheduling conflicts. It is unknown if the client was refunded or not.
July 2024
A client, L, reaches out to a local photographer, trying to see if she can get a last minute booking because hers cancelled on her at the last minute. The client filed a dispute after not hearing back from WKD regarding her deposit.
Amber posts an ad advertising Santa mini sessions in Charleston at the Starlight Motor Inn using images from another photographer which she edited.
The original source of the images.
Of course Amber gets caught and plays the whole “lets be adults” thing when by this point she should damn well know that every photo she posts is going to be searched. At this point, it is my opinion that she loves the negative attention she gets when she gets called out.
Note: Maddie replies in the comments (!) and states that the images Well Kept Design used for their advertisement were not on the website for the hotel like she claims.
Well Kept Design posts an ad for a Highland Cow mini session in Pennsylvania. The bottom image is not hers.
Well Kept Design posts an ad for their bubble house available for rent. The image is stolen.
