A Picture Directory with No Pictures

Hopefully, you're experience with this year's Picture Directory has been favorable, but the reports I'm receiving indicate that a lot, if not the majority of people at Grace have had less than favorable experiences. It's unfortunate and worthy of some explanation.

After using the same directory company for years (maybe even the history of the church) I decided to look at some other companies for two reasons. First, I had heard some reports of dissatisfaction with the way families had been organized for their picture, that the quality wasn't good. Second, the company's approach required a tremendous amount of administrative support by volunteers and paid staff.

We looked at several companies and checked references before selecting the company that we've used this year. While everything came back positive, our experience has been the complete opposite.

Here's where we are today... I spoke with the Vice President of the Church Directory division yesterday, outlining each of the problems and frustrations we've encountered. I explained to him that we're completely dissatisfied and asked him to do whatever it take to correct the problem. He assured me that our experience is not the way they like to do business, and that he was unaware of the problems we've been having. He said he needed to investigate the issues I reported, after which he would return my call with a plan of action to turn things around.

While to date, the company has not delivered the product and services they advertised, I feel terrible about the frustration and inconvinience they created for those whom I serve. For that I apologize. I will keep you posted on how the project progresses.