diff --git a/src/utils/datetime.rs b/src/utils/datetime.rs
index b477be4..a70abb2 100644
--- a/src/utils/datetime.rs
+++ b/src/utils/datetime.rs
@@ -67,7 +67,13 @@ pub fn parse_datetime_with_timezone(
 ) -> Result<DateTimeWithTimezone> {
     let timezone = timezone.unwrap_or(DEFAULT_CHURCH_TIMEZONE);
     
-    if datetime_str.ends_with('Z') || datetime_str.contains('+') || datetime_str.contains('-') {
+    // Check if this looks like RFC3339 with timezone info (ends with Z, contains +, or has timezone offset after T)
+    let has_timezone = datetime_str.ends_with('Z') || 
+                      datetime_str.contains('+') || 
+                      (datetime_str.contains('T') && 
+                       datetime_str.split('T').nth(1).map_or(false, |time_part| time_part.contains('-')));
+    
+    if has_timezone {
         let dt = DateTime::parse_from_rfc3339(datetime_str)
             .map_err(|_| ApiError::BadRequest("Invalid RFC3339 datetime".to_string()))?;
         DateTimeWithTimezone::new(dt.with_timezone(&Utc), timezone)
diff --git a/src/utils/multipart_helpers.rs b/src/utils/multipart_helpers.rs
index 501ba9c..3727e8f 100644
--- a/src/utils/multipart_helpers.rs
+++ b/src/utils/multipart_helpers.rs
@@ -71,20 +71,20 @@ impl MultipartProcessor {
     pub fn get_datetime(&self, field_name: &str) -> Result<DateTime<Utc>> {
         let datetime_str = self.get_required_string(field_name)?;
         
-        // First try the shared timezone-aware parsing function
-        if let Ok(utc_time) = crate::utils::datetime::parse_event_datetime_to_utc(&datetime_str) {
-            return Ok(utc_time);
+        // Try parsing as RFC3339 first (already has timezone info)
+        if let Ok(dt) = DateTime::parse_from_rfc3339(&datetime_str) {
+            return Ok(dt.to_utc());
         }
         
-        // Fallback to legacy formats for backward compatibility
-        // These will now be treated as EST/EDT times and converted to UTC
+        // Try flexible local formats for backward compatibility
+        // These will be treated as EST/EDT times and converted to UTC
         let formats = [
-            "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M",
-            "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",
-            "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M",
-            "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",
-            "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M",
-            "%m/%d/%Y %I:%M %p",
+            "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M",     // 2025-10-08T00:09
+            "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S",  // 2025-10-08T00:09:00
+            "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M",     // 2025-10-08 00:09
+            "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S",  // 2025-10-08 00:09:00
+            "%m/%d/%Y %H:%M",     // 10/08/2025 00:09
+            "%m/%d/%Y %I:%M %p",  // 10/08/2025 12:09 AM
         ];
 
         for format in &formats {
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@ impl MultipartProcessor {
             }
         }
 
-        // Try parsing as RFC3339 (already has timezone info)
-        if let Ok(dt) = DateTime::parse_from_rfc3339(&datetime_str) {
-            return Ok(dt.to_utc());
+        // Last resort: try the shared timezone-aware parsing function
+        if let Ok(utc_time) = crate::utils::datetime::parse_event_datetime_to_utc(&datetime_str) {
+            return Ok(utc_time);
         }
 
         Err(ApiError::ValidationError(format!(