Disgruntled Customer - long

[Rachael_Silvers]

I have a customer whose wife booked me to shoot an event for their son. I showed samples (a set of proof albums shot with a blend of traditional and photojournalism and a couple final albums with the same mix of genres) of weddings I have photographed to the wife and then I put together an estimate. They booked me. My contract states that a 50% deposit secures the date and the final balance is due one week after the event. (I have never had a problem with this before, as it's another separator for my services in the wedding arena and my clients appreciate it.)

I spoke with the mom the week before the event and reiterated what we discussed in the initial meeting and what my contract notes specified. I requested a Must Take photo list (I specified in the initial meeting that I like to have a Must Take list for special requests) and she said, let's meet 15 minutes before the event and go over final details.

I meet her 15 minutes prior to the event and she tells me that she does not have a list and to just shoot the day as it unfolds.

I spent 3 hours shooting the event, as per the contract, in a candid and photojournalistic manner.

Customer failed to deliver on the final balance a week after the event and in a good faith effort on my end, I shipped the proof prints to the client. A few weeks pass and I hear nothing. My wedding season was winding down and I was finishing other commitments.

Finally, the husband calls and literally tears me a new one and tells me how shocked they are at the photos. He is appalled at the quality and amazed that I passed it off as my work. He also yelled at me for making his wife cry.

His main issues from this initial phone call are that the photos are so "candid" and that people are not looking at the camera. (I am a photojournalist, and I had no photo list to follow and was not contracted to shoot formal portraits as they did not want to pay for my time earlier that day for me to meet them at another location for formal photos.)

His second issue is that in some of the black and white photos you cannot discern the edge of a family members arm from the background. The person was wearing a black suit and standing in front of a black velvet curtain that the DJ hung up. (In the 2nd phone call 5 months later I explained that film cannot see as many gradations as the human eye and then he proceeded to say that he expected photos of this life event for his son, not photos to be hung in an art museum and that I should not have photographed that moment in black and white.)

His other issue was that not all of the photos are centered. (Mind you this was an event at a restaurant with a DJ/production company and about 70 - 13 year old kids dancing. Add in a handful of adults dancing too. I explained that the photos were not intended to all be centered.)

He also complained about soft focus and blurriness. (In the second call I explained that they are photos of folks dancing in a low light situation and some of them will have blurriness due to motion and he said OK to that in the second call.)

I was shocked at his reaction and I felt my work was representative of the event and told a great story. My lab technician even said, "I looked at the photos and it looks like everyone had a great time!"

I suggested he tell me which photos he had issues with and I would go back to the lab and see about lightening some of the contrast or sharpening some of them. I never heard back from them.

Fast-forward 5 months, yes 5 months and I get another phone call from the husband.

He then said he wants to know how I intend to compensate them for ruining this event. Now I am appalled! He is currently in breach of contract and owes me the final balance and now he wants his non-refundable deposit returned. He says they even thought about suing me and wants to know what I am going to do.

I told him I would get back to him. I then thought about it for a few days and drafted a letter that outlined the contract and 3 important points, that the deposit is non-refundable, that he was past due with the balance, and that all my work is guaranteed as to quality and that I stand behind the quality.

He then responded with a 3 page letter of his own (not once referencing my letter) and alluding multiple times to thinking I was high or intoxicated at the event due to the resulting photos, how everyone he shows agrees these are the worst photos they ever saw and that unless I refund their money he will sue. He wrote that he consulted an attorney and the attorney agreed they could fare well in court with compensatory damages due to the fact that the event cannot be redone.

I am confident my contract (which his wife signed to book me) will hold up in the legal system and that he is in the wrong by defaulting on his final payment and that my photos are a great representation of the event. They should have hired a portrait photographer and now it seems they are not happy with the candid and photojournalistic style and I am on the one suffering from their choice.

What’s my recourse?

[chriskingsbury]

Learn to let your photography be what separates you from the pack (not your fee collection policy) If you offer a client leverage (Not paying until after the event or after seeing the photos) some will use that leverage to their advantage and not pay you or try and offer you less. This is regardless of the quality of your work. At this point you have two options:

#1 kiss the cash goodbye & walk away with a lesson learned (collect before the event)
#2 hire a lawyer and sue the sucker for what he owes you.

Both paths have their advantages but only you know if you're up for the stress of a court case.

Keep the faith,


chris

[David_Buzzard]

What I would do is tell them that you'll forget the 50%, and you can both go your seperate ways. I'm not really up on civil law in the States, but up here, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on as far as suing you. You produced work in the syle in which you advertise yourself, and you had a contract which you carried out. If that doesn't work, find a shyster lawyer of your own to sue them for breach of contract, slander, and any other thing they can think of.

Something I find about the photojournalist style of shooting, people really like it, up to a point. I always do a bunch of what I call 'boiler plate' wedding and event pics, just keep the relatives happy.

David Buzzard

[Rachael_Silvers]

Thanks guys.

I wrote another letter to the client (Fed Ex'd to him and delivered 9/14) letting him know I did consult with an attorney (read friend who is an attorney) and was advised that the nastiness in his letter is admissible if it should proceed to court. I also offered 3 solutions:

1) He return the proofs and the proof prints and I will refund the deposit. I made mention that if it does proceed to court he may risk losing possession of the proofs.

2) He keep the proofs and I keep the deposit. I outlined the deposit covers all costs (sans my time) associated with producing the proof albums. I also mentioned I would no longer be repsonsible for storing the negatives.

3) He pay the balance and I will ship him the negatives and close out the contract.

I then restated that he is the liable party with a past due account and owes me the balance. I also stated I may resort to collections if the balance or the proofs were not rec'd by the 15th

His deadline to me in his previous letter was tomorrow a.m. We'll see if he holds true and I get served. I know it's a hassle and PITA, but it's the principle. You cannot get something for nothing, i.e. get your money back and keep the proofs that you think are so horrible.

[Nigel_Anscombe]

Hi Rachel,

This has a nasty ring of familiarity about it.

There was a smilar thread recently, whch can be found at

http://www.robgalbraith.com/ubbthrea...o=&fpart=1

I'm sorry, I can't offer any concrete help on your troubles but the above thread may hold some nuggets of information.

One lesson that seemed to come out of that thread is to make sure that any correspondence, including proofs, that you send to the client is logged by you and sent in such a manner that it has to be signed for.

Regards
Nigel

[Mark_Stevens]

Rachel,
It sounds like you are being WAY too generous in your terms. You've basically offered what he probably wanted - a cave in. I'm sorry, but that's what you've done when you suddenly offer to give him everything without the remainder of payment. That is also kind of an admission of guilt on your end.
In my opinion, whoever advised you forefit the money you are owed for the work you did is giving horrible business advice. seperate the issues here. You have an unfulfilled contract and they are unhappy, those should not be mixed.
If you haven't already, join PPA and talk to Stephen Morris. Also, look for a Lawyers for the Arts group in your area. A letter from a real lawyer, not a friend, is frequently all you need to shut people like this up.
If I were you I'd take several lessons away from this:
1- NEVER wait 5 months after an event to begin the collections process
1a.- never wait until after the event to get paid for that matter
2- any time you offer settlement terms, make sure you spell them out as such so that you can rescind the offer. Depending on how you wrote your letter you may have either admitted guilt or bound yourself to a lower payment than you deserve.
3- deal with the contract signer on matters of contract. If Mom signed mom should talk to you, she may not have the backbone to be mean and nasty and that may end that.
4- have someone initial something if they turn down a must have shot list.
5- don't back down in the face of nastiness. this is where a lawyer helps, they are not emotionally attached to the issue.

what does your satisfaction guarantee say? how do you enforce it? can you? Take a close look at such guarantees and make sure you're not setting yourself up to be taken advantage of.

good luck, stay strong.

Mark

[Ed_Rogers]

I stopped reading after "...shipped in good faith." Good faith never paid the bills. You are running a business where your time and craft is valuable. Our rule is final payment by cash or bank check before any proofs are delivered. No exceptions! Chalk it up to experience.

Good luck.