Terms and conditions...again

Hey guys, I know you have some sort of contract that you make your customers sign. You obviously don't let them back out at the last moment and let them take your money, right? Do you allow a grace period where customers can get a refund if they do cancel before a certain time. What conditions warrant a refund. Death in family, act of God, etc.

Has anyone out there ever had an issue with a wedding client that refused to let you use photography from their wedding for your future promotion and advertising?

How about liability with film lost or desroyed? CF card and/or digi camera corrupts files. errors and ommissions kind of thing?

What if the bride's 3 yr old niece knocks over one of your strobes and nails the bride on her forehead resulting in 15 stitches.
a.)Her family wants to sue you?
b.) They don't want to pay you or they want a refund because the cost of the hospital bill is three times the cost of job.
c.) You're out of a strobe.
Anything is possible. Sure insurance will cover these issues, but you make a claim and your premiums goes up. How do you protect against these things?

How about quality of prints from a lab? Especially with the use of digital. You submit photos that are color corrected, matched for color space or printer color profiled, and resized to the printer. The lab does something strange or weird. S__t happens. The client doesn't like what they see and they want you to compensate for reprinting. When do you draw the line? How?

I know other photogs are dealing with these issues. What kind of terms do you present? Links to references are also welcome.

Thanks
Chris

[DougAxford]

I'm assuming that this is not a joke. Maybe you should go back through a few months of posts and most of your questions will be answered - or better yet, join PPA or another good organization and learn the way most of us did.

To answer as best possible:

Everyone has (or should have) contracts that stipulate exact details if and when a wedding cancels. It's always best to take each case and evaluate what is best for everyone concerned. In most cases, I've given some credit to the couple which is a big influence in them re-booking with me.

I've had clients refuse to let me use their images for their own private reasons. I respect that and it's no big deal. There are hundreds more to make samples from, so don't sweat it and certainly don't press the issue - It's only your ego that has a problem.

Contracts cover liability also. I've done nearly a thousand weddings and had very few problems. It's all about professionalism and how you and they react to a problem. No matter how iron-clad a contract may be written, a judge can still throw the book at you in court if you have not done your best to do the job you were hired for in a professional manner.

If a 3 year-old trips over your lights, I'd say that it's your fault for putting them in harm's way. A pro ALWAYS aniticipates a disaster and does everything to avoid it - 'nuff said.

If your lab makes crap proofs, is it your fault or the labs??? If it's the lab, why are you dealing with them to begin with? Do your homework before you book weddings and make sure that your color management system is in tune with theirs.

I don't want to sound nasty or negative, but if you've got this many issues before you get into weddings, maybe this is not the right business for you. Almost always, it's not the photography that puts people out of business, it's not being able to deal with all of the problems that every wedding has the potential to create.

Good luck, Doug