Bride wanting refund of $1000

abbypanda wrote in post #15660227
IMO you didnt charge enough to begin with. As others stated, editing and delivery took a long time, but she took a long time paying, so IMO That's a wash.

I doubt she will sue you. They likely just ran in to some $ probs and want some cash and think they can get a refund.

All this drama alone is worth what you charged. If you really feel you owe her something, you could always offer a 1 year anniversary session free. I'd leave that totally up to you. But a financial refund after all that, no. Did you charge a late fee after she took forever to pay??

mystik610 wrote in post #15659880
I didn't read the whole thing, but I get the sense that a lot of this could have been avoided had you made a point to sit down with the bride PRIOR to the shoot, to get a feel for what she's looking for, that way you have known what to shoot.

It doesn't matter how many shots you take (or how good you think they are) if you fail to capture the day the way your bride wanted you to.

I was unable to air down with the bride prior to the wedding, due to long distance where she lived from where she was having her wedding, however, i sis have a 2 how phone call to help her figure out her timeline for her wedding day and to send me a shot list in worrying, which she didn't... She only sent me a timeline, and based off her original contact, i have a part in there where it says "people not to miss" as king as i photograph this people _ withoutit in the contact in writing, there is no way for me to know that she wants 3 different combinations odd her and her husband with their families in that order...

That's the problem. You charged too little and let her take her sweet old time to pay. She's got you for a sucker and now she needs some $. She prob figures you'll hand over a check without thinking.

Wow, what a read. I hope if this does go to court that you'll win. I think you will. She doesn't have much of a case.

Here are a two suggestions for the future:

1) When you cull your images, DELETE the ones that didn't make the cut. They're gone...forever. When the client asks, you say they're gone. Period. Don't give in on showing them all the pictures. The more you show, the less they'll appreciate your pictures, which gives them even more to complain about.
2) Even though they didn't give you specific shots on a shot list, I actually agree with her in some of the shots that should know needs to be taken (groom with parents, bride with parents). On that day, the bride and groom are usually pretty frantic and won't be able to think completely straight. That's where you, as a professional, come in and get things straight. The fact that the schedule is running late or the bride not giving you a complete shot list doesn't give you the excuse to stay in control of the photographs needed. You take the photos you need, remind them of the time, and let them decide whether they want to stay to finish all the the photos or skip a bunch and move on.

The client paid in full and did not get the photo album more than 2 months after. I am sorry to say that she does have a case if she brings you to court. She might not get the full requested amount of $1000, but may get half of that.

I do not shoot family, and when I do, it's not for money.

that being said, I'm supposed to be shooting a wedding in NY on a dual RB67 system, for a little more than you charged her, except they are buying the film, paying for the development and doing the prints.

I wished bad photos were the least of my worries, I have to figure out how to juggle two 8-10lb studio camera bodies on my feet for 12 hours.

hhuy888 wrote in post #15663500
The client paid in full and did not get the photo album more than 2 months after. I am sorry to say that she does have a case if she brings you to court. She might not get the full requested amount of $1000, but may get half of that.

I offered her the 350 album credit and let her know that i would be sending her the proof to approve, which i still well, she said forget it and that she will see me in small claims court, and hung up

hhuy888 wrote in post #15663500
The client paid in full and did not get the photo album more than 2 months after. I am sorry to say that she does have a case if she brings you to court. She might not get the full requested amount of $1000, but may get half of that.

man. i dont think i've ever given an album within 2 months. hell, i still have an open album design from a 2011 wedding, been waiting months for the client to approve it.

to the OP. your biggest mistake was giving her all the images. it was proof to the bride that you didn't stand behind what you initially delivered. i would have gone through to see if i missed anything in the cull and then wrote her back explaining why she received the photos that she did.

but you added fuel to her fire by just sending her everything. she can now go through all the pictures and pinpoint each photo that isn't there to the judge. hopefully your contract covers you in that case, ours sure as hell does.

All the images is what they want. But really, these images represent your work, and I only present 50-250 most of the time. If they want more, it's going to take a lot longer. Weddings are big business here in the DC area, and cost anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 without blinking. But the named companies guarantee a short turn around time because they have photographers and editors. If you are a lone person doing a business, let your customers know up front how the business is run, how many images you plan on providing.

Your story is sad because I think you really tried. Don't let this one defeat you. Keep going and learn. You are not the only one this happens to. And good luck.

I also moved this whole thread to TALK as there were no images to SHARE.

Walk away as "Lesson Learned".

Nothing good can come from fighting over this. As already pointed out by the professionals there were way too many bad judgements made, and those cost you $1000.00. My advise is walk away.

This is just crazy. To me, it smacks of what happens when dealing with people that don't want to pay good money for something. But at the same time, this is what often happens if you don't have your **** together as a professional. We don't give discounts, we don't change our contract, we don't shoot 4k images (with two photogs) in eight hours, and we certainly don't have to put up with stuff like this. Ask yourself if you really, truly have your **** together on your end and try to get it together so you don't have to put up with stuff like this ever again.

Here are a few places you can start:
Contract (is it airtight? If so, don't bend the rules for clients)
Quality (ask yourself why you need to take 4k photos)
Confidence (Are you confident enough in your work that you don't feel you have to discount it, and you can let potential clients walk that aren't a good fit?)

You'll have to pardon my harsh tone, but that is a crap-ton of stuff to read, and after reading it, I was as aggravated as you probably are in dealing with this.

CameraMan wrote in post #15659459
The problem with that is they usually ask how many photos did you shoot. And unless you go through and rename all of your files with sequential numbering (which is what I am contemplating) the couple can look at the IMG_#### and if it jumps from 0504 to 0554 they will likely ask you what happened to the other 50 images. That's happened to me before. I usually tell them they were repeat shots like of the cake which I got better shots of later on before they cut it which happens a lot mixed in with some unflattering photos of their guests etc... They get very testy when they see large breaks like that.

Now that I'm saying this the thought of renumbering them after I bick the best ones sounds like a really good idea.

Then they'll have to try and remember if they saw me taking pictures of their best man giving their great grandma a lap dance... Yes, this has happened at one of the weddings I've shot and yes, I got a couple great shots of that.

Mine are sequentially numbered. Very easy to do when outputting from Lightroom. They are all renamed Img0001, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. That's how many I shot.

saea501 wrote in post #15658971
This is why I don't shoot weddings.

That is the BEST reason not to shoot weddings.

Numenorean wrote in post #15665800
Mine are sequentially numbered. Very easy to do when outputting from Lightroom. They are all renamed Img0001, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. That's how many I shot.

This^

In your future jobs ask the bride to make a list of special photos that she would like. Then tell her to assign a family member to assist you with the pairings, since you don't know all these people. Meet with that person (and the bride, if possible) before the wedding to make sure we are clear on who does what.
I've never had a problem.