One shot missed - unhappy client

Hi - I recently shot a graduation event, and for a number of reasons, was unable to get a shot of one of the graduates getting his diploma. (He stood in the wrong place, faced the wrong direction, etc.)

He is understandably upset that he doesn't have a photo of this moment. He swears that I took at least one picture of him but I'm thinking he saw someone else's flash and perhaps thought it was mine? (Although my flash is brighter than the sun, so I don't know how he could mistake it, lol!) I simply don't have one.

I want happy customers, so I have offered to do a formal cap/gown photo for him.

Any other suggestions on how I might be able to turn this situation around? The other grads were all very pleased with my work, but one unhappy customer can reach a lot of people...

Thanks for your input!!

sounds like you did more than enough to make it up to him. let him know that. It is not your fault he didnt turn your way.

Welcome SideShooter!
I think offering the formal is a grand gesture. Next time consider taking the shot even if they are in the wrong position or facing the wrong way. It may not be the ideal shot but at least you have one to offer and it demonstrates you captured the moment. The grad would likely know they didn't position themselves well.

I always try my best to make a client happy. If it means to photograph him in the graduation gown - do it. The experience you gave him (trying to rectify the situation after the shot was missed) is what's important. Remember - a happy client will tell one person, an unhappy will tell 10 people (or something along those lines...)...

I agree. Our business is all about customer satisfaction; no satisfied customers means no return customers which (eventually) means no business at all.

I would agree with the above post, should you be in this position again, get the shot even if the person is in the wrong position or whatever. It seems as if you missed the climax of the whole event. Considering that the moment is past, I think you did the next best thing....not much more you can do.

<Agree with all above posts.

Thank you all for the input. I should have taken a shot or two - focus and angle be damned. Then he would at least see what I saw.

This is my first dissatisfied customer (I've been *really* lucky), and though I knew this day would of course come, it's really bothering me.

Anyway, buck up, right? Onward.

It happens. Do what you can to make him happy. No matter how hard you try, you can't please everybody. Just try to keep the satisfaction to 99.9%

When I graduated there was a photographer at the end of the stairs taking a quick portrait just in case the other guy missed the handshake one. They were taught how to shake hands so the kid couldn't turn the wrong way, knew exactly what they were doing as they didn't move at all, you came to them and they had their right hand extended holding the diploma a certain way so no way to screw it up. Sometimes it fails though for whatever reason, which sucks but you just make up for it any way you can.

Yep. Just make the best of the situation. Sometimes things just don't work out.

The advice here has been spot on, but I would make sure you think about your one missed shot was really not one missed shot. If you were shooting an event for one client then it would be one missed shot, but since you didnt photograph any of this client (every student graduating is your client) you missed 100% of the shots.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #11682970
The advice here has been spot on, but I would make sure you think about your one missed shot was really not one missed shot. If you were shooting an event for one client then it would be one missed shot, but since you didnt photograph any of this client (every student graduating is your client) you missed 100% of the shots.

Or maybe the school is the actual client, so the photographer actually *only* missed .05% of the shots. There's no point dwelling on the statistics. It doesn't change the fact that one student out of most likely hundreds didn't get a photo of himself. The students are only the client if they hired the photographer directly. If the photographer came at no charge with the expectation to just sell as many photos as possible, they're technically only a missed sale. It doesn't suck any less for the student, but let's not make it out to be an unholy act.