Client wants a re-shoot because she doesn't like the way she looks

[Breanna]

I do corporate style headshots - I usually book them in groups and do 4-5 at a time. A woman I photographed last week just emailed and said that she doesn't like any of them and would like to schedule a re-shoot. I emailed back and asked her specifically what she didn't care for. She said, "My hair. My expression. It's not you at all, your work is awesome, it's all me."

What would you do? The stickler in me wants to tell her that we can do a re-shoot if she pays the full price of another session. After all, she came right out and said that it was her and not me. I did my job- I delivered exactly what we agreed upon and I have already spent my valuable time and energy on her photos. That being said, I don't want an un-happy client.

I'm leaning towards charging her 50%. Since I do them on location I will have to go back out to her office, set everything up, deal with her again, and of course process again.

I'm annoyed. Some days I love headshots because they can be so easy and profitable, but other days I really want to stop doing them all together because of clients like this.

 

[LBPhotog]

I would offer her two or three poses for a reshoot, ya know, like 15 to 20 minutes of your time - so you waste an hour or so out of your day ... not a big deal ... I'd say do it with a smile.

You can come back here to vent to all of us about how much of a pain in the ass it was, we'll all agree with you and it'll all be over ...

 

[Breanna]

Haha. Yes, being able to vent is appreciated.

I do a lot of photos for this company (a real estate firm) and to be honest, I don't want it getting out that I will re-do photos just because someone wants to be super knit-picky. I even let this client see the images on the back of my camera! I never OFFER but if they ask I will usually let them see. She didn't say anything on the day of.

I'm so torn.

 

[LBPhotog]

Well, I'd look at it this way ... I'm sure there is someone else out there who would love the business of this real estate firm and will be willing to do redos. It's not worth it on this one. Grit your teeth and get back there ... and if anyone asks, your memory card failed.

 

[KmH]

What does your contract say?

If it doesn't, it needs to. :thumbup:

 

[dizzyg44]

I would offer a re-do but only at around 20% off.

Obviously if it was an error on your part, the reduction would be much higher or at your expense, but since even the client stated that it wasn't of your fault, they should pay.

 

[ghache]

she should pay again if she wants another shoot. apparently you did nothing wrong.
i would offer a % off i guess.

 

[NateWagner]

I would probably suggest to go ahead and do it. And rather than worry about the possibility of it getting out, I might suggest trying to think of a way to avoid it in the future.

For example, with a corporate headshot type of a situation, if you are doing a bunch of them you could bring a laptop or something and shoot tethered. That way they could get a quick view of what it looked like. If you use lightroom you can even have it do an automatic preset. It would probably give them a much better idea of how they looked than merely looking on the back of the camera (which is not highly accurate anyway).

I think saying to yourself well they could have asked to see the images on camera if they cared what they looked like is a little silly. First, most everybody will care to some extent, and second I know that I for example would not be one to necessarily ask, just because I don't want to intrude, or whatever. Of course, I would probably just be one to suck it up and take the picture I thought wasn't good and then just never use you again.

 

[Overread]

Also the back of the LCD is a very hard thing to judge images upon and I would not really want people seeing the RAW undedited results first unless I trusted them to know what would be done to finish the shot. The idea of shooting tethered to a laptop and using lightroom to get a good general preset look is what I would warm to doing if I wanted to show previews at the time.

However remember if you start showing lots of previews its going to slow down your rate of shooting, something to consider as many corporate shots are done within a time slot and if that slot finishes you are then impeding the staffs abilty to work - not a good impression - and there will always be those people who are never satisfied


As for the situation at hand do the reshoot and let her have a chance to glance at the preview - be happy, smile and curtious and all that stuff - then have a good old rant later (ps if ranting online make darn sure your user name is not easy to search on and don't rant on facebook if you use that for contact points for clients -- simple things but you'd be amazed at the number of people who forget that the net is open access, or who come home and rant about their job/boss on facebook only to find that they did friend their boss a while ago ).
As for charging or not for reshoots its something that you need to work out and work into your contract, with specific details - though only have one flat rate. If you have a different rate for say if you failed or if (like in this example) the client fails the client will always choose the cheaper rate option and make something up (which won't help you in the reshoot). For this one as they appear to be a regular customer you could make an exception (since its not stated in your contract) and do the shoot for free or for very little - there is a lot to be said for keeping good face with your clients.

 

[jenn2]

I would just re-shoot and give a percentage off. After all you did what you were hired to do, right? But on the business side of things you have more to lose by not re-shooting and accommodating this person if like you say you do a lot of business with this real estate firm. Weigh out your potential losses: small percentage for re-shooting, or higher loss by not re-shooting and the client spreading the word at work?
On a personal note, I would have (impulsively) wanted to tell her to pay a full session or no re-shoot. Unfortunately you are running a business and as such you must be a little less impulsive, and more...lets say...understanding.
Good luck!

 

[LBPhotog]

... "My hair. My expression. It's not you at all, your work is awesome, it's all me." ...

Should have told her you can only do SO MUCH with what she gives you ... You and your camera can't work miracles ya know ...

 

[Sw1tchFX]

I'd reshoot for free if it's 15-20 minutes.


It's always good to have repeat customers, and a little bit of extra help here or there keeps loyalty.

 

[scorpio_e]

Maybe she comes to you for the reshoot Travel sucks up a lot of your time

 

[sauce839]

why couldn't you have her go to you? Then maybe cut her a deal. I'm assuming the reason they had you go to her was that it was more convient for the coorporate costs for 5 people to travel for a photo is a fair amount of lost time.

For just the one person, I would insist that she comes to you place, even in to off hours.... so evening, and then you can spent 30 minutes making sure she is happy with the expression, etc. Since it isn't here paying for the head shot, and its likely the company, I wouldn't be afraid of charging near or at the full price for the reshoot.

 

[Christie Photo]

What I say is....

"Sure... we can do some additional photography."

But I would be sure she understands it's not going to go on all day.

Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

-Pete