Photography Lawsuit

[table1349]

Why get lawyer involved? Isn't a small claims court easier, providing the married couple haven't started formal litigation? I am not a legal person but more curious as to why no one seems this is a viable alternative for the photographer?

Well for one, if you are in the business of photography you should have insurance including liability insurance. The insurance companies like to have lawyers involved where they may be called upon to fork over money on a claim. Liabiality insurance doesn't just cover some one just tripping over your gear and getting hurt. Also depending on the size of the claim it may not qualify for small claims court. Emotional distress, Yada, Yada, Yada...can get quite expensive in the claim. Doesn't mean they will win but they can sure claim it if they like.

 

[Derrel]

As far as I know, both CD music discs and DVD-video discs needs to be burned in a so-called Session-at-Once mode, where the software writes and "intro" or "lead-in" to the disc, then the data is written, and finally the entire disc is "written out", so that the disc is seen as being complete, and "finalized". On a computer, a multi-session disc can be viewed and played, but that's not the way a Compact Audio Disc or a DVD-video disc is supposed to be authored.

Keep in mind, this is my recollection from a years-ago-reading of the ISO Red Book or whatever it was called, which details the rules for authoring removable disc media. I am not an expert in DVD authoring, and use Adaptec TOAST and Macs to author my DVD's;-however, as stated earlier, my new OS 10 El Capitan is NOT recognizing media that was authored over a 15-year time span using TOAST software to burn removable media.

 

[Designer]

I'd like to know which parts of the description would have given you those impressions.

Seeing as you're a professional businessman, making excuses is lame.

..in my last 2 client claims, they have ALWAYS sided with the buyers ..

So this kind of thing has happened before?

 

[VincentPaul]

I'd like to know which parts of the description would have given you those impressions.

Seeing as you're a professional businessman, making excuses is lame.

..in my last 2 client claims, they have ALWAYS sided with the buyers ..

So this kind of thing has happened before?

No, those were ebay transactions before I got into photography and I'd like to meet someone who has done business for 10 years without any client issues. I'd like to learn from them.
Also I'm not sure how your first quote from me is an excuse. Anyhow thanks for your feedback.

 

[qmr55]

I still want to know if 2 minutes was 2 minutes after the ceremony began, or 2 minutes after you were suppose to arrive prior to ceremony.

Also, I noticed their check payment was $350 and you say that they gave 1/2 deposit up front. That being said, the total pay was $700? If that is the case, small claims court is not even worth it. Neither are lawyers. At this point, I'd chalk it up as a lesson learned and refund them and make them happy and move on.

Good luck.

 

[VincentPaul]

I still want to know if 2 minutes was 2 minutes after the ceremony began, or 2 minutes after you were suppose to arrive prior to ceremony.

Also, I noticed their check payment was $350 and you say that they gave 1/2 deposit up front. That being said, the total pay was $750? If that is the case, small claims court is not even worth it. Neither are lawyers. At this point, I'd chalk it up as a lesson learned and refund them and make them happy and move on.

Good luck.

2 minutes after the event was supposed to start. They started about 20 minutes late themselves.

 

[pixmedic]

I'd like to know which parts of the description would have given you those impressions.

Seeing as you're a professional businessman, making excuses is lame.

..in my last 2 client claims, they have ALWAYS sided with the buyers ..

So this kind of thing has happened before?

No, those were ebay transactions before I got into photography and I'd like to meet someone who has done business for 10 years without any client issues. I'd like to learn from them.
Also I'm not sure how your first quote from me is an excuse. Anyhow thanks for your feedback.

husband and wife team, wedding and portrait photography for 12 years. (I was part time, wife was full time)
we did around half a dozen weddings a year and a few dozen portrait sessions. so, nothing terribly prolific.
I suppose if we were better photographers or better business people we might still be doing it. (I dont really miss it though)
however....in that time we:
never issued a refund.
never went to court.
never had a contract dispute that did not end in our favor.
never gave in to client demands that were outside of our contract stipulations when we felt they were unreasonable.
(we did, on occasion, add small services or prints basically a la carte if the need arose)
always had insurance that covered personal injury and property damage in addition to our equipment insurance.

#1: Ironclad contract written by a lawyer that specializes in that sort of thing.
#2: follow contract to the letter, or above and beyond expectations.
#3: never give in to client demands without first consulting aforementioned lawyer.

are you seriously considering refunding them all/most of their money just because they complained and made a threat?



on a totally unrelated note....
do you have a link to your portfolio, and can you travel to Florida to do some work?
we would like some family portraits taken. maybe some video.
willing to pay well.

 

[smoke665]

never went to court.
never had a contract dispute that did not end in our favor.
never gave in to client demands that were outside of our contract stipulations when we felt they were unreasonable.

In 40 plus years of business, I encountered my share of deadbeats in the freight business. Unfortunate downside of being in the business. Make sure it's in writing, dot all the "i's" cross all the "t", know when to say "no", and when to walk away.

 

[Designer]

You've got to know when to fold 'em, know when to hold 'em, know when to walk away.

 

[VincentPaul]

I'd like to know which parts of the description would have given you those impressions.

Seeing as you're a professional businessman, making excuses is lame.

..in my last 2 client claims, they have ALWAYS sided with the buyers ..

So this kind of thing has happened before?

No, those were ebay transactions before I got into photography and I'd like to meet someone who has done business for 10 years without any client issues. I'd like to learn from them.
Also I'm not sure how your first quote from me is an excuse. Anyhow thanks for your feedback.

husband and wife team, wedding and portrait photography for 12 years. (I was part time, wife was full time)
we did around half a dozen weddings a year and a few dozen portrait sessions. so, nothing terribly prolific.
I suppose if we were better photographers or better business people we might still be doing it. (I dont really miss it though)
however....in that time we:
never issued a refund.
never went to court.
never had a contract dispute that did not end in our favor.
never gave in to client demands that were outside of our contract stipulations when we felt they were unreasonable.
(we did, on occasion, add small services or prints basically a la carte if the need arose)
always had insurance that covered personal injury and property damage in addition to our equipment insurance.

#1: Ironclad contract written by a lawyer that specializes in that sort of thing.
#2: follow contract to the letter, or above and beyond expectations.
#3: never give in to client demands without first consulting aforementioned lawyer.

are you seriously considering refunding them all/most of their money just because they complained and made a threat?



on a totally unrelated note....
do you have a link to your portfolio, and can you travel to Florida to do some work?
we would like some family portraits taken. maybe some video.
willing to pay well.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[table1349]

You've got to know when to fold 'em, know when to hold 'em, know when to walk away.

You left out "Know when to run."

 

[Tabe]

2 minutes after the event was supposed to start. They started about 20 minutes late themselves.

In that case, give them a full refund. You were far more than 2 minutes late. You should be there well ahead of the event, not "on time" and surely not 2 minutes after the scheduled start time.

 

[KmH]

Note that it was said the wedding party was even later getting started - by 18 minutes.

It's pretty much useless to speculate here because we're only hearing from one side of the issue, which is why court hears both sides.
We don't know what country the OP is in either because there is no location info in the OP's profile.
The OP needs to consult a qualified attorney, and if not already done have the attorney look over the contract.

 

[dennybeall]

Having the experience of a number of small businesses and a couple of quite large ones we'd had many threats of legal action. We were right in every case and so did nothing. No legal action was ever done.
In your case I'd wait and see if any actual legal action is actually taken and then respond accordingly.
The world is full of deadbeats and snowflakes that will threaten but when they try to get an actual lawyer to file suit they can't get one.

 

[smoke665]

@dennybeall my favorite was "I'm going to have MY attorney sue you". My smart@@@ response was always "Seriously you have your OWN attorney, wow that's cool. How does that work, does he/she live with you, or does he/she just appear out of thin air when you call. I might want to get one also, did you buy him/her new or used?? Is there much upkeep on them??? By this point I'm usually hearing a click and dial tone.