What do you think should be done? Help please!

[KAikens318]

Ok, so in April I shot a triple baptism/family session/engagement photos for this woman. I wasn't allowed to take photos in the church because the minister said no. When we got to her house for the after party, we lined the whole family up and did shots of every single person in the house. After this two of the children took of their nice clothes, put on street clothes, and proceeded to the basement where they hid the entire time I was there. I did this woman's bidding the entire four hours I was there. I took shots of everyone she wanted and anything she wanted a photo of, she got. I got 110 good shots, loaded them onto a CD and gave her two copies. I did this all for $200, not to mention the 200 miles round trip, plus the 200 miles to get the CDs to her since she didn't want them mailed. Now tonight she is sending me and email that says she doesn't like any of the photos, there are none of the kids at the ceremony (which she knows I couldn't do because the minister said no right in front of her), she doesn't like any of the engagement shots, and doesn't like any of the family photos. She now wants $150 of the money back. What would you do in this situation? There were no written contracts, this was a spur of the moment, respond to an ad on Craigslist the day before and travel all the way out there the next day. She looked over the photos when I was right there before I even left the house, and then told me they were good and I could go. Just trying to figure out whether she is entitled to the money back, or what. No one else has EVER had a complaint about my work.

 

[angeloflight316]

Legally, if there is not contract, you don't have to give her the money back. She can't go to court for it because there is no written agreement.

 

[KAikens318]

Here are some of the photos I got from this event...

Just to kind of give a little idea.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I can't believe, for how long you have been a member here, you haven't picked up on the importance of having contracts.What do you have to stand on against her? Nothing.Give her money back or not, any way you look at it, you lose.

 

[KAikens318]

This is the one and only time that I did not have a written contract. I have them for every other job that I have done, hidden away in my fire safe box. This was just a, oh hey can you get here in two hours kind of thing and I honestly didn't even think about it amidst the scramble to gather my equipment.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

You did this in April, and she is NOW asking for money back!

Seriously, tell her to **** off.

 

[KAikens318]

That is what I am sayin! Say this before I leave the house when you are looking over the photos, say it while you are looking at all the edited photos on your computer while I am standing right there...not almost three months down the road!

 

[KAikens318]

Just as a side note as well. I told her I would do this for a discounted rate of $200 if we booked her wedding as well, which she has told me she does not want me to shoot the wedding...

 

[angeloflight316]

Tell her something like you don't refund discounts then. I have never met anyone who actually refunds a discount.

 

[Derrel]

not to mention the 200 miles round trip, plus the 200 miles to get the CDs to her since she didn't want them mailed.

Are you SERIOUS??? You did a 200 mile drive to deliver two CD's because the client's a freakazoid??? Wow...that's not a good situation, to have a client wielding that kind of insane control-freak power over you.

She deserves absolutely ZERO from you. She's just trying to screw you.

 

[KmH]

Legally, if there is not contract, you don't have to give her the money back. She can't go to court for it because there is no written agreement.

She can file suit in court.

Contracts can be verbal. But with verbal contracts in court, who wins boils down to which party's version of the verbal agreement was more believable. Written contracts better define each parties obligations..

 

[KmH]

Here are some of the photos I got from this event..

Just to kind of give a little idea.

Sorry, but other than focus they are ok, but don't look all that great to me.

The man and the kid both have dark eye sockets (raccoon eyes) and we can't see their eyes very well, because fill lighting wasn't used. The top of the man's head and his hair get lost in the background because of poor separation.

In the second one the main subject is under exposed because it is back lit and again fill light was not used. There is a distracting, very bright strip of window light (the source of the back lighting) on the left of the frame that draws attention away from the main subject, and the main subject lacks scale, which contributes to the very shallow DOF making the foreground look unnaturally blurred. Had the main subject had the scale in the image it deserved the bright distracting background element could have been eliminated from the frame, and the exposure increased.

I did this woman's bidding the entire four hours I was there.

And in driving 200 miles round trip to deliver the CD's rather than mailing them, which leads her to believe you will continue doing her bidding.

You had at least 11 hours invested in just shooting and traveling (400 miles divided by an average speed of 60 mph = 6.67 hours. $200 divided by 11 hours = 18.18 an hour, out of which your non-reimbursable expenses, like gas for your car, and indirect time, like uploading, culling, editing and burning the photos to the CD's, still have to be paid.

All in all a valuable learning experience. We always learn the most from our mistakes. Keep blank contracts and the other necessary legal documents with your equipment so you always have them with you.

I agree that asking for a $150 refund adjustment 3 months after the fact is way over the top. However, I would negotiate with the client but would only agree to a maximum $30 (15%) refund.

I would cite the facts the shoot was not pre-booked (that alone generates a substantial additional charge based on my pricing/contract terms), the extensive travel involved (alone worth $204 at IRS 2011 mileage rates of $0.51 per mile), and the fact she had right of first refusal right there the day of the shoot.

 

[flyin-lowe]

I would tell her to call some other professional photographers in the area and ask them what they would charge to drive a total of 400 miles, plus over 4 hours of photography,and then sell them a CD with all the images. Once she realizes what kind of discount she got she might change her mind. Plus like was said above if she is the type of person that would expect you to drive 200 miles to deliver a CD, she is going to cause problems no matter what you do.

 

[Railphotog]

It seems nothing can please the woman, no matter what you do. I'd just tell her to F off.

 

[behanana]

I understand what Keith is saying about verbal contracts, but if it were me, I would not refund anything to her, as stated explain that it was a discounted rate, and I would also tell her that you have no interest in being the photog at her wedding. I can only imagine the pain in ass she would be at her wedding if she was this bad with a spur of the moment session like you described. Cut your losses and get out. Let her take the first step in the legal battle to get her money back, I'm willing to bet your chances of never hearing from her again are pretty good.