How should I handle this????

[princessh]

In the begining of Dec. I hired a photographer to take my kids Christmas pictures. He is a local guy and came highly recommended through a friend of mine. I meet with him and looked at his work. I liked past work he had done, so I hired him. We agreed on the price and time. We were supposed to meet in mid Nov., but he had something come up and we ad to reschedule. During the appt. he was wonderful. He was great with all the kids and was very patient. About 2 weeks later, I got a copy of the disk with the pictures on it. I was very disappointed with the pictures. I wanted traditional pictures. The cropping of the pictures were very artsy (sp?) Cropped wierd ad different shading. I asked him to fix the pictures and after several e-mails and phone calls got an updated disk the day after Christmas. So much for using the photos as Christmas gifts for the grandparents! There were still several photos that I have asked to be fixed that were not on the disk. I have been e-mailing and calling him every few days. He is not returning my calls or e-mails. I have not paid him yet, because I feel that if I do pay him, I will never hear back from him with the corrected pictures. I am really at a loss of what to do. If he would just fix the pictures, I would pay him and call it a loss. Next time we wll go back to picture people! What should I do?????

 

[AprilShowers]

I would check to see if he is a member of your local Chamber of Commerce. If he is, I would call them and ask if they can help you. good luck!

 

[JimmyPicker]

I'm not trying to be argumentative here, but maybe there's another side to the story.

The photographer has met with you to show you his work, taken the pictures, and sent you the first disc, and then the edited second disk. And he hasn't gotten payment.

I'm not saying that you should pay for something you don't want, but I'm just pointing out that the photographer might be thinking he's unable to please you no matter what he does and is wondering if he'll get paid.

I hope you can get it all worked out.

 

[teacups]

Were your pictures LIKE the ones he showed you of his examples?
If so.. then pay him.

If not, can you let it go at this point since he isnt returning your calls.
Dont ask for anything else.
Dont pay since he isnt asking for anything or returning your messages.

 

[Dizzy4Disney90210]

Just pay the poor guy.

 

[Tuffcookie]

Just out of curiousity, what was the amount he was to be paid? Did you go to a studio or did he come to your house?

Were there prints made by the photographer or did he just put them on a disc?

TC

 

[Disney Doll]

I'm not trying to be argumentative here, but maybe there's another side to the story.

The photographer has met with you to show you his work, taken the pictures, and sent you the first disc, and then the edited second disk. And he hasn't gotten payment.

I'm not saying that you should pay for something you don't want, but I'm just pointing out that the photographer might be thinking he's unable to please you no matter what he does and is wondering if he'll get paid.

I hope you can get it all worked out.

One would think that as a professional, he would want to contact his customer and find out what the issues are, and work to a compromise, wouldn't one?

OP, if I felt that I had made enough effort to contact him, and then didn't hear back, I'd let it lie.

 

[JimmyPicker]

One would think that as a professional, he would want to contact his customer and find out what the issues are, and work to a compromise, wouldn't one?

OP, if I felt that I had made enough effort to contact him, and then didn't hear back, I'd let it lie.

Absolutely, he should try working this out with his customer, I don't dispute this at all.

But a customer is someone who actually PAYS for your services. He's tried to please her twice, to no avail, and hasn't received payment. Personally, I think he should try a thrid time. But none of us know what positions he's been in before with cases just like this.

OP, maybe he's very busy at Christmas, trying to get all the Christmas portraits out, and he takes a break or vacation after the holidays and isn't getting your messages. Again, I hope you can get this worked out.

 

[happygirl]

Did you tell him before hand you just wanted reg Christmas photos? You haven't paid him yet. SO you really aren't anything you have two CD of picure. I feel like you need to pay the man

 

[MomToARedhead]

I had a sort of similar issue when I did my daughter's newborn pictures. I had seen this woman's work before and she does the artsy type of stuff which I really didn't want, but she was very high pressure to take my daughter's pictures. I told her the type of pictures I wanted and she said no problem. She came to my house, set up a little portrait studio in my kitchen and then told us she was going to do some "artsy" pictures just for fun. I told her we wouldn't be buying those and she said that was fine. She spent about 30 minutes taking artsy pictures and 5 minutes taking the types of pictures that we wanted. When she set up our page on her website, it was 90% artsy pictures and 10% the types of pictures we wanted and those were not even good pictures. Being a brand new mom with a 12-day old baby and exhausted, I decided to just let it go and I got the artsy pictures. I chalked it up to a loss and a lesson learned - go directly to the portrait studio next time. Not everyone likes the artsy pictures. While I do cherish the artsy pictures of my daughter, I see art, not her when I look at them and while I love art as much as the next person, that wasn't what I wanted out of the pictures. Out of the whole lot of pictures she took, only 1 showed a good head shot. The rest are her bare butt in my husband's hand, baby feet with wedding rings on them, the top of her head in my hands, etc. Sure, they're cute...but they feel a little generic, like they could be any baby in the world. Plus, I feel a little strange when people come over with naked baby pictures on my walls - they're very tastefully done and her private area is always strategically covered in the pictures, but it's still a little odd to me.

OP, you probably have more energy to fight for this than I did with a 12-day old, but I would recommend that you do pay him at least something to show that you're willing to work with him if he'll work with you. Send partial payment with a note that you will pay the balance due when the pictures are to your satisfaction. But keep in mind that the most valuable thing you may get for your money out of this is a lesson learned like I had - bypass the artsy photographer that will usually come to your home and do the pictures and take the kids to the portrait studio.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

What exactly constitutes "artsy" photos? BTW, I would pay him too. And then ask for the other pics.

 

[preb]

Does he charge a sitting fee? Did you pay him one?

I agree with a pp who said he probably feels like he isn't going to be able to make you happy, so he's given up on trying.

I'd move on and have new pictures done with a different photographer, particularly because you weren't happy with the first set. Chalk it up to a lesson learned!

 

[Bluestars]

I would pay him. He tried to please you with the edited second disk. It still wasn't what you wanted. I don't think he needs to keep editing pictures endlessly. It sounds his style of photography is not what you expected. I would suggest paying the man and moving on.