Dissatisfied Clients - Pros please weigh in

anubis · October 6, 2009

Hey everyone.

I started doing wedding photography about a year ago. Since then, I've shot about a dozen weddings. I've only ever had clients express complete satisfaction with my work until today. This morning, I received an email from a client whose wedding I shot about a month ago. She expressed extreme dissatisfaction with my service and listed about 20 things that she says has resulted in a ruined wedding.

I don't want to go into a lot of details, but out of the 20 or so points she makes, I believe only 1 or 2 are valid and I disagree with the rest. For example, she complains about not having a "sunset kiss" photo that we had discussed during the initial consultation. The problem is that it was cloudy and raining, thus making a "sunset kiss" photo a bit hard to pull off. She insinuates that I don't know how to adjust the ISO setting on my camera, and as a result, a lot of the reception dancing pictures are blurry. However, I had the ISO set to the 3200 in both of my cameras and was shooting wide open with my f/2.8 lenses, with 3 strobes going off. The problem was that the reception was so dim, it was maybe only a step or two above pitch black. I was struggling to keep the shutter faster than 1/30. She complains that there are only 3 photos of the groom prior to the wedding, when I count dozens. She says that all of the dancing photos are blurry, but I count dozens that are tack sharp, including many of the first dance, etc. She claims I misrepresented my work, however I believe her photos are very similar to all of the other weddings I've done and she saw prior to hiring me. And so on...

This being the first complaint I've ever received, I'm not sure how to handle it. I of course had the clients sign a contract stating that dissatsifaction with the quality of the photos is not grounds for a refund, but that's clearly what she's asking for (they moved immediately after the wedding, therefore an extra photo session as compensation isn't possible). I definitely do not want to "argue" with her over why I disagree with her (the customer is always right, right?). I just don't know how to remedy her complaints short of giving her a refund, which I don't want to do; I literally worked myself to exhaustion on her wedding day and spent days and days doing post processing on her photos.

Any advice on how to handle the situation would be greatly appreciated. How do you handle dissatsified customers? Do you offer any kind of compensation? Do you say "sorry, there's nothing I can do"? I think what I'm worried about is that she will blog about her negative experience with me or otherwise spread reviews around the internet saying "This guy ruined my wedding". I'm worried that someone Googling the name of my business will find a negative review she's posted as the top result, and my business will suffer as a result.

So, professional wedding photographers: How do you handle situations like this and what should I do?

clemensphoto's · October 6, 2009

This is one of the main reasons I will never do wedding photos..lol

Blurmore · October 6, 2009

I came to post about this

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8292164.stm

But it fits in this discussion.

Well its a deep subject, and without examples, I'm not sure we can give you much of a critique. As far as the complaint goes, expect to kick her something if she is really ticked (so she doesn't e-smear you). Hopefully you have a contract, and that contract has a limit of liability.

dogwood · October 6, 2009

Do NOT give a refund.

I would politely, and calmly explain to her exactly what you posted here. End by saying something like, "I'm sorry you are not satisfied with the results and I wish I had a better answer for you, but my policy is not to give refunds for this kind of situation."

Come up with a "mantra" like that and just repeat it every time she asks for a refund.

Good luck.

tenoverthenose · October 6, 2009

It's hard to know exactly whats going on in this specific case without knowing your work, this specific work, and the relationship between you and your client. Did you honestly misrepresent the work (you will be able to answer this question best)? Did she not like your approach to dealing with difficult lighting and situations? Did she express any concerns on the day of the wedding / did you address any of this concerns (ie the sunset photo)? Sadly, there are also people who will complain even if the product is great, just to see if you will throw a few dollars back they're way. A few options at your disposal:

1. Tell her you lived up to your standard of work that you showed her before the wedding. Be prepared to back it up.

2. Offer to do free post wedding shoot to get more shots of the couple to her liking.Comp the wedding or a portion thereof.

3. Offer to refund some/all of the total payment.

I would not admit to the client that you failed in any way shape or form, as this can expose you to litigation. It seems like the best action would be to talk with her and work out a combination of the three options that makes the client satisfied. Personally, I would rather comp a wedding that have an unhappy client.

gwpics · October 6, 2009

I think it is pretty near impossible to comment without seeing the images!

Swartzy · October 6, 2009

The key to any kind of arbitration: Facts. Your contract states what? Your photos by the sounds of what you've shared here will fall under "facts" as well. Yes, it is important to have satisfied clients and come to affable solutions. No, not all people are honest and will try to do anything to steal your money. I'm w/Pete....no refund. Stay on course in your correspondence..stick with the facts. Be diplomatic, direct, honest and reasonable. If they continue to be "unreasonable" your best ammunition is re-stating the facts. Provide the proof and reiterate pointing to the line items in contract.

Some people choose to be unreasonable..they may want their money back not because of the work you did but because they think they can play that angle and would use it for something else. You were hired to do a job, you did it, it's over. Don't worry about the smear technique on blogs. Your work ethic and results will speak volumes to other potential clients regardless what one person says. Trust me, no one in a year from now will even remember what so and so said.

Shima · October 6, 2009

I agree with what has said by a couple people already. No refund, and back up everything you state with proof and comparison to your standard of work, aka previous weddings. If you shot on par with all the work she had seen before, and based on the harsh lighting situations, she doesn't have much of a case.

Out of curiosity, what were the few points you agreed with her on?

zoomer · October 6, 2009

Well before hiring you she must have seen plenty of examples of your work and hired you based on that work. If she hired you without seeing examples of your work then she gets what she asked for...
Now if your work for her is equal to the work she saw that she based her decision to hire you upon then she has no foundation to be upset.

Without samples of your previous work to compare to the work you did on this wedding it is hard for us to comment.

Harsh lighting conditions is not a valid excuse for a professional wedding photographer, especially since you had flashes. You should have been aware and prepared for whatever lighting condition you encountered.
Who takes dozens of dance shots, that is just asking for trouble. Sunset shots in the rain, well that would not be much to see would it.

If the work you delivered to her is equal to the work at your previous weddings (you need to have an impartial person tell you that it is or isn't) then stand your ground. If it is not then let your concience be your guide... she is going to hammer you to anyone that will listen either way.

SKnight · October 6, 2009

And you didn't ruin her wedding. Even if her points are valid, her wedding isn't your responsibility.

mmmatt · October 6, 2009

Why on earth did you give her blury images? Don't deliver junk my friend!!!

And regardless of how dark it is in a room you most certainly can get good lighting at 3200 with a single on-camera flash let alone 3. If your flash is hitting the subject then 1/30th of a sec is more than enough. You could have probably knocked a couple of stops out of either your iso or your shutter speed and gotten the results you wanted. If you are close to getting a proper exposure before adding the flash, then your ambient to flash ratio is leaning too hard on the side of the ambient and thus not enough flash to freeze your subject. Make your flash work a little bit harder and you are golden. Now if your lens wasn't getting focus that is maybe a different story, but it sounds like you have motion blur.

From personal experience on the other end, my own wedding was shot with flash out of sync (film days) and I have nothing from my wedding. I was furious! Of course I divorced the evil woman but still... That was probably the photographers fault too!

I think you need to live with yourself on this one. If you feel like you did a good job and earned your money then fight the good fight, but if not then you need to find a way to make it right. I would be torn, but if I did such a bad job that I didn't want my name on it I would be offering a refund when I delivered my discs. If I was OK with what I did but the customer was unjustly complaining about it, then I would probably tell them to pound sand.

Matt

DustinFinn · October 6, 2009

I must admit it's hard to provide real feedback without seeing if she has a case or not...

Going with your points being made I must admit that no refund should be given, on the grounds, specifically that, you are not in agreement with her assessment.

Finally, I will say that I do agree with someone else's post here; I agree that 1 or 2 or even 3 flashes that you mention, should have been enough to light up the room

I'd love to see some samples of everything all around...

sebmour · October 7, 2009

it's hard to give an answer since I never got a complaint in 40 some weddings.

I would say.

Do you think at 100% that your images live up to your standards? if so then be firm. If not and you show one sign of doubt, she will feel it and just demand everything. Did she say that she wanted a refund?

Does she know that a sunset kiss without a sunset is not the same? You could have still done it with off camera flash.

I would never give a refund to someone because you will be admitting you are wrong. What about the next one? what if she complains too because she heard the story and wants a less expensive wedding. If I would ever give a refund, I would take all images back and let her sign a contract that if she ever uses of the images from my creation. She will either be sued or will have to forfeit all the payment once again plus interest!

SKnight · October 7, 2009

The fact that she's griping at you because there's not a sunset kiss when it was cloudy tells me that she's just trying to get out of her bill.

DustinFinn · October 8, 2009

So what was the outcome to all this ?

bdcolen · October 9, 2009

anubis wrote:

Hey everyone.

So, professional wedding photographers: How do you handle situations like this and what should I do?

Assuming that you are 98 percent right and she is 98 percent wrong. And assuming that she has seen the photos on-line but has not received any prints or printable images from you:

Offer to give her a full refund and walk away with your images. She has a choice: She can pay for, and receive, what you promised her, or you will let her out of the deal and relieve her from having to have photos that aren't up to her standards.

Sam · October 9, 2009

I have followed this and am some what taken back. I couldn't even begin to comment until I see some photos.

Show the photos!

I will not take sides or offer my thoughts without the facts.

Sam

JohnBiggs · October 9, 2009

We're not the judge and jury. We don't need to see the photos.

All we need to do is give advice on what to do.

Swartzy · October 9, 2009

Hey..what do you do with a bride that wants palm trees around the pool set in Minnesota in January?

Ah, another composite..

Dissatisfied Clients - Pros please weigh in

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