No Album After Two Years

<p>I am a mother of the bride. My daughter was married two years ago and we have yet to receive her album. It has been a series of mistakes from claiming proofs were lost by the post office, lost image choices, not responding to emails or phone calls and on and on. Last September they completed a layout and it was a series of templates that were cut and pasted. This is to be a Graphi studio album. We had to re-do the layout ourselves and after five months, it has still not been submitted by the photographer. We went to the Better Business Bureau and they advised me that they had never received a reply. Then we went to a lawyer as a last resort. Now, they are back in contact with us and refusing to pay for the extra pages that they told us they would give us for free due to all the delays. We had to pay $500 for the lawyer. We paid $4000 for the photographer. For that, we were to receive the Graphi 40 page album, a bridal portrait and the proofs. Any advice? </p>

<p>Why not continue with the lawyer? We photographers here are not lawyers, and our advice would not be better than the lawyer. I would say though, that unless you have proof that they agreed to the extra pages for free, you would have to forget that. If the lawyer produced results in the form of the photographer getting back in contact with you, I would continue on that route.</p>

<p>Also, be aware that this is a public forum. The photographer can read this thread, and perhaps stumble upon it by doing a search of your name or last name. He or she would be privy to all that is discussed and advised.</p>

<p>My only suggestion would be to start documenting every communication that you can from the past, and start today with anything that transpires between you, the photographer, and your lawyer.</p>

<p>I'd also say that perhaps try a strongly worded letter from your lawyer (again?) outlining what you want to happen, a deadline, and what you will do if your requests aren't fulfilled, before taking any other action. That shouldn't cost $500 (or maybe I'm naive).</p>

<p>Along with going forward with your lawyer, you may consider finding out if your state or local government requires a business license? If the answer is yes, find out how you can file a consumer-level complaint for getting no service or merchandise for the payment made. Also, most states require a business to have a sales tax permit. Be prepared to write a few letters...you never can under-estimate the power of the written word or words....<br>

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And if you are willing to do your Federal income tax forms in a revised return, you can give up on the album and do a Form 1099-Misc -- making that $4,000 a gift to the photographer. The photographer would then have to explain how your bad debt became a extra item on his or her tax return for that tax year. The IRS is a real fun group to deal with. Good luck!</p>

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<p>definitely continue with the lawyer..nothing scares a photographer more than a real lawsuit and seeing his reputation sunk in public record.</p>

<p>just have the lawyer look through the contract and get what was promised to you guys.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for all your help. I will continue with the lawyer to a certain point but there is a limit to the amount that I am willing to put into this. I had gone to the Better Business Bureau first and they ignored phone calls and letters from them as well.<br>

Nadine, I do have proof that they agreed to pay for the extra pictures. I saved her email. If this goes to court, I can print it.</p>

<p>Jerry, I love your suggestions and will definitely try both of them.</p>

<p>Mark, thanks so much for your advice.</p>

<p>We have a good lawyer but he is expensive. :(</p>

<p>I want to apologize on their behalf. Clients should NEVER be treated this way!! Have you done anything in person?</p>

<p>Jerry- Am I correct in guessing that your advice concerning the IRS was meant it as a joke? Or that it was written in haste?</p>

<p>Once you have involved your lawyer, you probably should not be making any additional personal contact with the other party. It may depend on if they are now representing you or just giving you advice, etc. Ask them where you/they stand on this.</p>

<p>"Jerry- Am I correct in guessing that your advice concerning the IRS was meant it as a joke? Or that it was written in haste?"</p>

<p>The US IRS forms have a place for bad debt, and if you have a cancelled check that you paid for something and that something never was delivered.... A gift is what your payment became, no?</p>

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<p>I would just leave it between your lawyer and the photographer. The only part you really need to decide is how much more are you willing to pay (via lawyer fees). So I would consult them to find out if you actually have a case, if you have a good lawyer, they'll ask for your documentation, look that over, and see where you stand. Good luck!</p>

<p>You have all been very helpful. Our breakdown is going to be the extra pages, which she told me she would pay for (and I have the email) and the lawyer's fees, which our lawyer will sue them for, if it goes to court. I have saved all the emails and contract. The photographers have even lost the contract. I don't really want to go to court but I am not going to pay for the extra pages and the attorney's fees too. I am sure none of you have ever been in this position and if you had been, I am sure you would have been willing to meet us halfway after all this time. </p>

<p>I assume you have a copy of the contract. In defense of wedding photographers, I'd say that with the vast majority, you would not have these problems at all. Usually with these cases, the photographer has used your deposits and payments for other things besides the album, so when it comes to ordering and paying for the album, they are short the cash, hence the stalling.</p>

<p>With the risk of sounding like a litigation-lover, I would advise you to actually go to court with this one! Not for the money (which, from what you're saying, you more than likely to get) but mostly to stop this person from ever doing this again to someone else! You have gone through the grinder and you know how it feels - it's partly in your hands not to let anyone else suffer through the same thing in their hands...</p>

<p>I know it's not your "duty" or your "job" to do this, but every now and then, I think all of us have a certain civic, altrouistic duty to make our world just that little bit better...;-)))</p>

<p>Nadine: I have a copy of the contract and all the emails they have sent me. I also have made a timeline of this mess. I absolutely think you are correct that the money has been spent elsewhere and that is the problem. We fell through the cracks somehow.<br>

Marios: I do not want anyone else to have to experience this which is why we filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I do agree with what you are saying and we may go ahead with the suit. I think they will finally order the album but the lawyer expects them to pay the legal costs and I am sure they will not do that unless this goes to court. They refused to answer emails or calls from both us and the BBB until we got the lawyer. Without him, we would still be waiting........<br>

Thanks guys for all the help and encouragement. I just wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing and on the right track. It seems so extreme but I guess sometimes that is called for.</p>

<p>"The US IRS forms have a place for bad debt"... Jerry, could you explain exactly where and which forms would need to be filled out? Thanks.</p>

<p>I gather you have seen the proofs since you've designed an album. Just out of curiosity: are you happy with the pictures? It seems to me that the photographer has some pretty serious issues if they can't manage to get one album printed. I could imagine a situation where the photography itself was botched and the photographer tried to hide this, but if the pictures are there, it seems to be pure madness to not print them after being contacted by a lawyer.</p>

<p>Hi Mike,<br>

Yes, we do have the proofs and the photos are very good. The problem is that the husband is the photographer and the wife is the business person. She also is the 2nd shooter. I don't think he has any clue what is going on because you can never reach him. I think we fell through the cracks and the situation just got worse and worse and she hoped we would just give up. I don't think she ever thought we would get a lawyer. I don't think all of their customers have been treated this way or they would not be in business anymore. Anyway, the husband is very talented and it is a shame.</p>

<p>The BBB is a joke. They have not power over anyone or anything. It's an old school marketing ploy.</p>

<p>Let your lawyers do what they are paid to do is really your best bet. I probably would have suggested small claims court, a lot cheaper and usually just as good in these type of cases. The lawyer fees end up costing you more then the original photography service.</p>

<p>I would really not recommend messing about with tax forms and trying to get your payment reclassified as a "'gift" to try and get the IRS breathing down your photographer's back. I'm not a tax attorney, but that kind of tactic could interfere with any case you have against him and it could cause the IRS to come and take a look at you as well.</p>

<p>Jon: I still check the BBB before I do business with anyone but I know they have no power. Still it is a pretty serious complaint and I would hope that people would take notice.</p>

<p>Ryan: I love the idea of getting the IRS involved with them but unfortunately, there is the question of our "gifting" it to them and I imagine the IRS would not look kindly on us so I won't do it, even though it strikes me as genius.</p>

<p>I'd continue with the lawyer. Or better yet, just go over to their house and knock on their door. That might wake them up. :) Your time is beyond being nice now.</p>

<p>I think the IRS idea is terrible. Not to mention impossible, maybe illegal, and in my mind, vindictively unethical. I doubt you'd find a tax lawyer or CPA who would recommend doing it. And of course, there is the obvious obstacle of obtaining the object of your objection's tax id.</p>

 

<p>I am in a similar boat as you. It has been over a year since our wedding and we have not received any photos from our wedding photographer. He did send us the RAW photos (as an apology for being late), but our contract states that it comes with a complete photo album. We selected our wedding photographer because of his ability to do post-processing. We have e-mailed and called him on a daily basis, but he will not return our messages. We could get a lawyer, but what could they do if they can't even find the photographer. We know he is still active as he continually updates his website with new photographs. We have thought about bringing it to small claims court, but I am not sure what that would accomplish. What we really want is our wedding photos as we want to cherish our special day. The last thing we want to do is force him to complete the project hastily just to get us off his back. Our wedding photographer is "highly regarded" with lots of positive reviews, but I am unsure how legit the reviews are now. Any advice would be appreciated...*sigh*</p>