Studio Booked, Client Cancelled Last Minute!

<p>Hi! I am a newer photographer and don't have too much experience doing professional work, and I was looking for some help with a problem.</p>

<p>I shot a boudoir session for a client who is a friend of mine, and she has been telling everyone about me and one of her friends called me wanting to book one and purchase an album afterwards. But she needed to do it right away. She called me on Thursday in order to book for Monday. In communicating with her that first day, we picked out a time and I booked studio time on her approval (which required me paying for the time slot at the studio up front). This was via text messages that I still have saved on my phone.</p>

<p>I didn't have access to a computer at this time, and sent her the contract via email on Friday as she lives out of town. The contract includes all the stuff you need about retainers being nonrefundable, and if a cancellation occurs regardless of circumstances that any fees such as studio or equipment rental are owed to me by the client.</p>

<p>I didn't hear back until just now. I got a text from her saying that she has to cancel due to a family emergency, and it's too little notice for me to cancel the studio time for a refund. My question is: do I charge her the rental fee that I lost if she reschedules? It's a family emergency, so I feel bad - but this is a lot of money that I can't afford to lose. I could absorb it in the session fee should she reschedule, but that would eat up a lot of my expected profit. I also understand that I dug my own grave on this one, what with not getting her to sign and pay me a retainer up front - my (pretty lame, I know) excuse was that it was so last minute that I was worried about being able to get studio space at all at the time she requested.</p>

<p>Anyone dealt with something similar before? Any suggestions?</p>

 

<p>Chalk it up for lesson learned. Always get the money in hand before spending your own. You don't have the signed contract so you are out of luck. Last minute jobs is why we take credit card deposits. But hey you can always ask if she will pay the cost.</p>

<p>Go use the studio time to shoot something for your portfolio so it won't be a waste. I always try to ensure that the client pays, sometimes it just doesn't work out and I end up with an unused studio slot.<br>

I figure I was going to schlep all my gear over there any way (I use a bare room rental studio), I might as well get some use of the space. So I'll find someone/thing to shoot for free just to work on technique. Work on techniques you aren't confident enough to use with a client but want to learn/practice.<br>

Since I advocate never practicing on a paying client, these studio sessions give me a chance to practice that I wouldn't book for myself.<br>

My 0.02 worth<br>

<Chas><br>

Oh, and next time don't book the studio until you have a signed contract, or at least a "yes we are going to do this" in an email.</p>

 

<p>Chances of family "emergencies" are greatly lowered by getting non-refundable money up front.<br>

Cheap lesson.</p>

If she wants to reschedule, you could adjust the price to at least absorb some of the lost rental fee.

 

You could sue her in small claims court for the rental fee, especially if your exchange of text messages shows that she

accepted the date and time. That acceptance and her subsequent breach caused you to lose money.

 

A contract can take several forms. A written, signed contract is best because it is hard to deny. An exchange of text

messages is often sufficient. Even an oral contract is binding IF (and it may be a big if) both parties are willing to

acknowledge its existence and contents. Unfortunately, in court one of the parties may perjure himself and the judge is

faced with a he-said-she-said situation.

<p>This question has nothing to do with photography. It's a basic business question. We get a lot of those here — sometimes it seems like we get more business questions than photography questions.</p>

<p>The business principles involved here are simple.</p>

<p>The basic idea is: <strong>You can't add terms to your agreement with a client after the fact.</strong> Especially with studio shoots, last minutes cancelations are part of life. (Happens with weddings, too, but not so often.) So if you're renting studio time and the time has to be paid for up front, and then the client cancels, you can't charge the client — or refuse a refund — if you didn't advise them from the start that the studio fee was non-refundable. The point of contracts is to spell out the key rules by which your business transaction will be conducted.</p>

<p>Another basic principle is: <strong>It's always better to have the money than to be owed the money.</strong> Better to be in the position of refusing a refund than to be in the position of begging the client to pay, especially if they owe you the money simply because of the no-refund clause in the contract. </p>

<p>The third principle is: <strong>Don't let the client rush you.</strong> It's your job to know how much time it takes to do certain things and what is involved in doing your job. If you're renting studio space, you must know the studio's rules and therefore should make sure that you work things out with your client so that you don't violate the first two principles. Yes the client was in a rush, but as a general rule, <em>a client in a hurry should make you worry. </em>I would have explained that the studio has to be rented, that the studio fee is non-refundable, that you can't book the studio until you've got the payment from the client (and of course see principle #1). If they can't get the money to you to pay the studio, then you can't do the shoot next Monday. I think I'd have suggested that in this case they call the studio and make the payment. This "don't let the client rush you" principle applies in all sorts of places. If you know it takes you 90 minutes to do a good portrait shoot, don't agree to do a shoot for a client that only has 30 minutes. </p>

<p>So I agree with the previous post that you chalk this one up to experience. The lessons that cost us money are the ones we remember best. I also agree with the suggestion that you use the studio time to practice. </p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>Will</p>

 

<p>I'd send her a bill. I'd charge her for the studio fee- since you say she knew you had to pay this and approved the time. And I'd charge her for the time you spent setting this thing up. She may of course refuse to pay - not least because the "family emergency" may be fictitious and a euphemism for " I changed my mind". If so you may well have nowhere to go as you have no proper contract. But you might get paid so why not? She owes you, you just don't have a legal case. But some people will worry about an unpaid bill that might just pop up inconveniently if she needs credit at some future point, so there's not zero hope.</p>

<p>That aside as others are saying your business practices don't sound professional. If you're doing this for money you need to have a proper set of contracts, policies and so on. There's no such thing as an amateur who does it for money. For me, I'd have arranged to meet her in an hour at which point she'd hand over the money in cash for the studio and at least half of the service she wanted to buy, and collect her contract and receipt for the payment. Some people might not want to do that even though you explained that you need to commit studio time right now. If that's the case think hard about doing business with them at all. </p>

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<p>"I'd charge her for the time you spent setting this thing up."<br /><br /></p>

</blockquote>

<p>What specific legal basis is there to charge for this particular activity?</p>

<blockquote>

<p>you just don't have a legal case.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>why not?<br /><br /><br /><br /></p>

<p>What is it with people? <br>

First, if you are booking studio time for sessions, you MUST get a deposit to cover your costs. There is no way around this. Talk to any business owner who books appointments and ask them about "no-shows". This isn't rocket science and it has nothing to do with photography. It is simply Business 101.<br>

Second, you can "charge" her for whatever you want. It only becomes a legal issue if she doesn't pay and YOU decide to take her to court. Which I wouldn't recommend.<br>

For THIS client, I would re-book her, with a deposit and not charge her anything extra . . . </p>

<p> </p>

<blockquote>

<p>"For THIS client, I would re-book her, with a deposit and not charge her anything extra . . ."<br /><br /></p>

</blockquote>

<p>I wouldn't do any business with her again unless there was reliable evidence of the "emergency" and that the emergency was worthy of being called an emergency.</p>

 

<p>That is simply terrible advice John . . . Even if she were to justify the emergency to your satisfaction, why would she rebook with you after being questioned?</p>

<p>I don't think you could recover any money from her by going to small claims court, simply because you don't have a written contract that sets forth everyone's obligations. Get yourself a contract drafted that will cover any situation you can possibly imagine. If you can find a young, newly minted lawyer who recently started practicing, that person may be able to do this for you for a very reasonable fee. But you will need to educate the lawyer about the specifics of your business. </p>

<p>Take this as a life lesson. Always get the session fee up front. People tend to value your time more if they pay for it.<br>

After taking thousands of calls from potential clients over the years, I have learned that the person who needs it now is not a real client. They don't know why they want a portrait, and they don't value it.</p>