Event planner in charge of details...who signs contract?

I was recently contacted by an individual who lives in the U.K but is coming

to the states to celebrate his anniversary with his wife. There will be

approx. 200 guests. He emailed me requesting a quote of my services. As

always, I asked for date and location of the event so I could give him a

better number. I also informed him that I needed a signed contract and a

retainer fee before I could reserve any date. The individual said that he put

all the details in charge of an event planner and that the planner would

contact me to discuss the details.

My question is, can the event planner sign the contract for the individual? I

feel pretty uneasy having someone other than the client to sign the contract?

I emailed him the contract but he seems to want to push everthing onto his

planner? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Your contract should be signed by the individual responsible for payment - your client.

There's no way the coordinator is taking on responsibility for making sure you are paid!

 

Be aware of anything that seems sketchy about this job. There are many scams targeted to

wedding photographers that involve a "client" coming to the states from another country.

Typically, money will change hands several times, or you will be over paid and asked to

forward the balance to a third party. Just be very careful, and trust your gut.

Here is a suggestion. Pass on this oppty. Scam all the way.

<p>Sounds like the Nigerian scam to me. Try searching past threads - there's been a lot of

discussion about it.</p>

Request payment (in cash) by courier. No pay - No work.

 

 

 

(Hint: if the english goes like i Am planning a Big wedding in august....it is a true scam.)

manuel - expect a fake cashier's check to arrive from some other country. frame it - it is a photographic milestone :-)

Here's the original message I received. Now that I look at it, it does seem fishy. The guy won't give me an exact location (I asked twice) and hasn't mentioned anything about reading the contract ( I also sent it twice).

 

"Hello,

My name is XXXXXXXXXX,an England base business man,i have

been

married for over a year now but however,next month is going to be my

second

year anniversary which myself and my wife are both planning to

celebrate.

We are coming to the states for the celebration because my wife wants

it

that way,this is going to be a party of about 200 guests,and its going

to

be just a 5 hours party.Please do let me know how much it will cost us

if

you to give us the services below.

---, 200 4X6 prints in a proof album,

3- 8X10's, and 6-5X7's and the CD/or negatives of all

the images....

Thanks"

 

What do you think? Scam?

Definitely a scam!

scam - scam - scam

 

run - run - run

I've gotten a couple different ones too. Today, I got one that reads...

 

"Hi,

We have a small get together party, which will take place on 27th of next month, let me know if you are available, what are your services and charges? get back to me as soon as you can so that nothing will be delayed, am presently out of town but am just doing this so that everything will be in place before i get back to town, please get back to me with all necessary information so that we know where to go from there.

thanks."

 

It's nearly identical to one I had the month before. Lacking in caps on one indicator, lack of details is another, so is being out of town, and if he saw my ad anywhere he would have looked at my website, but doesn't mention it or the prices & services I offer there. He's a fake. The most common location for a scammer's stated location is England, and I note that lots of Nigerians live there or have access to English banks. I'm not knocking all Nigerians, but there are a bunch of them that have found a quick way to make a buck.

Know what's funny? The other day I got a scam wedding email and then about fifteen minutes

later I got one of those "help me claim my international lotto winnings and I'll give you a

million dollars" emails from the EXACT same email address.

 

Not only do I get scam emails every day. I get them from the SLACKER scammers that don't

pay attention to what they're doing. :)

Smelly, Smelly, Smelly, can smell it all the way over here!

 

First give away: for an `English base businessman`, his grammar and sentence construction leaves a little to be desired even at Primary School level?

google the "client's" name or contact info and you may find him connected with other scams.

It was a nice touch with the anniversary party. I guess all the pros are on to the "will you shoot my weeding? It will ba hot time!" scams. It does make me sad when they don't put their hearts in it tho'. From newsoftheweird.com:

 

News That Sounds Like a Joke

 

For a story, a KGTV reporter in San Diego called several telephone numbers advertised in local media offering to supply trendy, "boutique" puppies (e.g., Maltese, Bichon Frise) at cut-rate prices, and among the numbers was a seller in Nigeria, who said he was practically giving away the Bichons for just the cost of shipping ($1,000 to $2,000). The reporter, who was recording the call, asked to hear the dog actually barking before he sent any money, and the seller complied. When the reporter played back the barking for acoustics engineers, they all agreed: The Bichon's woof-woof perfectly matched the characteristics of the Nigerian seller's voice. [KGTV (San Diego), 2-12-07]