Bride Unhappy with Album, BUT she approved it

[stacey_s2]

<p>Hello All-<br>

<p>So this is my first unhappy bride in three years. First of all I let my clients choose the images that are in their albums and then I design it. After I design it I put it in a proofing gallery and have the client view it and make whatever changes they wish to it.</p>

<p>So I put this couples wedding album up a few weeks ago and made ALL the changes that she requested be made. She had me change things a few times before she approved the album to be sent into the lab. I did not make any more changes to the album since the time she approved it to the time it was sent to the lab. I always have the lab send me the final product so that I can view it before it is sent to the client. It all looked exactly like it did in the proofing album images.</p>

<p>This morning I get an email from the bride saying that they loved the album for the most part, BUT<br>- a couple images on the details page were darker than she expected<br>- she didn't notice the background picture on the dancing page<br>- and she feels like a couple images are "stretched" out<br>

and she wants to know if there is anything that can be done about this. Basically asking for a new album.<br>

<p>How would you go about dealing with this? I mean if I didn't offer the proofing gallery to approve the album before I sent it off to the lab, I would have just said I'd make her a new one. BUT since she did approve ALL these complaints above I'm not really sure how to even respond to the email. They aren't unhappy with the pictures, but just the album.</p>

<p>I don't want my business to have an unhappy bride which is why I am considering giving her a new album for free, but at the same time these weren't my mistakes that I made which is why I'm so confused on how to handle this situation.</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate any advice you all had as this is my first unhappy bride.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance :)</p>

[michaelchadwickphotography]

<p>If she signed off on it, then you've done everything right. As for it not looking the way she wanted (darker images, etc.) her monitor might not be calibrated or properly displaying it. Did she see it on your computer or hers? As for the "not noticing" and "stretched out" part, well, sorry. </p>

<p>I would tell her that the printing costs are substantial on an album, but that you'd be happy to print another one at cost (including your time to "fix" her issues).</p>

[ed_farmer]

<p>The first thing to do is to look at the proofing gallery as the bride would have, not by looking at your images and see if any of her complaints might have been less visible the way that she saw the album. If the answer is less, she has an issue, but still not a big one.<br>

Darker than she expected? This is, obviously, subjective. Are these images darker on your monitor than other comparable images? Is she looking at the album under less than ideal lighting? A darker room or one lit only by incandesents will make the images look darker.<br>

Background image? I don't think that she has much to say here since the same image was used in the galleries. What type of image is it?<br>

Stretched out? Are you sure that you didn't mess something up with the "free transform" tool? This happens to me a lot. But, I tend to make it as a big enough mistake that I notice it. Compare them to the originals.<br>

Also, though, check with your album company. They may be able to replace images for a cost. Explain the cost to your bride and see if you can talk her into a charge that will cover it.</p>

<p>Ed</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>Reprinting an album can be a substantial cost or it might be just a few bucks if it were a shutterfly or mypublisher job......not sure what applies here.</p>

<p>In the furture be sure to manage expectations by being sure that the bride is aware of differences in the screen monitors and such so as to minimizes surprises, If this is an expensive flushmount album, it would be better to have the bride inspect the actual prints before they are sent to the album company.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>Some really good advice here -</p>

<p>I'll add - do you have physical copies of her approval? email? voicemail? something?</p>

<p>Sometimes - if the proof is set against a dark or black background - it can change the way we preceive the photo - I know I run into this occassionally - as my previews are displayed on a black back ground - then when the customer sees the final print they feel it is lighter or not the same as what they viewed on-line.</p>

<p>I'd suggest calling the album company and explaining the situation to them. Is it possible to print just the pages she doesn't like again and reinsert them? or is it an all or nothing situation?</p>

<p>As for the not noticing - if you can see it on the proof album / gallery then there isn't really any excuse for it. Unless her monitor is so bad or the background on the proof is unviewable.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[stacey_s2]

<p>I do have physical approval of her approval of the album.<br>

I just got off the phone with my album company and it is an all or nothing situation, but they said that they could give me 25% off the cost for a reprint.<br>

I'm going to write an email to the bride and first off apologize for that fact that she is somewhat unhappy with the album and then explain to her why some images might look different from what she viewed on her computer screen.<br>

From there I am going to tell her that I would like to resolve this issue and that I talked to my lab and that they would give me 25% off a reorder. I will offer her the new ablum at cost + the 25% discount.<br>

Does everyone think seems fair?</p>

[mark_harrington1]

<p>Just a thought here, Why not print a "Final Proof Album" from Sams Club, Ritz (Wolf) or shutterfly? You can get 5x5 or 8x8 soft cover books for roughly twenty or thirty dollars. Have an initial space on each page and use this as the final proof prior to sending to the lab. It may be a few extra days and just a couple of dollars more, but think of the security and goodwill it will generate. The challenge of getting the monitor to match the print is hard enough for photographers, yet alone a client. While these proof albums may not be the highest quality or best color/finish, they will be close enough to serve the purpose. I don't do this, but then again, I just thought of it....</p>

[markci]

<p>Replacing the album at cost was what I was going to suggest, so yes it seems fair.</p>

[daverhaas]

<p>Seems fair to me... worst she can do is say no.</p>

<p>Good suggestion about the "proof album" but the problem with that seems to be that you still won't get exactly the same quality / color / liteness of prints / pages that you will from the "real" vendor.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>I would suggest that you keep the original album as a studio sample (thus a tax write off for you) and then swap the albums with the bride. The bride might offer to buy the first one as a parent album or such but I wouldn't let it go for less than the retail price.....this all assumes of course that it really was a good, quality album and representative of your work to start with so that it can serve as a good studio sample.</p>

[ar_fonseca]

<blockquote>

<p>From there I am going to tell her that I would like to resolve this issue and that I talked to my lab and that they would give me 25% off a reorder. I will offer her the new album at cost + the 25% discount.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I would not pass along the lab discount, nor would I tell the customer what the book costs, why would you want the customer to know what your profit is???, what to do?? make the corrections.. reprint the book at a flat fee you determine... and then take her old one and use it as a sample.<br>

done</p>

[ted_suss]

<p>Stacey,<br>

First, you should check the album against the proof. Maybe she has a point? Perhaps the album company or you are at fault? Set up a meeting with her and let her know that you're concerned and you'd like her help in researching this and resolving it.<br>

You want her to understand that you're on HER side....-TED :-)</p>

[david_schilling___chicago_]

<p>Ted, if you re-read the OP you'll see that Stacey inspected the actual album before sending it on to the client.</p>

[ted_suss]

<p>David,<br>

Yes, I know that Stacey looked it over, but it doesn't mean she specifically saw what the bride is having issues with. I still believe that she should set up a meeting with the bride and go over everything in person......-TED :-)</p>