Darth Groovy Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 So my sister got married back on August 18th. She STILL does not have her wedding pictures. My mom and my sister are driving themselves sick over these pictures, and all this photographer can do is talk about how many hours he's been working, or how busy he's been. My dad gave this guy $800, signed a contract with him(he get's the rest of the money when the pics are done), and the photographer told him the pics would be done in 4 - 6 weeks. It's been 10 weeks now, and no pictures... Now this guy says he's going digital, and will put the pics up online. Also he wants another $200 for the "digital" which nobody even requested. Supposedly they were supposed to be up today, but they were not... My sister called the guy, who again says he's been really busy, had lots of phone calls...etc, etc. No pictures. Now the guy says he will have them done by "Thursday or Friday". I'm a boss myself, and sometimes I find the only way to truly get something done quickly is to set a dead line. I tell my employees I want a project done by Thursday, and it get's done by Thursday, no exceptions! I say this "Thursday or Friday" is a load of crap. I finally told them sternly, the only way this crap is going to end, is if you set a deadline, enough is enough. The guy says it will be done "Thursday or Friday", for me that means if the damn pics are not up by Friday night, you call the guy back and demand the pics by Saturday afternoon, or we are contacting the Better Business Bureau and/or our attourney. My sister won't get stern with this guy because she is afraid of losing the pics. My brother in law is tired from working all the over time lately, and won't get involved. My mom is not allowed to talk to the guy, because of my sister's fear of losing the pics. My dad can't be arsed with it because he works to much. I would LOVE to get in and put my $.02 in, but what do I have to do with it? I didn't pay for the damn pics, my dad did. Am I wrong to say you got to set a dead line? In my opinion, the guy obviously does NOT know who is in charge, and as far as I am concerned, if you don't deliver a service that you were paid for, it's the same as stealing. Am I wrong here? In my opinion, 10 weeks is far too much time to get these things developed and printed, or else he should not have said "4-6 weeks". Has anyone else been in this situation? I say sometimes if you want to get something done, you have to put your foot down and set a deadline. I'm actually surprised I am even bringing this up here, but I am tired of watching my mom, and my sister tear themselves apart over this... Those pictures ARE important after all... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rogue15 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 that's why you go and buy 100 disposable cameras and lay them out on the tables then collect them at the end of the day and drop em off at walmart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Groovy Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 that's why you go and buy 100 disposable cameras and lay them out on the tables then collect them at the end of the day and drop em off at walmart. If this was Grooveh's wedding, sure... but this is my little sister's wedding here. Professional stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Does he have a horse and an expensive bed?[/mitch hedburg type of delivery] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Taken from an older thread: On my parents' 25th anniversary in late april of this year, they came home with a sweet new HDTV. We had had a tiny crappy old standard CRT tv that had a terrible sound system and was about 10-15 years old. My parents had decided to make the jump to an HDTV and had found a good quality display model at Best Buy that was a low price and was Best Buy's own brand (Insignia). We went and got a nice TV desk for it, and everything was going fine for about 2 months. Then it died. No one did anything to it to make it die, no one was even up when it did die, we just woke up and it wouldn't turn on. The good news (at the time) was that the little power light was still on, so it wasn't completely dead. We had all the insurance and warranties and everything, so we thought, we'll just call in and they'll fix it or send us another one. So we called in and they told us our TV needed to be inspected and that an inspector would be sent to our house in a week. A week later, the inspector came, his name was Alan I think; a nice man though kinda weird, I think something was wrong with him. Anyways, he told us one of two things could be wrong: the power supply could be dead, or the TV's processor could be dead. So he made an order for both, from their over-seas suppliers. A week later, we got 2 boxes in the mail, called up Best Buy, and they sent Alan back over within a day or two. He opened up the first box, it was the processor. He opened up the TV, took out the old processor, put in the new one, and pressed the power button to the TV. Nothing. So then we knew that it was the power supply, so he opened the second box. Then he looked from the power supply in the box to the power supply in our open TV, and told us that they sent the wrong one. So he got out his laptop and made an order for another power supply, while he was doing this he was mumbling to himself about the over-seas suppliers. Then he said he was sorry about the trouble and left. Another week later, we were getting pretty pissed because we had already missed the Discovery shuttle launch, and the world cup finals in HD (which we had to watch on our old TV). Then we got another box in, called Best Buy again, and they sent Alan back. He opened the box, took one look at the power supply, and told us they sent him the wrong one again. He said he felt sorry for us, and that if he was in charge we'd have had a new TV by then. Then he told us that there was a waiting time of a few weeks before we could get in a new TV, and that the waiting time was most likely up by then. So he gets out his laptop and a receipt printer, and prints us out the receipt we needed to go get a new TV. He told us we needed to take our broken TV back to the store, and that Best Buy has a policy to give us a TV of equal caliber. And then he told us we might have trouble getting said TV of equal caliber, because the particular model we bought had since been discontinued, which is why they kept sending us the wrong part, because they don't make the right part anymore. So then a day or two later we took our TV back to the Best Buy, and tried to get another one. We found that there were only 2 of those models left, and they were both display models, they were both off for some mysterious reason, and one of them had already been returned by someone else and put back on the shelf. They pretty much knew it was a crappy TV. Not wanting a repeat performance, we decided not to get one of the same thing, and asked for a different brand of the same caliber. They didn't have one. They only had TVs that were higher or lower capability, and we didn't want a lesser TV than the one we originally paid for. They said that in order to get a greater TV, we would have to pay more, and they couldn't compensate the price at all. So we simply asked for our money back instead, so we could find a better deal elsewhere. Problem was, they have a store policy that they can't give you your money back after 30 days, so they could only give us store credit. Ok, so we said we'd just leave the TV there, collect our store credit, and go home to decide what we were gonna do. Then they told us we had to either decide right then and there or take our TV back home. We were kinda pissed by then and complained, but we eventually had to give in and take our TV back home. We spent the next couple of weeks trying to decide what to do. We went to another Best Buy to look for another TV, and told them about how the first Best Buy made us take our broken TV back home, which they said was "unethical." We didn't find anything there, so we went back home and talked about complaining to Best Buy to get our money back, talking to the district manager, etc. But none was actually done. We eventually decided to save up some more money and wait for a TV sale at Best Buy (since we had to buy it there because of the store credit thing). Finally, after a few more weeks of waiting, there was a TV sale and my dad found a new JVC model, in the box, with all the specs of the first TV and even more. We still had to dish out a couple extra hundred dollars but we could afford it nonetheless. We bought it and brought it home, and found that it was a much better TV than the Insignia (the one that broke). It had 2 HDMI plugs, when the Insignia had none. It also had a much better sound system, more control options, and probably a better picture. So even though we had to endure months of waiting and stress, we came out better in the end. We've had our new JVC TV for a few weeks now and have been very happy with it. Nevertheless, we plan to never buy anything from Best Buy ever again. I would also like to note that when we bought the Insignia they gave us the wrong remote and sold us the wrong cable. At least now that we have the JVC TV we have a remote that works properly. Here are the specs for both of the TVs for anyone who's curious: Insignia: Picture. (before we got the new TV desk.) 32" screen LCD 16:9 1366x768 screen resolution DVI plug Set of component (YPbPr) plugs S-video plug PC input plug A/V plugs JVC: Picture. Picture of desk. 32" Screen LCD 16:9 1366x768 screen resolution 2 HMDI plugs Set of component plugs S-video plug PC input plug A/V plugs All-in-all, we pretty much got shafted by Best Buy. We bought one of their TVs and they repaid us by making us buy a more expensive one for a few extra hundred bucks. And in the process, we had to watch our old TV for a few months while the TV we paid for was rotting next to it. That's arguably not as bad as your situation though, Groovy, I hope you get your pictures soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratmjedi Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 I'm in a similar situation but not really. I have phones with my baby's momma that she hasn't paid for in like 4 months and she said she was going to switch them over to her name but hasn't done so in the past month. I'm just fed up with it especially when she wont txt or call me back. I'm mad about it at this point and if I dont get any response or the phones switched to her name or even money for the bill by tomorrow I'm not going to be a happy camper. Lets put on our angry faces Groovy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jimmy Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 It sucks how you can't really do all that much... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TSR Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 awww, looking at the thread title, i thought groovy had "had enough" and was going to have a little rant about everyone. Still, one can wait OT-Thats pretty sucky. I daresay the most effective way to get by this is a little door knocking, some theratening words and a handshake. sorted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 awww, looking at the thread title, i thought groovy had "had enough" and was going to have a little rant about everyone. Still, one can wait In case you didn't know, and I'm not saying you didn't, it's a famous quote from a movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manoman81 Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 If you guys signed a contract, the guy is in breach of it for making you pay for pictures that you did not order. If he doesn't deliver by the weekend, I think on Monday, your family needs to lawyer up. That'll get him moving. Sounds like this guy is shady. Hope the pics come out ok for your fam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Groovy Posted November 2, 2006 Author Share Posted November 2, 2006 In case you didn't know, and I'm not saying you didn't, it's a famous quote from a movie. IG-64 FTW! Also felt it fit the situation best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Sue his his testicles off Grooves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datheus Posted November 2, 2006 Share Posted November 2, 2006 Something similar happened when we needed work on our roof. I was young, so I don't remember the details, but I do know that after the first day when the roofer did not show up as scheduled, my father was angry. After the second day he called and said, "If you're not on my roof by 6am tomorrow morning, I'll be taking you to small claims court." And what do you know. He was up on that roof the next day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET Warrior Posted November 3, 2006 Share Posted November 3, 2006 In case you didn't know, and I'm not saying you didn't, it's a famous quote from a movie.Network being the name of said movie... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jae Onasi Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 @Ratmjedi--call the phone company. Cancel the service, since it's in your name. That'll get her to switch it to her name real quick. @Darth Groovy--Jae's rule on weddings (bear with me, I'll get back to the main point shortly: 1. As soon as possible after the wedding, the bride and groom should sit down and write down every little detail they can think of from the wedding. It doesn't have to be written well or even in order as long as they get something down. It helps the couple to remember more details, and now, 16 years later, I look back at the notes I made then and say to myself 'oh, yeah, I remember that now!'. Your sister might be interested in that. 2. _Something_ always goes wrong at a wedding. Instead of praying for perfection, accept that it won't be that way. That way, when something wrong does happen, you can look at the problem and say 'oh, there you are, I was expecting you!' and then move on. The fact that it happens to be photos really sucks, but it's not the end of the world. Yes, it's extremely disappointing, but the important thing is that they're together and married and starting a new life together. The wedding party can always get dressed back up and get pics retaken by someone else. It'll be a little hassle, but it's an option to consider. There's absolutely nothing wrong with setting a deadline. And _don't_ give this guy any more money!! If he took the pics with a digital camera, there should be no $200 'upcharge'. If he got the photos on film, get the pics and/or the negatives that he' got now and get someone else to arrange them into an album. I think he's stalling for time. Other things you can do--obviously, I'm not a lawyer, so this may or may not be good advice. She will probably need to contact a lawyer at some point. I'm a really nice gal, generally. I hate to make waves unless I really, really have to. Even then I probably wait a lot longer than I should. But when I do finally take action, I don't mess around. I go for broke. 1. No matter what you do, report them to the Better Business Bureau and local Chamber of Commerce. The guy's not following through on his contract (and if you don't have a contract, it'll be a lot harder to prove, but not impossible). You don't want anyone else hiring this guy, do you? 2. Utilize the power of the press, especially if you know of another couple or 2 who didn't get their pics, either. Word of mouth is key for photographers. Bad press will destroy them. I'm sure a journalist or two would love to do investigative reporting on bad business practices in the wedding industry, including someone like him. 3. Check out the Federal trade commission http://www.ftc.gov , they have some great stuff on consumer protection there. Jimbo and I have used the FTC before to get a company off our backs that was accusing us of $200 of 900 service on a phone number we never had. The FTC was a huge help--in fact, they were the only way we could get the issue resolved. Companies will ignore letters and calls from Joe Average, but a letter from Uncle Sam carries a lot more weight. 4. File a claim in small claims court. That's usually on public record and published in the newspaper, btw. More bad press. 5. Threatening people who have bad business practices with a lawyer doesn't always do a lot. Actually sending them something from a lawyer's office is far more likely to get them moving, because then they know you're for real and not just blowing off steam saying 'I'm going to call a lawyer!' That may be enough to get the pics. 6. Depending on state/local laws, she may have to file a police report--which may also be public record.... 7. If he did any business through the mail, report him to the Postal service. If he sent his contract in the mail and then did not follow through, that falls under, you guessed it, mail fraud. The Postal Service takes that very seriously. 8. Since he's taken money but hasn't given you the product, that's a violation of some laws (breach of contract may be one law, there may be others). If he doesn't report that income on his taxes, that's a violation of IRS regs--did you know they require you to report illegal income? I find that incredibly amusing, but in this case it could actually be useful. He could be reported to the IRS for tax fraud. They take anonymous tips, btw. So, I would set a reasonable deadline and be very specific on the consequences if he does not meet that deadline, and your sister may have to say 'get me the pictures by x date or I want my $800 back and you keep the pixels' and then _stick_ to that--If he actually _does_ have pictures, they'll be there pretty quick. If he doesn't meet the deadline, then move forward with the consequences. I would follow any guidelines the FTC has in their information on consumer protection, too. If she ends up sueing, she'll have some good ammo for the judge "I followed the guidelines set up by the FTC, your Honor, but I still don't have my pictures or my money back." If he has a credit card number or a check number, I'd double check my statements and make sure no funny business is going on there, if she doesn't already do that on a regular basis. Whatever happens, don't go in with an attitude--if she has to go to court, she doesn't want to hear the photographer saying "Judge, I was trying to be reasonable and explain to her that my aunt's 5 cats died and I had a car wreck, and all she did was scream at me at the top of her lungs how horrible I was." She wants to stay as unemotional as possible, yet firm, so that if she has to testify in small claims court, he has no ammo to work with. Good luck, and hope it works out for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Damn, you really know your s*** Jae 0.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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