Flaky Photographer

September 4, 2008 9:16 AM

How much leeway should I give a photographer who has already missed his OWN deadlines three times now?

On August 11, my wife and I had our photos professionally taken on the Oregon Coast by a local photographer who came highly rated with a great gallery of work.

His initial promise on the day was that he would deliver to us a login code for his website so that we could view proofs and he would send a DVD of the originals by mail. He promised that this would happen within two to three weeks.

Fast forward two weeks from August 11 and I received an email saying that he would have pictures on the site within two days and mailed that very day. Nothing happened.

This past Monday I checked in with the photographer again, being very polite, and got a response that he would have things to me by the end of the day or tomorrow morning at the very latest.

Well, that time frame has come and gone - it's now 24 hours past "his latest" delivery...

I'm a photographer as well, I did a two day music festival in College Station, Texas a week later and have already processed and delivered on the 3,700 photos I shot over those two days. I'm trying to be polite - I know that things come up. But this is getting a bit silly and I've already paid him every penny PLUS a tip.

What should I do?

posted by brandoniain to human relations (13 comments total)

How much of this did you get in writing? I'd let him know that you're concerned about the repeated failure to deliver and that if he can't provide the photos by xxxx date, you're going to pursue other means of collecting - small claims court, etc. He's not actually THAT late though - only a couple days if his initial promise is to be believed. But, his lack of follow through on the other promises makes me believe he's unreliable. I'd pressure him a bit.
posted by blaneyphoto at 9:36 AM on September 4, 2008

Yes, that's correct - he is NOT that late. What worries me is the promises and the consequent lack of delivery on those promises.

Unfortunately, no contract was signed. However, I do have extensive email records of the discussions of the services he would provide, the dates he would deliver, the price I would pay, etc. This, I believe, would hold up in court just as well.

And, truth be told, it's not the money I want - it was about $500 for the three hours of photography - but I want the pictures, not the money.

And, my mistake, the actual date of service was August 9th. Come Tuesday it will have been a month from the day of service.
posted by brandoniain at 9:41 AM on September 4, 2008

I'd be frank with him and lay it all out:

Look, we're both professional photographers and I understand that sometimes life gets really busy. But you promised to deliver the photos __, ___, and ___. We need the photos by _____ (someday this week) at the very latest because we are ______ (going to sister Ann's Bat Mitzvah, getting married, meeting the Pope, whatever).

I would really appreciate it if you could send me the photos at your earliest convenience.

Hopefully he'll be embarrassed to be reminded of it, realize that you have a static deadline that needs to be accommodated and expedite the photo delivery.
posted by arnicae at 10:05 AM on September 4, 2008

Have you tried playing on his sense of pride? Next time you talk to him you might mention that so-and-so gave a great review of his work and you would hate to have to tell them about all the difficulties you're facing now.

Sometimes people put off things they don't see as pressing or don't see the consequence of delaying. By subtly reminding him that his reputation is the only real thing he has you essentially give him the kick in the ass he apparently needs.
posted by wavering at 10:07 AM on September 4, 2008

I think those are both great ideas, but mostly I'm second guessing myself - is it too soon to start with those kinds of tactics? SHould I give him some flexibility? Is it out of line to start demanding things?
posted by brandoniain at 10:18 AM on September 4, 2008

You've already paid him for his services. He's failed to meet his own deadline several times. You're certainly not "out of line" to demand what you've paid for.
posted by Bromius at 10:21 AM on September 4, 2008

If he's backed out on you once, twice, thrice what faith do you have that its going to change? You don't have to be a pitbull, but don't be a sheep either. You paid for a service to be done in a timely manner and he has not held up his end of the deal. Be firm but maybe hold back on the "demands", just make sure he understands that you're not satisfied at all with this transaction so far.
posted by wavering at 10:22 AM on September 4, 2008

you're going to pursue other means of collecting - small claims court, etc.

Small claims court awards damages. You can't get photos by suing in small claims court.
posted by JimN2TAW at 10:31 AM on September 4, 2008

JimN2TAW - but at least small claims is an option if the photographer can't or won't deliver the photos, right?
posted by blaneyphoto at 11:07 AM on September 4, 2008

The issue here is that your deadline are soft...and he feels it. Oh I know, you just want your pictures...

I've had this happen before. The way I handle it, is I call the person, and say,"hey, I can see you've missed these deadlines....and I'm more interested in a delivery than another missed deadline. Is it that you're extra busy? Is everything okay? Please why don't you tell me, what's a reasonable date that you'll hit? If you're going to miss it, could you call me, rather than me being an upset consumer?"
posted by filmgeek at 11:27 AM on September 4, 2008

is it too soon to start with those kinds of tactics? SHould I give him some flexibility? Is it out of line to start demanding things?

Seems to me that he has some files on a CompactFlash card - probably no more than a few gigabytes of files - and he has to upload them to his website.

This is literally a ten minute job to set up, then leave it copying in the background. Nobody is too busy to do that - in fact, he could set it going in less than the time than it takes the two of you to have a phone conversation.

So no, it is not out of line to get impatient with him.
posted by Mike1024 at 12:24 PM on September 4, 2008

Some people are poorly motivated by themselves and can't keep thier own deadlines. Give him one of your own and I'd bet he'll live up to it.

It is too early to be nasty and certainly don't threaten small claims or anything. Just a polite note about how you expected to have them by now and need your treasured memories by the weekend for [any plausible reason as arnicae suggested].

The longer it takes the greater a chance that they'll get lost/delted/corrupted, etc.

You paid, he's busted three reasonable deadlines. Feel free to get impatient. At very least he's being really unprofessional.

2nding that this is a dead easy task. I have a friend who does real estate photography and she has the finished images prepped, color corrected, cropped and digitally delivered to the client within 24 hours, usually the same day, and a CD/DVD the next day if they request one. And she can do four shoots a day.
posted by Ookseer at 12:36 PM on September 4, 2008

Filmgeek, Ookseer, and everybody else - thanks for the advice.

My deadlines have been soft and I like to play things pretty loose, but enough is definitely enough. I sent the following email to the photographer - we'll see how he responds.

Hey Bob,

Checking in again.

We're having a group of friends over this coming Monday (my birthday gathering, been planned for months) and we'd really like to show off the anniversary event and the photos you took. I'd like to get at least a handful of the pictures or more emailed or through your website before the end of the weekend - sooner, preferably.

If something's come up or you've got something serious going on - let me know - I can understand when life gets in the way.

If post-production is going to be a time-constraint, feel free to leave things untouched and I'll do work on my end of things. Right now we're more interested in delivery than anything else.


Thanks again,

--

Brandon
posted by brandoniain at 7:27 PM on September 4, 2008