Issue with Wedding Photographer

agile83

Hi guys, first off im not sure if this is the correct place to post this so apologies.

I got married on July 24th this year and pretty soon after I handed over a cheque for nearly £1000 for our photos. I have now been waiting for almost 4 months and each time I ring the photographer he states that it is the printing company that are at fault and that they are dragging their heels. Then he mentioned that the album got finished but there were smudges on it so the company had to develop another album. I then received a text message from my photographer last week stating that by early this week I would have the album. I just called him 3 times and the mobile just rang out. I then called a 4th time and left a voicemail. I called again 30 minutes later and now his phone is switched off.

For the last 4 months his website has been down and when I have questioned him about this he said he would get it working that day. When googling his name it now states he is a "Past member" of all the societys and groups he was in.

I have this awful feeling that he is stringing us along to get to some period of time in the future where he either moves away or disappears alltogether.

I need to know what the next best thing to do is. I am considering calling him again in a few days and stating that Im very worried and that I may need to go to a small claims court if i dont hear from him.

Can anyone advise on what the best thing to do is? Thanks

ShaneUK

Name and shame him on here for starters!

write to him, ensure it is sent recordered delviery, giving him a set time (perhaps 1 week?) hours to provide what has been ordered, or issue a full refund, otherwise you will have no other option than to start proceeding via the small claims court. Do not conduct any further correspondence via telephone, as their is no proof. Ensure EVERY item of post is sent recorded.

If all else fails, try and get a copy of all photos from him burnt to CD/DVD and print them off yourself at a photoshop like Jessops - I know it isnt the same, but, at least you will then have the photographs to enhance your memories of your special day.

Lirin

The societies and groups he was associated with would be able to tell you if he is still operating- it is usually kept in their notes. They may not tell you why he isn't a credited member anymore- it could be a variety of things, from being 'struck off' to not able to afford the renewal fee, or just deciding he doesn't want membership anymore.

Do you have a wedding contract? If so, then you can use small claims. If not, you can still take him to court, but it will be trickier.

Contact him, letter via recorded delivery, asking for the photos within a reasonable set time(, but bear in mind with some photographers 18 months after the wedding to receove photos is not unusual).

Col7777

As mentioned above name and shame him, there may just be someone else on here who also has had problems with him, where did you find him, was he recommended, if so did the person who recommended him know where he lives etc?
You have his old phone number I am not sure on this but he may have done this to plenty of others so it could be a police matter if he is a conman, can the old phone number be traced to an address, if you don't already know it of course?
If you do know where he lives perhaps a visit might be in order, after all you paid him £1000 and as of yet got nothing.

agile83

thank you for your replies so far - We are fortunate enough to have the original photos on a DVD which i have burned to 2 laptops and an external hard drive. The photographer came round about a month ago and handed us the DVD for free and said he couldnt apologise enough etc etc. Having talked the situation through with friends and family members, we have the feeling that he is stalling for time as he is probably in money trouble and it may be that he is "On Stop" with the printer company - Does this sound feasible and could this be how things work i.e the wedding photographer has to pay the printing company up front? This would explain the excuses about it being this week, then this week, then next week.

We feel the photographer isnt a conman for want of a better phrase. We think he has probably ran into money trouble but at least he has provided us the originals on a DVD so like one of the replys mentioned, at least we can go to Jessops and get some done ourselves.

I will keep trying to ring him and then will start to send recorded delivery letters.

Just hope this gets solved soon as I dont want to go to court if at all possible.

P.S i know where he lives as i have been to his house. I have his mobile number and possibly his landline number. My dad has mentioned a visit will be needed next week just to make sure he hasnt ran away :-(

Col7777

That's good agile83,
Just a thought but is it worth getting part of your money back, you did pay a lot and IF you did get some money it might pay for the Jessops printing, though if he is in financial trouble getting some money might be hard?

Errata

dpraved wrote: »

send the boys around :cool:

ditto ........ he's probably run out of money but at the very least he deserves a very, very stong talking to. You could probably do it via the local paperl; they love stories about sobbing brides and iffy photographers.

Lirin

May be money probs.

Usual practise is to send photos to printer, and pay at end of month for work done. They may have frozen his tab if he hasn't paid.