customer threatening action

weeclick

Hi,

Until christmas I ran my own wedding photography company. Due to a multitude of reasons including financial I decided to close. I still have some customers owed albums etc which are covered for and I have no problem supplying.

I have one customer who got married 5 months ago, their photos had been edited within 2 weeks of the wedding and we arranged a meeting for them to view them and choose their favourites for their album. Which they did. I then spent 3 weeks designing a bespoke album for them (storybook) and had asked that they make another appointment to approve the first draft.

I heard nothing back until 2 weeks before christmas, she was annoyed that she hadnt received anything yet - but I pointed out that she needs to approve what Ive made. We arranged to meet at her home (made the exception due to her anger!) but the weather meant she told us to leave it as they couldnt get their car out the driveway and would be too risky for us to travel the hours distance. I asked her to re-arrange a date in the new year when it suited her.

I heard nothing.

Her husband then phoned my mobile last week whilst I was driving, but pulled over to listen to his voicemail - hes angry we havent done anything, but I think above proves I have tried! He said I have 2 days to do something about it. This was Friday at 8pm meaning I had the weekend, even though I dont work weekends!!

When I got home I made a point of emailing them to let them know I had received their voicemail and that it had been arranged to make an appointment but as they hadnt done so and still appeared unhappy I would email over their draft copy (again something we never do!) so that night I emailed over 2 emails with yousendit files attached which completed their album draft. I asked that they view this and make sure everything is ok before going to print. They had already paid for 26 pages but the photos they wanted meant they had 54 pages - so I said if they approved it I would make a discounted rate on the remaining pages depending on what the cost would be from the supplier for the extra. (so on top of going out of my way twice now I was also offering a discount on their desired choice of photos)

I again heard nothing this week.

I have now just received an email saying they have went to trading standards and as they havent received anything for 5 months they are now entitled to a full refund?! If I dont deposit near £600 to her account this week shes getting solicitors involved!!

From where I am standing they have received their engagement session, 2 photographers for 14 hours on the day of their wedding, an event service in the evening, all photos edited, a storybook album designed, drafts of this album emailed over against our own policy and have bent over backwards to keep them happy!!

Would love to knw everyones thoughts on this before I seek advice from my solicitor on Monday.

Jowo_2

In the event that they take you to the small claims court, how much written evidence can you present about the services and communication you have provided to date? Do you have a signed contract with them? How much does that £600 represent from the total that you have billed? All of it?

I don't know why you are contemplating paying out for expensive solicitors advice at this stage though it doesn't hurt in consulting with one if you aren't going to get hit with high charges. Find a community legal board to give you expert pointers.

As far as I know, their only civil redress is through the small claims court and if you think you can defend your case or negotiate a mutually acceptable resolution before then (make sure everything is in writing), are you comfortable with this?

And as far as I know, most trading standards depts will simply tell a person in their situation that theirs is a civil matter and point them to the small claims court and it is expensive for them to employ a solicitor, perhaps its all bluff or perhaps they'll simply lose the case and have to pay the solicitors expenses on top.

I'd say that you should mug up on the small claims process (the way that a defendent can defend the claim) in order to gather together a decent defence case. A small claims case should be a last resort of a claimant after their negotiations have failed.

Ensure that all your communication is in writing, get proof of sending it. Rebutt their claims very briefly, factually and calmly with a timetable of your actions and their response. That way you create a good audit trail that shows you tried to settle and that they are being unreasonable before they launch any legal action.

weeclick

I only mention my solicitor as he deals with all my contracts like this. As far as Im concerned all they are entitled to is £60 if anything as this is the advertised price at the time for the album she wanted, and is the only thing on the contract that she hasnt received! My solicitors advice is free, and a letter from him to them is next to nothing, so his help is invaluble usually.

Im more concerned about how to word myself in the email back to them, as I believe the work Ive done is well worth the £600 they paid, if not more!!

Jowo_2

weeclick wrote: »

..
Im more concerned about how to word myself in the email back to them, as I believe the work Ive done is well worth the £600 they paid, if not more!!

A two day deadline for an excessive refund is unreasonable. Hang fire on a response until you see your solicitor who may prefer for it to be by letter rather than email as they can claim not to have received the latter.

Alternatively I wonder if you are better off just responding by providing the name and address of your solicitor who will be handling your case in order to demonstrate you are not going to roll over like they expect. But find a community legal forum who have legal experts as members who can give you guidance, my response is a suggestion rather than advice.

For example, if they go to the small claims court route, the onus is on the claimant to show that it is a last resort and that they've tried to negotiate a successful conclusion. It is a good practice for a claimant to send a letter giving the supplier time to resolve the issue, then a final letter before action given them a deadline and telling them that they will take them to court.

I think (and I'm not an expert in this area btw) that a judge will look dimly upon any claimant who proceeds to take a supplier to court without giving them sufficient time and notice to remedy the problem. The HM court website and Moneyclaim online site (for england/wales) makes clear that legal action should be a last, not first resort and they provide templates for the 'letter before action' to encourage the claimant to do this.

Start compiling your communication with this couple to show your solicitor on Monday, timeline - copy of emails, phone calls and their contents, copy of the contract. Perhaps it will take just one stiff letter from your solicitor to make them back down or perhaps he'll reassure you that they won't have a leg to stand on if they do proceed with legal action and will just incurr legal costs for themselves.

Premier_2

As I understand it, you are waiting for input from the customer in order to finalise the finished product for which they have presumably paid in full for.

The customer has not supplied the input you require, and it appears for whatever reason they are reluctant to do so. (Asking you to leave her house after an appointment was agreed due to some spurious excuse that wouldn't affect your customer - it would have been down to you if you got into difficulties going home due to deteriorating weather conditions). As a result of the failure of the customer to provide you with the necessary input, obviously you are not able to complete your side of the contract.

Best advice is always to avoid legal action if at all possible.

What I would suggest in this case is that you cost the work you have already done and subtract this from £600 paid to you. Then write to the customer on a without prejudice basis offering a refund of the difference between what was paid and the value of the work already done, assuming the customer does not now want the work completed as ordered. Acceptance of such offer would also be subject to customer accepting this would be in full and final settlement of any dispute the customer believes they have with you over this contract.

Good luck.


Edit: I originally composed this response before seeing any replies now in this thread.
As I see the OP has now approached their solicitor, I think the OP would be wise to follow that professional, independent legal advice given ... and before doing anything different, consult with that same legal advisor.

Jowo_2

Did you undertake this work as a limited company or sole trader? Are you planning to dissolve/close the company?

Auntie-Dolly

Why don't you just contact the customer, make an appointment & get the job finished? Stop leaving it up to them to contact you. If this means going to thier address, just do it. It will be easier & cheaper in the long run than legal action. It does sound a little like you are making excuses ("I don't work weekends" "I was driving") & this needs sorting as a priority. It is these peoples wedding pictures - I'm sure they just want it over with.

Jowo_2

It's up to the customer to prove in court that the OP has breached the terms of the contract and that they haven't provided the service that has been promised. If the OP can demonstrate that they have not cooperated, have not been communicative and have unfairly demanded a refund, and that they have provided the services they have been contracted to supply, then they have little to fear from their clients.

weeclick

Just to respond to some replies,

my "excuses" are very much valid - it is illegal to be on the phone and drive, I would also imagine it would be illegal to stop in the middle of the road to remove the phone from my pocket just because its ringing. I wanted until I got home to contact the customer, and would personally find it VERY unreasonable to phone anyone at 9/10pm in the evening.

My other "excuse" for not working weekends is also valid. If you work for any company you are entitled in most cases to 2 days off per week. The perk to running your own business is surely you choose what days you take off? I have ran this business for 2 years and this christmas was my first christmas off, I didnt even take 1 days summer holiday last year and for the past 2 years have worked 12 hour days, 7 days a week and in some cases worked more hours. I think to be fair to myself, to my health and to keep a fresh mind for my clients I am entitled to take time off, and have only done so from December 2010 due to a health condition recently diagnosed - not good for a 21 year old!

Also, I have yet to contact my solicitor, this is something I will do on Monday/Tuesday of this week if I feel its necessary, and providing I cant resolve this issue myself.

The client has received as much support as I can personally give them, and all I need from them is a simple "yes thats ok go to print" if they are able to find the time to email me this letter I got today, then surely they would see the sent files as it was sent to the same email address - would it not of being easier to just reply so they can have their album delivered within 2 weeks!!

paulwf

Auntie-Dolly wrote: »

Why don't you just contact the customer, make an appointment & get the job finished? Stop leaving it up to them to contact you. If this means going to thier address, just do it. It will be easier & cheaper in the long run than legal action.

This does sound like the best course of action, do everything you can to draw a line under the previous events and try and meet them to supply the finished product as soon as possible.

Legal action can drag on, something you don't want at any time but especially when you are trying to close the business and move on. Instructing your solicitor will soon add up to more than the £600, meaning you'd be better off just giving the refund than going down that route.

OP could you please clarify if the customer has the photos or will they only get them with the album? If they have the photos perhaps they have run out of money for the album. If they don't have the photos then I think they will be just calling your bluff, very few people will forfeit their wedding photos after the event for the sake of £600.

weeclick

sorry no they dont have the photos - they have only paid for the photos contained in the album. I couldnt imagine any couple not wanting photos and as you say forfeiting their photos for their money, I have customers on the books from 2 years ago who still havent chosen photos, which is their responsibility to do so - and I know photographers in the industry who have clients from over 5 years ago with no photos because they havent bothered!

Its not like Ive lost touch or not contacted them in the 5 months, if I hadnt replied to any text, email or call then yes as a client I would be concerned but I contact them each time waiting for their input to say yes to go to print - what I dont want to do is go to print on my own back and then they tell me they dont like it, then Im out of pocket £60 for producing the product!

I will write a letter to their home address first off on Monday and have it posted Monday with proof of postage and see what comes from that, I will suggest in the letter that they consider a date which would suit all involved to meet. Our main problem all along has been the husbands shifts as he works awkward hours, and its a long distance driver so not always home either. Ive always accomodated the couple and booked appointments for them on scheduled days off or past the hours of normal business, meeting them half way instead of the studio etc. So they can never say I havent tried!