Wedding Photographer mess!

stevejbrecon

Hi guys,

First time poster, long term browser and advice stealer. I'm in a bit of a bind with our wedding photographer, just wanting a little advice. I will post the message I put on another site, to save re-telling the whole story.

Thanks in advance for all the responses.

We had our wedding nearly 5 years ago (June 2009). We hired a photographer as part of an all inclusive deal for the photographs on the day and the production of a bespoke wedding album afterward.

Unfortunately my wife was taken ill shortly after our wedding and our priorities changed slightly with regards to choosing our images and sending them back to the photographer.

We kept in quite frequent contact and he seemed amenable the entire time, letting us know that it was not a problem, and to get back to him when we were able.

Finally in December 2012 things had settled down a little and we were able to work through our images and provide them to our photographer.

I contacted him at the time and he was still very amenable, stating that he had a couple of projects to work on and ours would be done in the next month or so. We chased over the next few months, making sure we kept in touch and the line was always "It's on my list".

Eventually we were told that he guaranteed it would be completed by Christmas 2013. That date came and went.

I have today been in contact with him again and have now been told that because the images were in an old format, his new software cannot open them and therefore he is not able to produce the album (as an IT guy I know this is total rubbish). He has offered us £70 as a refund. Considering that we paid just shy of £1000 for the whole package, I am a little put out by this.

I have looked at his website and he is now offering the photographs from the day alone for a price of £550. In my eyes it seems reasonable for me to expect a refund to the tune of £450approx, as the only service he has provided was to take the photographs and forward them to us on a CD. Maybe a little less to cover the admin fees for keeping in touch with us.

I was just hoping for a little advice please. What should I do?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Many thanks

halibut2209

Why not offer to convert the pictures into the format he says he now uses

stevejbrecon

Thanks for the response halibut.

Tried that already, his line is "I don't know what format I use, I just know I can't open your images in my new software"

halibut2209

What format are they in currently? I'd be converting them to all sorts of formats, bunging them on a disc and giving them to him!

stevejbrecon

I sent them to him in JPEG, PNG and BMP, I don't know of any software that can't deal with any of those.

I think the issue is that he just can't be bothered to go back to something from so long ago as he has probably taken on more work.

Cheers

InsideInsurance

stevejbrecon wrote: »

Thanks for the response halibut.

Tried that already, his line is "I don't know what format I use, I just know I can't open your images in my new software"

What format did he give them to you in?

What software does he now use?

Given it was 5 years ago I assume he was using a digital camera? Have to ask as there are still some that prefer film.

A decent photographer will be shooting digital with a RAW file type. For the images he gave you he would have converted them from RAW to JPG which results in data loss

If he wanted to edit again he may want to go back to the RAW files to ensure the highest quality is maintained however no image software doesnt support JPG and if you've said you are happy for these to be used, as is, then he doesnt really have any grounds to refuse and it does increasingly sound like avoidance.

Remember the law of limitation only gives you 6 years (5 in scotland) to pursue them via the courts so you need to be careful that you dont get blocked from a resolution by delaying tactics

stevejbrecon

Hi InsideInsurance thanks for the reply.

Yes it was digital images.

I think he provided them in JPEG format with the idea being that we would choose the right ones and let him know and he would then use his originals.

I appreciate he may well not have the originals anymore, 5 years down the line, but have told him that we are happy for him to use the ones we sent back to him, and appreciate that these will be slightly lower quality. My eyesight is no good anyway so it doesn't really matter.

I don't really know what to do next, if he refused to produce the album, them I am happy with a refund, but £70 just seems like a fob off when he is now charging £550 for the service we paid £1000 for. (I understand that prices fluctuate but it's the only basis for valuation we have really)

Cheers for the replies guys

maninthestreet

He's complete amateur if the has no idea what file formats he is using. Ask him what sofware he is using.

stevejbrecon

Cheers maninthestreet,

He won't tell me what software he is using, I think he thinks I am a clueless chump tbh.

How should I approach the refund aspect if he still refuses to produce the album? To get it done somewhere else using our images will be in the region of £400, the £70 refund doesn't really cut it.

Cheers again everyone

DCFC79

maninthestreet wrote: »

He's complete amateur if the has no idea what file formats he is using.

He does sound like a complete amateur

pinkshoes

He sounds like a jerk.

I'd send him a letter before action giving him 28 days to send you the bespoke wedding album with the chosen photos, or you will take him to court for a full refund of £1000.

Do you have anything at the moment? If you have the jpeg files, seek a refund of what it will cost you to have the album made to a decent quality.

I know you asked for the photos 6 months after the wedding, but it's coming up to 5 years ago now...