Dispute with sole trader

djmsemcgrath

naedanger wrote: »

If you are seeking a full refund plus the costs of getting some photos then the original photographer may argue are seeking more that you have lost as you will have both photos and your original money. (However if you are only talking about a few photos I, personally think, you could rebut such an argument. Nevertheless it may be worth preparing a response.)

The photographer was hired to turn up on a day where we had arranged for us to wear certain clothes, and be in a certain location. If those photos were not delivered as agreed, then the financial refund for the photos is one part, and also certain costs associated with re-setting up the environment is an added cost, which his contract breach has caused. Or is this bad logic?

bod1467

Any such claim would need to be for the additional costs incurred in re-staging the shoot ... i.e. the delta between what the original contract costed and what it would now cost.

So hire costs for outfits, travel to relevant location, hire of relevant location for the shoot (if necessary), additional costs for the photographer (e.g. to account for inflation) etc.

It sounds like you've got the right idea, just not expressed it well enough in the forum.

naedanger

damianjmcgrath wrote: »

The photographer was hired to turn up on a day where we had arranged for us to wear certain clothes, and be in a certain location. If those photos were not delivered as agreed, then the financial refund for the photos is one part, and also certain costs associated with re-setting up the environment is an added cost, which his contract breach has caused. Or is this bad logic?

I think you are in danger of bad logic.

I think (but am not certain) you can either claim for

(1) The cost of getting the photos redone - i.e. a new photographer plus any reasonable additional costs of restaging the photos. (Note this does not include claiming a refund of the fee you paid the original photographer. If it did you would be effectively demanding you get the photos for free.)

OR [According to the "Which" link (I included in a previous post)] (2) a refund of the fee you paid plus possibly compensation for "loss of memory of the day". Unfortunately "Which" don't explain what "loss of memory of the day" is or what compensation might be reasonable to cover this. But perhaps you could argue you are claiming for the cost of having a few photos restaged to help address the "loss of memory of the day" that would otherwise arise.

bod1467

Using Photographer 1 cost £1000.

Using Photographer 2 costs £1200 to re-stage the shoot and provide the photos and album.

Your claim is for £1000 refund plus £200 additional cost in re-staging (plus additional costs in bringing the claim ... court fees, stationery, ink, postage etc.); your claim is not for £1000 refund plus £1200 re-staging.

This is a simplistic example to get the point across.

Undervalued

Well you can claim for what you like but what you will get will depend of the County Court judge on the day!

As I said earlier, as far as I know, no wedding photo case has gone as far as the High Court so there is no binding precedent.

I mentioned the CC ruling I am aware of, which was frequently quoted as an example in the past. A different judge on a different day doesn't have to follow it though.

However, I am well out of touch so there may be more recent examples.

djmsemcgrath

bod1467 wrote: »

Using Photographer 1 cost £1000.

Using Photographer 2 costs £1200 to re-stage the shoot and provide the photos and album.

Your claim is for £1000 refund plus £200 additional cost in re-staging (plus additional costs in bringing the claim ... court fees, stationery, ink, postage etc.); your claim is not for £1000 refund plus £1200 re-staging.

This is a simplistic example to get the point across.

OK, that makes more sense. It's no worries at the moment, I may have overclaimed in my letter to him, but I've phrased it as compensation, so he can obviously negotiate. I don't expect him to respond though. When I actually fill out the small claims application, I can put in amended figures.

djmsemcgrath

Hmm. After all my communications with the trader, and 2 days before the small claims court deadline, he has sent me a letter, with his address not on it, with the CD of images enclosed.

I suppose there's nothing else I can do now - I'm happy to have the images, it's a good outcome especially for my wife - but I'm still super annoyed by his attitude and the nearly 12 month delay. I can't really claim anything for that though, can I?

Undervalued

damianjmcgrath wrote: »

Hmm. After all my communications with the trader, and 2 days before the small claims court deadline, he has sent me a letter, with his address not on it, with the CD of images enclosed.

I suppose there's nothing else I can do now - I'm happy to have the images, it's a good outcome especially for my wife - but I'm still super annoyed by his attitude and the nearly 12 month delay. I can't really claim anything for that though, can I?

Realistically no I'm afraid.

If you don't mind having your picture in the paper you could see if his local rag are interested in a story for a quite news day.....

djmsemcgrath

I mean, it is good news - I wanted the images and now I've got them. I still need to send him back some image IDs so he can produce the album, but his letter promises to do that. It seems like I've got what I wanted, which is true. I don't want financial gain for no reason. There's just a niggly annoyance feeling I've got that he purposely ignored me for 10 months and only responded once the threat of court happened. I feel there's an injustice there that I want to correct.

Ah well, I suppose I should be grateful!

macman

So after 10m and an LBA, this charlatan has finally bothered to burn some pics to a CD and post it. What makes you think he's actually going to produce an album as well, which will cost him real money to supply?
The images you have will be low-res only, and possibly copyright marked, so you can't get it done elsewhere unfortunately.
I would give him a strict deadline to deliver the album on selection of pics, or say the small claims case will be proceeded with. 14 days is enough.
I suspect you simply want an explanation and an apology, but since that's not going to happen, if you want anything else, you must proceed with court action.