Wedding Photographer not fulfilling obligation

Sir_Artois

Hi all,

I have a bit of a drama at the moment, pertinent points below:

1) i got married, 28th april 18
2) photographers charged £595 for their services
3) photographers requested total payment around 4months before it was due, in exchange, we would receive a "luxury leather photo album - we paid as requested.
4) we have continually chased for this album for the last 3 months & received lies and excuses
5) after threatening court action, we received £200 of the £297.50 promised, from the photographer as compensation, but no album or news of it

Where do we stand on getting this album from them?? they hardly answer any form of communication be it email, facebook, phonecalls etc, when they do they give lame excuses to fob us off.

We are at our wits end and need a resolution on this so are looking at CAB then small claims court. That being said, the photo album wasn't written into the contract or delivery date (which i am absolutely kicking myself over as i usually nail every last detail).
i do have emails to prove everything i have stated.

Or, is a court likely to favour the photographers as they have refunded a fair portion of the money back?

responses appreciated

Cheers

Sir Artois

Undervalued

Sir_Artois wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a bit of a drama at the moment, pertinent points below:

1) i got married, 28th april 18
2) photographers charged £595 for their services
3) photographers requested total payment around 4months before it was due, in exchange, we would receive a "luxury leather photo album - we paid as requested.
4) we have continually chased for this album for the last 3 months & received lies and excuses
5) after threatening court action, we received £200 of the £297.50 promised, from the photographer as compensation, but no album or news of it

Where do we stand on getting this album from them?? they hardly answer any form of communication be it email, facebook, phonecalls etc, when they do they give lame excuses to fob us off.

We are at our wits end and need a resolution on this so are looking at CAB then small claims court. That being said, the photo album wasn't written into the contract or delivery date (which i am absolutely kicking myself over as i usually nail every last detail).
i do have emails to prove everything i have stated.

Or, is a court likely to favour the photographers as they have refunded a fair portion of the money back?

responses appreciated

Cheers

Sir Artois

What, if anything have your received? You say you were promised a refund of £297 (and actually got £200) so presumably you have had some images etc "valued" at about £300. Or am I misunderstanding you?

Gavin83

Sir_Artois wrote: »

Hi all,

I have a bit of a drama at the moment, pertinent points below:

1) i got married, 28th april 18
2) photographers charged £595 for their services
3) photographers requested total payment around 4months before it was due, in exchange, we would receive a "luxury leather photo album - we paid as requested.
4) we have continually chased for this album for the last 3 months & received lies and excuses
5) after threatening court action, we received £200 of the £297.50 promised, from the photographer as compensation, but no album or news of it

Where do we stand on getting this album from them?? they hardly answer any form of communication be it email, facebook, phonecalls etc, when they do they give lame excuses to fob us off.

We are at our wits end and need a resolution on this so are looking at CAB then small claims court. That being said, the photo album wasn't written into the contract or delivery date (which i am absolutely kicking myself over as i usually nail every last detail).
i do have emails to prove everything i have stated.

Or, is a court likely to favour the photographers as they have refunded a fair portion of the money back?

responses appreciated

Cheers

Sir Artois

£595 is extremely cheap for a wedding photographer, even an amateur one.

You say the album wasn't written into the contract. What was in the contract? Do you currently have the photos?

Undervalued

Gavin83 wrote: »

£595 is extremely cheap for a wedding photographer, even an amateur one.

You say the album wasn't written into the contract. What was in the contract? Do you currently have the photos?

Maybe so but the OP is still entitled to receive whatever was agreed.

Although not technically binding on other courts, as it was only a County Court ruling, a judge's decision many years ago is still a useful guide.

On that occasion the couple received no photos at all due to the photographer messing up in some way. The judge ruled that in addition to a refund they were entitled to compensation equal to amount they had agreed to pay for photographs of their wedding. The judge commented that, in his opinion, that is what having the photographs "was worth" to the couple so they should have the same amount of money as compensation for not having them.

Gavin83

Undervalued wrote: »

Maybe so but the OP is still entitled to receive whatever was agreed.

I never said they weren't, was just an observation. However until they answer the question as to what was in the contract we can't really advise any further.

Sir_Artois

Hi guys, thanks for replies

As i say, i didnt nail down a contract, it was all done verbally; which was all edited digital copies in exchange for 595. The photoalbum offer was then done over email (prompted by them) so i have written evidence of offer & invoice & receipt.

we have received digital copies of the photos.
the 297.50 was an offer by the photographer to compensate us for the faff about. as said, we have 200 of that in our bank.

Gavin83

Sir_Artois wrote: »

Hi guys, thanks for replies

As i say, i didnt nail down a contract, it was all done verbally; which was all edited digital copies in exchange for 595. The photoalbum offer was then done over email (prompted by them) so i have written evidence of offer & invoice & receipt.

we have received digital copies of the photos.
the 297.50 was an offer by the photographer to compensate us for the faff about. as said, we have 200 of that in our bank.

OK so you paid £595 for the actual photography services. How much extra was the album? Did you pay all of this? Did you receive the edited digital copies of the photos?

Sir_Artois

correct, the album was an offer they informed us of, whereby if we pay NO extra money, but pay off the remainder of the 595, they will give us the photoalbum.
yes to receiving the digital copies.

Undervalued

OK, if I am reading your correctly....

You agreed £595 for the photography and supplying edited digital images?

The photographer has supplied edited digital images?

You initially paid £595?

It all took an excessive amount of time and you thought he had agreed to refund £295 for the "faffing around" but have only actually received a £200 refund?

So the only point in debate is whether you should receive an additional £95 refund?

Given that you have the digital files why not simply order an album from somebody who will do a decent job promptly?

Or am I still missing something?

TuppenceWorth

How much would it cost to buy a similar leather album and to print off photos to put in it?

Undervalued

Sir_Artois wrote: »

correct, the album was an offer they informed us of, whereby if we pay NO extra money, but pay off the remainder of the 595, they will give us the photoalbum.
yes to receiving the digital copies.

So in other words the album will cost you either £200 or £295 (depending on how the "promised" refund is resolved).

Given the history and as you have the digital images wouldn't it be easier and safer to source that elsewhere?