Wedding Photographer lost pics due to fire

Needa

Senior Member
Challenge Team
He should have gave a 100% refund. Then do what ever he could to get them some pictures that would remind them of the event (parents wedding photo was taken in a studio after the event) at no charge.
 
Last edited:

Dangerspouse

Senior Member
I feel bad for the guy losing everything in a fire, but...no liability insurance? Who sets up any service business, not just wedding photography, without liability insurance?

I'm with Needa. The couple paid him to deliver a set of pictures. When he couldn't provide them, everything else - amount of effort, fire, whatever - became moot. He couldn't deliver what they wanted, so he needs to refund the full amount.

If I was hired to voice a spot for a client and the day it was due someone stole my computer right before I could send it, there's no way in hell I'd send a bill pro rated for the production work I did up until that point. I'd never get another VO job again. And rightfully so.
 

kevy73

Senior Member
Ouch.... I use Crashplan for all my offsite backups... I have a NAS setup at home as well as 2 internal drives that hold backups of all my weddings, however fires or theft, I always have my Crashplan backup as my get out of jail free card.
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
100% refund unless there was something in the contract that states 10% is non-refundable due to time spent and equipment depreciation. The wedding party pays for an end-product. Time spent means nothing to the contracting party if there isn't anything to show for it.
I would not be happy with a 90% refund. I would be grumbling to friends, but I wouldn't be creating an internet brouhaha over it. Small claims court is certainly an option if they want to go through the trouble. They might be tight on money, and it might be worth pursuing for them.

If anything, maybe some photographers will see the article and get some back-up if they don't have it already.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Interesting i cant help but think of the literaly thousands of roll film negs from my late wifes weddings, they are backed up back in cardboard boxes in the spare room ::what:: the only back up at that time was the second camera you took in case the first one failed.

Any one doing weddings now should have a back up system that covers every thing they can think of.
 

STM

Senior Member
I agree about the 100% refund. He did not deliver what he promised, for whatever reason. He should count that last 10% as a lesson learned the hard way. The worst part is that this singular event was not captured except through whatever photos were taken by relatives, etc. I also agree about liability insurance. With the cost of equipment and value of files it is crazy not to carry insurance if you are doing this for a living.
 
Last edited:

Patrick M

Senior Member
Ouch.... I use Crashplan for all my offsite backups... I have a NAS setup at home as well as 2 internal drives that hold backups of all my weddings, however fires or theft, I always have my Crashplan backup as my get out of jail free card.

No excuse not to have a home NAS if that’s where the work is done. i agree with you. My Synology DS is superb....and a bonus is that when I sign in to my SY o account, I can access the disc station from anywhere I can get into the internet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

wev

Senior Member
Contributor
Just out of curiosity, I called a lawyer friend about this situation. She said she would take the client's case in a heartbeat and get them a very nice settlement over and above the moneys paid: punitive damages with the loss of an irreplaceable life event due to incompetence and disregard of expected industry standards.
 

Patrick M

Senior Member
Just out of curiosity, I called a lawyer friend about this situation. She said she would take the client's case in a heartbeat and get them a very nice settlement over and above the moneys paid: punitive damages with the loss of an irreplaceable life event due to incompetence and disregard of expected industry standards.

The clients should use this to get a full refund plus some extra compensation!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Top