Wedding photos terrible! Will only get partial refund if I sign disclaimer and not write review or post pics?

[Jakc]

Paid $1700 for my wedding pics, they are awful! Most are blurred and out of focus, he’s missed first look, first kiss, coming into reception, All the important shots. Nearly all the photos of me and my husband are blurred. The said they would only refund $700 of it if I sign disclaimer to say I won’t leave review or discuss with anyone anything negative. They won’t refund it all as photographer turned up, took photos and delivered in a timely manner! Doesn’t matter to them they are shit and can’t be redone. I told guests not to take pics as I didn’t want the professional ones ruined by camera phones. What should I do? The company is in Mexico I’m in uk if that makes a difference.

How did you pay? Credit card? Section 75 claim for the lot.

Tell them that as none of the photos are usable you expect a full refund and if they are not forthcoming then let them know you will be taking it further and also you will be making other people aware so they don’t use them. You won’t get that day back and too have no photos of it is really sad, $700 is a joke.

So if they don't give you your money back they agree that there's nothing to stop you leaving the bad review, posting example photos and destroying their business? Might be worth pointing that out to them!

I’d tell them if I only get a partial refund they’d only get get partial feedback, mainly the negative part!

How did you pay? Credit card? Section 75 claim for the lot.

OP is quoting dollars. I would guess they are not in the UK.

Wherever you are, OP, your main recourse is going to be small claims court.

The company is in Mexico I’m in uk if that makes a difference.
^ @donquixotedelamancha

The company is in Mexico I’m in uk if that makes a difference.

Name change fail?

This was a foreign wedding? That makes small claims probably a waste of time.

If you paid by credit card then PP is right about section 75. Debiit card might do a refund too, worth asking. Check out moneysavingexpert.com.

Name change fail? Doh. Sorry, red. I'm obviously not reading very carefully- time for bed, I think.

We did pay by credit card however we paid for wedding itself and the photos in one payment and didn’t get itemised receipt. Can’t imagine they will give me it now.

And yes wedding and photography company in Mexico I live in uk

Take the $700 and then post negative reviews. What are they going to do from Mexico?

Take the money, sign the disclaimer and then get all your guests to write a honest review about what they think of the photographs they were in (after all, they haven’t signed the disclaimer) because I am guessing they will be negative.

I’d ask for the original RAW (not jpeg but actual raw format) files, and send them to a professional editor see what they can do with them. Failing that, take the money and leave bad reviews.

I don't know what services you have in America but get legal advice if it's an option. I did after my florist sent awful flowers and refused a refund and just on the wording advice I was able to get my refund. I then left an honest awful review and when she threatened me I added the photos of what she made I was fortunate it was just flowers. Photos are the memories of the day. Do not sign any disclaimer until you get advice

Sorry just seen you live in UK call citizens advice. They were brilliant with me

I'm having the same issue with my wedding video. The stuff they got is good, but they missed so much. They spent most of their time videoing scenery (wedding venue is 20 mins from my house, I can drive to see the scenery whenever I want, I'll never see my wedding again!) and our empty reception room!!

They came for 5 mins in the morning for the preparation part, missed me and my mum getting ready together, and my dad seeing me for the first time because they were filming the empty ceremony space.... wtf?!?

Not once on the video am I with my bridesmaids or is the bridal party all together. They missed the bridal party photos of us pulling pints in a bar and messing about on the beach. My nephew (page boy) isnt in the video at all. During family photos theres only footage of my side and none of my husbands.

In the feature film put together theres so little of our ceremony... she has our vows but no ring exchange, no signing the register, none of our sand blending and you dont hear our registrar speak once, and considering it was a humanist ceremony that was so personalised from start to finish and tailored around our story I am very disappointed. But she has a ridiculous amount of footage of people just sitting about in the lull after dinner, and the street outside the venue with strangers??

I've messaged her to ask for our ceremony in full because it was the most important part of our day and is barely included but shes saying that's not possible. I'm absolutely gutted. We cut so much out of our day due to budget restraints to make the video a priority and she has next to none of our big important moments. Looking back on our day, none of my favourite moments are in the video. I'm so heart broken.

CakeandCustard28 There's not much a good editor will be able to do if the photos are genuinely blurry. Sure, a compressed jpeg will have less detail and pixelate the bigger the image is stretched but if the RAW file was blurry to begin with you can't get that information/ detail back.

Same thing happened to me. Apparently the photographer had the wrong lens in the camera or something. A lot of the pictures look like they were taken with a potato instead of a camera. None of the ones with my Dad or my bridesmaid turned out (taken in the house in the morning) which is particularly sad now that my Dad passed away last year. I think he ended up giving us 10 free photos or something, but we were young and stupid and didn't take it any further. I would not put up with it nowadays! They really are awful when I look at them now, and this was a professional photographer.

Do you have a contract with the photographer; or was the photography included with the venue?

The contract will let you know what jurisdiction it comes under. I’d expect that it’ll be Mexico, so you’d need to take legal action there. Do you have family/friends there who can advise you on the process? If not, it might be a good idea to get some legal advice from someone qualified in Mexican law - Citizens Advice and UK solicitors are unlikely to be able to help in any detail as they’ll know UK processes.

Get the refund and post some of the photos in place of a review.

I'm so sorry OP :-(

To be honest I'd rather not get any refund and post the shit out of the terrible photos.

You should not only be getting a refund, you should be getting compensation.

Given that it is a Mexican company I don't think it's worth the hassle of trying to understand their legal system.

Did the hotel / venue you use recommend the photographer? They may have more clout as its not great PR for them to show somone having the memories of their special day ruined like this.

I'd play quite hard ball with both the photographer and the hotel.

Might be worth writing to a consumer champion journalist eg look up Katie Morely for the Telegraph? Good luck.

You might not have a receipt but surely there was an exchange of emails breaking down the pricing? Speak to your card provider.

Sorry I don’t know how to reply with names. To the person who said ask for raws and get them edited, I’m actually a professional photographer myself so that’s the first thing I did when I saw how bad they were and asked for permission to edit them myself... they are far too blurred to make them look decent enough to print. Will attach a couple of examples.

I do have emails confirming what I paid and have sent email to hotel asking for copy of Recipts.

The payment was made to the hotel but I think the photography company is separate. The contract was with the photography company. It’s them that’s offered me $700, at first it was $150!

I will attach a couple of pics so you can see how awful they are.

The disclaimer says I can’t leave review/ even indirectly (friends etc) or discuss any of it or i’ll be charged! Hence why I don’t want to sign it.

I researched the company and photographer beforehand and specifically asked for him as his work online was amazing..

Here’s first kiss and walking into reception

The contract was with the photography company.

What's the jurisdiction on the contract?