Photographer not giving us newborn pics?

[Summerfriday]

My daughter is now nearly 5 months old,
When i was pregnant i saw someone on FB recommend a photographer for a maternity shoot - i enquired, no problems at all getting my images back.

When we had the baby the photographer reached out to me and asked if we'd like to have a newborn shoot and we took on the offer as we were happy with the maternity images.

Not long after the shoot she got pregnant and i could see that she was in and out of hospital so didn't want to bother her but then a few more months down the line she was advertising photoshoots and posting photos she's recently taken so i asked her if i could have mine.

6 times now shes said shell get them back to me on certain date and there's always a excuse

1. her files had a virus so they wasn't sending.
2. her child was poorly (fair enough)
3. located the images but needed time to edit them 4)social media had been hacked 5&6) send the images but they were someone elses baby!!!

I've messaged her how unprofessional she's being as shes got a baby on the way and how would she feel in our position. Precious memories we can't get back and then she agrees and then swears she'll send them over then.... we never get them.

My partner said to leave it now and its obvious she's lost them but i cant let it go until i know for sure.

Where do i stand with this? Probably no Where as i didnt sign anything second time around but i wondered if you helpful people could give me some advice please

@Summerfriday

Yes sorry we paid for them. Not about the refund though it's about trusting her with those special moments for her then to let us down!

If they're lost, they're lost. Just take a refund and move on. You/she can't magically un-lose them.

Op why don't you just call and TALK to her rather than dicking around with messages?
Just ask her straight "why are you not sending me the photos?"
It's not hard.

@user1497207191 i get that but she's saying they're not lost. If she said they were lost then fair enough but, by what shes says its like she has got them but can't be bothered to send and edit them.

Anyway I asked her for a refund 2 days ago. She said photos will be sent out and then again, never got them. So i cant just be on my way as shes not giving me either photos or refund. My partner has messaged her now and maybe he'll get more of a response, if not small claims court it is.

Thanks for all your replies.

@luckytattie she won't pick up the phone. We have tried calling her, phone is dead. When i asked her she said shes got a new number as she broke her old phone and its not for business. Looked at her recent feedback yesterday and it looks like everyone who had a shoot around the same time as me have been given the same service. Feedback before was all positive!

Just checked her SM pages today and they have all been removed. There's my answer

Ooft. And it's definitely not a case of her only restricting your account?

Small claims court it is then. Sorry if missed it but how much did you pay?

This would enrage me and I would have to publicly call her out on social media to shame her into atleast admitting she has lost them! I think you really should take her to small claims and warn others on local Facebook pages.

she won't pick up the phone. We have tried calling her, phone is dead
Has she got a personal fb page or Instagram page you can track her down on?
Is the studio near by. Could it be worth calling round?
Did you have any mutual friends?

@notacooldad her studio was her home and if i go around i can imagine she'll have me for harrasing her or something silly. Ive messaged her on her personal sm and the mesages get blanked. Look like ill have to go small claims court. Thanks for your reply

Good luck with small claims.
I've never done one but my friend has and I was around when she did it. From what I remember it was a relatively straight forward process and it was awarded in her favour.

I would send her a message and/or possibly a recorded delivery letter to her home telling her that she has 7 days to send the images to you or you will begin the small claims court process.

Oh how disappointing op!

If you go small claims make sure you have evidence of the contact you have made,frequency and what the request was including screen shot of messages etc.

Send her a letter recorded delivery to her house explaining how many opportunities you have given her to complete her side of the contractual agreement, what your expectations are and how long she has before you take it further.

This will form part of your evidence.

You will also want to ensure you have evidence of the original agreement and receipts of how much you have paid her.

Small claims likes to try and do mediation to find a mutual outcome, have in your mind what you are happy with ie photos as they are either edited or not or full refund.

You will need to prove you paid for a service and what that agreed service was.

If you know her address bung a dated note through which says

'Re: missing photos [date of shoot] sorry, as your social media is all removed/down and your phone is dead i'm sending this as notice in writing that if i don't hear from you within [up to you - days/hours] with regards to a full refund that i will be proceeding with a small claim in court.

Nothing in there she can claim is harassment and nothing untrue.

Keep a copy of it and go ahead with claim.

I'd do like Laiste said. Send photos by X date or small claims court. She's had enough time now.
You don't need a contract. Money has been paid and all the emails about her sending images are evidence. It will be very straight forward.

OP my message withdrawn at 19.51 is nothing sinister.
I had started to do a post on my iPad earlier and it froze. I did the message on my phone and sent it. I came back to iPad and without thinking pressed send. So it was a repeat of a previous message, that's all.

@notacooldad you're so lovely! It's horrible coming back to a thread and seeing deleted messages and wondering what on earth happened.

OP, are you saying other people have also not received their photos

What an odd thing to happen. Can you try and connect with other customers and then encourage them to make a claim? It may help your case? Not sure if it works like that but worth a try

@MrsWhites

I would send her a message and/or possibly a recorded delivery letter to her home telling her that she has 7 days to send the images to you or you will begin the small claims court process.

This, send a recorded delivery letter so you can see that it has been received, asking for photos or refund within 10 working days or you will reclaim your costs via the small claims court.

People saying maybe she doesn't remember the baby and the comeback that she does because she posted 1 picture.

Babies all look similar, not being rude but if you shoot dozens then more than one will likely have similar features to the point someone who has only seen them for a few hours cant tell them apart.

The reason she can have lost them as in 'forgotton which ones' is because if she shot on ANY real photographic camera (like a DSLR even a basic cheap entry level one, hell I think even smartphones do this now) then the exif data will have the dates and times stamped into it so she only needs to know what date she took the photos and obviously she will have correspondence with those details.

[quote Summerfriday]@user1497207191 i get that but she's saying they're not lost. If she said they were lost then fair enough but, by what shes says its like she has got them but can't be bothered to send and edit them.

Anyway I asked her for a refund 2 days ago. She said photos will be sent out and then again, never got them. So i cant just be on my way as shes not giving me either photos or refund. My partner has messaged her now and maybe he'll get more of a response, if not small claims court it is.

Thanks for all your replies.[/quote]
Tell her if she still has the images but 'can't be bothered to edit them' to send them to an associate editor or retoucher. There are loads out there and many only charge pennies per picture and their whole point is to quickly finish the editing process so the photographer doesn't have to.

The thing is she is shooting herself in the foot, in court she will be hung out to dry if she hasn't supplied ANYTHING whereas if she supplied something even if it wasn't the full contracted package or supplied a refund then she has a defendable case for her business.

What does your contract say though? Many state they only provide a refund of monies paid in the case of 'act of god' (which includes photos lost to corrupted cards etc...) so if she claims she lost them you might only get a refund, if she still has them and you want them then a judge might order she has them finished and sent to you though.

[quote Summerfriday]@notacooldad her studio was her home and if i go around i can imagine she'll have me for harrasing her or something silly. Ive messaged her on her personal sm and the mesages get blanked. Look like ill have to go small claims court. Thanks for your reply[/quote]
You're not "harrasing" if you simply attend her business premises (which is her home if she runs the business from there), to ask for the photos or a refund. As long as you are not aggressive etc., then there's no crime.

Did you manage to get the photos?