Wedding Photographer Cancellation - unreasonable?

[Bunny44]

AIBU to think this is greedy and unreasonable of the photographer?

My sister was due to get married this summer however 7 months before the wedding her fiancé unexpectedly broke up with her, which she was devastated about. She was also left to deal with cancelling the wedding vendors. To alleviate the burden on my sister, me and my family have been helping her with it all. I wanted some advice and thoughts specifically on the photographer.

She booked them a year ago and put down a £500 deposit. When they were informed of the cancellation (straight away 7 months out) they weren’t very nice about it and basically said she’d lose the deposit (somewhat expected) but that their policy was to insist on the full payment of £1800 for any dates less than 9 months out as they said wouldn’t be able to re-book the date and they had no exceptions.

We exchanged some curt emails in which we underlined several CMA policies including that they must re-advertise the date and try and get a booking and if failing that they could re-coupe for possible losses where reasonable. They said they would do that and we didn’t hear from them.

My sister’s friends took her away for her would-be wedding date to take her mind off it. The photographer emails her on the would-be wedding day with the invoice saying they’d not been able to book and needed payment, which she was obviously extremely upset about. Personally I cannot believe the lack of tact! Considering the industry they work in surely they understand how upsetting this sort of situation can be. It makes me think they really really don’t care about the couples they are dealing with. I did call him and told him to stop messaging my sister and really he didn't seem like a nice man at all.

I worked out that he must make at least £200k+ out of this business a year based on rough dates he said he was booked up for the year. Surely they have some leniency than to insist someone forks up such a large amount for him to do nothing with so much notice, he’d already be getting £500 out of her. Seems incredibly greedy.

As a side note, I should mention I’m a small business owner myself and have a rental property for short term lets. I have built into my business model cancellations with reasonable notice because it’s just part of doing business. I’m a bit shocked about the T&Cs in the wedding industry. I think a lot of couples just agree because they’re naive and caught up in the moment and they get taken advantage of.

Any advice on fighting this also welcome, if you think we should.

Echoing this question because it’s not clear from your post:
“So, for clarity, did your sister sign a contract saying she would pay in full in the event of any cancellation within 9 months?”

If the term is not in the contract, then obviously she doesn’t have to pay. If it’s in the contract, then, as you say, she may still have an argument that it’s unfair and that not enough was done to draw her attention to it (unless it’s in capitals and/or bold or similar). It really does seem quite unreasonable.

Well if the contract is what it is, then it seems the photographer is correct. Yes he’s being unreasonable and showing no leeway.

If your sister is liable , I’d hope her ex fiancée would atleast cover the costs which is morally the right thing to do.

If the contact clearly says she’s liable for all costs in her name, then sadly she’s liable. Yes it’s unfair. But her choice if she pays up or refuses to.

But yes , contract or not the photographer is being unreasonable.

I think they are being very unreasonable and I’d be livid at the cheek of it. The loss of the deposit should be enough compensation. I would ignore and see what they do. However, whether you have to pay will depend on the terms you agreed. If they keep chasing you could offer a goodwill payment in exchange for not sharing your story on local review sites 😉

Read up on the Consumer Rights Act 2015. None refundable deposits are only fair if there is an equivalent provision of the photographer cancelled I.e. they agreed to pay you £500 if they were unable for some reason to photograph the wedding. The contract won’t have this in it, so the term about the deposit being non refundable essentially doesn’t exist and you must win in the small claims court.

The other bit about still paying the full amount is beyond unfair and would be laughed out of court.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a807f4c40f0b62302693daf/Unfair_Terms_Explained.pdf

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents

Schedule 2 part 1 paragraph 4

As per previous advice but also, I think an honest review would be reasonable karma

I would ignore him. That fee is partly for editing the photos which he no longer has to do so it is definitely unfair to try and recoup the whole cost.

I'd ignore him too.

If he wants to pursue through small claims, he's going to firstly have to prove his attempts to rebook that date, and secondly demonstrate the actual profit he missed out on once costs are factored in.

If he's awarded anything at all, it will be less than what he's seeking now.

Surely some of the balance would have been the cost of photos. So while his time may be chargeable if he cannot get another booking , the work in creating the images and albums is not. Was there a breakdown of charges in the contract?

Thank you this is really very helpful.

I think we feel nervous in dealing with him as he was so unpleasant but guess that shouldn't put us off trying.

I’m wedding photographer. It’s a ridiculously long cancellation period for full payment (9 months?) and I wouldn’t expect that to be enforceable. Most credible photographers would have 1-3 months (more likely calendar weeks) as their cancellation period. As another poster has said, ignore him and see if he’ll follow through on going to court, it will cost him money to do so in the first place and there’s no guarantee he’ll win. During the Covid years (!) several contract court cases were heard and often the judge ruled in favour of the client citing the work hadn’t been undertaken so why should the client pay the full sum. Generally, and obviously, I will sympathise with wedding photographers (as I am one) because more frequently than people realise, we get shafted by many means, but this person sounds rather unfeeling and generally a bit of a shit to pursue this. I’d be interested to know who it is - this is much more typical of a male photographer than it is a female, I’m sorry to say.

I don’t think it is reasonable to expect the full fee but I will say to those mentioning empathy, as someone who used to work in the wedding industry, that clients usually offer zero empathy to those working in it too. I heard awful stories during Covid and since - yes weddings were cancelled and rearranged and that’s difficult for clients but also lots of people like photographers were suddenly out of work and not all qualified for help. Clients didn’t care and would harass or be abusive to get deposits back - deposits often paid 2 or 3 years in advance.

I think it’s completely shit
but also she did actually agree to pay in these circumstances when she signed the contract
the terms were laid out in black and white . If she thought that it was unfair then the time to point this out was then . If she didn’t like the t’s and c’s she shouldn’t of signed

Wow! I’m so sorry your sister is dealing with this. I’m a wedding videographer. I charge 25% to book. That’s non refundable (but I’ll honour it for a new date in the future). I don’t even charge the balance until 30 days before. At this point it’s non-refundable because there’s no way I’ll rebook that date (but I try to show some leniency for sudden ill health etc.) Nine months is madness! Just know that he’ll get a bad rep for doing this and it’ll impact his business. Karma!

You cannot be held to an unfair contract term, even if it is in a contract.

A judge is not going to agree to the OP's sister having to pay the full amount of it goes to small claims court.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/there-s-an-unfair-term-in-my-contract-how-can-i-complain-and-get-my-money-back-aeHsV7t85zl5

It probably isn’t likely he’d been be to get another booking given people book so far in advance-7 months is nothing. Morally- entirely different story but ultimately that’s what pays his mortgage etc.

This. Surely court will laugh him out if he went down that route. Awful way to run a business. Karma won't be kind.... Hope you get sorted. (And can you check and see if he was working that day!?l )

When they were informed of the cancellation (straight away 7 months out) they weren’t very nice about it and basically said she’d lose the deposit (somewhat expected)

What do you mean they weren't very nice about it? If all they did is explain she'd lose the deposit that's perfectly fair enough.

Exactly this! He wants 100% profit.

Tell him to go take a run, say take me to court then.

He's a chancer.

I would ignore any emails from him.

What a grabby twat.

He's trying to bully you!

Don't let him.

Most people I think could spot a review written in revenge or because of a bad experience, I'm not sure that is a good idea.

Obviously she, like most people, didn't think the relationship would end. My point is that wedding prices are sky high and the cancellation policies punitive compared to other similar services in other industries.

I mean my sister originally contacted them to say about cancelling the wedding and rather say oh I'm so sorry about that he was really grumpy with her and went straight to how they'd have to pay everything anyway...

The venue was rebooked though 5 months out so clearly people do organise wedding at less notice.