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.

I'm a wedding photographer OP, and since Covid, rulings on this sort of thing have become a lot more in favour of the customer.

It is reasonable to lose a deposit (although even then, there have been many disputes won by couples in court claiming that deposits should not be kept) but 7 months before the date, expecting that sort of payment, is absolutely taking the piss. Of course they can fill the date - I often get couples searching for photographers with less than a year before their wedding.

What is the wording in the contract?

Even with a solid contract in place, Clients may argue that a non-refundable deposit is unfair if their circumstances change or if the terms are unfair.

Obviously I'm not a judge/lawyer but based on personal experience, I believe the terms that your sisters photographer has outlined could easily be considered as unfair in a small claims court (I've seen this happen personally with just a deposit) so I'd get her to respond as such,

I'd be looking at the contract first to determine the actual terms outlined. Then I'd be considering their enforceability based on the consumer act 2015 and unfair contract act 1977.

Ok thank you that's very helpful.

But why does that mean he can get 100% profit for a cancelled day?

He's had zero outlay, no work, no travel, no materials, no wear and tear on equipment.

Just 100% profit.

Greedy.

No he is not unreasonable to demand what is in the contract is honoured

The court may feel differently of course

This isn't how it works. The contract is either legally binding and enforceable or it's not. If it's unfair and unenforceable, it doesn't matter that she signed it originally; she isn't bound by it.

OP it sounds like the terms may be unfair and it's probably worth just ignoring him but if you want complete peace of mind then it's worth a quick chat with a consumer advice organisation or a legal professional to show them the contract.

I wouldn't ignore emails. I'd be replying saying that their request is in breach of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 and they will not be paying anything over and above the deposit already paid.

If the supplier takes them to court I think they would be in a strong position to argue that The request is unfair 'if, contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations arising under the contract, to the detriment of the consumer'– Regulation 5(1). Unfair terms are not enforceable against the consumer.

Furthermore If a consumer believes a contract contains an unfair term they can complain to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) or to one of several consumer-related organisations that can act against unfair consumer contracts. Such a complaint may lead to court action.

It’s worth pushing back on, and replying to the photographer is definitely advised, rather than ignoring.

If it's 'their policy' it doesn't mean you are legally bound by it.
They can have a 'policy' to always send an invoice and hope you pay it.
They can have a policy of always wearing a suit when they take photographs but it doesn't mean they have to.

It depends on whether the fact that full payment would be due if cancelled within 9 months was clearly stated in the contract that was signed.

YABU. 7 months notice isn’t long to secure another wedding booking and the terms were clear in the contract.

Its not like the wedding was cancelled due to serious illness or death of the groom or bride, or something else unforeseeable and terrible in which case I’d hope for a bit more compassion and understanding around full payment, although I’d still expect deposit to be retained. Either or both parties deciding not to get married isn’t that unforeseeable or tragic, no matter how upset your friend in this case.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to send an email on the cancelled wedding day either. It was 7 months since the cancellation, she could have been in a few relationship by that point! It’s not like it was cancelled a week before the day! Presumably payment was due in advance of the wedding so it was already overdue, the fact they emailed on the day suggests they didn’t get another booking and getting on with their business admin.

Again....

They had no work (bar a couple of emails) for expenditure for this booking, so feel they should have 100% profit?

Did your sister have any wedding insurance? If so could she get the insurance company to deal with it?

Sorry to hear about your sister and the situation. Could the CAB offer any advice on the contract, terms and liability?

I would consider getting legal advice.

I would hope that if it went to court the photographer would have to submit their costs for the services and products clients hasn’t received such as cost to produce the photos, including editing costs and any physical products such as any included album or prints.

7 months seems enough time to find alternative work to replace, could be worth investigating whether it specifically needs to be a wedding? They could arrange a day of family photoshoots for example to supplement the £500 deposit. (This is just my opinion may not stand up anywhere!)

Sorry if this has been answered but

Did your sister sign the contract stating full payment is due if cancelled within 9 months of wedding or not?

This is the most important question ^

You are right about the CMA guidance OP. And I don't accept at all that a photographer can't get another wedding booking 7 months out. They were just taking the mick. Even keeping the deposit is taking the mick if you get another booking in my view. It is enough to keep a small amount for admin purposes say £100.

I often say it on here, but some MNers are impossibly compliant when it comes to contracts and think because you've signed something you are bound. As a consumer, that is not the case if the terms are unfair and create an imbalance between the trader and the consumer.

I doubt they would succeed in a court claim. There is plenty of guidance on the CMA website that you've already found and I'd simply cite that in any defence.

Not really because it would be an unfair term even if she had and in my view not enforceable.

You are entitled to your opinion but thankfully the law doesn't agree with you.

I think if sister has signed a contract that clearly states full payment due if cancelled within 9 months then all she can do is go legal and claim the terms are unfair.

It seems like OP has been trying to reason with him and getting no where.

You have to go legal and tell someone professional about this who will prove the terms are unfair.

I don’t agree with the photographer btw, I think it’s absolutely disgusting to invoice on day of wedding when he knows the circumstances. Sounds like a horrid man tbh

I'm a ex wedding photographer and only had this once in ten years . I gave her the deposit back and she did not owe me a thing. That's very unfair of them and not conducive to good customer service and recommendations

Well you seem no better than the photographer tbh - you obviously can't envisage or empathise with the fact that the break-up was unforseable and devastating for my sister. My point is that people who work in weddings should understand the high level of emotional investment part for the positive and negative. Positive: They can charge people ridiculously high amounts for their services. Negatives: sometimes relationships break down or things happen which causes the cancellation of the wedding which is for the most part hugely upsetting for the couple involved.

The CMA specifically says wedding suppliers should not be seen to be profiteering from people's misfortune when weddings are cancelled.

Luckily it looks like the majority of people disagree with you.

Yes we did ask them actually and they suggested it was wrong of the photographer but we weren't sure how to follow up.

So what's the point of having a clear contract? If they didn't like the terms of the contract then they had the opportunity then not to sign it and find another photographer.

It probably means that the majority of people don't understand contract law then.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to demand the full amount

he’s in the wedding business and these things get booked up well in advance

that’s just the nature of the business. I’m in a wedding band and it’s similar. We’re booked 2 years ahead

It’s very sad that the wedding has been cancelled and very annoying I’m sure she has to pay for a service you haven’t received in full, but if his T&Cs were clear he was clear

it’s the man’s livelihood we’re talking about

also the point saying he must be earning over £200 000 a year is naive. Just because dates aren’t available doesn’t mean he’s booked with weddings. He’s allowed days off and holidays. He may even have another income or for all we know be a divorced dad having his kids those weekends

Surely this is what wedding insurance is for?

Id presume he would sue for loss of earnings. For the price of this photographer I’d expect that he would likely be outside of most people’s last minute (under a year planning) budgets.

if the cost was £1,800 in total apart from the parts than are his insurance, any actual prints/dvds, depreciation on his equipment and fuel rest is his wages.

If he couldn’t secure a replacement wedding at the same price which it sounds like he couldn’t since he was available to send a reminder and take calls on the actual day.

It would be like your boss not suddenly paying you, but it’s fine because you got to just sit at home.

Emotions needs to be taken out of it.

That would be working 3 days a week for 45 weeks of the year... he told me they're booked up most of the year including weekdays.