A wedding update over a year later...

thisismynickname2

Hi! Some of you may recall that my wedding photographer breached contract. Long story short, it was a fight to even get half our photos.

Well. In January of this year we filed credit card dispute for half the money, which was successful. At the same time we filed complaints with our city's consumer protection bureau and the state attorney general. While we waited for the system, our second shooter gave us the photos she herself had taken. Also in the meantime we heard that another couple who was screwed successfully won against the photographer in small claims court.
Finally in August both the state and city agencies started working on the case. Today the photos were shared electronically with me. Apparently she uploaded them in August but didn't share them by accident. Apparently she also mailed a USB which we never received. OK. Whatever. I'm downloading now and can already see great photos we didn't have this entire year. Lord!

Wanted to post this update because unfortunately we do get screwed sometimes. I'm glad to report that consumer protections DO work... Even if they can take awhile. Our contract was specific: # of photos, set amount of time. That was a make or break for our case.
Of course I hope no one else goes through this but just wanted to share our experience if it helps anyone else.

CharmedPam

So glad that worked out!  I wasn't here a year ago, so I didn't hear this.  My friend went through something like this.  I forgot the whole issue, but she never got her professional wedding photo's back either, which is a shame.  Glad to hear of this outcome though (despite the time it took)!

kvruns

wow that is great you actually did get your photos afterall! While it is good they weren't lost, it then makes no sense to just go MIA and not give people the photos (edited or not).

emmaaa

I'm so glad you actually got your photos! That's even better than money.

Jen4948

Glad you finally got your photos!

I'm sure it's no "accident" she "forgot" to share the photos and you never got the USB. That's too many "accidents" for me to buy that it wasn't her fault.

madamerwin

I'm so glad you finally got your photos!!!

RomanceManaged

Yay! So you both can sit down and relive the wedding after so much time has passed. I say grab a bottle of bubbly and have a great night.

thisismynickname2

RomanceManaged said:

Yay! So you both can sit down and relive the wedding after so much time has passed. I say grab a bottle of bubbly and have a great night.

Good idea! There's one of DH doing a mean air guitar....

JaniV123

@thisismynickname
 
Glad to hear its settled. I am having troubles again but I kind of expected this to happen after we stuck with him even when he disappeared and we didn't have a set time frame for the delivery of pictures. Also we haven't officially paid him the last amount because he lost the check we gave him and after we returned from the honeymoon I have tried to contact him him and he is MIA. I hope we don't have to get to legal means to solve this. But congrats on getting your pictures!

thisismynickname2

@JaniV123 I hope it all works out!

MobKaz

Glad it all worked out well in the end.  This is yet another example for brides who insist their guests "be one with the moment" and demand unplugged weddings!

SP29

Glad it worked out!

Obviously it was not just the photographer "forgetting" as I am sure you contacted him/her several times, in which (s)he could have responded that they were sent, or you know, checked the website.... At least you got them.

We also had some trouble with our photographer. Everything was great until it came time to receive our photos- she even sent a couple "sneak peaks" the week following. We were supposed to receive a link to an online gallery in which we could choose particularly photos we wanted special edits of, and then we were supposed to receive all of our photos on a USB within 12 weeks of the wedding date. 

Of course I started contacting her, in which she initially responded with "Sorry, really busy right now, I'll get on it", but with the passing of time she got more flaky ("Oh, I can't believe that much time has passed since your wedding!"- Um, you know we had a contract right that said 12 weeks??) and stopped responding to email and phone. 6 months later we went a registered letter threatening legal action, and I contacted BBB. At 7 months we received a USB with *almost* all our photos- some looked edited, others not, but whatever. The *almost* was that we did not receive the photos taken by the second shooter, so we had to contact her AGAIN about that, much to the same process of contact ignored. Eventually at 10 months we received them all. 

thisismynickname2

@SP29 UGH yup sounds quite similar to my situation. Contracts, people, contracts! It's law! It just blows my mind that people can be too "busy" and flaky to do the job the were paid to do. It's like they have no idea they can- and will- be sued and lose in court.