Bride from Hell - by Dominic Lee

This email has been sent to several photographers today. I include some friendly suggestions for a reply if you receive it too.

Could you provide us with some details about your wedding package and options?

-          Are you available on the date?

-          Is the album included?

-          Do we get copies of photos on disc, which we can print?

-          Do we get hard-copies of photos?

-          How much for the deposit?

-          When is the final payment made? On the day or on receipt of the album?

-          What’s your turnaround time / delivery timeline?

-          Can we provide you with a list of photo’s?

-          Can we view a sample of your work & sample albums?

-          Are you available to meet us?

-          What style of photo’s do you take?

-          Price Package

-          What album types / size / number of photos do you have?

-          Who selects the photo for the album?

-          Do you provide a Digital Only package?

-          Do you come to the Brides house beforehand, brides home and church and reception?

-          Have you taken photo’s in …… Church, before?

-          Have you taken photo’s in …… Hotel before?

-          When do you leave?

-          Will you post our photos on your website (secure)?

-          What charges for “enhancements, B&W Sepia prints

-          What charges for reprints?

-          What charges for framed photo’s?

-          Do you provide a dvd slide show?

 Here are some suggestions for a reply in case she email's you, but please use one only!

(1) Your tablets are clearly not working, have you considered taking them all at once?

(2) Sorry I dont have time to answer your questions, I was planning to retire at 65.

(3) When did you lose your job? And have you concidered taking up knitting to pass the time?

(4) Sorry but I'm planning to mow the lawn that day.

(5) Sorry I'm booked that day but I passed your enquiry onto another photo studio down the road, he is a very very good friend so I hope and pray that he takes you on!

 

Dominic

 

 

Comments

[Ania]

:))

Dominic, I can give you another example:
-I wonder if it's possible to book a photographer for an half hour (!!!) church ceremony?

[Michael McKay]

The answer to all those is "YES" except where it is "NO" !!!!!!!!!

M Mckay

[Derek]

Bloody ridicules sending that list out to several photographers, she must think we have nothing to do. She could at least begin with a simple brochure & price request.

[Paul]

This is a perfect example of what is wrong with Irish Photographers. If you were buying a TV you'd ask twice as much questions and expect to pay a 1/3 of the price. Obviously you've been in the business too long and its time to move on. You may have done 100 weddings but this is the brides first and probably last. Alot of women are very nervous especially around recession times with there money and they have a right to ask very reasonable questions like the ones above.

There is nothing in this that I would not be asked at a face to face meeting. I get the feeling that Photographers in Ireland expect to work with no hassle for big bucks well sorry guys and girls these days are gone. You can expect more of these questions and the sooner you get your heads out of your asses and start respecting your biggest source of income the better. Pass these brides on to me I would be happy to answer there questions and get there business because there's a million more like them out there. Snobbery, that's the plague that has infected photographers like you and those responding to you. Welcome to the brave new world of recession times and good customer service.

The customer is KING....

[Alasdair McBroom]

Paul I agree. There's nothing wrong with an inquisitive bride but in fairness, some of the questions she could have answered herself by simply looking at the photographers website.

I do hate to see these emails come in but they are usually worth taking the time to answer well, as everyone is different. Don't forget there are people who will book without ever having spoken to you or made contact!

[Shellbell]

Sounds to me like a start up photographer looking for into on pricing!

[Paul]

True Alasdair...!! But i guess it could be a case of write down your questions and send them off to as many photographers as possible!...

[Amy]

I am astounded by the frankly arrogant response to this bride's queries. I recently got married and booked the most expensive photographer in the local area because of his reputation for providing an exellent service and even better wedding album. A huge error on my behalf that I didn't shop around and check out the competition. Had I asked these questions, I would be a happy lady today. Instead I am very disappointed and irritated by this guy's attitude and his greed.
Remember without weddings this industry would suffer so at least demonstrate some common courtsey by acknowledging her request for information.

[Hars]

Amy your letter says nothing about poor quality only “the photographer’s greed” so I suspect that you just resented paying for extras and that’s a different situation to this one. Can you imagine getting a few of these long winded enquiries every day?

[Hars]

Reading the occupations of the worlds top 1000 richest people in 2days Sunday Times and there is not one photographer listed in there. Why? duuh cus we dont charge enough.
What about you Amy, is the type of company you work for listed?

[Amy]

Sorry - should have mentioned that I was also disappointed with the quality and variety of pictures. In addition to that, the way the pictures have been mounted in the album is really poor in comparison to others. Again this is my fault for not paying enough attention to detail. I do resent paying for extras e.g. 50 euro for a 10x8 copy for each individual photograph. Whilst I appreciate that this is a business, I do have a problem with prices like this for copies etc. And yes, long winded enquiries like this are tedious but how many do
photographers actually get.
This bride is obviously very meticulous and why should she not be? I suppose my problem also lies with the fact that while I complied with the 'photographers' request for full payment BEFORE the wedding, I have now been treated with great indifference and have been given the impression that this guy doesn't give a damn. I also have a problem with being given a wedding album in a flimsy, cheap and hideously impractical cardboard box. I hope to only get married once, however I will make it my business to ensure as many people hear about this guy as possible and will do my very best to persuade people to employ the services of a more professional photographer and to avoid making my mistakes. Like every business - word of mouth is key!! I run my own business and unfortunately have yet to make in into the Times Rich List but rest assured I try my very best to provide the best service I possibly can and to ensure I have happy customers who return time
and time again. Please don't confuse my complaints however as a mask for paying the fee this photographer required, I was aware of this at the time of booking and was happy to pay it until I seen the finished product by which stage it was too late.
Amy

[Dominic]

Amy, I’m so pleased that a bride has joined this forum, it is however a shame that you are disappointed with your photographer. Can I ask you to put that bit aside for a moment and explain to us photographers what you would do differently now that you have “been there, bought the tee-shirt”? Dominic

[amy]

Dominic - In short, I would shop around and get some feedback from others who have used the photographer previously. Additionally I would not make the mistake of assuming that most expensive means the best, this has not been the case in my situation. Finally, I would get answers to the questions that this lady has asked and that way I could be sure that no stoned has been left unturned!! I appreciate that if every bride/potential customer was looking answers to all these questions, you would spend time on little else, so why not preapre some document with all the necessary information. It is only after the big day that you get down to the nitty gritty and it is at that stage that you realise whether this business/person is able to provide a good service or not.

[Dominic Lee]

A basic marketing guide will advise you not to give unnecessary negative information unless it is requested. For example you wont see a sign on the entrance door of a restaurant saying “we don’t include the receipt to our famous sauce and did you know that desert is extra and that there’s an extra 10% service charge” as this would clearly be off-putting to potential customers. So you shouldn’t expect photographers to compile a list of answers to every potential problem just in case one of them may arise.
Likewise, you can’t complain about the price after you have eaten the meal, especially when the cost was clearly marked on the menu. So if you ordered photos without asking the price then you have only yourself to blame and not the photographer, who can’t be expected to sell extra prints for what the customer PERCIEVES to be their value.

If the Bride from Hell was serious about her photographer she would have asked just two questions: (1) are you available for the date? and (2) can we meet you? Then she could discover the answer to the one question which can neither be asked nor answered by email: Does this guy have a true passion for wedding photography or is money the main motivation? Only then should she consider the other 20+ questions.

Dominic
PS. If the photographer is giving away printable images on DVD, he or she is only in it for the money because clearly they don't care two hoots about the quality of the end result!

[Vic]

Not quite true about the meal, Dominic. You don't pay for a meal in advance - you pay for it after (unless you're talking about fast food, but you're hardly using that as a comparison). And yes, of course you complain about the price if the standard wasn't good enough. You mightn't complain as loudly if you paid ten euro as against one hundred for a crap meal, but you should still complain.

There's approx 25 questions on that list, out of which 20 are one word answers. Now, it's your call as to how much customer service you wish to provide, but I'd be less than impressed by any professional who intended to charge me thousands of euro for a service yet couldn't be bothered taking 5 minutes to respond to an email. Especially as that 5 minutes represents a lot less wasted time for both the bride AND you than a 30 minute meeting would take.

Quite frankly, I'm surprised not only by the attitude shown, but by your certainty that you're 100% right. And given that your own website doesn't provide any details on either cost or the packages you offer, how can you complain when an email asks those questions?

[Tony]

If you read a few of Mr Lee’s blogs you will realise that he is just “stirring the sh1t” to get a debate going.
He is a very successful photographer, as well known for his polite and helpful attitude as he is for his sarcastic sense of humour I wouldn’t take him seriously if I were you.