What's Fair in this Sit.?

[HotHolly]

I took a client last July who is a bit more of a control freak than most of my clients usually are. At that time we were only taking new clients by direct referal. She said she knew another client (I loved that client - she was great).

So I took her in. When she arrived I figured out that she was a total control freak. I thought about referring her elsewhere, but she was friends with Ashley. Normally, friends arent that far off base in personality, since they have to get along. At proofing, I find out they werent friends. She got her name from my blog and faked knowing her.

Anyway, we got past that. They proofed, picked their prints, put in an order, picked up the order last July and that was the last of it. I spent 3x as much time with them as a regular client b/c of that initial fib.

About a month ago the husband started calling saying he has an issue with some of his prints. Ive never had anyone call that late after the fact. He looked at them in front of me at pick up and signed for them. I checked them myself. Nothing was weird or missing.

Anyway, I finally get whats bugging him - the crop. He is trying to put an 8x10 in a frame w/ no mat. The frame is eating too much of the image. He doesnt like it like that. Most frames eat 1/4" into the shot. A mat hardly eats any of it.

What would you do with this?

One of the biggest things I am worried about is that each concession I made for them opened another can of worms, which cost me more time and money. I'll tell you what I was thinking after some of you answer.

[hooligan]

Offer to sell another print with different crop. Or if the different crop isn't possible, remind him you are not responsible for how the prints fit in various frames.

[brad]

Offer to frame it for them with a mat.

[toverman]

Originally Posted by brad

Offer to frame it for them with a mat.

That's what I was going to say. If they get anymore of your time and effort, make them pay for it. But even with clients I didn't end up liking, I've offered everything I could to make them happy (for a price, which made me happy).

[CaptainTom]

Ask him what he'd like you to do to ameliorate the situation.
When he says he'd like a new print with bigger borders, quote him the print price. When he pisses and moans about that, offer to sell him an appropriate mat for a slight discount.

"I'm sorry, but once you took possesion of the prints, I can no longer reprint to a different size without charging the reprint fee." you dumb ass hokie tight wad control freak........

Maybe you should leave out that last part ?

[MHampton]

It is stuff like this that makes me happy this is still just a hobby for me. :) You guys rock dealing with people like this without losing your cool!

[JohnT]

Originally Posted by MHampton

It is stuff like this that makes me happy this is still just a hobby for me. :) You guys rock dealing with people like this without losing your cool!

Yeah, it's bitter-sweet being a paid photographer, but at this point in my life, I wouldn't want to do anything else.

[HotHolly]

If there was a real problem with the print, that wasnt our issue, it should have been addressed 6 months ago. If the lab did crop it too tightly, they arent going to fix it now.

I was thinking that the problem is that he wants the print in a frame with no mat. He needs a mat. Its ghetto and its affecting his print. Mat it.

[Mindy H]

Do you have it in your policies that the problem has to be reported within a certain time frame? If so, I would just explain the mat/frame issue and be done with it.

I had a client request a specific crop, then make the exact gripe that you are describing 8 months later. People are just silly about stuff sometime.

If you think they are going to make a stink about it, and it's only an 8x10, I might rework it just to save the bad word of mouth though.

[Aric C. Hoek]

I think I would offer another session to the client, but make sure to tell them that you rates have gone up since the last time you did business. His real problem is with the frame, and not the image.

Is there a bod part that is right next to the edge of the image?

Why has he waited this long to get it framed?

Do you have a time limit as to when someone can return a print?

This is a copy and paste from my site...

What if I don’t like my portraits?
At Solaris we are not happy unless you are happy! We will gladly re-take your portraits without a session fee or exchange poses for a nominal fee within 14 days after you receive your portraits. Of course the art work we create is considered a custom product which cannot be re-sold. Due to the nature of our product, all sales are final.

[w9ctm]

Aric,
I like how you have handled that possibility.

Holly,
Here's another reason why I refuse to do weddings. People can't make up their minds. If you don't have something in your contract to address the 'time passage' issue, you should. In the position you are in, if you have nothing in your information, or your contract to address this, suck up to em a bit, offer to provide a mat for them and get them out the door, for good. You still have a content client, and you don't have to book them in the future. Regardless of how you feel about them, we all know it is much easier to gain bad word of mouth than to get a little praise.

[robert t]

Originally Posted by captaintom

"i'm Sorry, But Once You Took Possesion Of The Prints, I Can No Longer Reprint To A Different Size Without Charging The Reprint Fee." You Dumb Ass Hokie Tight Wad Control Freak........

Maybe You Should Leave Out That Last Part ?

Roflol!

[ggeen]

Offer to reprint, for a fee, with a quarter inch white border so the frame won't cut into the picutre. I know it's white trash-ish but if it works, why not? -G

[HotHolly]

Originally Posted by ggeen

Offer to reprint, for a fee, with a quarter inch white border so the frame won't cut into the picutre. I know it's white trash-ish but if it works, why not? -G

LOL! He might like that.

OK, to address all the assumptions...it is stipulated that concerns need to be addressed within X days, clients sign for their stuff at pick up which states, this is my stuff and I like it - they have to look at it then. What else...? I dunno. All the other stuff you guys mentioned was covered in the contract and pick up forms. This was a reg session, not a wedding.

The shot they are unhappy with looks exactly the same as it did at proofing. When the client chooses the image, chooses the PP, chooses the crop, signs for them, says they love them, and then calls back 6 months later b/c their ghetto frame isnt working...uh?