A little background- I'm in high school, and most of my work comes from shooting D1 sports for an SID. Occasionally I shoot youth sports because that's where the money is. I have one client who hires me all the time to shoot exclusively his kids for a game. He gives me work a few times a season consistently.
Today I was scheduled to shoot his daughters basketball game at the gym at my high school, not far from where I live. I checked in the night before to see if the game was canceled because of the snow here in Boston, and the client said it was on. I show up 1/2 hour early to shoot pregame, and no one is there. We have a few gyms, so I made my rounds to check if I had the wrong gym. They were all locked.
I contact the guy to see what happened, and he says that it was canceled the night before (after we talked) and he forgot to tell me. I was waiting around for about 45 minutes, and got the email a while after I got home.
This has never happened to me before, so I'm not sure what the protocol is here... do I charge for my time? I'm leaning towards not charging because he is a regular client, but I'm really not sure.
Sorry if I rambled, and thanks in advance for your help! Let me know if there is anything I need to clarify.
When you say you were "scheduled" to shoot his daughters game....are you meaning you were hired by him to shoot it or were you scheduled to shoot it through another source.
If you were hired for this game by the client whose daughter was playing...and you had an agreement or contract defining this....then I'd say you were within reason. If there was no contract or agreement...the weather and conditions were very bad....possibly a lot on the guys mind....look at it as an oversight and no harm - no foul. Maybe a follow up discussion with your client that future expectations would be that he call you in advance of any cancellations that are weather related or not.
Thanks for the reply- I was hired by the client to shoot the game for an hourly fee. In other words, I would not have been there if he hadn't hired me. I do have a contract, but it does not say anything about cancelation fees, it's just a copyright agreement, price estimate, and office agreement that I'll shoot. Should I charge for the time that I was there, or not the whole amount?
Tough call. This sounds like your 1 client in a part time side venture. In theory you should get paid but I'd let it slide unless it was in your contract.... Is a 45 min hrly rate worth losing a client over?
That's a good point- I think I'm going to let it slide. I don't shoot youth sports so much, so I'd rather not lose a client that always comes back for more.
Thanks for the help to both of you! If anyone else has anything to add I'd love to hear it.
This is a bit more than $5 an hour but I see your point.
I've been lucky to have a bunch of well paying jobs at a young age, I don't know how because a bunch of my friends work for minimum wage. It must be my charm
First, your time is money. I feel your client should compensate you for at least 1 hr of your time. I do not know what kind of relationship you have with your client, but, I would call him back and discuss about your lost time. Use courtesy and professionalism and he will give you the extra respect you deserve. Good luck.
What was his tone on the phone when you called him after the cancellation? Apologetic? I'm just curious about that. Not that it would have a bearing because I think you should just drop it and move on, but I'm just wondering what the sentiment was on the phone after the fact.
Don't feel bad, I was half way to an AHL game when I found out it was cancelled. No one called or e-mailed. Something made me check the team website from the road, which is how I found out. Thankfully it was before I made it to the bridge, so all that was lost was time and fuel.
Congratulations on your success so far! Awesome!
You did the right thing. No way I would have charged him.
Keep a good attitude, provide great customer service(the occasional slide for an oversight on a valued customers part) and you're golden forever.
but I see your point.