Re: Deposits for wedding photography are generally non-refundable, aren't they?
lisy78 wrote:
No offense, but let me start this off by saying that you\'re a putz for having accepted money and holding a date without a signed contract
That being said, I\'m going to have to disagree with the vocal majority in the thread so far.
Provided that:
1. There was an agreement between the two of you for you to shoot the wedding
2. She gave you money to hold her date
3. You gave her a contract, you say you can prove she got it.
4. Your contract clearly states the deposit is non-refundable
and furthermore, it would be a BIG benefit if there were written communication between you (email for instance) indicating the securing of the wedding date
I have ZERO doubt in my mind that you would be awarded more than the $0.00 some others suggest here.
Did I mention that you were a putz not to get a signed contract ON THE SPOT WHEN YOU COLLECTED MONEY?
That\'s a fact, and do let this serve as a lesson...
but the reality is that if the two of you ended up before an arbitrator of some sort, nobody in their right mind would presume that she is owed 100% of the money. I would put a crisp $20 that the finding would be fully in your favor, in fact (unless the arbitrator wanted to punish you for being a putz and accepting money/holding a date without a contract). It is industry standard to require non-refundable deposits for the specific purpose you mentioned: you secure a date and turn away business. All the other vendors involved in a wedding will operate in a similar manner, so this Bride is trying to pull a fast one here by saying \"if I knew it was non-refundable I wouldn\'t have booked you\" ... well maybe Uncle Bob doesn\'t expect a deposit, but I can\'t think of any professional who would reserve a full day for you in exchange for a smile and a handshake.
In your shoes I\'d do the following:
I\'d call her and explain to her the situation in clear terms: you held a date for her, you lost business, that\'s what the deposit is for, etc. etc. etc.
Then I\'d offer her this compromise:
\"As a gesture of goodwill I\'m willing to give you half your deposit back in cash, and three gift certificates worth $50 of photography time ... something you can give to family and friends as a gift, or you can use it yourself in the future\"
This makes the most sense to me. After all, what other photographer would let her hold the date without a guaranteed deposit? Nobody with even a 10th of my experience would do such a thing I\'m sure... unless they knew her personally and it was a friend-based agreement. I think, at least this is my opinion, that non-refundable deposits are industry standard for not only wedding photographers, but also most other vendors as well. It\'s ludicrous to expect a full refund of a deposit from any wedding photographer.
I think what I\'m going to do is offer her half back like you said. She\'s got to be pretty desperate to try and drag me into small claims court for the $150 remaining. And if she did, like you said, I\'m sure she won\'t get a full settlement. Even if she got an extra $50, is that worth her time to take an entire day to drive here to see me in court and all that hassle? Unless her time is only worth $5/hr.
I have such a crazy schedule, and I\'ve shot a lot of weddings yet never ran into this problem... but I will in the future make it a high priority to get a signed contract within 2 weeks of every deposit. Sometimes they do the deposit online so it\'s instant, but it can take 2 weeks to get a contract across the country, signed, and returned. I think that\'s reasonable.
I\'ve learned a lesson for sure. I\'m surprised I got along so long without running into this.
THANKS!!
May 21, 2009 at 11:04 AM
Previous versions of tcrobert's message #7099156 « Deposits for wedding photography are generally non-refundable, aren't they? »
