Photographer did terrible retouching on photos..please HELP!!!!?

[elton]

i purchased an expensive photoshoot from supposedly "top" photographer. He had displayed his retouched work on their site. I went in for a consult and was told he does high definition retouching (for fashion lookbooks, etc), just as displayed on their site which he can do for me. I spent almost $800 on the photoshoot and was happy with the Unretouched "proofs" i viewed prior to ordering. when i placed the order for photos for retouching i assumed (like he promised) it will be high definition retouching like in their samples which were commercial work. Upon receivng, it was hideous and did not match the standard, infact some parts were unfinished. i pointed to him and he retouched that unfinished portion but said it was a big favor and that from now on he will charge for the full price of a photo if i ask him to change anything (as if i ordered a new set, even when its the same photo). I even discussed with him that its not matching up to the price tag and its not meeting the promise he set for how the photo will look. He said Oh well and said he wont change anything on a photo he retouched unless i re-purchase that same photo again ($85). Secondly, his contract states his copyright policy, and says my shoot will come with a big gallery from which i can order from. He had different sizes for galleries and they had sold me the package with the largest gallery (costing more). Now that i want to order photos from the gallery, i contacted him and let him know Hey im planning to put in money because i like my un-edited photos but please will you be fair and retouch them to my preference? so i am satisfied and can use my photo. He told me he has decided not to let me order any photos from my proofs as he has the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. he said he feels i accused him of doing poor work and he is offended (when i asked him to please retouch them a little more). thats his reason for not allowing me to order and tht is his Final decision. i had not paid/ordered any from the proofs yet, i have already paid for the shoot that comes with the proofs/gallery and 2 retouched photos (that turned out bad and he wont fix the quality of them). now he wont answer me when i asked if he is givng me a refund if he is not letting me order from the gallery that i paid to select photos from or the bad pics?!

********* How do i proceed to resolving this matter (without law suit )? ideas for solutions? ********

is this something i can get a full refund on (even if he took my photos) considering i did not gain anything but 2 bad photos and was denied access to my gallery? this photog has been verbally abusive and has now ignored me. Is he allowed to refuse me for ordering photos when he was paid to take them for a reason, right?


**those bad retouched photos are something i cannot use as they requre more retouching and since they are copyrghted i cannot just have them retouched elsewhere and he refused to sell me the unretouched photos (which were better) nor is he allowing others to retouch the "bad" retouched photos. i have them sitiing next to the trashcan**

If any photographers have had similar situations with customers or vice versa, how did it turn out?

[darvell]

you take your right hand.. and you ***** slap him right across his face..

[caomh]

you take your right hand.. and you ***** slap him right across his face..

Sadly, this may have to go to a law suit because I doubt you'll get anything any other way.

If he got offended by your comments then he shouldn't be in any business that deals with the public.

[hanan]

Contact a lawyer, keep all correspondence you had and take him to court.

[ammi]

About the "best" thing you can do is sue him on the Judge Joe Brown show http://www.judgejoebrown.com/ Not only is he a judge, but is also a published photographer.

Luckily, I have never been in a situation like yours. I am "old school" and believe in customer service (word of mouth is still the best advertising) and my contract stipulates what editing I do for free (blemish/stray hair removal) and what I will charge extra to do.

[gillivray5]

Don't trash them yet, but sue him for the cost of the images. Explain to the judge you are willing to accept the unretouched RAW files and have a competent retoucher do the job. What you want for the award is A.) $800 or B.) The RAW files and a release to have the images retouched.

[achban]

As a photographer and business person, I take the attitude of the customer always being right, and do my best to satisfy them; if I can't (for whatever reason), I refund their money. It's better to take a loss on one job and keep your good reputation in the community than it is to fight over this.

Now, I have no idea if your requests for more/different retouching are "reasonable" or not. Retouching is a matter of taste, and taste varies -- what one person finds amazing, another might consider disgusting. That's how it is with art. For me, when I realize that a customer is being what I consider to be unreasonable, or we just have artistic tastes way too far apart, I'll discuss that with them frankly, apologize for not being able to deliver what they want, and refund their money.

If you're in the US, I would suggest filing a grievance on this with the Better Business Bureau. Even if the photographer isn't a member of the BBB, when you file a grievance they'll contact him and ask him to resolve it, and they keep track of complaints and their resolution on their web sites -- so it's a "black mark" against him if he doesn't resolve this to your satisfaction. If he still won't do anything, you can either sue in small claims court (which will take a while and be expensive, but might work out for you) or you can let it go. Just don't be childish and start smearing his name all over the internet, because that can get YOU sued.

Sorry this happened, and I hope you can get it resolved.

peace.