Track Day Photgrapher Issue
Discussion
Hi All
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I'm just looking for a bit of advice.
I attended a track day at the weekend, and bought a CD of photos for the day from the track photographer for £20, with my partner buying another one for his car for another £20.
I had 9 odd pics on there of my car, so not bad for £2 a photo.
I checked their website today and it appears that there's 6 extra photos that were of my car that weren't on the CD.
I emailed the guy with this:
"I have just been looking on the website, at the pictures of my car and it seems I did not get all of them on the CD I paid £20.00 for.
My car is the green MX5, T*** RWV.There is 14 pictures on the website, however on the CD I paid for I only have 9 pictures.
Can I get another CD burned free of charge with all the pictures on and posted to my address?"
He responded:
"Not a problem. Please return the CD you purchased on the day to [his address]
If you have indeed been short changed I will reburn your CD and return it with your postage costs. Please enclose a short note of explanation and your address.
For future reference, please take note that what you purchase on the day is the cut off point, If I venture forth unto the track of hell again risking life & limb to photograph drivers attending the event and place them on my website at a later date and you then find more photographs, I'm afarid you're gonna have to pay for them. The chances are that this was not explained to you on Saturday and this is why I'm being the charming person that I am by checking your disk."
I thought that was a bit off, so I replied:
"I will get the CD in the post tomorrow. My paypal account is the same as this address, so please email me or call me on *** once you have postage costs.
The CD will have my partner's car on it too - for some reason the guy at the computer was faffing around alot and seemed to get both cars on the same disc. Don't worry he did another one and we got charged twice anyway.
I don't think we will be buying the photo cd on the day again. We wanted them as a momento of our first track day, but as you can tell the experience hasn't gone entirely gone well.
We were given the misrepresentation that all photos were to be on the disc, hence why we bought them.
And no, I don't believe it was explained to us about buying further photos later on on the website if any more were found. If we do want a CD again, I think we will be buying from the website from now on."
Reading it again, it comes across as a lot more baulchier than I had wanted it too.
He replied:
"I am really sorry that you feel you have been cheated in some way.
You are the first customer to have complained in any way about my photography service. The guy "faffing" around is my son and thought that as you were together you would want both sets of pictures on one disk. You weren't charged twice you were charged once for both sets of photographs which should have been £40, £20 each disk. This is my hobby not my job so I would rather you decided not to purchase from me in future, either on the day or from the website. I will add the extra photographs to your disk and have refunded your money, minus the postage charge(1.22)(38.78)."
Now, I feel really bad for being so b
hy, and I'm just looking for an opinion - Am I in the wrong, or is he being entirely unprofessional?
I didn't even want a refund, I am pefectly happy with everything else, I just want the rest of my pictures that I didn't know I had?
I am willing to accept a flaming for this if need be, I'm just really confused?!
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, but I'm just looking for a bit of advice.
I attended a track day at the weekend, and bought a CD of photos for the day from the track photographer for £20, with my partner buying another one for his car for another £20.
I had 9 odd pics on there of my car, so not bad for £2 a photo.
I checked their website today and it appears that there's 6 extra photos that were of my car that weren't on the CD.
I emailed the guy with this:
"I have just been looking on the website, at the pictures of my car and it seems I did not get all of them on the CD I paid £20.00 for.
My car is the green MX5, T*** RWV.There is 14 pictures on the website, however on the CD I paid for I only have 9 pictures.
Can I get another CD burned free of charge with all the pictures on and posted to my address?"
He responded:
"Not a problem. Please return the CD you purchased on the day to [his address]
If you have indeed been short changed I will reburn your CD and return it with your postage costs. Please enclose a short note of explanation and your address.
For future reference, please take note that what you purchase on the day is the cut off point, If I venture forth unto the track of hell again risking life & limb to photograph drivers attending the event and place them on my website at a later date and you then find more photographs, I'm afarid you're gonna have to pay for them. The chances are that this was not explained to you on Saturday and this is why I'm being the charming person that I am by checking your disk."
I thought that was a bit off, so I replied:
"I will get the CD in the post tomorrow. My paypal account is the same as this address, so please email me or call me on *** once you have postage costs.
The CD will have my partner's car on it too - for some reason the guy at the computer was faffing around alot and seemed to get both cars on the same disc. Don't worry he did another one and we got charged twice anyway.
I don't think we will be buying the photo cd on the day again. We wanted them as a momento of our first track day, but as you can tell the experience hasn't gone entirely gone well.
We were given the misrepresentation that all photos were to be on the disc, hence why we bought them.
And no, I don't believe it was explained to us about buying further photos later on on the website if any more were found. If we do want a CD again, I think we will be buying from the website from now on."
Reading it again, it comes across as a lot more baulchier than I had wanted it too.
He replied:
"I am really sorry that you feel you have been cheated in some way.
You are the first customer to have complained in any way about my photography service. The guy "faffing" around is my son and thought that as you were together you would want both sets of pictures on one disk. You weren't charged twice you were charged once for both sets of photographs which should have been £40, £20 each disk. This is my hobby not my job so I would rather you decided not to purchase from me in future, either on the day or from the website. I will add the extra photographs to your disk and have refunded your money, minus the postage charge(1.22)(38.78)."
Now, I feel really bad for being so b
hy, and I'm just looking for an opinion - Am I in the wrong, or is he being entirely unprofessional?I didn't even want a refund, I am pefectly happy with everything else, I just want the rest of my pictures that I didn't know I had?
I am willing to accept a flaming for this if need be, I'm just really confused?!
I'd have given him a call, far easier to gauge if he is being bolshy when listening to him. Emails are difficult to gauge tone.
I'd give the guy chance to cool down, you too and ring him tomorrow, explain you did not mean it negatively and would it be as easy for him to just email you the additonal pics over, then you can burn them on. You may find him receptive, or he may be a comlete cockhead in whihc case you'll feel better about it all.
I'd give the guy chance to cool down, you too and ring him tomorrow, explain you did not mean it negatively and would it be as easy for him to just email you the additonal pics over, then you can burn them on. You may find him receptive, or he may be a comlete cockhead in whihc case you'll feel better about it all.
I unfortunately only had an email address, but I suppose I could have emailed asking for a number.
This was my response to the last email after the refund:
"I'm sorry if I have offended you, as I did not intend to, and I apologise for the blunt reply as I feel that was the way you came across in your previous email.
Your photography was beautiful on the day, and I am thankful it was captured, however I just wish I had known about the extra photos previously, then I would have purchased on the website.
I appreciate the gesture of the refund, but I do wish to buy from you again, just perhaps from the site next time. However if you do not wish for our custom further, then I respect your decision and I will not.
I apologise once again that this has turned alot more sour than I had wished it too."
He hasn't replied, so I will just send the CD tomorrow, and just resign myself to not getting any more track day photos
This was my response to the last email after the refund:
"I'm sorry if I have offended you, as I did not intend to, and I apologise for the blunt reply as I feel that was the way you came across in your previous email.
Your photography was beautiful on the day, and I am thankful it was captured, however I just wish I had known about the extra photos previously, then I would have purchased on the website.
I appreciate the gesture of the refund, but I do wish to buy from you again, just perhaps from the site next time. However if you do not wish for our custom further, then I respect your decision and I will not.
I apologise once again that this has turned alot more sour than I had wished it too."
He hasn't replied, so I will just send the CD tomorrow, and just resign myself to not getting any more track day photos
In answer to your final question: Yes you are.
He replied to your Email rectifiying the situation for no additional cost and you felt the need to email him again going on at him like you wanted him to sent a pot of his blood as well?
Well ok, Not quiet but you get what I mean,
If he had of emailed back the first time telling you B00llox then your second email was called for, He didnt so it wasn't.
A simple thanks ill get them in the post would have sufficed IMO.
He replied to your Email rectifiying the situation for no additional cost and you felt the need to email him again going on at him like you wanted him to sent a pot of his blood as well?
Well ok, Not quiet but you get what I mean,
If he had of emailed back the first time telling you B00llox then your second email was called for, He didnt so it wasn't.
A simple thanks ill get them in the post would have sufficed IMO.
As its been said before, emails can be hard to judge the tone but in my mind he is being a bit of a tt with the attitude towards you. I am a full time photographer and wouldn't dream of responding to your first email like that. He should have just apologised and said heres another disc with all the images on. Costs 20c for a disc and the reality of you buying a pic now is gone. The life and limb bs... Drama queen!! No matter how what tone you feel the customer is giving you, you shouldn't rise to it, (not straight away at least), he should have just replied nicely the first time. Now if it had got a bit silly at this point then maybe, but his first email was out of line. Unfortunetly he has just lost your custom for life, you never know what you might have sent his way down the line.
t with the attitude towards you. I am a full time photographer and wouldn't dream of responding to your first email like that. He should have just apologised and said heres another disc with all the images on. Costs 20c for a disc and the reality of you buying a pic now is gone. The life and limb bs... Drama queen!! No matter how what tone you feel the customer is giving you, you shouldn't rise to it, (not straight away at least), he should have just replied nicely the first time. Now if it had got a bit silly at this point then maybe, but his first email was out of line. Unfortunetly he has just lost your custom for life, you never know what you might have sent his way down the line.Turbo cab said:
In answer to your final question: Yes you are.
He replied to your Email rectifiying the situation for no additional cost and you felt the need to email him again going on at him like you wanted him to sent a pot of his blood as well?
Well ok, Not quiet but you get what I mean,
If he had of emailed back the first time telling you B00llox then your second email was called for, He didnt so it wasn't.
A simple thanks ill get them in the post would have sufficed IMO.
Fair enough, I appreciate what you're saying. I feel really annoyed with myself now! I hate feeling like this, I don't like complaining anyway, and when I do it I always balls it up!He replied to your Email rectifiying the situation for no additional cost and you felt the need to email him again going on at him like you wanted him to sent a pot of his blood as well?
Well ok, Not quiet but you get what I mean,
If he had of emailed back the first time telling you B00llox then your second email was called for, He didnt so it wasn't.
A simple thanks ill get them in the post would have sufficed IMO.
I think I will accept I'm in the wrong here, and yes he won't be getting my custom but it sounds like he'll be getting enough anyway. All I've done is screw myself out of getting any further track day pics taken should I go to the same place again!
Edited by CatfishCKY on Monday 29th March 23:35
CatfishCKY said:
All I've done is screw myself out of getting any further track day pics taken should I go to the same place again!
Does this guy have a contract as the sole photographer at the track? Sounds very professional for someone who says they do it as a hobby! You can always try other trackdays using other TDO's and,ideally, at other tracks. That's when the £££'s start to burn away...
jt racing said:
As its been said before, emails can be hard to judge the tone but in my mind he is being a bit of a tt with the attitude towards you. I am a full time photographer and wouldn't dream of responding to your first email like that. He should have just apologised and said heres another disc with all the images on. Costs 20c for a disc and the reality of you buying a pic now is gone. The life and limb bs... Drama queen!! No matter how what tone you feel the customer is giving you, you shouldn't rise to it, (not straight away at least), he should have just replied nicely the first time. Now if it had got a bit silly at this point then maybe, but his first email was out of line. Unfortunetly he has just lost your custom for life, you never know what you might have sent his way down the line.
And thank you for your comments, Jt - I did feel it was a bit odd of him to be coming out with all that, but maybe I should not have been the one to rise to it in the first place. t with the attitude towards you. I am a full time photographer and wouldn't dream of responding to your first email like that. He should have just apologised and said heres another disc with all the images on. Costs 20c for a disc and the reality of you buying a pic now is gone. The life and limb bs... Drama queen!! No matter how what tone you feel the customer is giving you, you shouldn't rise to it, (not straight away at least), he should have just replied nicely the first time. Now if it had got a bit silly at this point then maybe, but his first email was out of line. Unfortunetly he has just lost your custom for life, you never know what you might have sent his way down the line.I am emailing him now asking if emailing the pictures will be easy, I am thinking about offering his money back too, I really wasn't asking for a refund!
Nemesis, very nice way of putting it and definitely more the way I like to do things! I can't do confrontation - being civil is my best quality lol
GarrettMacD, I'm not sure whether he is contracted to them or not - but they had the banners up for them on the day, which seemed a professional quality.
We have got the TD bug for sure, we're planning to do more - I'm also planning to scare my friend silly in my car as she was upset about not going last time!
GarrettMacD, I'm not sure whether he is contracted to them or not - but they had the banners up for them on the day, which seemed a professional quality.
We have got the TD bug for sure, we're planning to do more - I'm also planning to scare my friend silly in my car as she was upset about not going last time!
Speaking as a photographer, if the images were good enough to put on his website then they are certainly good enough to put on a CD for you.
If they weren't sharp photographs and more blurry then I could understand him not giving you those photos as it makes him look bad but the fact they are on his website makes me think that he wasn't ashamed of them.
What track is it by the way?
If they weren't sharp photographs and more blurry then I could understand him not giving you those photos as it makes him look bad but the fact they are on his website makes me think that he wasn't ashamed of them.
What track is it by the way?
Edited by peterattheboro on Monday 29th March 23:51
peterattheboro said:
Speaking as a photographer, if the images were good enough to put on his website then they are certainly good enough to put on a CD for you.
If they weren't sharp photographs and more blurry then I could understand him not giving you those photos as it makes him look bad but the fact they are on his website makes me think that he wasn't ashamed of them.
What track is it by the way?
Well thats the thing, I have one blurry photo on the CD, but the others I didn't get which are on the website seem fine? They didn't appear to be in the folder when the bloke put them on the CD, so maybe they hadn't finished sorting through them - however I wish I had never bought them on the day now!If they weren't sharp photographs and more blurry then I could understand him not giving you those photos as it makes him look bad but the fact they are on his website makes me think that he wasn't ashamed of them.
What track is it by the way?
I was trying to avoid posting the track name, as other PH'ers may have been there and may know the photographer I am talking about, and I don't want to ruin his reputation simply by my personal experiences - others may have not experienced the same!
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