Booked photographer from Groupon, read reviews etc and all good.
Met up and he was lovely and really felt that he would do a good job, explained what photos we really wanted and where we wanted them taking etc and to not mention the word "parents" as H2B mum wasnt going.
Text message at 10.15am morning of the wedding to myself and my H2B to say he was ill and was sending someone else but he wouldnt be there till 12ish (wedding at 1pm) - great - burst into tears as I really wanted him there for the bridal prep.
Got to the church - no photos taken with myself and the bridesmaids or my dad or getting out the car etc, got into the church and throughout the whole service was in everyones faces taking photos - even moving my brother out of the way who was doing the video of the vows for me - then put a massive spotlight on everyone.
He had had no brief at all about what photos we wanted and we found ourselves directing him all day - his english was not great which was another barrier, we havent got any where near what photos we wanted, we had to get him to the venue as he had arrived at the church in a taxi and couldnt get to the venue. Kept shouting "parents, parents to the front" - photographed the first dance then left - he was supposed to set up a back drop and take photos till 10.30 (he left at 9 after we brought the first dance forward for him so he could get a taxi home).
I messaged the guy we had the contract with on the tuesday following the wedding to see whether he was ok and what happens now, he messaged me back "you will get your discs within 2 weeks"
Its now been over 2 weeks and he is not replying to any messages?
Should we be worried?
CommentAuthoralmost a year wife!!
I'd be chasing this up... Really, he should come an see you and speak to you and explain what went wrong and this random guy clearly didn't have a clue what he was doing...
Ill marry my hero
CommentAuthorVelcro
sounds like he's taken the pi$$ tbh, you didn't receive the service you paid for, for a start! I'd get my photo's then try to claim some, if not all of the money back.
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthorVictoriaL46
edited
Keep chasing. The photographer has not lived up to their end of the contract regarding what was agreed. Make sure you have a copy of your contract and go through it with a fine toothed comb as well as collect together any correspondence you have had via email/letter/text that ironed out what exactly you were paying for and how the whole thing was suppose to unfold.
If I were you (and I hope it doesn't go this far) I would already be starting to look into getting some of my money back. The problem here though is the actual purchase was made through Groupon so this is going to be a drawn out process where Groupon and this photographer are going to pass the buck on each other regarding responsibility of payment. Keep trying to get ahold of this photographer and if he continues to avoid responding state you're taking it further then reach out to Groupon, again keep all correspondence and if nothing gets sorted out you may have have to contact your wedding insurer (which this may not be covered by since the purchase was made through a 3rd party) and see what can be done. If necessary you may have to take legal action.
Met in Nov 2005
Engaged 13th June 2013
Becomes Mrs Stewart on 10th Aug 2015 Honeymoon in Florida!
My Diary Thread: My Alice in Wonderland Wedding Diary
CommentAuthorLoopyLou
Definitely be chasing this up. Granted I would be furious from the start, the fact he texted instead of calling (unless he could speak or something) and then changes your schedule and leaves out pictures that you wanted. I understand that the fill in photographer was just that, a fill in, but he should of been fully informed on what you wanted and not to just do as he pleases. I really hope you have some good pictures from this guy xxx
I would contact Groupon - they take incidents like that seriously and will do a lot of the chasing up for you. Remember they may have put many people their way (or have many people that would want to) and so they have a bit better position to take up your dispute. If I remember right its done through their customer services. Keep all contacts you have had with them to give groupon the maximum ammunition to fight your corner for you. Best of luck xx
CommentAuthornikki40
Thanks everyone - thought I might be being a bit pushy.
We are going to sue him for breech of contract (once we get the photos etc) and try and reclaim some money back but at the minute I just want a reply even if its to say its going to be longer.
Will keep you updated - If we havent recieved a reply to the latest message by 6pm I am phoning him!
CommentAuthorLoopyLou
Good luck, will keep everything crossed for you that all comes out good in the end :) x
CommentAuthorVelcro
part of me is wondering as because it was groupon, he pretty much took the money, bunged a mate a few quid then went off to do something else that was full price?
All the best hun! I really hope the pictures you get are good.
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthornikki40
He has just had another offer on groupon - think once I submit a complaint they may not use him again but we will see what happens x
CommentAuthorWelshBrideBethan2015
Chase him up as it was your day and they should of made it easy for pics and vid I really hope it all works out x
Somehow always connected , finally became friends .
Friends became soul mates :)
Engaged 6th July 2013
<3 <3 Married my best friend 11/7/2015 <3 <3
CommentAuthorAprilS61
Oh that's such a shame and not very professional! I hope the photos turn out ok when you do finally get them. Interested to see what happens next! Good luck x
Mr & Mrs Swan 04/04/15
CommentAuthorLoopyLou
Thats what i was thinking Velcro that he got another job at full price. It sucks that it happened and if he was gonna jump at a full price job when it comes along he probably shouldn't bother with the offer as it just causes issues :( x
CommentAuthornikki40
So, tried ringing last night - no answer, sent a rather stern text - no reply. Sent an email this morning and just had a reply, basically didnt even say hi, or apologise for not getting back to me or anything just said he had been ill again but that someone would be sending the disc out but he is also off sick today! I am in bits, all I want is for the photos to arrive no matter now that he didnt do what I wanted I will have to draw a line under that and move on I just want my photos.
I am seriously thinking about just going to his studio and picking the disc up rather than listen to more and more excuses when it doesnt arrive :(
CommentAuthornikki40
I really hope he is reading this thread and thinking "what a sh@t I have been"
CommentAuthorSazzell23
OMG I am quite worried for you that the pictures will never materialise. Definitely get down to the studio hun! Is the studio at his home or is it a shop?x
CommentAuthornikki40
there are a couple of addresses and it does say studio just dont know. I have replied to his email asking whether we can go over this evening and pick the disc up - if he has nothing to hide then he should say yes.
He promised us 2 discs - 1 B & W 1 Colour now he is down to disc - singular! The stand in never stopped all day taking photos so I expect alot of photos!
CommentAuthorVelcro
If you have it all in writing then he has to provide two discs as described
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthornikki40
Finally after no communication, no answering the phone we have our "disc" - 959 photos on there.
Wow I hear you say thats a lot of photos - well not really, not when you consider that most of them are duplicated so that takes it down to under 500, 50% of those left have one of us with our eyes closed, approx 50 photos of my dad/husband/best man's faces whilst they are doing their speeches none of the guests reactions. And the rest, all I can say is that a 3 year old would have done a better job, no soft focus, no touch up, no photo shop.
Hubby said to me last night how are you going to find 50 to put in an album - I am lucky if we can find 20.
So I am now going to write a very strongly worded letter to Groupon, wait for my album and then I am going to write another to him.
Very disappointed but I am not going to let it ruin a perfect day - hindsight is a wonderful thing
CommentAuthorMrsCross2be
O no thats rubbish :( I assume none of them can be touched up using ph0t0sh0p or anything?
CommentAuthornikki40
I am hoping they can - just need someone who is savy with a computer to do it :(
CommentAuthorWelshbride
Hi - I am so sorry to hear about your terrible time with your photographer.
I don't know if it will help you but there is a offer on some photo software at the moment. I bought it myself yesterday but have not tried it out yet, but have other products of thiers which are very good.
I'll write it on your wall - they have a free version too which you could try out and see if it any good for you.
I hope you can do some editing yourself and get some pics you are happy with :)
Also - is it worth puttting some feelers out on the book of face and getting guests to send you ones they took ?
CommentAuthorElinor Claire
That's such a shame. I hope you can get the photos edited. I would definitely sue the guy. Even if he was genuinely ill he should have passed the work on to a suitably skilled substitute and made sure that he was properly briefed.
30th August 2014 was the best birthday ever.
It was the day that I became Mrs. Dixon.
CommentAuthornikki40
I agree Elinor - gonna email groupon now and book an apt with a solicitor as well.
thanks welshbride - everyone has already put their photos on for me and there are some good ones but alot are the same unfortunately,
someone in work is also going to have a look to see if there is anything they can do, even its to soften them.
thanks for your replies x
CommentAuthorbarbie86
I'm really sorry to hear this :-(
I'll be honest: to me it sounds like a scam. This guy acts as the front man, with no intentions of showing up, and then sends some else, possibly not even a professional, in his place. I would always be really wary of Groupon for anything like this, and I would definitely write to them. They may well have had other complaints, so the sooner they stop using this guy, the better.
Re the album, definitely see if you can edit any of them. Maybe also play around with black and white, as that can sometimes improve things. Also, ask friends and family to share their photos with you; I'm sure plenty of people will have taken photos and again, with a bit of cropping and editing they might well be album-worthy :-)
CommentAuthorVelcro
i agree with barbie, what an utter ar$e hole. Im really sorry this has happened, the photos are the one physical thing you can kee tp look back on you day ):
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthorVictoriaL46
Oh sweet I am so sorry this has happened to you. Definately get in touch with friends and family and see if anyone has any photos they can share with you. Hopefully that will help.
Met in Nov 2005
Engaged 13th June 2013
Becomes Mrs Stewart on 10th Aug 2015 Honeymoon in Florida!
My Diary Thread: My Alice in Wonderland Wedding Diary
CommentAuthorlala "mod" bunni
Welsh bride could you pop the link to the software on my wall please
nikki40 - I really hope you can get some compensation. Good luck with the editing - as others have said sometime s a bit of cropping and changing to black and white can do wonders.
CommentAuthorAprilS61
Aw I'm so sorry that it's not the news you/we wanted and tat this has happened to you. I must say though you have a fantastic attitude towards your poor service, in the sense that it hasn't ruined your day and that you are now married nevertheless! I really hope group0n take it further and something is done about this company. Shocking x
Mr & Mrs Swan 04/04/15
CommentAuthornikki40
edited
Hi guys, well we received a full refund from grouP0n today and they are not using him and have closed down his offers so a small victory but he is advertising his deals now on the book of face. No money in the world is going to give me back my day with a good photographer but I am still not going to let him ruin my memories
Please remember brides and grooms to be, if you are taking any kind of deal from a supplier make sure that should you be let down on the day you have a back up plan, ask your supplier to put in your contract what they would do in an emergency and make triple sure before your big day that you have final meetings to discuss everything. Make sure they write your requirements down to be easily passed on should the need arise but most importantly no matter what happens on the day just remember why your getting married and don't let it spoil it . Xx
CommentAuthor*KelBel*
That's horrendous, at least you have your money back. Is there any way you could arrange to do another shoot in a local park or anything with another photographer, get back in your dress etc, get some decent photos of u and hubby x
Velcro...my wedding day twinny! The Two Kel's!
Got engaged 14/10/12 in Central Park NYC!
Became Mrs Macdonald 13th September 2014
Mummy to 4 girlies and baby blue boy Due 10/05/2016
CommentAuthorVictoriaL46
I am really glad you got your money back but I am so sorry that you have suffered as a result of it :(
Met in Nov 2005
Engaged 13th June 2013
Becomes Mrs Stewart on 10th Aug 2015 Honeymoon in Florida!
My Diary Thread: My Alice in Wonderland Wedding Diary
CommentAuthorAprilS61
Horrible for you to be in that sitation but really pleased you got a FULL refund! Pleased that group0n were so helpful at least. Kel's idea is good - could you redo parts in your dress for some photos? x
Mr & Mrs Swan 04/04/15
CommentAuthorWelshBrideBethan2015
So pleased you got full refund :) Could you do some re do shots like Kel suggested and maybe something different as in shots that you wouldn't want to have done on day due to risk of dirt to dress ?
Somehow always connected , finally became friends .
Friends became soul mates :)
Engaged 6th July 2013
<3 <3 Married my best friend 11/7/2015 <3 <3
CommentAuthorCharlotteE98
What a horrible experience :o( I'm so glad you got a full refund though :o) How did you get on with getting pictures together for your album?
CommentAuthorLacieH97
Hiya, I've booked a groupon deal through grace studios in Bristol. Do you have the name of the photographer please? I get married 3 weeks today!! Xx
CommentAuthornikki40
Hi LacieH - its not that one, the one I had is based in Manchester. Please do make sure that you check with them before the big day, please find out what their back up plan is should the photographer become ill and not able to make it (this is not just for deals but for everyone)- if they advise that they would send another one then you need to check their work as well that it is up to scratch. Write down a list of important photos that you want so that you can hand it over to them should they loose or not have your list. Keep a detailed timeline of events should you need them for future reference, ie times and dates you have contacted the photographer. Please dont let my experience make you worry, fortunately there are lots and lots of great deals out there for wedding photographers, unfortunately I got one that was a fake but its all about being prepared for every eventuality - I wasnt but I hope that my misfortune will help others xxx