Rude, angry client...

[Chocoholix]

Have you ever dealt with a very rude and angry client? What did you do?
I was contacted a few months ago by this lady who wanted not only her babies photographed but also to buy a photo shoot for a friend who was giving birth soon, as a gift.

I explained my situation (I have two special needs 5 year olds and support and care for my father who has cancer and is in therapy and lives with us) and that I am a little slow these days with my turnaround. She seemed ok with it.

I went to her place and they are not the "warm" people, you know...whereas I am very open, warm, friendly and like to spend time to befriend the kids first so they open up to me... their toddler only smiled once during the entire session. They seemed very on edge and to verge of being unfriendly but ok, I chalked up to nerves. Not everyone is loosey goosey infront of the camera, right?

The whole time I was there, they were talking how they would have another photographer do their son's christening over and over again... Ok I got it, I won't get any ideas in my head that you might be long time customers or that I would even tell you about my christening prices/package... I just smiled politely and didn't say a thing other than "oh how nice you have found someone you love to photograph such a special event!!".

Anyway, I took 4 weeks to go through the 190 photos I took of them. We agreed that only 50 digital copies were included in the price... She mailed many, many times each being ruder and ruder...and in her final e-mail she was really rude and angry to me even calling me un-professional, a fraud and other things. (at this point I had already sent her several pics via e-mail as samples and to pass around until I finished the rest).

I apologized many times and explained my situation again... btw I only charge $120 for my time and 50 digital copies and only $1.5 for each additional photo they want to pick... when another photographer of my calliber locally charges $100 for a consultation and then $28 per ONE photo they wish to buy.

In the end to please her, I gave her all 198 photos plus a posh flipbook plus two digital albums... she didn't even mail to say thank you .. only thing she said was the clothes *she* had picked for her son were not nice after all and I should have told her so during the photoshoot (but I am too shy to tell people what to wear I'm afraid).

Ok so about 45 days after she bought the coupon, I got a call from her friend, she had given birth and wanted to do the shoot.
We arranged that, and I again told them I am a little slow and told them in about 4 weeks... I took 5 1/2 weeks to finish because last week was Easter so I didn't work.

I got an e-mail from the first lady last night and she was even worse this time, again calling me names and telling me how un-professional I am... again I gave the couple the full package for free (instead of 50, 138 photos plus flipbook) because I felt bad.. The couple themselves were very nice...it was the other lady who bought the coupon that was really nasty... she didn't even ask if something had happened with my children or my father (who was indeed hospitalized for a few days in between all that).

I know I am at fault here... I should have kept my delivery times more strictly but I was taken aback because I have never dealt with anyone screaming at me like that... I was all apologies :( I have taken a blow.. I am not the most confident person and now I wonder if I am even fit to do this with my home situation...

How long would you say a photographer takes to return the finished product? Is 4-5 weeks too long?
Did you ever deal with a customer like that? How did you handle it??

I have done about 20 shoots in a year, everyone was happy... except her and another lady last year who ended up not even paying me the rest of the money we had agreed on because I couldn't complete an album she had wanted in time and when I did complete it and send it, she said she never received it in the mail (??)

Thanks in advance for your advice and sorry this is a little long... I feel SO bad right now :(

[gturner]

Money back, images in the bin.
Sorry, I have no time for unreasonable people.

[fofazoju]

Ugh some people are just mean. Did you hint at all that it could be 4-5 weeks, or did you just say "it may be a while". If you stated that it could be in the realm of 4 weeks than no, you did nothing wrong. If you said "well it could be a while" than it is a grey area; what is "a while"?

To me, 4-5 weeks is a bit much - I can edit in about 5-7 hours or so - coming back to them every so often over the span of a week with fresh eyes. But with extenuating circumstances, 4 - 5 weeks could be OK?

Bottom line though, they were just mean and I wouldn't feel too bad about it. It is done and you won't have to deal with them anymore. Try not to stress about it - people like that are never satisfied not matter WHAT you do.

[graciousness]

You really don't need that kind of crap from people. Seriously, just accept the fact that you can't please everyone, esp if they're related to Godzilla, and if you know that you've done everything that you can for this client, then clear your mind off it. You really do have better things to worry about than that witch's brew

I know how difficult it is to have cancer in your family. My goodness, I hope you are coping as well as you can and getting the support that you need. Please don't worry about others at the moment - you really do have more important things on your plate right now. Don't let people like that take up anymore of your mental and emotional space as you need all the energy you have to concentrate on your family. Don't deal with her now (or ever, really) as you are physically, mentally and emotionally pre-occupied and sensitive at this time.

In regards to setting up client's expectations, if you had told them right from the beginning and set up the timeline for the photos (which it seems to me you have), then you know that you have done right as a professional in setting up expectation. If you had them sign a contract which also outlines the delivery time for the photos, then you've done things properly.

You've done more than enough, I think, to compensate for the delays. Now it's time for you to take a deep breath and let it go. And don't deal with that woman again. Not worth it.

[kelleyrie]

Sometimes people are just mean! If you were upfront about the amount of time it would take to deliver the images then you've done your part. You did your best to make it right and that's all you can do. You can't please everyone unfortunately and I think it's time to walk away.
Also I learned from working at a customer service desk for four years that certain types of people will say/do anything to get 'a better deal' even if there is no true fault in the product/service.

[Chocoholix]

No I said specifically although I try to be fast, and do it in two weeks, they can expect a time-wait of 4 weeks and if anything comes up, I will let them know (I did say with the Easter holiday coming, it might be longer because my boys are out of school for two whole weeks so I have zero time to work when they are off school- both have special needs).

So I did say 4 weeks specifically and ok with the Easter holiday in the middle, I took one extra week and 3 days...

[utsuri]

I work in optical retail and sometimes a customer's job is late. People have forgotten that you can get more with honey than with vinegar and we are always nicer to customers who are nice to us. Yes, if you are rude and nasty you might get 10% back, but if you are nice when things run late, we'll give you that 10% and change and maybe some free stuff too. And make sure your glasses look better than the nasty person's. I actually had a customer make me cry once and it irked me so bad... I was super stressed at the time (finals at school, planning a wedding and a sick grandfather) so it sent me over the edge and I determined that I was never going to take that again. I hung up on her.
Anyway, back to topic. It sounds like she was being mean to be mean. The mail is pretty trustworthy these days; I'm sure she was looking for something else that was free. She probably figured she could take advantage of you since you are by yourself and have other needs (your children need to be watched too as well as your father!). I learned yesterday that having a written contract with paying customers is vital- maybe that would help next time with an angry customer? You would have something to fall back on: "Hey I TOLD you it would take me 4 weeks and you SIGNED this piece of paper saying that was ok. Now only 2 weeks into the contract it suddenly isn't?" While going to court over this seems like a stretch, I know in America it really isn't with some people, so that way you're covered.

[Rentham]

Okay, hopefully I don't sound like too much of a jerk with this reply. I can certainly empathize with your situation. But...

If it is taking you more than a month to turn around less than 200 images, are you really in a position to be accepting assignments right now? You're charging less than your competition, and now you've twice given away stuff for free because you couldn't meet already extended deadlines. According to your original post a third client didn't even pay their balance because of a missed deadline.

In a market as saturated as photography, things like customer service make a huge difference. What could you have done to make this lady happy? Probably nothing. But because you took the assignments, knowing you already have little time to dedicate to your photography business, you compounded the problem. Now you're left with an unhappy client who, by the sound of it, will be more than willing to smear your name far and wide.

I'm in no position to tell someone how to run their business. But sometimes doing nothing is exactly the right thing. If you don't count on photography to provide for your family, maybe put client assignments on the back burner until you have more time to dedicate to them. Work on some personal projects, etc. Trading a few bucks for a pissed off client is a bad deal. Your business will be better served in the long run by avoiding them altogether and taking a pass on no-win situations.

All that being said, this lady sounds mean spirited. Those kind of people are gross. Sorry you had to deal with it. Hope everything turns out okay for you.

[JOHNNY inside]

Well, you know what... as graciousness said: feel right about all the things you did because you made it ok! Now it's time to focus on your family and future prospects (hopefully better than this b*tch).

By the way, how is your family right now (this can be replied through PM-private message)?

[Biomech]

I agree with Utsuri and Chocoholix, from my time working in customer service (face to face IT) I came to the conclusion that the customer is not always right - not at all.

90% of the time the customer is wrong, the other 10% of the time they are lying.

And it really is true. I think the turn around for your work is quite long, things like weddings can be ages (I did one with a 4 month turnaround!) - as, even after the initial post processing and photo album design, the bespoke album manufacturers turnaround can be 2 months! (Queensbury Albums).

Photography is heavily a service products so you need to aim to over achieve in this area. Prompt responses, timings, communication etc. - and above all else, honesty. I think this woman is being unreasonable and she certainly shouldn't have been having any kind of input in regards to her friends job - if her friend had a problem then it's up to her to bring it up.

So true that if you're a dick, you won't get anywhere. If you're nice, I'll give you the world.