"Kristen & Sam Minardi entered into a contract for wedding photography with me on October 8th, 2015. Per their contract, they hired me for 9 hours of wedding coverage as well as an engagement session. There is no mention anywhere in the contract of a second shooter being included and/or paid for, but I do often hire one on my own, separate from the contract, as a bonus and to make the day run a little smoother for everyone involved. On their day, my second shooter was sent along with the party bus for some candid photos as well as 2-3 images of the couple in front of their home, while I photographed the details of their reception. They also specifically asked both myself and my second shooter to stay later due to their day running longer than scheduled. After their wedding, the second shooter's card was unfortunately misread on the card reader and corrupted. After attempts to recover were unsuccessful, the couple was sent their gallery of 715 photos and Kristen immediately responded with how much she loved them. I reached out via phone afterward to explain what happened with the 40 or so missing ones and what I planned to offer, even though the second shooter was never on the contract or paid for by the couple themselves. Kristen reacted by beginning to breathe very hard, seemingly hyperventilating. I explained that I was extremely sorry for the disappointment and tried to calm her down with kindness and understanding. I offered her $500 as a gesture of goodwill, even though she had not paid me for the second shooter's photos in the first place. I offered it because I just wanted her to understand that I cared and felt it was more than generous. We ended the phone call amicably, she agreed to the $500 and I promptly sent it via PayPal. I then received a phone call back from her mother who began by yelling at me that she "had a daughter who was having a nervous breakdown." This threw me off, as I believed Kristen and I had just had a decent conversation, with her accepting my monetary replacement. Her mother ranted & raved for many minutes as I tried to explain that I was very sorry but it was only just the few candids as well as 2-3 images of them in front of their home as a stop-off....it seemed as though maybe lines had been crossed and she must have thought it was many more photos from the day. I further explained that all important events had been delivered to excess: getting ready photos, first looks, portraits, family photos, 98% of their candids, wedding ceremonial moments, details, introductions, toasts, first dances, dancing photos as well as staying later to capture the food truck they'd requested. As a further gesture of goodwill, I offered a wedding album valued at $850 as well as a future shoot valued at $1000. She said that would suffice and ended the phone call. I then was made aware, from my second shooter, that her business page had just had a review left from the father of the bride stating that she had lost "all her daughter's wedding photographs." Not only is that a complete lie, it also had nothing to do with my second shooter who was nothing but professional throughout this entire situation. I called Kristen & kindly asked her to please have that review removed due to it being factually untrue. She agreed, said she didn't realize it had been left at all, apologized and reiterated how much she does love the photos she hired me for. Later that afternoon, Kristen called me back "to vent and cry" stating she just needed to talk about what had happened because she was "incredibly devastated." I reiterated my apologies and that I hoped she was enjoying the gallery of her day and reliving all the beautiful moments captured.
I was then sent a series of emails from both the bride's mother as well as the bride demanding details on how the backend of my business works: what steps I take in order to check equipment is working before a shoot, all information including names/addresses/phone numbers of everyone who had worked on the card, the timeframes it had been worked on, what I do to back up images after a session and my general overview of protocol when working. At this point, I let them know that my extremely generous offer of $500 was accepted as a gesture of goodwill and to put this behind us, even though no money was paid toward the second shooter to begin with. Then, after the money had been sent and I believed settled, I went even further above and beyond offering a family session for future use as well as a wedding album. I also offered to reshoot the few photos in front of their home if they wished for me to do so. These things were offered as a contingency for moving forward, not repeatedly rehashing an issue with something that they never even initially paid for. I also repeated my request to have the review removed from my second shooter's business page as it was 100% false. This email was sent to Kristen on October 12th, 2016 and went completely unanswered. And now, months later and right before Christmas, I received notification of a dispute on this site, asking to not only keep the $500 but also for $1800 cash. It does appear there are ulterior motives at work here, regarding the monetary request and it being so close to the holidays, which is very disappointing.
As an experienced wedding photographer, I think it's important to point out that this is the very reason wedding contracts were created: irrefutable proof as to what both parties have agreed to. Unfortunately, Mr. & Mrs. Minardi have failed to provide all information about this situation and have apparently never bothered to read the contract we both discussed and agreed to. My responsibility to respond to this unbelievably brazen request ends with a copy of the contract showing they never even paid for a second shooter or had one included in their wedding day. I also think it takes a special type of person to take the extreme generosity of someone and flip it around on them to act as though they are somehow entitled to that generosity. It's important to note that the couple are currently working with both their wedding planner as well as florist to have their wedding photographs submitted to various blogs and publications, to further prove how complete and cohesive their gallery is as well as prove how much it is being enjoyed.
The couple are owed nothing more than an apology, which has been given time & time again. Far above and beyond that, they were given $500 back of money for services they never paid for as a gesture of goodwill. Since the $500 was sent contingent upon closure and Mr. & Mrs. Minardi have decided against closure, I am requesting the money back."