Photographer Wonders If He’s Obligated To Refund Bride After Learning What A Member Of His Staff Did During Her Wedding
Sunil lodhwal | ShutterstockAn anonymous wedding photographer asked for advice on the subreddit r/WeddingPhotography after a colleague betrayed him and the newlyweds they worked with.
He found himself in an incredibly awkward situation after he discovered that another photographer he doesn't usually work with hooked up with the groom from the wedding they shot. The angry bride thinks the photographer should take full responsibility even though he had no control over what happened.
The bride wants a refund on her wedding photos after learning her new husband cheated on her with one of their wedding photographers.
The photographer explained that his usual co-photographer couldn't make it to a wedding he photographed a few months ago, so he hired someone else whom he found online with top-notch skills. They photographed the wedding, edited the pictures, and sent them over to the bride and groom after the wedding. “Everything seemed business as usual,” he reported.
Alexander Mass | Pexels
A few weeks after the wedding, he received an email from the bride. “She wanted a refund because the lady I had hired as a second shooter for the day ended up sleeping with her husband at some point after the wedding, and she also included photos from his phone to prove it,” the photographer shared.
Now, he is unsure how to go about the situation or how he should even respond to the bride. “She hired me for a job and the job was completed and [the] product was delivered,” the photographer pointed out. “But I also feel like this would be as if I were a professional dog walker who walked a client's dog, then came back and shot it later.”
While people sympathized with the woman, they noted that nothing that happened was the photographer's fault.
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The man can't do anything to punish his co-photographer from that particular day since she was a contractor who did not work for him directly. He admitted, “I really feel for this lady, but that's also a lot of money to have to give back for work that was done."
He revealed in the comments that he did confront the co-photographer, but she had a pretty flimsy excuse. At first, she denied she had been with the groom at all. However, when he showed her the photos sent to him by the bride, she claimed that he told her that he was in an “open relationship.”
Other commenters were sorry for the way things happened, but they made it clear that he wasn't to blame. “This sounds harsh, but her husband was going to cheat on her regardless of who your second shooter was. It’s not your fault that she married him,” one person commented.
“You run a business and don't offer infidelity clauses in the contract. Work done. Work delivered, obligations met. You are human and can feel remorse for others, but you are also a business,” another user wrote.
While the situation is unfortunate for the bride, it was not the photographer's fault.
His job was only to capture photographs of their wedding day, and what happens between the bride and groom after the wedding is not his responsibility nor in his control. If the groom had an affair with another guest present at the wedding, there wouldn't really be anything the bride could do.
Mohamed Weaam | Shutterstock
Actual rules regarding refunds are pretty murky since each situation is unique. The Federal Trade Commission noted that writing a complaint letter or contacting the Better Business Bureau can sometimes be effective when you're unhappy with the quality of a service you received.
But that's really where the problem lies. The bride said nothing about being upset about the actual photos. She's just mad that this co-photographer was introduced to her husband. The photographer is not accountable for their actions, though. And, if he signed some kind of contract with the couple, there is no evidence that he breached it.
Megan Quinn is a writer with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in Creative Writing. She covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on justice in the workplace, personal relationships, parenting debates, and the human experience.
