Still no photos! wedding 4 months ago

What does your contract say?

Mine says:

"High resolution digital files in .jpg format, to be delivered within 6-8 weeks from date of service. Photographer retains copyright and ownership of images, however, Bride & Groom will be given a written release to print and share the images"

6-12 months? Was that in your contract with them? If it wasn't in your contract, I would worry that they're just trying to delay you taking legal action. But even if it was in your contract, I agree the lack of communication would really upset me too. Just stay on them, I hope they get you your photos soon

What did your contract say in terms of turnaround time? The typical should be 2-3 months, I believe. My friend didn't get her proofs until after 7 months and didn't get the album until 1 year. That was a disaster. Your photographer sounds like a bad person, no offense. Lol.

That's crazy that they didn't even message you back or try to communicate at all. I doubt the turn around is 6-12 months, my fiances cousin got married in July and they had a book by Thanksgiving! Anyway to me it sounds like they were busy or didn't feel like getting around to it and they were avoiding it until you threatened legal action. That's crazy though! Best of luck!

I'm so upset that our contract does not list a turnaround time so now they can probably take as long as they want. I wish I would have really taken that into consideration when we signed the contract. They had great reviews and I met them at a bridal show. Communication was great until we paid them off.

:-\ You're kinda hosed if you don't have a turn around time listed in your contract. 6-12 months is definitely not typical.

Oh, then yeah, you don't have any legal action since it is not specific in your contract. They probably did that on purpose so they can be crappy on the timeline. I've never heard of that not being in a contract for a photographer.

Yeah. We're unfortunately at a loss here. It sucks. :-(

I have heard some horror stories about photographers holding images ransom. I hope you can spur the photographer to move on your pictures.

Thanks!

I would tell them that YOU'RE disappointed that it took a threat of legal action for them to engage in basic communication with you! That's ridiculous. I'm so sorry

Wow! 6-12 months is ridiculous. I agree with @Laura. All they had to do was respond to a few emails...jeez.

Yes! That is the real reason for being pissed off at this point. Yes it sucks that we didn't have the turnaround noted in the contract. But my main point is that there has been NO response communication. Also, as a professional with clients...if I know I "haven't heard from" my clients in several months I would at least check in to say hey...we'd love to get you your products. Still waiting on your selections. At least, that's what I would do as a professional.

I was able to get in touch with another couple via facebook and unfortunately they did this same thing to them a while back. They filled me in on their experience with this team which was horrifying.

You don't have to have a specific timeline in order to have a legal action. While it would help your case, it's not a must have. More than likely, a court would default to what a "reasonable time" would be to expect your photos.

I think you could make the argument that absent any specific terms listed in the contract, that it is assumed the term to apply would be the whatever the industry standard is for turn around of photos. You can do a little research for other photographers in your area to get an idea. A court would likely uphold this as a reasonable term for the contract. I would send another letter or email to this effect. You can take legal action if you need to and if they don't act, I personally would do it.

Save the email where they said 6-12 months, and every other written piece of communication you have, both sent and received. At six months, start bugging the hell out of them. Just because it wasn't in your contract doesn't mean you don't have legal recourse. If (heaven forbid) it gets to my 8-10 months and still no pictures, I would definitely seek legal action.

The lack of communication is definitely not okay. I photograph weddings on the side- and I'll tell you, Oct, Nov, weddings are the HARDEST to get done for me- because of a full time job and the holidays- it's definitely a chore to get everything edited. But that is exactly why the day after the wedding, I post 30-40 images to hold the clients over until they can get all of them.

With that being said- you are going on 5 months- and that is definitely not cool. Follow up with them and tell them that the timeline (while annoying) isn't your main concern. You would just like to be updated on the progress and possibly set a goal for completion.

Good luck!

Very helpful. Thanks for the great advice everyone. Every little bit helps

Did the other couple ever get their pictures? Once you get this settled and have all your product in hand, I would review the shit out of them on Facebook, yelp, the knot, Google and everywhere else. I would say WW, but I think a lot of ladies have had a really hard time leaving reviews on here and the vendors can dispute negative reviews and have them removed. Which is fair, but from what I read here on the boards, it seems to tilt in the vendors favor most of the time. I now take the WW reviews of "5 stars!!" with a big grain of salt.

Wow, that is really unfortunate. Stories like this make me cringe! Unfortunately, not all vendors are created equal. I would let them know that their timeline is not in line with industry standard, which you had assumed they followed. You certainly should have been made aware of the amount of time they would be taking to edit the photos so that you could have chosen another vendor if the turn around was going to be that long. No bride expects to wait a whole year to get their photos back.

At this point I would ask for the un-edited files and pay someone else to edit them for you. I wouldn't trust that they would ever finish the project or finish it well. Make arrangements for them to give you an agreed upon finishing date and let them know that you will be holding them to their word on that or else you will be forced to take further action.