Unresponsive photographer paid in full-- what would you do?: Update in comments!

At this point I honestly just want my money back so I can find a photographer that will gladly do their job and also answer my emails. What would you all do if you were in my position?

That's insane, and makes me so upset. I'm not joking. Do you know where she lives? I would seriously just "stop by" People will often answer their door when they won't answer the phone. Dinner time is always good. I would be terrified she wasn't going to show up.

I would go to her place of business and have a polite conversation with her. If that didn't work, I would have an attorney drop her a letter requesting she contact his client.

Ah that's the bad thing about a contract.. you signed it and agreed to the terms. What does it say about her not producing the photos or communication? That really, really sucks, I'm sorry. I wouldn't just show up at her house, I would send her a certified letter or something first. Unless her photography business is ran out of her home, I would be weary of showing up at her door. I'd be afraid someone would press harassment on me, but I'm a CJ student so maybe I'm too sensitive. lol

Send her an email with very cryptic phrases, like…

"This is a formal request in writing…"

"Due to your unresponsive nature…"

"If you do not reply within 48 hours, I will assume that I need to take further measures…"

I would send a very formally written e-mail followed by a certified letter. This generally freaks people out and they assume you contacted an attorney. The bad thing about contracts is they really only do so much to protect you. Even if you went through all the hoops to get a court claim going there is no guarantee you will/would see your money ever again. If for example she has no bank accounts to garnish wages from and she moves around a lot, the court cannot force her to reimburse you. We went through this sort of mess with two renters - it was easier to cut the losses and move on in the end.

Have you tried calling? Maybe she lost her e-mail info, or got locked out of her e-mail account. I still can't get into my yahoo e-mail I had for years, and haven't been able to for years. Damn yahoo customer service says it's a mystery why I can't get back into my account.

I don't know where she lives, but I do know where her studio is and I am planning to visit her early this week (maybe Monday or Tuesday) to see if she is there. I don't know when she is actually in her studio though. There is nothing in the contract about turnaround time or communication unfortunately. It doesn't really say anything about not producing photos except that they shall be held harmless in case of emergencies and we get a refund (assuming this applies more to the wedding). My FH is planning to send her a stern email within the next few days if she still does not respond. I've been trying to be polite and firm so as not to sour the relationship if we are to continue to work together, but it is getting harder and harder. I'm pretty sure she has accounts and has been around, I see that she just posted pictures on Facebook 2 days ago. It's a lot of money and we can't really afford to swallow the loss. I have emailed her, texted her, called her and left a voicemail, and Facebook messaged her. I don't really know what else to do except to visit her studio which I will hopefully do soon. I really hope she's there so I can straighten all this out and make it clear that the way she has been treating us is simply not acceptable. Imagine the unneeded stress closer to the wedding? No thanks!

Send her a detailed email followed by a certified letter. Give her a timeframe for the engagement photos to be delivered to you, and tell her you want to have a face to face conversation after those photos are delivered to make up a calendar of expectations for the rest of your relationship with her.

What Celia said above. This is unacceptable. This is not some BM flaking out on you. This is a professional who has taken your hard earned money and has not held up her end of the bargain. You need to be firm with this person.

Thanks for the advice! If I am unable to get a hold of her, I may need to do as you have described. Her last text was on October 7th (to me) and her last email was on October 8th (to my FH), both of which said she was working on our pics and would be sending us a website with them "any day now", which we were not happy with since it took so long to just get a response from her and then she says "any day now". Well, we haven't heard from her since. I'm hoping we can still have her as our photographer if she really was working on our pics, but we need to make clear expectations of easy communication and timeframes. Thanks all! I really needed to vent and some advice. Please keep it coming and I will be sure to update you all.

Yikes, that is scary. I am so sorry you have to deal with this. Now, I get why people say not to pay upfront. Honestly, if it were me I wouldn't even want to work with her anymore. Even if she is working on your pics still, it isn't hard to respond to someone. Communication is key and it's not looking like she's very good at it or she's trying to scam you guys. I would get the pictures and my money and find someone else. If you can't get the both take your money and run. You don't need the extra stress. This isn't some photoshoot you're doing for fun, this lady is going to be in charge of all your wedding pictures. Good luck! Please keep us updated

Geez, yeah that's awful. I really hope you make progress with her. Please update us!

Hopefully she didn't just take your money and doesn't plan to follow through with the job. As someone who works for herself in a creative field, I never expect to be paid in full until the project is complete in the clients hand. Sure, a deposit is acceptable, but I never expect a client to pay everything upfront. I would go through the contract again. Definitely try to visit her studio and talk to her in person. What did the reviews say about her business? If she doesn't respond, you might have to lawyer up to get your money back.

Agree with the recommendation about writing a certified letter - but there's one more thing to mention in that letter: You have a signed contract. A contract is a LEGAL BINDING AGREEMENT that stipulates that you are giving one thing - money - in exchange for another - photos. GrayCat is right that it can be more hassle than it's worth to take her to small claims court, BUT... it is a good idea either way to remind her in writing that the contract she signed with you stipulates that she will deliver photos in exchange for money - tell her that you will take either your money back in case she has lost your photos, OR you will be happy to take the raw photos on the SD card or on a thumb drive, without any requirements for her to photoshop them, if the issue is that she cannot find the time to properly edit them.

My guess is that she either lost the SD card, accidentally over-wrote your photos with someone else's session photos, OR something has happened where she cannot find time to clean them up and edit them, and thinks she'll get around to it.

If it's the former, giving her an 'out' that will make you happy - getting your money back - may be the way to go.... by putting it into the context of the contract, and sending it registered mail, you subtly remind her that she is legally obligated to do one or the other option - return money, or deliver photos. Don't walk away just yet - but do give her explicit options, rather than open-ended questions!

Great advice Rebecca!

Thank you all for the empathy and advice! So I guess all my communications finally paid off and FH got the email last night with the website with our epics! It's weird that she said in the email she is "resending the website", since we never received an email from her, and we have both been checking our spams. I'm just relieved that she was not out to scam us. We are working with her for our STDs so once those are squared away, FH and I are definitely going to have to have a conversation with her about communication and responsiveness. Thank you all again!

Glad you got them! But still, how frustrating to have to hound her..