What to do......

[ktoopi]

Hi all

I'm finally back from all my holiday adventures....and I have a dilemma.

While in Tassie for the Sydney to Hobart, we purchased two photos of the boat each one from different photographers.
The first photo purchased we bought right at the end and it was a large display one and we got it for the bargain basement price of $20...very happy with it.

The second photo however, we purchased from another photographer......we had to choose the image from a SOOC 6x4 print and were assured that it would be worked on to bring out the best in it. All fine......when we finally received the print a few weeks later, I was quite disappointed with the print. When you look at it you can virtually see each individual dot of ink that makes up the print. I thought it was really bad digital noise at first in fact I'm still not sure what the issue is but it is certainly nowhere near the quality I expected. This photo was more than a couple of hundred dollars. Not sure how I should proceed as I think I have been ripped off. What would you do?

[Granville]

Ask for your money back. Sub standard work. If it's as noticeable as you say, Consumer Affairs wiould have no trouble supporting you, if it had to come to that.

[davsv1]

first thing to do is contact the photographer and politely and calmly state your position and why. Maybe they had nothing to do with the finished print, it might have come direct from the printer. Give them a chance to rectify the situation first. Also I think you need to be clear in your mind what you would be happy with, a reprint, a refund?????
Also how big is the print and what is it printed on?

[ktoopi]

Hi davsv1 the print itself is .....just under 9.5 inches by just over 11.5 inches and is printed on some kind of matt paper and glued onto a backing board making the total size including board just over 12.5 by exactly 10 inches.

[davsv1]

Hi davsv1 the print itself is .....just under 9.5 inches by just over 11.5 inches and is printed on some kind of matt paper and glued onto a backing board making the total size including board just over 12.5 by exactly 10 inches.

So it is quite small then really and should be able to be printed well even from a 5mp camera. And you paid over $200.00 for it, is it framed or just mounted on a board?
seems a lot of money for a smallish print. Maybe take to a printer near you and ask them if it is reasonable quality.
Sorry I can't offer anymore than contact them and find out their side of the story.

[ameerat42]

Report the photographer to the cruise co. too.
Am.

OK, that was my first and furious reply assuming he was guilty!!

But, ask him/her about it. Did they make a mistake? - Hah! Some operators if they did.

If all looks bad, go back to 1st response and add some reporting to the appropriate state authority.

[ktoopi]

So it is quite small then really and should be able to be printed well even from a 5mp camera. And you paid over $200.00 for it, is it framed or just mounted on a board?
seems a lot of money for a smallish print. Maybe take to a printer near you and ask them if it is reasonable quality.
Sorry I can't offer anymore than contact them and find out their side of the story.

Yes it is a quite small and expensive print.....the other one we got for $20 is more than twice the size and excellent quality!
Looks like I will have to phone them tomorrow

[geoffsta]

Yep. That's what I'd be doing. Sounds almost like it's printed on A4 or an A3 cut down. The A4 a bit over a $1 and the A3 about $2.50. The bit of board $5, postage $5. The ink usage on a A3 printer $1.50. That's say a $9.00 print.
I dare say the TOG had no control over the finished product. Sending the image to a company, and then the company sending the end product to you.

The other problem is that we as hobby/amateur photographers are thanks to Rick and the crew, taught to pick the crap out of all the images we see. We generally know the value of what we see.
The TOG in question might have thought that you were just a run of the mill "Joe Smuck", and thought you'd be happy with what ever you got.

[Warbler]

I may be off on a bit of a tangent here, but bear with me, I'll be back on track in a moment. The cost of a print from a photographer selling their work is more than the cost of the paper it's printed on. Don't just value your own work on the cost of the print. If you're doing it commercially, you have all your business costs loaded into the price as well as a value on the artistic content. For that reason, you can't really say that a smaller print from one photographer should cost less than a larger print from another. Likewise, the value of the print is only what you're prepared to pay for it.

Now back to ktoopi's particular case. As has been said above, if the print is poor quality, the first point of call is with the photographer who sold it. If you don't get any satisfaction there, then I wouldn't bother stuffing around. I'd go straight to the small claims tribunal. Give him/her an opportunity to remedy the situation first. Less hassle for you if they do.

[ktoopi]

Just to update on what happened when I contacted the photographer..........first I tried to call but kept getting an answering machine on which I left more than a couple of messages.......I waited a week but no response.......then I sent an email and this time waited more than a week with no response.......then out of the blue today just as I was thinking about leaving a very public message on his facebook page about how unhappy I was.....an email came.

The photographer agreed that the image was extremely noisy and stated that he had no excuse for it other than he was very busy at the time (no apology offered) He also stated that he has reprinted the image without the noise and included two other prints of my husbands boat for free. I wait with bated breath to see what they are like.

A favourable outcome for me in the end......but a big tip for business owners......respond immediately to customer complaints as even though he was more than happy to replace the images plus some, I have spent weeks fuming about the lack of contact and as a result would never buy from him again... and......an apology goes a really long way, well with me it does anyway!

[I @ M]

an apology goes a really long way, well with me it does anyway!

I don't think that an apology in this case is anywhere near satisfactory, nor is his offer to reprint.
His work is the issue and by your perception of it the work is substandard. If he intends to rework the image to "fix" it then there must be something pretty wrong with the original.
The whole sorry saga seems to ( at least to me ) point to somebody who could not handle the job and was probably hired because of a "cheap" quote and is now trying to salvage the Titanic from the surrounding iceberg.

[ameerat42]

I'm still left with the concern that he is (apparently) still "working" for that cruise line. Woe is in the air!
Am(rather)

[ktoopi]

I'm still left with the concern that he is (apparently) still "working" for that cruise line. Woe is in the air!
Am(rather)

ameerat42 he wasn't working for a cruise line ( sorry if I gave that impression) he is actually quite a well known photographer who has been photographing the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race for quite a few years from a small aircraft.

[Mark L]

he is actually quite a well known photographer who has been photographing the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race for quite a few years from a small aircraft.

And, for me, it makes the original product and lack of customer service a little intriguing. Is this what most are prepared to except to get a photo they think is okay, but could be better? Because someone is well known, are they immune to public criticism?
Maybe your experience is a one off, though what if it isn't?

[rookie]

I would wait for the re prints then still leave that nice little message on his FB page.

[Roosta]

Any prints yet? and are they any better in overall quality?

[ktoopi]

Any prints yet? and are they any better in overall quality?

Hi there Roosta....I just logged on to comment that the Photographer said he would put the prints in the mail on Monday and I still have not received them!!!! Then I saw your comment he he

[Roosta]

Hi there Roosta....I just logged on to comment that the Photographer said he would put the prints in the mail on Monday and I still have not received them!!!! Then I saw your comment he he

Name and shame I say - (( Unless it's Ricki Kean Photography that is. LOL ))

Any way you look at it, it's pretty unprofessional.

Hope your new prints are spot on Ms k.

[ktoopi]

Hope your new prints are spot on Ms k.

So do I.........

[ktoopi]

Waiting with bated breath for todays post............