Client wanting no longer available charity freebie, help!

[HelloSORRISO]

Hi There,

I posted this and in a tizzy my post didn't make sense so here I go again trying to make sense the 2nd time round. Forgive me, its going to be a long one but I could really do with the advice.

I am a Make-Up Artist for proms, parties, weddings, a nail technician and a Hair Up-do stylist again from pons, parities, weddings and other special occasions. I have another business. I am a Wedding photographer.

Last year was my final year as a part-time "jack of all trades" type going under a different business name while I continued to work full time... Basically I did make up and hair and photographay however I could, whenever i could along with photographing anything and everything to get exposure and experience. I worked alongside various charitable organisations offering raffle prizes to them which would entail make-over photoshoots for one person at my home studio.

Again, I was working full-time so this never really kicked off how I wanted it to so late last year i decided I was going to rebrand. This year I got help from the Prince's Trust with my business plan etc, took it far more seriously, registered the new brand, now I'm full-time self employed. I now specialise in WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY only (when it comes to that side of business) and I do nails day in day out with the odd makeup and hair for brides and proms under a totally different name that isn't known to this person (he has just seen the wedding photography stuff). I don't do Make-over shoots, family shoots etc. Only weddings now when photographing. ANYONE who booked me before I rebranded for a future date which happened to be once my new brand went live, I have honoured all of those bookings and gone through with them. My last one was early this year in february and I've had no more since then. I was contacted last week by a raffle prize winner saying he wanted a family photoshoot with his wife and children (this has never been a raffle prize I think he was winging it and seeing if I agreed). I told him that I've seized all business as my previous business and the services are no longer available to him with the new business because we are wedding photographers only and don't offer what he requires which wasn't detailed in the raffle prize anyway. He went on to send me the following message.

"Hi,

Please don't patronise me. I am quite happy with my donation and still glad I bought the raffle tickets as the money went to a worthwhile cause.

On the other hand, your company should be ashamed of your stance in not honouring a prize you offered as part of an event which was for charity.

I see by your website you still offer the photoshoot which my prize detailed so please don't try to use a technicality to try to get out of it.

I would not take up the offer of the photoshoot now anyway following your stance and will be taking the matter further.

Regards
******* ********"

This really upset me. I wasn't patronising at all, I was nice, maybe even TOO nice and apologetic from the off. He purchased the raffle ticket for £5 and wants to take the matter up further but doesn't even want the offer now anyway. I have no idea what he means by this and hat he can do about this? Am I completely in the wrong? I have no copy of the raffle prize anymore but I'm pretty sure that it may have been out of date by now anyway. I had no contact from him whatsoever until now. All of my other clients were happy with their service, they were happy to be informed that the brand was changing so their packaging may look a little different to what it does on the raffle prize letters. Its just not in my capacity any more to be able to offer this service to him. I'm so busy with either big bookings for bridal makeup or bigger bookings for well paid wedding bookings which takes up such a crazy amount of time.

What to do now?

Sorry for the essay. HELP!

 

[Lala12]

You've got 2 choices here;

1. Reply, saying, 'Thank you for your email. As discussed, the business ceased trading and therefore it is no longer possible to complete the makeover. Thank you for your understanding. Blah, blah, blah......'

or

2. Offer something of similar value through your new company.

Before deciding, I would contact the charity about what's happened to make sure your reputation stays intact (and maybe they can confirm what you actually pledged) and also trading standards to double-check where you stand.

I can understand that he would be upset about not getting his prize, but to then send a horrible email saying he doesn't actually want the prize but will take it further is a bit weird.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[hazeleyes]

Confusing but I think I got the gist! If it's a raffle prize he can't really take it any further anyway. To whom?
To my knowledge - It's not some thing which can be argued through trading standards or otherwise.

But morally I am trying to work out if you did in fact give away a raffle prize for the service he is requesting as it doesn't seem clear. What exactly did you donate in the raffle? What's the prize?

This is your reputation and your business on the line so it needs to be clear.

 

[EmJ]

He wants to take it further with who? Presumably it's nothing to do with the company you work for now so the only person he could complain further to is you?! And seriously for £5? I wouldn't worry about it, he shouldn't have taken so long to book

 

[virtues2011]

I'd do absolutely nothing. I find it hard to believe this will go any further. A five pound charity donation? No one will bat an eyelid if they tried to take it further. It's time wasting.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using SalonGeek mobile app

 

[coco.]

It's a bit different but we were brought a photo shoot for a gift but the company went bust so we obviously couldn't do anything about it, if your company has ceased trading I doubt they can do anything because there isn't a business to complain about anymore, your new business is completely separate.

He was probably just Annoyed and you won't hear from him again but I can understand why he was annoyed but it's just one of those things, he's left it a long time to book and the company is no longer trading, tough basically and it was only £5 it's not like he had spent £500

 

[ch-ela]

What was the message you sent him? What was it you said that he thought was patronising?

 

[sanilulu]

That company has ceased trading ... So technically he can't do a thing,
I would however find out which charity he donated the money and brought the ticket and what exactly he was offered... And when ... He's probably been sat on his ticket for over a year and annoyed with himself for not sorting it sooner ... Also think he's trying it on esp as the only prizes you've offered is for a make over and photoshoot for 1 person ... X

 

[HelloSORRISO]

Hi All,

Thanks for the feedback. It's settled me a little bit. Sorry for being confusing lol. The prize donation to the charity was a 2 hour makeover photo-shoot for one in a studio. This is what I have offered to about 3 or 4 various charity events for their raffle prize giveaway.

I have since looked up the photoshoot offer and it was 1) 1 month out of date and 2) definitely a makeover for one person and he asked for his whole family to be photographed.

He found the following email patronising (this was before his angry rant)

"Hi there,

We understand your disappointment, however as previously stated, the photoshoot is no longer available. If it had been booked under the previous business a few weeks ago, for lets say June 28th, we could have still honoured the prize draw as it would have been booked before we rebranded. We now only work under our registered business SORRISO Weddings. We haven’t just changed the name of our business, but have rebranded the whole direction we are taking the business and also the way in which we work due to a high volume of work coming in as wedding season has flourished. We no longer offer make-over photoshoots and we also no longer have any dealings with ***** ****** charity.

Again, we apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused you and your family. Rest assure, the purchase of your raffle tickets still went to a fantastic cause and we thank you very much for participating on making the event a success.

Kind Regards"

Was I wrong in saying any of this? he made me feel really very rubbish. Customers just don't like to be told "No!" Yeah I get where you are coming from that who can he possibly take it further with because I am the business owner. If anything, once I told him that we had rebranded so couldn't offer this to him, he said "but you're just a photographer that's changed your name so surely you can still provide the offer." THATS patronising! Not the other way round!

***annoyed face right here!***




x HelloSORRISO x

 

[Helbels]

Why does he think he can still see the same photoshoot on your website now?

Is that true (even if it's for a bride now)?

If so, I can see why he might not be too happy - a photoshoot for one IS very similar to a photoshoot for a bride.

 

[ch-ela]

So, if he had booked a few (2-3?) weeks ago for 28th June, you would have been able to honour this. Is that what you are saying?

If so, I an imagine that this is what is confusing him. It's not that you cannot do it, rather that you prefer not to. That's how I see it if you confirm the above.

I know that a lot of people view a donated voucher to be different to a bought voucher, but I don't really understand this. It's still the same service that needs to be provided. Anyway, is there anything that you thought you could offer him?

 

[HelloSORRISO]

Hiya,

No by a few weeks I meant 6-8 weeks ago before my rebrand happened (this has has now been clarified in my newest email to him with the date the rebrand went live because the raffle prize in fact expired on 3rd May) - I offer only brides "boudoir makeover shoots" I no longer offer the Make-Over Photoshoot experience which is more of a fashion style shoot. Also the raffle prize offered to him was for one, he wanted the photoshoot for his family as a whole this was not detailed in anything. I have the copy of the written proof. The "detail" he means is "You have won a make-over photoshoot experience" further on the terms and conditions i have stated "photography for a makeover photoshoot will be "fashion like".

My website states "we offer the Bride to be a makeover boudoir photoshoot" it is a wedding photography website and nothing more. Again with this, there is no other content on my site (no logo, no "about me" and a notice up saying "our website will be completed shortly. Come back soon"




x HelloSORRISO x

 

[Helbels]

Hiya,

I offer only brides "boudoir makeover shoots" .... the raffle prize offered to him was for a make-over photoshoot experience"

I'm not saying you are in the wrong, but I can see, from a consumer point of view why these are similar enough that he'd be thinking "surely if you can do a makeover photoshoot for a bride, you can do a makeover photoshoot for me".

It doesn't explain of course why he thinks he's entitled to a family photoshoot instead of an individual one - but maybe he thought he could upgrade to a family one by paying a bit extra.

 

[Carlalouise]

It's a shame you didn't realise at the time the prize was a month out of date, your answer could have been a lot simpler " sorry we are unable to honor your prize as your voucher expired a month ago". You need not have gone into when you ceased trading as one business and started as another and what you do or don't do now.

I'm thinking the big explanation in far too much detail made him think you were being patronising, however it was a £5 prize, it's out of date so he needs to get over it. Learn from it and move on, good luck with the new venture. X

 

[HelloSORRISO]

He's mentioned no upgrades or paying extra. His initial contact with me was a voicemail saying "I won a charity raffle prize, I'd like to book the makeover shoot for my wife, myself and my kids please" with a specific date then he also emailed my old business email that doesn't exist anymore. It must have bounced and so he's tracked my new business details and forwarded the email there stating he wants the makeover shoot for his wife himself and his kids. I've told him no, I've been once again overly friendly with him although he was rude in his email to me.

I'm not sure how he would like to take it up further. I've offered my sincere apologies. Trust me the emails are a lot clearer than how I've probably explained it on here. I was just so lost and tried to get everything out my system but the sequences of emails makes a lot more sense. I think he has realised he won a prize, and it's date has run out. He is trying to wangle out a freebie above and beyond what my offer stated. Ive told him all business under the previous name has seized. it's not what I'm offering anymore. I shouldn't have to be made to do something I have stopped doing. the bridal boudoir thing is something I only do once a deposit is paid for now so I can pay an external makeup artist to do the makeover while I do the photography. i no longer mix my 2 businesses because it used to get into a right mess before trying to do everything myself. Now a trusted friend and professional MUA does all the makeover stuff because she gets paid for it and I only focus on doing the photography when it comes to any of my photography business.

When I did offer the makeover shoots. I did the makeup and hair myself and also did the photography. It would take me at least 4 hours in total. there's no way I'm going to photograph a family and do a makeover. it'll take me all day.

he's just upset me with his persistence and calling me just a photographer not understanding I run 2 businesses and have some quite big weddings to photograph in the coming weeks. It takes planning, editing, designing bespoke wedding albums. I know I shouldn't but I do let this kind of thing get to me.


x HelloSORRISO x

 

[hazeleyes]

I totally agree with the above. You gave him too much information, and it appears like you could do it but just won't.
Although it's out of date, he has to accept this there's no one for him to "take it further" with.

Chalk it up to experience!

 

[HelloSORRISO]

It's a shame you didn't realise at the time the prize was a month out of date, your answer could have been a lot simpler " sorry we are unable to honor your prize as your voucher expired a month ago". You need not have gone into when you ceased trading as one business and started as another and what you do or don't do now.

I'm thinking the big explanation in far too much detail made him think you were being patronising, however it was a £5 prize, it's out of date so he needs to get over it. Learn from it and move on, good luck with the new venture. X

I had a panic attack at first because I couldn't find my copy of the voucher. which is why I sent that explanation to him after he called me "just a photographer that's changed your name". I knew in my gut that "hold on the event he got this raffle from was 7 months ago, my vouchers are only valid for 6 months"

The first email I sent to him was straight forward to the point "unfortunately we can no longer honour the prize offer of a makeover photoshoot as we have seized all trading as **********. We are sorry for the inconvenience this mag have caused you".

I'm all huffy and puffy. Most definitely will be learning from this and moving on. I'm always doing my part for charity usually mucking in and getting involved at an event. this is something I'll continue but not the raffle prizes. I can't accommodate freebies anymore.


x HelloSORRISO x

 

[Carlalouise]

Listen to what you are saying.

"I think he has realised he won a prize, and it's date has run out. He is trying to wangle out a freebie above and beyond what my offer stated."

Don't over complicate things, the prize is out of date, you don't do this type of photo shoot and makeover anymore, therefore he is not entitled.

Wether he's in the right or not he's obviously wound up, he will not be interested in what you do/don't do now or how busy you are. I would just leave it now, he hasn't got a leg to stand on.

 

[HelloSORRISO]

Thanks all. Not replying to any more nonsense emails from the guy no matter how much he pushes my buttons.


x HelloSORRISO x

 

[GirlyGeek]

He is trying it on to be attempting to use an out of date voucher, for the wrong type of shoot, with a new company and so you are 100% not wrong to refuse.

HOWEVER - if you had sent me that email response I'd have though it was patronising as well. From customer point of view - You basically told him - even if you didn't mean too - that if he'd rang sooner you'd have honoured it and done a family photo shoot. And then you went into a detailed explanation of how you are too busy to accommodate him because you are working will well paying wedding customers instead.

Understand that this wasn't your intention, but it is how it came across.

Think in future a less detailed response would be wise if you get anymore customers like this (angry emails etc)