Complaints

[HankCastello]

This coming weekend (Oct 06) is my free weekend in months.  Since there will be no "Last Week's Wedding Shoot" for me to write about, I guess it's almost fortunate that I do have a big issue to relate.

We are so used to getting feedback from thrilled, excited, esctatic clients, that I worry when I don't get a hearty, positive feedback and we call.  Usually, all is well, but about once a year, we get a complaint.  Twice, in the past four years, it has been a fairly strong complaint (even though, somehow they say they actually liked the video!).

Well, it has just happened again (this is the second one in the past four years), a strong complaint.  

I must admit, not being used to anything but happy customers has made me somewhat thin-skinned.

Here are her complaints -

  * we didn't get the groom reaction shot until the bride was nearly to the front.
  * we didn't get closeups of the wedding party after the ceremony had begun.
  * we didn't shoot her family after the ceremony got underway.
  * we didn't shoot the single, small bouquet decoration that her mother made.
  * we didn't get the limo exit from the ceremony (to the reception)

The first three would have been impossible to get due to where we had to be positioned (there were big podiums and a big piano, plus singers, etc.) and the fact that groom and wedding party faced away from us most of the time.  I did, however get the groom reaction as the bride got 3/4 down the aisle because that was when his head was finally turned enough to see more than the back of his head.  And Jean was able to get a few shots of the groom's family during the ceremony.

The bride's reaction to this "excuse" was that she wouldn't have minded if I'd run forward with camera and tripod to shoot the wedding party (I'd have to get in front of all of them), her family and the groom reaction (I'd have to get in front of him too.)  Of course, doing so would mean I'd be in the shots of the other cameras and we'd have no shot to go to while I moved, not to mention I would become the center of attraction, instead of staying unobtrusively in the rear like I always do.

Though it was a beautiful church, I'd decided that the "decorations" were quite meager and didn't bother to shoot them.  (oops! - no one told me that her mother made them.)

There was a lot to break down and pack at the ceremony and a lot to setup for at the reception, which was held across town, downtown and about thirteen floors up.  Anyone who's had to transport four tripods, four cameras, mics for singers, toasters, etc., mic stands, lights, etc., etc. across town, and up an elevator and setup gear and tap the DJ sound board before the couple arrive, knows you can't wait for the limo to depart - you shoot it arriving at the reception, if possible.

This, perhaps is an advantage for those who work with a single handheld camera, but then they wouldn't have had two mics on mic stands at the ceremony for the singers and wouldn't have had another mic just for the piano.  Oh, and did I mention that a total of four preachers spoke - all of whom were miked?  The lovely songs, music and all speaking came out beautifully.  We even setup a fourth camera to catch the singers because our positions wouldn't allow us to do so.

If we'd known these things were that important to her, we would have recommended a fifth camera and third camera person.  In fact, no one seemed very interested in my concerns about camera positions, etc. at the rehearsal.

I've offerred a full refund (she's only received the approval copy with our logo all over the front) but she insists she "likes" the video and will pay her balance.  

So, what do you guys think?  And what complaints have you received?

[Forever Endeavor]

I think she should have mentioned that these things were important beforehand. It's not your fault you didn't shoot her family (there's a joke in there somewhere)!  :lol:

[HankCastello]

To be fair, she says she did mention these things when she met with us seven months prior to the wedding.  Since these are such generic things that we always try to do (and succeed 90+% of the time), I apparently didn't bother to write them down.  

I did point out that we had some shooting issues at the rehearsal, but the attitude was pretty much "deal with it", and we did, to the extent possible.  The wedding video we shot, would easily pass anyone's test for being "professional".  It would even make a good demo video.

I must correct -

..fact that groom and wedding party faced away from us most of the time

as is the norm, they faced each other soon after the fob gave his daughter away.  And we got great close-ups, etc. afterward.

The forward wing positions would have been too wide for good coverage.  To do what is being asked would have required getting in front of the couple and wedding party, thus blocking view of the guests and becoming the center of attention and getting into the shots of the other cameras - things we would never do.  Frustrating.

[Dynesh]

Interesting post.  One of the reasons I'm getting into this business is the fact that all of the things I have done for people on the side have generated thankfulness and happiness, and has been very rewarding for me.  I hope I can develop some thick skin for when I mess up, or have a bride who just can't be pleased.

[Souvenir]

Can I just chime in for a second with a different point of view?  

After the wedding has passed, many women get a little depressed because they just spent an enormous amount of time planning this one day of their dreams, and they have nothing to do afterwards except sit and reflect on everything.  It's a little jarring to go from being the center of attention one day to your normal self the next.  Most people move on and are thankful that it is finally over, but a few women dwell and still want to be the center of attention somehow.  It's those women that will then pick apart every last thing that happened that day and will generally not be satisfied.  With anything.

Honestly, I think she's one of those few people that kind-of go through that post-wedding depression thing, and she's just not happy in general.  It's not necessarily you, and you shouldn't take it too personally.  Chances are, she probably wasn't happy with a lot of things that day, it's just that most people woudn't know about it.  You are one of the few who bothered to follow up.  She'll get over it in a year or two, and wonder what the heck was so bad.

Yes, I said it...a year or two.  Oprah actually did a show on this a few years back about post-wedding blues.  It exists, and may sound ridiculous, but it's something you guys probably haven't heard about.  Keep that in mind next time you get a seemingly unexplainable series of complaints such as this...she'll actually be thanking you years from now and you won't even know it!

[HankCastello]

You know, this sounds a whole lot like an issue I had to deal with back in my sales days - "Buyers' Remorse"!

When selling anything from automobiles to insurance, you have to take this into account and have a plan to deal with it - preferably a proactive plan that reassures the customer that they got a great deal.  Since buyer's remorse often hits from several hours to a couple days after the sale, it calls for some sort of follow-up.

This is something we'd already been working on in our course - a feedback form that was also (subtly) a "reassurance" message.  I'm going to review this material with this issue more in the forefront.  Thanks!!