Catherine BabaultBritish photographer wants to book a private photo tour with his wife but thinks that she should come for free because she is not a photographer.
Giflian@giflian He didn't like my answer and gave me another chance to change my mind.
Chris Mackay 🇨🇦@CatherineBabault @giflian 30 years ago I knew someone who got a local carpenter to price out making 10 custom desk/tables. Then ordered 1 and demanded to pay 1/10 the volume pricing.
@tantramar They don't understand pricing and cost, do they? It's the first time in 8 years in business that someone asked me that and had a temper tantrum when I said NO.
@CatherineBabault @giflian The person ordering the table(s) was a lawyer and wife to a partner in an ad agency. She knew exactly how she was screwing the supplier over.
@tantramar They know exactly what they are doing. At the end, we should be grateful that we won't be doing business with that type of person. @giflian
@CatherineBabault @giflian Shouldn’t non-photographers pay double? 🤪
Michael Russell@CatherineBabault Tell him he can bring a guest for free but his fee is double. 🙄
@michaelrussell You can't even reason with a person like that. He tried twice to have me 'reconsider'.
@CatherineBabault While bookings are great to get I suspect there would be additional reasons that particular one would continue to be a pain in the butt. So maybe a good thing.
@michaelrussell That's why I'm glad that he won't be taking a tour with me. :)
Carolyn@CatherineBabault But she will take up space on the transportation, will eat whatever snacks, meals...
@CStamp Will likely photograph with her smartphone, observe and learn about wildlife, learn about the region, etc. She will get a full tour.
@CatherineBabault Exactly.
KimberlyN 🇨🇦Back in the ‘90s I had a small business writing and designing resumes for people. Most people were happy to have the help, but every once in a while…
There was the guy who asked what he’d get for $10. (The cheapest package I sold started at $50…so umm…nothing.)
And the university student who kept calling me for edits — at 1 am! (Stop that you weirdo.)
Most people are reasonable humans, but some are just clueless. 🤨
@KimberlyN You couldn't get much for $10 back in the '90s, certainly not professional services.
@CatherineBabault @KimberlyN I had a client — who’d known me for years before we’d worked together, and who I’d built a small website for — who wanted to pay me with a spaghetti dinner. So, not only food instead of cash, but, like, the least expensive food possible. (She was not strapped for cash, either; maybe this was why.)
@tantramar lol Seriously?!
@CatherineBabault @KimberlyN It’s too stupid to make up.
Yup. There’s always a few…and they’re so ridiculous we remember them decades later. 😂
The other ones I’ve learned from are what I call the “carrot danglers.” You know, these are people who try to convince you to give them steep discounts “just this time” because they’re going to bring you a HUGE contract later. Nope. Nopety, nope, nope.
@KimberlyN @CatherineBabault Ah, yes, the “carrot” that’s actually a massive red flag. 🥕🚩 Haven’t had any of those in years.
@KimberlyN @tantramar Never had one of those.
That’s a good thing. When you’re young, ambitious, and inexperienced, a certain kind of client will unabashedly disrespect your time, then promise to bring you untold riches…at some point in the future. Luckily, it doesn’t take long to see the pattern and find ways to head it off at the pass.
@KimberlyN @CatherineBabault I haven’t had one of those in a long, long time.
@CatherineBabault @KimberlyN (And no, she wasn’t hitting on me; aside from being married, and a 20-year age gap, she also knew my then-partner quite well.)
@tantramar So, no wine with the dinner, then. ;)
@CatherineBabault @KimberlyN As that wasn’t going to make or break the deal, I failed to ask. ;) Also, I wasn’t then a wine drinker, so pearls-before-swine at that point. This is 25+ years ago, now.
@KimberlyN @bonaventuresoft @CatherineBabault Worked for a difficult client through an ad agency in the late-1990s or early 2000s.
The agency rep in the middle of all this was incapable of saying “no” to this (or any?) client, so they’d trained the client to expect virtually unlimited revisions without any changes in either deadlines or cost.
Which is madness.
They actively exercised this power, taking on a throw-more-shit-at-the-wall, I’ll-let-you-know-if-I-like-any-of-it approach to the creative brief.
Which is madness.
I quickly disabused all involved of the notion that I would work this way. In the end, I think everyone was happy with what got delivered.
@CatherineBabault @KimberlyN @bonaventuresoft It is not! Not for close to 20 years, off the top of my head.
Stefano@CatherineBabault Even more reason for her to pay and probably more as most likely she'd get bored and start whining to go home.
@StefanoL I regularly host couples where only one of them is a photographer. The 'non-photographer 'partner never gets bored on my tours, they see a lot and learn a lot about wildlife and our region.
@CatherineBabault Yeah, I figured, I was only kidding in reference to this person in particular 🙂
Mikko
Bob Henry@CatherineBabault Some people's sense of entitlement knows no bounds. I can only imagine what his reaction would hve been if your roles had been reversed. All I can do is shake my head and be thankful that these people aren't the majority of society…yet.
@bobhenryphotos Thanks Bob. :)
Greg@CatherineBabault
a. On behalf of the rest of us Brits. Sorry!
b. There used to be a Lego minifigure animation of a dialogue between a graphic designer and his client, where the client wanted the designer to do the job for nothing because he could, as an alternative get his young nephew, who was "good at art" to fulfill the brief in Word, in exchange for a Big Mac. It didn't end well for the client.
a. On behalf of the rest of us Brits. Sorry!
b. There used to be a Lego minifigure animation of a dialogue between a graphic designer and his client, where the client wanted the designer to do the job for nothing because he could, as an alternative get his young nephew, who was "good at art" to fulfill the brief in Word, in exchange for a Big Mac. It didn't end well for the client.
@gregalotl
a. Thank you. :)
b. My friend @tantramar could relate to that. He is a web designer and was once offered a plate of spaghetti for compensation. 🙄
a. Thank you. :)
b. My friend @tantramar could relate to that. He is a web designer and was once offered a plate of spaghetti for compensation. 🙄