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MUAs / Stylists- Ever been asked for a refund?
Let me start out by saying this has never happened to me-" knock on wood". I was wondering if anyone was asked, or know of another artist that was asked, for a refund for services payed for on a shoot. Say the client was unhappy AFTER looking at the images and said they want their money back. Even though at the shoot they said the look you did was ok. I 'm sure there are strange clients out there that would do it just to get something done for free. If so, how would you counter act this? Just curious.... Feb 06 06 06:37 pm Link I would explain to the person or persons involved that it makes no since to refund the money. The make-up was applied and the photos taken. Time has passed and there is no refund for services rendered! I am sure there are people out there that have tried this and there is no way that they can get thier money back, unless there was a signed agreement before had. You could always have a stipulation written into your contracts that conteract this all together, get with a lawyer and they can help with the wording. Feb 06 06 07:04 pm Link i have never had that happen to me or heard of it happening to anybody... but some people are shady and i wouldnt be suprised if this has actually happened. i always ask for input when i am done with the makeup i have the photographer or the producer or whatnot look at the makeup and i change anything that they dont like. its like if you are at a restaurant and order comes wrong or you dont like the food... you get it changed BEFORE you eat it... if you eat it you pay for the damn food. Feb 06 06 07:09 pm Link Interesting. I've never seen that happen to anyone, but people are shady, so I wouldn't be suprised. I'm going to have to give this some thought, and I'll be back later. I guess I'm going to have to add that to my list of "contract ad ins." Feb 06 06 07:22 pm Link Yeah- I thought it would be an interesting thread- especially since this happens in other service areas. The food analagy was a good one though.. Feb 06 06 07:25 pm Link hmmmm, never heard of that happening but I have seen a lot of work that justifies the client receiving a refund...but then they should know what they are getting if they have seen the artists portfolio. Clients normally get what they pay for and they know that...usually too late but they find out....I dont think many would have the nerve to ask for a refund. Feb 06 06 07:34 pm Link Mary wrote: LOL!! Feb 06 06 07:56 pm Link I actually have dealt with this........I had an up and coming (gone nowhere!) Diva recording artist that I had to paint for a shoot for Mondo 2000 a few years back.....She arrived with dirty hair and had already applied her makeup.......Her publicist was also at the shoot as well as her lil taco dog......I cleaned her face refused to deal with her hair and politely nodded as she told me how to do her make up........Her publicist was a syncophant bitch........During the shoot the Neo Diva actually changed her eye make up to better suit her idea of what her "look" should be.......So much trouble......on and on demanding rude......The photographer was near tears for much of the shoot...... Long Story short in a hissy fit she tried to fire me and "DEMANDED" her money back! I looked at her and her acolyte.........I told the publicist to please leave the studio and promptly ushered her out the door.......Enough was Enough I then confronted the "diva" ......"Listen you two bit pompous entitled feeling bitch........YOU didn't HIRE me or the Photographer for this shoot........Your publicist didn't hire us either.......Mondo 2000 is our employer ......They are giving you exposure that you couldn't afford.......You will sit the fuck down shut the fuck up and behave or I'll throw you out into the street like trash and write an entirely DIFFERENT article on you"...........Karima, the photographer almost lost her bladder she was so scared by what I'd done........She feared loosing the shoot........The diva decided to behave I repainted her face and she was a perfect subject after ........For the article we used a bigger image of her little taco dog than we did of her........Aneglique was the artists name......Bad manners are never a good idea....... Feb 06 06 07:56 pm Link benson wrote: Woah... Damn. Feb 06 06 09:20 pm Link Well this sort of happened to me recently. I did a headshot client with my photographer a few weeks ago. I knew the client was trouble as soon as she walked in the door. We started our session by listening to what she wanted the shoot to be like. She pulled out a list of "looks" her agent wanted for her new head shots. Medical student, soccer mom, police officer, sexy butch (don't even ask me what this is LOL) and crack whore. She brought a bunch of shirts to the shoot also, but nothing that would exactly identify her wardrobe for the specific roles of medical student, police officer...She also said that her agent do not want her to look as if she has make up on and everything must be as natural as possible. OK! I am always extremely polite and accomodating with everyone I work with. Whether it is paid or not. We did the shoot and it took almost 5 hours to do everything that she wanted. I made sure that she was happy with the make and hair throughout the shoot, Making any changes that she wanted to the make up and hair and constanly reassured her that she looked good. I thought my work was great, she thought my work was great and so did the photographer. She even saw some images right away through the lcd on the back of the camera and was very happy. Anyways, a week later...my photographer told me that she was completely unhappy with the result of the shoot. She said that her agent was not impressed with the images at all and they did not portrayed her in the roles that was desired. I was like WTF!!! We busted our ass that day, she used us for all we got and then some. My photographer wanted to shoot her then shoot himself to end the misery during the session. But as professionals we both kept confident, happy smiling faces and catered to our client. She wanted a full refund for the services. I knew exactly that the agent wanted to see her in costumes and not the lame old colored button up shirts she brought and tried to pass for specific looks they were seeking. He told her that there will be no refund for my services, but refunded his fee back to her to end all the drama. She also had to return the 2 DVDs of the images we drove out to give to her and she can never use any of them. Over the weekend he showed me the pics of her from our shoot and the pics of her from a previous shoot he did 1 year ago. The new images are by far 1000000000 times better than her old ones. In the old pics, her make up was so peachy and the other artist made her look like a white woman (she is black). Her face was peach and her neck was black LOL But she insisted that the old headshots were absolutely gorgeous and it looked like her. She had more make up on than a MAC counter. I wish I can post them for you. The moral of the story is that you can never please everyone. It feels aweful when the client hates your work despite how much she loved it during the shoot and how hard you worked trying to cater to them. My photographer and I both agreed that we made a huge mistake by letting her take advantage of us on the day of the shoot and then trying to pull a fast one on us. We will no longer provide such time consuming services without charging full standard rate and then some to anyone regardless if they are first time or repeat clients. Ohhh lawd I can't believe I rambled on and on and on LOL Feb 06 06 09:23 pm Link I did have one sticky situation...I always get paid on the day of the shoot if its for headshots, model's book, etc, basically anything thats not a big client. This lady, she called herself an EVANGELIST, wanted promo pics for a brochure. It was with an established phot studio here in LA that I work for all the time, and she had made an arrangemetn with them to bill it through her ministry or church or whatever. I agreed to it (stupidly...) She was pretty annoting through the whole shoot, but she was raving about how much she loved her makeup. She ended up paying the photgrapher...but then sent him an email saying we she was unhappy with the makeup and that we had agreen upon $20 b/c she didn't like it! I was shocked! She also said she sent me the $20 and it was all over with. I never recieved any money from this lady. I had never, ever spoken with her. Then she dissapeared. I was so annoyed by this..it wasn't the money..it was the fact that this woman who literally posed with a bible conned me! To make a long story short, I had my godfather who is a seriosly high powered attorney track her down..needles to say, I got the money.  Feb 06 06 09:31 pm Link well i have never been asked for a refund but i had a "bridezilla" last summer she was crazy , for starter she wanted all MAC make-up, ok no prob , but i didn't have the right colours and foundations that matched her skin in my MAC collection. So i sudgested that we go on a shopping trip and she could then purchase all of the items need to make her bridal make-up perfect in her mind. So i spent like 3 hrs with her helping her pick out the right product. Then we had a consaltaion I did her make-up just how she wanted it , I never let brides take pictures on the consultaion , I do this so they can reproduce the look with someone else.I buffed down the makeup ( basically left only the foundation) she wanted to show her girlfriends but i told her that we should keep her "fantastic new look" a secret untill the wedding  she said OK and I whent on my way Any hoo the day of her wedding she calls me on my cell phone about 15 min before I was supposed to be there ( I had to drive for 45 min to get to her home) and wanted to let me know that her sister would be doing her make-up. I was shocked. "why" i asked and she said that it was because i wouldnt let her show any one. We previouly argeed that this was how the consaltation would be and that if she wanted to have her mom or 1 friend there that would be ok she showed up solo. Any way I arrived at her house while still talking on the phone and told her that I would need to recive 1/2 of my fee as agreed upon cancellation . ( always charge a cancellation fee with in 48 hrs. before the start time of the job) She sent out her nasty bridesmaids and they got all huffy , I was hired to do thier make-up too. 6 in total. but they were ok with the make-up i had in my kit. so this bride owed me some cash. I asked to speak with the bride and they wouldnt let me. so i just hunkered down in my car blocking thier driveway so the limo couldnt get out of the driveway. after about 20 min one of the brides maids came out and wanted to know if she could pay me to do her hair and make-up. I told her I could but i would need to have the bride pay me what i was owed before i would be doing any make up. and she ran back into the house and 5 min later came out with thebride who was crying and appologizing like crazy in the end she and all of her bridesmaids look beautiful and make-up was lovely the mother of the bride was so appologetic they paied me an extra $150 bucks becuae they felt so bad. I am glad that I stuck to my guns and hung in there I knew the bride couldnt do make-up so i knew it was only a matter of time before someone came out. Although it took all i had not to smash the limo and thier house with my car So i learned a valuable lesson dont work with Bridezillias. Feb 06 06 10:48 pm Link OMG! That is insane! Feb 07 06 01:22 am Link Agreed...I have seen tons of make-up jobs that deserve a refund. I have never had an unhappy client, but if I did I would simply "fix" what they were unhappy with ...simple as that!!!!!! NO REFUNDS, EVEN WITH RECIEPT. LOL. Feb 07 06 01:39 am Link No, (knock on wood) I haven't had this happen. I wouldn't give them a refund anyways. Knowing me if it was a model, I would bill them as a commercial client and break down every little thing after they ask me for a refund. What I do to let models know what a good deal they are receiving, I send my full rates also. Plus, if you knew me or was on the shoot with me and heard me talk... you might not ask anyway. LOL!!! I joke around but you'll never know where I'll go with it. Feb 07 06 07:45 am Link I've never had this happen, and I hope it never does. I've only heard of a client not liking the commercial looks that I provided. (Their agency said they needed it for their book) This particular client was/is more of a glamour model who doesn't do much in full garb, so I can understand them not liking the commercial look. They wanted JC Penny and I delivered. I did real clean, simple looks. I did what was asked of me and thats all I could ever do. Its one thing not to like thinks when I arrive, but to mention it after the shoot is over is a completely different thing. Feb 07 06 10:25 am Link Deadly Design Make-up wrote: Of all the reasons I have for NEVER doing wedding photography, I never thought of "crazy bridezilla" but this one beats them all! Feb 08 06 03:30 pm Link Gary Davis wrote: Same here... Feb 08 06 03:42 pm Link I think that is shady shady!!! I mean as we all test, we don't really work with contracts. Invoices yes, but nothing written about this sorda thing... But mabe we should just in case. I never thought this could happen, but I have come accross cheap and shady people. If they like your work in person (and also before hand, hence they hired you!) and didn't ask you to make any adjustments then they have no right to request a refund and you DO NOT have to give them one. You worked. You earned money for your time AND talent. This person might just want there money and actually like the pictures... Or maybe their work sucks and they are in denial. But this makes me think... just to watch our own asses... it might be a good idea to include a NO REFUND policy on out invoices!!! I'm glad you posted this Roshar!!! Feb 11 06 02:01 pm Link Deadly Design Make-up wrote: Here we, go this is why, I hate brides. I had a bride come to me and she wanted me to make her look younger I did my best but, she had alot of skin problems, I did a before picture of her and an after she said oh my God do I really look that bad. I said in my opinion it looks like she smokes excesively and her teeth are yellow the line around her lips were wrinkled it seemed she had never exfoliated used an eye cream, moisturizers or sunblock in her life she was 45 and looked 55 I gave her a list of thing to do before we met again. She wanted to back out but I cashed her check and explained it was non-refundable she had wasted my time for 2 hrs because her know it all friend had to interrupt every few seconds in the consultation and I did not take another booking because I had secured the bridal date for her. I sent her to a plastic surgeon Dr John Martin had him lazer her skin I month before. I instructed her to go on a strict diet gave her an herbal tea to be less constipated so she could eliminate her waste an she wouldn't break out and she would eliminate the toxins. Sent her to get her teeth whitened with brite smile. She did two out of three. End result she was happy and looked ten years younger. Without surgery. They do not know that we do this for aliving at least I have been doing this for 21 years, and we know what we are doing. Feb 23 06 06:42 pm Link |
I did a couple weddings and I will tell you NEVER AGAIN!!!WOMEN ON THAT DAY, ARE NOT VERY REASONABLE..