$500 to bring in my own photographer!

[Matt Adcock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikkiStreak Some of the resorts will allow the photographer if you put them on your guest list for 1-3 nights... If you haven't signed anything with the resort yet, you might try and use your wedding there as a bargaining tool to get them to waive/reduce the fee.... I have no clue if that will work or not, but it's kind of what I plan on doing because it pisses me off that they want to force the couple to either use their (usually) crappy resort photographer or get more money out of them by playing with their (the couples) desire to have a decent photo album of memories...

You are dead on with your thoughts...

I *believe* that in this case, the hotel is being represented by a coordination / travel company that is levying this 500 fee.


Basically, why should one have to "bargain" to spend THOUSANDS & THOUSANDS of dollars? Seriously?

Client satisfaction should be 100% at the top of the list for these resorts. I would have WAY WAY WAY more respect for this 500 fee if the hotel offered an amazing photographer. BUT, as anyone can testify (sorry to those of you that settled for the resort photographer) typically resort photographers are "crappy" and if you go to Lomas Travel's website, you can see their photography add on fees are 300-700 for a photo package. It is pretty safe to say that you get what you pay for "in terms of wedding photography".

I think you should be "PISSED off". You have a right to bring any guest to your wedding, camera or not. I simply would refuse to pay this fee....

Can anyone tell that i'm a bit edgy on this subject... It stirs my feathers for sure!

One of these days, these resorts will realize that forums LIKE THIS ONE exist and their perception that they can get away with these fees under the table will fade because of reviews that are being published about the services (or lack their of) and especially on this very topic, PEANILTY TO BRING IN PHOTOGRAPHER. Through your concerns and complaints for this frivolity, this policy will change over time but only if we as a collective, make your voices heard... i'm ranting now..sorry.

I am on a tear here because :
I had a recent situation Lomas Travel on this fee issue(they represent the Karisma resorts (Azul, Eldorado & eldorado Suites, Moramo beach) I met the coordinator at a wedding at el dorado several months ago and we chatted about the photographer situation.

I told them that we will blog their wedding coordination site every time we cover a wedding at one of the hotels they represent. This is free advertising folks.... We get 12000 hits PER MONTH on our blogs... Mainly because of forums like this one...there are literally TONS of forums that brides will post our wedding slideshow and blog links. The point is that it redirects potential new business to them. A Reciprocal relationship ---we offer you clients and they forgive the fee situation.


We recently posted their link on Sol's blog and guess what? They got a referral. BUT, they told OUR REFERRED client about this $500 penalty and she told them thanks but NO THANKS. They lost a client over a $500 fee and more importantly the hotel lost 10-30k in revenue...

Can you believe this? My client forwarded me their email where she specifically said "we wouldnt have known about lomas travel if it wern't for the link they posted on their blog that directed me to your site!"

I followed up with them regarding this issue and they have not replied.

sorry for the rant....

cheers
matt

[Lauren_Hirshon]

Rant on! I think it is such BS. I literally will be helping them make 30000+ in revenue and they wont even waive the 500. Ridiculous. Good to know that I can put them on as a guest. That's what I intend to do. I just hope they dont kick the person out and I end up without any photos...

[JaimeLynne]

Matt, maybe you could forward them a link to a thread such as this one....?!

[Matt Adcock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JaimeLynne Matt, maybe you could forward them a link to a thread such as this one....?!

Well, believe it or not, I have already sent them a long long writeup I did and referenced this forum, knot.com, wedding bells, trip advisor and a few others where brides talk about wedding vendors in the RM.

My attempt (which was 4 months ago) was intended to bring awareness that their actions are transparently represented in the blog / forum / Internet world. Companies can no longer hide behind closed doors as the Internet is changing the face of how business reputations are managed.

Google isnt just a search engine. It is a reputation management tool!

Back to my email that I sent... they ignored my email. no reply.

They are on the take and see every vendor that is hired as a source of income. Whoever pays the most gets the job. 0% attention to the vendor that will offer the best service.

oh well. If 1000 brides complained about this fee, it may go away.

Sorry for the rant...this just burns me.

m

[kemiller]

How much would it cost to use their photographer? It sounds like it could expensive paying for your own, flying them down, paying for lodging and paying the $500. You should do the math to see if it makes sense going with theirs.

 

Just a suggestion.

[CourtneyV]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemiller How much would it cost to use their photographer? It sounds like it could expensive paying for your own, flying them down, paying for lodging and paying the $500. You should do the math to see if it makes sense going with theirs. Just a suggestion.

Sometimes the resort photographers don't quite seem to be..... up to snuff. Some of them are good photographers, but to a lot of brides (myself included) think it's worth paying more to have the perfect photographer there.... the extra $500 on the other hand is upsetting, frustrating and just down right wrong! It makes me angry just to think about it - and it's a cost I don't have to worry about with my chosen resort. If I had to though, I would try to fight it.

[jthrasher]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemiller How much would it cost to use their photographer? It sounds like it could expensive paying for your own, flying them down, paying for lodging and paying the $500. You should do the math to see if it makes sense going with theirs. Just a suggestion.

If you fly a photographer in, they are a guest of the resort and then you don't have to pay the $500.

I'm firm believer in paying for what you get and most of the time the photographers these resorts use are not great, at best. If you can live with only 50-100 photos that are mediocre, that's cool, but most of the time it's in your best interest to hire your own photographer.

The extra cost of flying someone down is sometimes very minimal and sometimes would be about the same price of hiring one of the better local photographers.

[CourtneyV]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jthrasherphoto.com I'm firm believer in paying for what you get and most of the time the photographers these resorts use are not great, at best. If you can live with only 50-100 photos that are mediocre, that's cool, but most of the time it's in your best interest to hire your own photographer.

I couldn't agree more. There are very few things you walk away from this wedding that you will have for the rest of your lifetime... you FI and wedding bands are the only other things that mean as much (to me) as the photography. With the right photographer, you can get that emotion captured perfectly. The photographer is the most expensive thing on my budget list, and that's the way I want it! With a poor photographer... you might as well have an inexperienced guest take the pictures for your album. They just seem like they're snapshots instead of of real photography - catching THE moment.

[PaulSchrank]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kemiller How much would it cost to use their photographer? It sounds like it could expensive paying for your own, flying them down, paying for lodging and paying the $500. You should do the math to see if it makes sense going with theirs. Just a suggestion.

Kemiller, your suggestion only proves that their policy works. I'm not trying to slam you for suggesting it (sorry), but this is exactly the thought process they are looking for, it sort of justifies the policy.

[Nrvsbride]

Maybe people should just stop having their weddings at their resort and then that snotty WC can go back and explain that business move to their boss. Geez. I am pissed off for everyone! That is so annoying. Sorry to sounds like a b@tch but I'm annoyed by this stupid policy. Yes everyone wants to make money and that's fine but don't tack on BS penalties. How about this for business sense? If you don't stop trying to rip people off on their happiest day ever, you are going to lose your entire wedding revenues.