Photo: alphaspirit.it / Shutterstock / Twitter
She's threatening to take legal action, however he says he cannot "untake" the pictures.
By Megan Quinn — Written on Apr 28, 2023
A man who photographed a couple’s wedding four years ago was surprised when the bride reached out to him to inform him that she and her husband were getting divorced.
However, he was even more surprised by the request she expected him to fulfill.
The woman asked the wedding photographer for a full refund on the wedding photos since the marriage had ended.
Lance Romeo, a photographer, took to Twitter to share screenshots of the unusual interaction he had with the client four years after he photographed her wedding in Durban. “I swear my life is a movie,” he tweeted along with the screenshots. “You can’t make this stuff up.”
The woman asks Romeo if he still remembers her, which he assures her that he does and asks how he may be of service.
She tells him that she and her husband sadly divorced and that they “didn’t need” their wedding photos anymore. “You did a wonderful job on them but they went to waste as we are now divorced, I will need a refund of the amount we paid you because we don’t need them anymore,” she messages him. Confused, Romeo assumes that the woman must be joking. However, she tells him that she is “very serious.”
The photographer explains why his services cannot be refunded and sent his condolences to his client on her divorce. “Photography is a nonrefundable service once I’ve already delivered you the service and the pictures. I can’t refund you because I can’t untake the pictures,” he writes.
The woman is not too thrilled with Romeo’s response, arguing that he must have that information in his contract. “You didn’t, so I’m entitled to demand a refund as I’m no longer in need of your pictures,” she says. “I understand it’s not your fault but you are a business and as such you must be able to grant refunds.”
Romeo informs the woman that he wishes to keep it “professional” with her and once again holds his ground that he cannot issue a refund. “It’s bad enough you want a refund four years later, it’s unfortunately really embarrassing on your part so there will be no refund,” he responds.
The woman claims that he will be hearing from her lawyer as she has forwarded him everything. While Romeo sympathizes with her heightened emotions going through a divorce, he tells her that her behavior toward him is not the way to handle it and that there is nothing more that he could do for her.
"Let our lawyers deal with it. At least refund 70% of the money and I can move on and heal from everything,” the woman writes back. She then asks him to meet up, which he denies.
Many Twitter users asked Romeo to post a video explaining his story in further detail, and he happily delivered. He explained that he was referred to the woman by another client to photograph her upcoming wedding back in 2019. He originally charged the woman and her husband around $820 in USD, however, they negotiated the price down to around $655. The bride and groom did not give him any issues at the wedding and he sent them their photos shortly after the event.
Romeo claims that when he originally received the woman’s messages, he believed that she was going to ask him to photograph another event or possibly try to hit on him since she was now getting divorced. It took him a while to realize that she was not joking when she asked for a refund. The photographer has since added to his contract that he cannot issue refunds, which he makes clients agree to and sign.
A few days later, he was surprised to receive a message from his client’s soon-to-be ex-husband, who thankfully had a much different demeanor than the woman. He claimed that he was only alerted of his ex’s actions through social media after the story went viral.
“I apologize on her behalf,” the man told Romeo, dubbing the woman’s behavior as “embarrassing.”
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.