Law Gurus: Need Help! edit 11/02: they filed Bankrupcy (not)

[FrustratedBride]

Originally posted by: crystal
Are you saying you expect them to be at your peck and call at 0:01 am in the morning till 12:00 pm on your wedding day? As other mention, if "xy" will be there and some else that work with/for them will cover the other wedding, then what's the problem.

You know what I think. I think you got buyer remorse. After you sign the contract and investigate the "xy" some more, you have doubt about their abilities & commitment. shrug.

Of course we don't expect them to be at our beck and call. The problem is, both X and Y themselves agreed to do our Wedding Day, not their assistants (for example, X and one assistant for one event, Y and another assistant for another). They also said that they do not book more than one Wedding a day. The reason why we agreed to hire them was because of these terms. We also hired them because we thought the Wedding Albums they showed us looked great, but now at least two of the pictures they used in the albums were not taken by them, when we assumed them to be.

Do you really think that this is a case of buyer's remorse? How would you feel if you were lied to (verbally and deceivingly)?

 

[alrocky]

Your two main complaints are that they double booked you and misrepresented someone else's work at their own. The best scenario that shows you are damaged is if both X & Y will not shoot your wedding because of the double booking. If they double booked and can still shoot your wedding there is no harm to you as far as the wedding shoot goes because the double booking essentially has no adverse effect.

Having the other photographer (or his affidavit) testifying that YX used his work as theirs demonstrates to the SC judge that XY are unethical or worse.

If you cancel well in advance of the wedding date, this give XY plenty of time to book another wedding for that date and thus they would not be "damaged" by your cancellation. (That fact that they double booked shows that they don't have trouble filling their schedule.) So, regardless of the wording of the contract, they would be unfairly rewarded for work not done if you cancelled months ahead of the wedding date. That is you should not be liable for the remaining balance.

 

[warbean]

The law of contract allows damages to the extent of placing an injured party to where they would have been had the contract been fulfilled.

XY may be entitled to expectation damages in the event of breach, in the amount of profit they would have made from your engagement. They must show a duty to mitigate (find another booking), and if they do, they aren't entitled to ANYTHING from you.

The part of the contract allowing them to keep your deposit in case of a cancellation may be interpreted as a penalty clause, or liquidated damages clause. If you can show that this amount is in fact a penalty and does not approximate the amount of their loss, then that clause will be unenforceable.

good luck

 

[6000SUX]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: spidey07
"In our contract, XY stated that we can void the contract "with good reason"."

If that is truly in the contract then that is your out. You have "good reason". If these reasons are not specifically stated then you have a wide open out.

I agree. Actually, I'm quite surprised that XY is withholding the deposit despite the fact that no services were ever rendered. That type of unethical business behavior alone IMO is reason enough not to do business with them.

It's not unethical if there is a valid contract and they're allowed to keep the deposit.

 

[6000SUX]

Originally posted by: DigDug

But the bottom line is, you can't sue for a breach that hasn't happened yet.

Right. And is precisely the nature of the situation at hand, namely the providing of photographs as a result of a photgraphic event not yet occuring, that would see a court viewing the transaction as one for services and not goods. The breach by anticipatory repudiation defense you mentioned above isn't tenable. Unlike a manufacturer whose production capacity may yield evidence of a failed delivery, there is NOTHING, from a legal perspective, other than speculation about their unreliability that you are relying on here.

What I would do is approach them and see if they are willing engage in a mutual rescision. This is the best thing that can happen.

In our contract, XY stated that we can void the contract "with good reason

This is amateurish drafting on their part - they clearly did not retain an attorney for drafting of that contract. "With good reason" means absolutely nothing and you can certainly argue in court that what you've learned about their past behavior -- print out every single thread from the Bridal Forums -- constitutes good reason.

Frankly, I'd take those print-outs and show them. Tell them that this is what a court would see, should they refuse to return the deposit upon your decision to void the contract. Ask them wether they can afford any more bad publicity.

If they showed samples of others' work to get the clients to sign, they committed fraud. Hence there is no contract, and any judge would order a refund of the advance.

 

[FrustratedBride]

Just an update, in case anyone was wondering what happened :sun:

 

[mugs]

Where do you live?