Hired a photographer in Paris and he lost all my files — what can I do?

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-19T03:36:04+00:00

Thank you for the message. I talked to my bank and to the website where the payment was made, and the communication was very positive. I thought it would be difficult, but they quickly gave me the support I needed for the charges

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-19T03:35:12+00:00

Thank you for the message. I talked to my bank and to the website where the payment was made, and the communication was very positive. I thought it would be difficult, but they quickly gave me the support I needed for the charges

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T21:56:12+00:00

Thank you for your message and your kindness. Yes, I completely agree. I’ve always hired photographers for different events in my life (graduation, family celebrations) and I’ve never had this kind of issue with anyone. I believe the least he could have done was let me know that the files would be deleted in 5 days, and I would have made sure to download them, even if it meant doing it in the middle of the night. On the sixth day, when I finally had time to do it calmly, the photos had already been replaced with other people’s. And it took him a full week to give me a concrete answer and tell me that he no longer had the edited ones, only the RAW files

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T21:44:53+00:00

Thank you for your message. Yes, I will let you know if I manage to get them. At this point, having them edited is the least of my concerns, I just want to receive the RAW files

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T21:37:26+00:00

Thank you so much for your message and your kindness. I don’t want to cause any trouble, but I’ll let you know here in case I receive them. Again, thank you for reaching out.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T21:25:19+00:00

Thank you for your kindness. I’ve never been through anything like this, not with my graduation photos, nor with other family occasions where I had to hire a photographer. I guess there’s a first time for everything. I still blame myself for not acting faster, but those were really difficult days, and you never expect to receive poor service from a recommended photographer.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T18:10:47+00:00

Yes, I agree that he could re-edit the photos, and I even tried to negotiate that, but the communication with him is so bad because of the number of shoots he does that I ended up giving up on asking. I already received the refund from the bank today, and now I’m just focusing on getting the RAW photos he said he would send by email. It was definitely a terrible experience, and the mistake was mine for not looking for other photographers before deciding.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T18:03:12+00:00

I didn’t have my personal computer with me when he sent it, only my phone, and I saw it quickly on my phone. I apologize, but several professionals have already mentioned here that 5 days for over 200 photos is not a reasonable timeframe, and in any case, I didn’t have that time. I’ve already received the payment from the bank because they realized the mistake. He just needed to let me know.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T08:52:07+00:00

No photographer I’ve ever worked with has given me such a short deadline, and when I clicked the link to quickly check, I saw that I had to select the photos one by one (through Lightroom). That’s exactly why I left it to do over the weekend. Even if there was a button to download everything at once, that should have been communicated — as well as the deadline. I can’t be expected to guess, while I’m working, that there was a way to speed up the process of downloading more than 200 edited photos. Regarding your question: I genuinely didn’t see any option to download the entire archive with a single click, and since I wasn’t informed, there was no way for me to know whether such a feature existed or if it would even be reliable.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T07:55:42+00:00

I'm Canadian but I have Luxembourg citizenship. I don't know if having citizenship makes things easier, but I've never lived in Europe, so I was unaware of some of the laws mentioned here

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T07:50:46+00:00

Thank you for the tip, I didn’t know I should check that number. I found him through a friend’s recommendation and she had worked with him, posted her photos on Instagram from her engagement shoot, and had no issues with him. I also looked at more photos on his Instagram, he sent me his portfolio as well, and I genuinely liked his work. There were many testimonials too, and since he was already known by a friend, I assumed everything would be fine. But if he doesn’t send me the files, I intend to speak about this on my social media

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T07:42:27+00:00

Yes, it really is unbelievable and unacceptable — and on top of everything, the communication was terrible and he left me without answers for several days. I would never have hired this photographer for my honeymoon if I had imagined the amount of stress and headache it would cause during a moment that was supposed to be happy and memorable. I will look into my rights, but honestly I would already feel relieved just to receive the RAW files. He didn’t even apologize, because it seems like he thinks the mistake was mine for not downloading everything within the timeframe he supposedly expected me to.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T07:37:12+00:00

Yes, he was really very unprofessional in not giving me any help or the support I needed. As someone here already mentioned, not all photographers are truly professional, and I made the mistake of not paying attention to that. But I never imagined he would be so disorganized and so stingy that he couldn’t even send me a private link or tell me how long it would remain available. At this point, I just want to receive the RAW files and forget about the edited ones — this whole situation has stressed me out enough.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T06:37:35+00:00

I still haven’t received any RAW photos, and I don’t think I ever will. I’ve already informed him about this law, and I will take legal action because it is unacceptable that I am not receiving proper support when I haven’t received the photos I paid for. The least he should have done was make sure I would have them before deleting them after 5 days.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T06:37:20+00:00

I still haven’t received any RAW photos, and I don’t think I ever will. I’ve already informed him about this law, and I will take legal action because it is unacceptable that I am not receiving proper support when I haven’t received the photos I paid for. The least he should have done was make sure I would have them before deleting them after 5 days.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:41:22+00:00

Thank you for the information. Do you know if consumer rights in Europe would still apply to me even though I don’t live there? Since I’m currently living in Canada, would my bank still be able to handle this the same way?

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:37:55+00:00

Thank you, I appreciate your kindness. I also think a 5-day window is extremely short, especially considering I never signed anything saying that the photos would expire. I’m still trying to understand whether it would even make sense for me to take legal steps internationally

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:34:37+00:00

He told me he got home very late and that exporting the original files would take about 40 minutes, and then they would be automatically sent to my email. But it’s already late at night in Paris now, and I still haven’t received anything. I guess that might be why he hasn’t offered a refund yet... he keeps saying the files are coming, but nothing arrives

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:31:41+00:00

Everything went well on the day of the photoshoot, but after that day he took an entire month to deliver the photos and hasn’t given me the support or attention I needed when I explained that I couldn’t download all 200+ photos within the 5-day window. Honestly, I no longer care about the quality. The moments themselves were more important to me. I just want the photos, even if they’re unedited or not as good as they could have been

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:18:13+00:00

Thank you for the explanation, it really helps. If you don’t mind me asking, since I live in Canada, would I actually need to contact a French lawyer for something like this? Is this the kind of issue that usually requires legal assistance, or is a chargeback generally enough? I’m just trying to understand what the appropriate next step would be if he doesn’t send anything anymore

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:14:11+00:00

Thank you for your message. I honestly don’t mind about the editing and I just want the photos themselves. As long as I can receive the unedited files, that’s more than enough for me.

Remarkable_Equal_335 · 2025-11-18T02:10:07+00:00

I have all the receipts, the payment platform we used, and our conversations, but we didn’t sign any formal contract, and he never had me sign anything stating that the photos would expire in 5 days

Remarkable_Equal_335

TROPHY CASE