In a case of “thanks but no thanks”, a Gauteng photographer has gone viral after sharing a post wherein a woman asked for a refund after she and her husband called quits on their marriage.
The woman said that since the wedding photographs were no longer needed, she was entitled to get her money back.
Lance Romeo took to social media a few days ago to share screengrabs of the conversation, thinking it was a joke.
“I swear my life is a movie. You can’t make this stuff up,” Romeo shared.
In the post, the woman asks if he remembers the 2019 photoshoot he did at her wedding in Durban. He responds that he does and the woman informs him of her divorce, adding: “I and my ex don’t need them 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.”
“Pardon me? This has to be a joke right,” Romeo responds.
The woman says she is “very serious”.
The conversation continues and Romeo tells the woman “that’s not going to happen”.
Romeo tells the woman he cannot “untake” the photographs.
The woman says she is taking the legal route and is demanding 70% of her money back.
Speaking to IOL, Romeo said the woman was introduced to him by her friend.
He said he’d initially charged her and her now ex-husband R15 000 for photographs and a video of their wedding that was in KwaZulu-Natal. The couple had negotiated a lower amount and Romeo agreed to R12 000.
After the wedding, Romeo took two days to edit the photographs and sent them to the couple.
“She loved the pictures and, a few months later, contacted me to tell me that everyone loved the pictures, and we went our separate ways,” he said.
Romeo said that when he heard from the woman a few days ago – after four years – he had thought it was for more work. He said he read the woman’s message a few times and couldn’t believe it.
“It’s the craziest concept. I still can’t wrap my head around it,” he laughed.
He said that when the woman threatened to involve her lawyer, he wasn’t worried. He also didn’t entertain her request to meet.
Romeo said he hadn’t expected the post to spread like wildfire.
"And here I am doing interviews about it. Personally, it's a blessing in disguise. I'm thankful to her, I have never received this much publicity in my business. I owe her a thank you," Romeo joked.
“This is the craziest thing. I have come across the some crazy clients but this lady, she takes the cake. There is no way anyone could make this up,” he said between chuckles.
He told IOL that the woman’s lawyer did call but the two shared a few laughs. The call ended with the lawyer reassuring him that there was no case.
Did he end up refunding the woman?
“No!”
IOL