A client opens her gallery and is quiet for a long time. The photographs are technically perfect. She hates how she looks in all of them.
There is no policy for this, so what happens next depends entirely on how the next two emails are written, and both people are already upset.
The mistake: having no policy at all
Most photographers deal with this case two or three times a year and improvise every time, which means the outcome depends on mood rather than on principle.
The mistake: conflating dislike with fault
These are completely different situations and treating them the same either gives away free work constantly or refuses a client who has a genuine complaint.
The mistake: defining quality subjectively
A contract promising satisfaction has promised something unmeasurable. Describing deliverables, coverage and technical standards gives both sides something to point at.
The mistake: assuming the client saw examples
Somebody who booked from three images on a social feed has a different expectation from somebody who reviewed a full gallery, and that is largely the photographer's doing.
Fix one: separate the causes in writing
Equipment failure, illness, weather, client no show, brief change and dissatisfaction are six different cases and each deserves a stated outcome.
Fix two: cover your own failures generously
An equipment failure or an unusable file is your responsibility and a full reshoot or refund protects a reputation worth far more than one session fee.
Fix three: state the weather position separately
Outdoor work has its own contingency structure, already covered in weather and contingency questions for outdoor shoots, and it should not be buried in a general reshoot clause.
Fix four: define what dissatisfaction entitles somebody to
Additional editing, a different selection, a discounted second session or nothing. Any of those is defensible. Having no answer is not.
Fix five: use a preparation conversation to prevent it
Most dislike cases involve somebody uncomfortable being photographed. A conversation about what they want to look like, before the shoot, prevents more disputes than any policy.
Fix six: show the full range of your work
Galleries rather than highlights. A client whose expectations were set by your best six images is going to be disappointed by an average one.
Fix seven: agree the shot list where it matters
Commercial and product work fails on missing deliverables rather than on aesthetics, which is the risk described in commercial and product photography enquiries.
Fix eight: put a time limit on requests
A reshoot request arriving four months later is a different thing from one arriving in a week, and a stated window is entirely reasonable.
Fix nine: state what a second session costs
Even where it is discounted, a published figure prevents a negotiation conducted by somebody who is already annoyed.
Fix ten: handle the sensitive cases with care
Body image, bereavement and family circumstances sit behind many of these conversations, and the approach in how to handle sensitive questions in your chatbot applies to the tone of every automated reply.
Fix eleven: keep your published terms consistent
Terms on a website that differ from terms in a contract are worse than having neither, in the way described in listing rules and prohibited item questions.
Fix twelve: answer the question before booking
Clients want to know this before paying a deposit and will not ask. An assistant that explains the policy, distinguishes fault from dissatisfaction, asks what the client is worried about and takes a request for a preparation call removes the fear that stops a booking. See try and features.
What a published policy actually does
It converts an argument into a procedure, and it does so before anybody is upset. The sector view sits under photographers.