Bottom Feeder Cancer is on the rise...

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1cdj

New DJ
Mar 13, 2008
2,883
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I was a little distraught this morning when i received a call for a wedding on May 3 (yes 2 weeks from now) apparently the dj they were paying $250 for just had his grandmother get terminal cancer. Im not trying to be cynical and Im sorry if this is really true of that particular dj but we do at least 3 "My dj's such and such has cancer and can't perform.

We charge extra for last minute stuff since it involves using a dj who's off rotation is that particular weekend so i explain all that, but i wish people werent so naieve and realize that in most cases that dj got a gig that paid more.

kyle
 
There is a special place down below for people who stoop this low by using that excuse.
 
At least they're bothering to call and cancel. Many of the fly-by-nights simply don't show up at all.
 
Speaking of last minute r's I had one that I had been emailing and voice mailing finally tell me that she is going to have a friend DJ for her for under $500... I told her good luck...

That very night another call came in for the same date... and I booked her and she's paid in full for May 3rd.... I thought I was gonna be sitting at home with the wife... guess not.

Point is I still only quoted my normal fee... no up charge for short notice... I feel that it's not my job to get more just because it's such late notice... however, I do require full payment on any gig that is less than 30 days away.
 
That's why he's cancelling?
What is he? a doctor?

It should be the DJs responsibility to help find a replacement.
Not just cut & run.
 
jokerswild said:
Speaking of last minute r's I had one that I had been emailing and voice mailing finally tell me that she is going to have a friend DJ for her for under $500... I told her good luck...

That very night another call came in for the same date... and I booked her and she's paid in full for May 3rd.... I thought I was gonna be sitting at home with the wife... guess not.

Point is I still only quoted my normal fee... no up charge for short notice... I feel that it's not my job to get more just because it's such late notice... however, I do require full payment on any gig that is less than 30 days away.
Click to expand...

The way we're set up is we alternate weekends so 2 djs have off each weekend and they get 1 weekend after every 4 weeks of working, if i call them in on their weekend off its nearly impossible to get them off again before their next weekend off because theyve already started forming a relationship with the customer, so if they work their weekend off i give them an extra $100 since they could end up going 9 weeks without another weekend off, that's why i have to charge a little more for a last minute and usually its just the $100 thats going to the dj. Too compensate me for the extra work going into a last minute gig, every now and then i'll get one i can schedule thats like an afternoon or a sunday job and still add in the $100. We do a face to face with just about every client 3-5 weeks before their event we still try and get this in if you booked us 5 days before the event so everyone is on the same page which can take some juggling.

kyle
 
With calls like that in the original posting, it's obvious that ilk of clients don't take DJs seriously so why would those DJs who cater to that ilk take those clients seriously?

Stupid gets what stupid deserves, on both ends. Don't feel a twinge of sympathy for either side.
 
It's also quite possible that the client is full of &^%$. Just attempting to get a lower price from a DJ with the sob story.

By naming her price of $250, she is setting the stage for a quote in that general price range, or so she thinks.

You did well by sticking to your regular price.
Take no prisoners!
 
Wait....the dj's grandmother "got" terminal cancer? That is a horrible prognosis, but she's gonna be around for a while at least. Does this mean the dj can't work his day job either? Pitiful.

Dave
 
I just got done having cancer removed from my body. I just met with my May 3rd wedding last night.

Even if his Grandmother dies, odds are it wouldn't have to make him miss that one day.
 
kyle,
you did good sticking to your guns. The only thing I would have done different is NOT explain to her that you are charging extra for the short term notice and why. I would let her know what the price is, but she may feel she is getting "gouged" because it's last minute. Explaining to her about DJ's needing to get paid extra because it's their day off doesn't really add to the sales pitch.
I don't charge extra for last minute. If it's open...it's open. However, if someone wants to charge extra for last minute...i understand....i just wouldn't broadcast that to clients.

Sometimes we offer clients TOO MUCH INFORMATION. Imagine calling for a hotel or plane reservation and the sales person saying.." Our regular price is $250. But because it's under 2 weeks and we have to have additional staff for the flight, we have to charge $600 now for the ticket. While that happens all the time...they simply just let the customer know WHAT the price is...not WHY the price is increased.
 
I've never charged extra for last minute calls, if anything, I would rather give them a deal so I will be working and making some money, NOT $250.00, but if I'm planning on sitting at home 2 weeks from now, I would rather make $600.00 than watching TV that night.

But then, this is a full time job for me and I don't have a day job to back me up...
 
I got terminal cancer over 25 years ago and I'm still around. I had an inoperable brain tumor and was diagnosed terminal. I've been in remission ever since.

Regardless, I've had calls like this where the DJ bailed due to "family emergencies" and the DJ was charging a rate well below my cost of production. My answer is usually something like, "I am sorry to hear that your DJ has a family emergency that has caused him not to be able to do your event; however, the price you indicated is well below what I am able to perform an event with the same quality my clients have come to expect." I either get "What do you charge?" or click!
 
jtnichol said:
Makes me wonder if the whole thing is a tactic to haggle a cheaper price....QUOTE]

I'm betting the DJ found a better paying gig. He probably has done this before. He's a bottom feeder that dones this regularly.

I too would hit her with my normal rate. (it's over $1k)
She hired cheap & got the cheap service.
Click to expand...
 
Bill Kexel said:
That's why he's cancelling?
What is he? a doctor?

It should be the DJs responsibility to help find a replacement.
Not just cut & run.
Click to expand...

yeah but thats what all these bottom feeders do is just cut and run because they got a higher priced gig
 
Ok some of you doubters....good friend of mines uncle was diagnosed with cancer two weeks later he was gone...it happens....

Some of you worry way to much about this kinda thing....just give them your price and move on...they hire you great if not get ready for the next person...guess what Im trying to say is...it happens all the time in our industry...get over it...dont let the negative get you down....work your business and get positive....:sqconfused:
 
This discussion is kind of funny to me.

People who want to drive a really nice, high quality car know that it's gonna cost them some money. They come up with the money or they drive something not quite so nice. If the cars that you sell go for $35,000, but someone wants to pay $8,000, they just aren't going to get one of your cars are they?

Why worry about it? It's different markets. Someone who does a $50,000 or $100,000 wedding can't possibly expect to pay $250 or even $500 for entertainment. If they do then they will get what that amount of money buys. If they scrimp on the catering then the food may not be very good. If they scrimp on the venue, it may not be such a nice place to have a nice affair.

Lot's of people nowadays don't have a whole lot of money. They are trying to get married and have a decent party for as little as they can because they don't have a whole to spend. The can barely pay their bills, they're broke or nearly broke. This is a fairly large portion of the population. Does this mean that they shouldn't have ANY entertainment? NO, it means that they have to settle for what they can afford and for what they can get for the little money they have to spend.

If there are some DJs out there willing to do these small weddings of impoverished people, why are you looking down on them? They may be in the same impoverished class and not know any better or not have the knowledge, the sales abilities, the equipment and so on that y'all have.

Every market and industry is stratified. That's why you have Gemsound on one end and Electro-Voice on the other. That's why you have Cadillac and Mercedes and Yugos. You have different levels of quality in every product, service and industry.

There is a reason you see some people driving around in broken down junk cars. That's all they can afford. Same thing with weddings. Some are fancy and some are sandwiches on paper plates with a dude who brought his home stereo to DJ.
 
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