Weddings What is your stance on your contract??

No thanks - I'll stay with what I have

its worked for the last 30+ years
I do not need to change anything on mine

what so ever

they can take it or book someone else

trafficgoo said:

That is the take we got on it and so did the venue. The venue mentioned how she wanted to put "an out" in their contract as well...the ol' if we're not satisfied clause.

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I know this is an old thread, but I'm curious: did the venue cave on their contract, or did they also stand firm? If they stood firm, did the clients keep their booking at that venue, or change it, the same way they have to change D.J.s?

Alright...my clause stipulates that if me nor my employee...(dj) can do the gig...then we will make all efforts to find another acceptable dj.


And when this comes into question....I explain to my clients....that what I mean by an acceptable dj...is just not any dj...but a very reputable dj who I would personally hire.


I also have in my contract....that if there is a price difference, I will pay the price difference on a dj we agree on.

My clients understand "good faith"....and I have had zero issues with it.


Because honestly...if my dj backed out on me...but yet they secured a higher paid dj....I (as the client) am not going to get stuck with the difference and think that is ok.

I know where some of you guys are going to rip on me for the way I am going to work this.....I think this is very fair and acceptable.


If I need to pay $1600 out of my pocket because I missed a clients important wedding....then so be it. I will own up if we are unable to fulfill our contract obligations.

BTW...imagine if your clients take you to court for a "no show"...and they bring the contract......you know are going to be stuck with some punitive damages right? I would think so.


Maybe I'm wrong about the court thing...but I would feel like if I only had to pay a small amount out of my pocket....as opposed to court costs and all the negative images that go with the whole thing....I think my "good faith" will turn out just fine.

Fred Wright said:

After thinking about this I can't help but wonder if Mom has ulterior motives... like scrutinizing vendor contracts in search of a way to get her money back afterwards.

Wouldn't be the first time it's been tried.

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I recently had some nut want to scrutinize my blank contract before hiring me. We emailed back and forth several times and she was ready to hire me...but only AFTER seeing/examining the blank contract. I told her I will give you ample time to look it over prior to signing but I dont send out my blank contract to people to examine, copy and or alter. Its a simply worded 2 page contract. I am a certified paralegal and drew it up myself. She got all hostile and told me that several other DJs and vendors had sent blank contracts for her to examine. Bye!

DJ_MJ said:

I recently had some nut want to scrutinize my blank contract before hiring me. We emailed back and forth several times and she was ready to hire me...but only AFTER seeing/examining the blank contract. I told her I will give you ample time to look it over prior to signing but I dont send out my blank contract to people to examine, copy and or alter. Its a simply worded 2 page contract. I am a certified paralegal and drew it up myself. She got all hostile and told me that several other DJs and vendors had sent blank contracts for her to examine. Bye!

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Another dj or wannabee trying to search out contract verbiage/practices?

Sounds To Go said:

Another dj or wannabee trying to search out contract verbiage/practices?

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No need to go through the hassles... we had a contract/document share group on Wedding Wire - they all sent in their documents, I posted them on Google Docs and gave them permission to everything posted. Worked well.

Sometimes it's easier to get if you ask instead of try to 'cheat' the information out of someone.


I sent a contract to a client after we had been talking, and she took it to her attorney. He looked at it, said it didn't have enough protection for her, and told her not to sign. He then told her she was paying too much, and recommended a DJ that was less than half what I was charging.

She called to tell me about it, and I offered to talk with her attorney about what changes they wanted to make (talking about it isn't an issue, only the actual changes might be a problem and I need to know what they are). She then says the attorney recommended another DJ company who was much less. I said, ok.... thinking it was over.

She called me back 2 days later asking me about the custom mixes and other stuff I offered to do. I told her in no uncertain terms that was what the price difference was for. She offered to pay me for it. I asked her why would I give her my work and then have another DJ use it as though it was his work? He's SURELY not going to announce my company name before he plays it - and instead just hand them a card. I quoted her a price more than twice my original fee.

I never heard from her again.... but I'm sure she got everything she paid for....

Can I provide some advise from a real lawyer?

Contract/Agreement, same thing in the eyes of the court. The word choice does NOT matter.

No matter what you put in writing, or call it, if you alter it ad hoc after the fact, ie let someone out of the contract you have set a precedent that could come back to bite you. LIVE by what you sign.

The mom sounds wrapped a bit tight. However she has also probably seen or heard about a number of bad DJs. She is probably also very familiar with Bait & switch. So she is right to ask for some clarity on it. HOWEVER. She too has to clearly define upfront what her objections might be. & if she has them night of, it's her responsibility to raise them early enough & is such a manner as to allow the DJ to correct or repair any shortcoming. This is mitigating the damages. BOTH sides are required in most states to do all that they can to mitigate the damages of another.

It doesn't matter what you call the money they pay you up front. If you can't demonstrate you have EARNED it, The court will most likely make you give it back. That's the facts on it. You have to show you earned it.

You can also stand on your contract so far as to poison your market. You don't want a former client or former potential client to run around telling others you were PITA to deal with.

There is a balance. This is why you want good legal advice from a lawyer that works in contracts/agreements.

The above is what I got when asking the questions & relating the above dialogue.

Use it as you wish.

BTW Jason! We miss you at the local meetings! Stop in & say hello once in awhile.

XXI. Should HOST become seriously ill, injured, suffer catastrophic equipment loss, a death of a parent, spouse, sibling, or child, or other extraordinary act of God, nature, or fate, the HOST agrees to take prudent actions to provide the CLIENT either an alternative DJ choice approved by the CLIENT, or, the CLIENT may accept a refund of all payments paid to HOST, less the costs of time and material expenditures.

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Everybody's happy!

trafficgoo said:

She writes in the contract, in not so many words, that if something did happen to us and she wasn't happy with the replacement that she's entitled to a full refund.

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You don't offer a satisfaction guarantee? How one-sided is your current contract?

Frankly, if I send a substitute, the client automatically gets a 25% discount, and is still covered by my 100% money back satisfaction guarantee.

FYI: In 26 years, I've never had a complaint, and only sent a sub and did the 25% refund once.

Cap Capello said:

Everybody's happy!

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"less the costs of time and material expenditures."

...and how is this calculated and who calculates it?

The "DJ no shows" ...for whatever reason...yet makes money

The client cancels...for whatever reason, yet owes everything....

Me thinks only the DJ is happy....

Steve : I do.

After explaining what those materials and fees were, if still unacceptable, from that point it would be recommended not to consider my contract, please move on to the next DJ on your list, and again, we're both happy (me especially!)

trafficgoo said:

In the contract my wife and I offer a backup DJ of equal or greater caliber if something were to happen to us, family emergency etc...we have a few people that we know that could step in and we belong to the ADJA.

She writes in the contract, in not so many words, that if something did happen to us and she wasn't happy with the replacement that she's entitled to a full refund.

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That's not an unreasonable request.

A more mutual version is to require their prior approval of any substitutes made; as Cap suggested - because, once they agree to the substitute it is much harder to justify a refund if you're dissapointed.

Dave Miller said:

You don't offer a satisfaction guarantee? How one-sided is your current contract?

Frankly, if I send a substitute, the client automatically gets a 25% discount, and is still covered by my 100% money back satisfaction guarantee.

FYI: In 26 years, I've never had a complaint, and only sent a sub and did the 25% refund once.

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I have never offered a satisfaction "guarantee" that allows asomeone to retroactively price the service - and never will. My contract lays out specific performance - not post satisfaction. Their satisfaction is presumed within the context of the agreement - meaning, that performance as specified and negotiated is the advance definition of satisfaction.

A 100% money back guarantee presumes that we have something upon which to make trade - like a piece of merchandise which can be returned, or a service person who can come out to make corrections. None of this applies to a one time event therefore, we use the contract to agree in advance what constitutes "satisfied."

Fine.

Let me rephrase the question.

Does your contract provide the client with any protection if:

- They are not satisfied for any reason,
- They are not satisfied for a specific reason,
- You cannot show up and send a substitute,
- You are late, or
- You do not show up?

While I realize that a natural reaction to that question would be, "It has never happened," the question is, what protection does your contract provide to the client, in the event that it does happen?