VIC Never Received Photography Service - Get Money Back?

[Dianne Horvath]

To this fantastic forum,

I paid for headshots with an agency I signed up with, for work as an extra. A couple weeks later, I experienced a horrible event which has shaken me. The headshots were never taken.

The event threw me into anxiety and depression, and while I'm undergoing counselling and hoping to improve my ability to return to "normal", right now, I can't even fathom leaving the house. I'm unable to do many normal daily activities and I've also stopped working.

Do I have the right to ask for my $500 back, as I did not receive the photography service? I understand there may be fees for the initial registration etc, and I'd be happy to pay that, but now that I'm unable to work, that money weighs heavily on me now that I'm struggling.

Could you offer any guidance and/or perhaps a suggestion of how I could possibly ask this of the Owner, as I don't have his direct email address, and assume that all communications would not be confidential? And of course I don't want him to know the details, but just tell him what happened and hope he can give me my money back, unless legally, it's his.

Respectfully,

 

[Sophea]

It will really depend on any contract or agreement that you signed, but in some cases where there is a failure of consideration ( or where you didn't get anything for your money) then you don't need to pay. I would write to the agency informing them of the circumstances and request your money back and see what they say. If they refuse you can follow up with a letter of demand threatening legal action - but in reality there is not much legal action worth taking for $500.