Reply To: Feel free to turn your critical eye my way

[cameraclicker]

If clients are paying you, they like what they see. Photography is an art form. Your clients like your art. This is all that counts.

Caveat emptor.  If you see a finished photo and you like it, you can tell exactly what you are purchasing.  If you see someone’s work, it could be that it was someone else’s work, or the only good photo they ever took, and their general work is of much lower quality.  Or, it could be they consistently crank out the same standard of work.  If it is the former case, you could be in trouble if you contract for a wedding.  If it is the latter case, you will probably get exactly what you expect.

If you were fixing CARS without the proper training something may be legitimately said about your lack of skill and disapproval of charging customers. But you’re not.

CBC TV just aired a segment about quick lube places that up-sold but either did not do the work, or made a mess.  One place put the wrong antifreeze in the overflow tank.  Green in the tank, orange in the radiator.  Apparently they did not do the coolant flush they billed for!

My sister-in-law wanted new snow tires.  Before looking for a deal, I looked up the tire size myself, and discovered the summer tires provided by their mechanic are the wrong size.  They have a 6 cylinder model and the summer tires are the size for the 4 cylinder model!  Her husband was sure I was wrong until I directed them to look at the plate on the door.  Fortunately the car is just driven in the city.  The difference in size is enough to cause tread failure if driven at highway speeds in summer.

In December, we had water in our gas.  The first day it was below freezing in the garage, the car would not start.  Cranked great though.  It started when the weather warmed and it thawed out.  Unfortunately, it was cold again before all the water was out and it stayed cold until we needed the car.  It was towed to the dealer.  I explained the problem and asked them to put it inside and let it warm up.  They waited all day, then pushed it into a bay an hour before closing.  They told me it needed a new $500 fuel pump, because they couldn’t hear the pump running when they turned on the ignition.  The car stayed in their garage and when they got to work in the morning they were amazed it started right up.  I had already put a couple of jugs of a product called Heet into the tank, it has started every time since.  Still has the original fuel pump.  The electric pump is a demand pump, it does not try to move gas if there is pressure in the line, and there is if it is clogged by ice.  The dealership mechanics should know this, since I do.

So much for fixing cars, with or without proper training.  Let’s talk about doctors.  Toronto had Charles Randal Smith.  You can read about him here:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Randal_Smith , he was certified an anatomical pathologist in 1980, so one would assume he was properly trained and tested. He certainly screwed up a lot of people’s lives.  He is just the one that comes to mind immediately, there are many others, I’m sure.  While writing, this guy also came to mind, he is more recent:  http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/anesthesiologist-convicted-of-molesting-21-women-during-surgeries-1.1549663

Training, testing, certification and so on are more apt to be in place to act as a barrier to entry than to protect the consumer.  The sad truth is that it is important to be an informed consumer.