Entitled customers will go out of their way to cut corners.

So what would you do if people openly told you they were planning to steal your work, even after you explained that it would cost you your commission?

Would you let them get away with it?

Or would you find a way to stop them from taking advantage of you altogether?

In the following story, one cruise ship photographer finds himself in this exact predicament and decides to put a stop to it.

Here’s what he did.

Cruise Ship Photography

A few years ago, I worked a contract as a photographer on a cruise ship. I worked 8 months of 12+ hour days with no days off while sleeping 6 feet from the port anchor chain.

My ship sailed around Hawai’i, and I got to spend a few hours off the ship every couple of days or so, so it wasn’t too bad.

Apparently, there was some deal going around where people were getting tickets for a 7-day cruise for $300-400 per person, which is a great deal.

These people were usually the most rude and demanding, which, if you’ve ever worked on a cruise ship, you know is really saying something, and they expected champagne on a beer budget.

The customers would plot right in front of him.

I worked on commission, and our photo prices weren’t the cheapest, but they were entirely reasonable.

We would take as many photos as the customer wanted and print them up, only charging them for the ones they wanted to purchase.

Instead of buying multiple prints for each person who wanted one, the customers would discuss in front of me how they would take it to Walmart and get copies made cheaper.

I would then inform them that the image is copyrighted and they were only purchasing the print so it would be illegal to make copies unless they purchased the rights, which cost the same as 3 prints.

Apparently, he collected a lot of complaint cards.

Invariably, they’d say “Well, you’ll never know.” They didn’t even care when I told them I was paid on commission and they were essentially stealing from me.

After a few months of this behavior, I decided not to take it anymore.

When people discussed making copies, I would refuse the sale and rip up the print in front of them so they couldn’t come back later and steal it from the shelves in the gallery.

The walls of the photo lab in the bowels of the ship were plastered with complaint cards about me.

Geez! At least have some decency and discuss it elsewhere!

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit feel about this story.

This person tries to explain why photographers are so expensive.

Apparently, it’s common practice at photo shops.

Yet another person who dealt with this often.

Here’s an excellent point.

They should’ve been more discreet, because most people would act like this when you’re taking from their pocket.

I mean, come on!

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.