So there I was last night minding my own business (actually I was on here) when my mobile rang. It was the function manager at a regular venue and the conversation went along the lines of:

'Hi Paul, Debra here I'm hoping you can help me out. I have a Bride upstairs in tears because her disco hasn't turned up'

This call was at 7.10 and their disco had been booked to start at 7.00. I asked Debra to check with the bride to see if they had tried to get in touch with the original DJ and to also give her my price.

A few minutes later I was told that they couldn't contact the DJ they'd booked because they didn't have his number (The brides mother had done the booking). They hadn't heard from him and because he wasn't there at the agreed time they didn't want him now anyway.

So at 7.50 I arrive at the venue and introduce myself to the B&G, discuss music etc. Then downstairs to load my gear into the lift (it's now 8.00pm). The lift doors were about to close when I heard a 'Hold the lift' shout. A guy enters the lift, sees the gear and asks what it's for. I told him that I was about to start a wedding disco.

You can probably guess the next bit - yes this was the other DJ During the extended lift journey (we went down to the basement instead of up) he (Kevin)told me that he had arrived at the venue at 5.00 found out they had just started their meal and so went away again after speaking to the lady on reception.

I suggested that we both go and speak to the bride and if she was happy for him to do the gig I would take my stuff out and then help him with his so that the delay would be minimised. The bride wouldn't give him the time of day and told him to go and speak with her mother. She then asked me to continue and set-up. I told her that the other DJ had been there at 5.00 and her response was 'But he wasn't here at 7.00 when he was supposed to be and he's now an hour late'.

I retreat down the corridor to my gear, swiftly followed by Kevin who had received an earful from the brides mother. His attitude was that I was stealing his gig and he wanted compensation. I told him to discuss that with the person who had originally hired him but he said that as I was taking work from him it should be me that paid him (he probably didn't want another ear bashing)

Anyway by this stage I just wanted him out of the way so that I could get on with setting-up and asked him how much he was looking for. £50 was his reply.

There is a twist to the tale that I will divulge later but going on what has happened so far would you:

Pay him the £50 to get rid of him
Tell him he has two chances (fat chance & no chance)
Something else?

Tell him to see the Bride's mother for the money.

How come he went away for three hours it does not take that long to eat some food.

I am always fearful of going to places where the DJ has not turned up as they always seem to turn up at the same time as you.

Would you ask for money if they said that they were going to have the original DJ? I would expect something as one you are not late and two u have had to load your gear.

I think that the issue with the money and nicking his work is something that the bride and groom should sort out, You did not nick anything its not like you blocked him in three miles down the road then said hey he is not here i will do it.

Someone elses problem not your you did as u were asked

I certainly wouldn't pay him myself.

If he was there at 5pm and told to go away and come back at 8pm by the hotel, then he as a reasonable argument with the hotel - not the replacement DJ.

I would suggest to him that he quickly discusses this with the function manager and brides mother together, whilst pointing out any clauses in his contract that require full payment in the event of a short notice cancellation.

Faced with this, it is likely that the function manager would suggest to the brides mother that they let him play, rather than cause problems with having to pay him, or argue in the small claims court.

If he doesn't have a contract, then he has learnt an important lesson the hard way.

tell him to get lost. you have been asked to come out and do a job and your doing it.. his dealings should be with the person who booked him and its nothing to do with you..

The other DJ wasnt there at the required time.

You had no contract between the other DJ and you - so no money should change hands between you two.

By him saying "I spoke to the girl on reception earlier", could be important - but of course, if he knew that the receptionists changed shifts at 6pm, he could be pulling a blinder. However, benefit of the doubt etc, if he asked the 5pm receptionist to call him on his mobile when the wedding breakfast was starting to come out, and that message wasnt actioned...then he could have a point. However, I certainly wouldnt nip home, or take a trip to McDonalds, a shopping spree to Woolworths etc,etc during the inevitable late running weddings - you simply never know how long, or how quick you're going to be needed.

If it came to the worst - I'd ask the hirer (brides mum?) which disco she'd like to leave, and have the venue manager see that the nominated leaver is "assisted" off of the premises - so I didn't have to worry unduely about my equipment, vehicle, music etc meeting with any "accidents".

For all you know, (maybe this is the "twist") the other disco might have already been paid in full, prior to the event.

Tell him to go and see the brides mother and if he gets some cash, use it to buy a new watch, so he won't be late for his next gig !

I certainly would'nt pay him, no matter what

Any obligation you might have would be to the client. Likewise the other DJ.

Therefore no reason at all why you should pay anything.


Was the other DJ the resident or perhaps related to the bride?

I think if anyone needs paying it should be you.

A. If you didn`t do the gig you should be rewarded for going out at such short notice.

B. If you did the gig a decent wage for going out at such short notice.

The dilemma is between you Paul and the Bride who booked YOU.

You should tell Kevin (other DJ) to off. Its nothing to do with him what you do. You`ve been asked to do a function and have turned up to work as arranged.

If Kevin did the job then the Bride should reduce his wages and give you the difference (if your happy with that).

At the end of the day its you that needs compensation. (end of).

Tough one.

As pointed out, the DJ has no reason to have any beef with you but in his situation you'd be pretty miffed too. I doubt you'd be able to get your point across in a reasonable manner at this stage but common sense must prevail - you would have to insist on him speaking to the hotel management or bridal party.

However, I would be fearful of some sort of attack - physically, verbally, pulling the power during the gig, marking your car, waiting for you after the gig, etc., etc.

Interesting this one, I am never keen to help out last minute callers for this very reason.

As for the twist - did you drop him £50 to be your roadie for the night?

I'm with the majority on this one - you have no relationship with the other DJ, so you shouldn't be giving him money. After all, you're effectively giving him £50 of your pay for the night and that can't be right. I'd refer him to the bride's mother on this one.

Send him to mummy!

At this point in the discussion the bride appears in the corridor (probably to find out what’s keeping me). Kevin tells her that he’s looking for compensation for his wasted evening and she tells him that it was her mother that had booked him and she would get her to come out & see him but as far as she is concerned he had already wasted enough of her evening & he should let me get on.

We wait in this stalemate position for another few minutes but the brides mother does not appear. Time was moving on and I wanted to resolve this quickly so reluctantly I agree to pay him the £50 although I explain to him that I didn’t have the money on me and I hadn’t been paid for the gig yet.

Right on cue his mobile rings and (as people do) he starts to pace up and down whilst talking. I use this opportunity to wheel my gear along the corridor and as I round the corner the groom is standing there. He tells me that he has heard the whole conversation and to now leave it with him as he would go and sort Kevin out . I still don’t know what this ‘sorting out’ entailed but I didn’t see Kevin again.

As always with these dilemmas we can learn from other peoples mistakes (always carry £50 in your pocket!). I think the main point is never rely on reception staff (not that I have anything against them but they are dealing with lots of things, they change shift, etc). As the function manager told me - if Kevin had let her know that he was there at 5.00 and was going off for a while then she could have put the bride at ease and if he had also left her a number she could have contacted him.

When the full story had come out the function manager went to reception to ask whether Kevin had indeed been there at 5.00 ‘Oh yes now you mention it - he was here & said he would come back later’ Although the reason for his return being 1 hour after the agreed start time was never established.

Go Forth & Multiply, if he can not keep to his contract that is his fault no-one else , so no gig, no monies, and certainly no compensation

Definitlely wouldn't have paid him anything myself.

If I turned up an hour late for the start and they'd got somebody else in, then I'd expect to be told to **** off, and don't expect any money.

If I turned up and they were running late, I certainly wouldn't leave the premises for more than a few minutes. I'd be sitting in the lounge or wherever so I could keep my own eye on how it's going.

Ignore him, warn once,pummel (sp) unconscious! steal wallet and take £50 out and leave in his pocket:rolleyes:

The guy blew it, not your responsibility or problem.

I am probably going to get shot down in flames here.....but in that situation I would have thought of one thing.


THE CUSTOMER

I would have paid the guy £50 to get him out of my hair then get set up as soon as possible to sort out that poor girls wedding ....... may have mentioned it to the customer later in hope of recouping it but if not well never mind.

Maybe I am not money oriented enough and too customer focussed !!

Not easy to deal with....

Contracted to start at 7.00 not fullfilled (verbally or otherwise)

You have been asked to stand in at short notice and turned up.

1. You can expect to be paid for turning up, wether you play or not. Full rate or attending price would be open to discussion.
2. The other guy/Dj is not your problem. He should not have left the venue when asked to leave by the bride. I would have rather set up late and played for a shorter time.

This is not about playing the wrong/poor music choice but about non fullfillment. So It would reasonable to expect the Bride/management to make other arrangements.

How could he leave on such an important day.......

Jimbo

Would I have paid him off?

NO

It is Nothing at all to do with you. It Is HIS problem, The Brides, The Grooms, The managment, The dog down the road or any one else that wants to get involved.

BUT ITS NOT YOUR PROBLEM. Sorry but I feel quite strongly about this

Sorry mate I have been asked to cover because you were not here!
That would have been my answer.

Any hassle.. Management issue.

Jimbo

I'm with C.S. on this ask nicely for him to stop bothering you, then ask him to walk with you to your Van and explain the situation i a way that he would understand

To my way of thinking the single most worrying thing is that the idiot wasn't even professional enough to set up BEFORE guests arrived at the venue. That really is basic common sense for a wedding and just plain good manners. I hate it when a guest arrives early and sees me setting up my gear, as it sort of removes a bit of the magic and mystique.

Most of the weddings I've done have been in the same room as the wedding breakfast with no room to set up till the staff re-arrange the room.

So I sit nearby and watch and wait.

I don't have any issue with setting up early because it does make it easier. But when charged extra for the facility most management / clients have a change of heart .

Since I cover a fairly wide area of Cheshire - Derbyshire and occasionally as far apart as Lancashire to the West Midlands, a round trip may mean a journey of 2 hours and 150 miles worth of diesel just to set up, and that means additional expense.

If a local venue requires the service - no problem the gear is set up at an earlier time free of charge, however if it's at a distant location then charges get added accordingly.

Also ensure that your PLI and Equipment insurance covers you for unattended gear. I've left gear set up before at venues and returned in the Evening to find a load of kids crawling all over it .

Fortunately like Paul, I find at a lot of venues they clear the room and move everybody into the bar area whilst the staff clean the tables, mop up the baby sick and rearrange the furniture. We find that we can often set up long before the management have even figured out how the temporary dancefloor fits together

Just to add my tuppence worth of opinion on the original matter here, there is no way on Earth I would have even thought of paying off the other DJ.

I have no issues with him, and he should have none with me. Unfortunately it is the client's problem, and they would have to expect to pay someone off to get rid of them, and it would be up to them to decide who it was.

Pity about delaying even further the performance, but in this case it is up to the client to resolve the matter as quickly as they can.

Good thread.

Ok, I would not pay him anything. However, I think it highly un-professional to argue in front of the punters, so I would ask him to invoice me for the money as I have none on me. When his invoice comes, point out that you have no contract with him and argue it out with him in a way that the guests do not see any form of altrication.

IF that didnt work, then as Ian, ask him to help you with something from the van........