Very frustrating... never again!!!!!

Question

NEED TO RANT A BIT!  
Yesterday, I did something I rarelly do, film a wedding. I helped a friend's friend that was in need, and shot with...... (wait for it... wait for it...... but first... to put things in context, I mainly do corporate, cultural and some fictional works with pro cameras. I did a few in the past, but... not interested in getting bridezillas on a weekly basis.
The thing is, because it was so low budget, he could not afford to rent my equipment with my services, nor could he spare a better camera for this gig, since he was on another gig himself. So he provided me with a Sony Handycam... yeah... you read right!  An auto focus, auto exposure, auto audio gain, auto piece of crap that records on it's own internal hard drive.
Problems and issues:
Low, low budget.... should have rang a bell long before.
He gives me the camera about 2 hours before the event.
Well, obviously, it's a Handycam with all it's gloriously consumerish "features" with no possible usable manual control.
He gives me a half full hard drive on the camera. Saying he's keeping the past footage just in case, even though he has 2 copies on 2 different drives. On top of that, it's footage from last year! Guess what, I ran out of space mid-day. Had to call him up and tell him he has a decision to make: delete or stop shooting.
Gives me enough batteries to barely do the day with no separate charger other then a the power supply to charge the batteries in-camera. My only way to save battery life was to stop and turn on as needed, during the whole day. I missed a few nice "spur-of-the-moment" shots because of that. It takes the camera some time to be up and running when it's turned on.
Cheap battery for a weak output external lamp that barely lasts 30 minutes but takes 6 hours to charge.
On-cam audio only. No shotgun, not wireless, no nothing! I had pity, so I ran to the office and got my MD46 for interviews. My microphone probably costs more then the camera itself... hehe.  And since my wireless receiver for my camera is a Unislot Lectrosonics, I can't use a wireless kit. So I have to make due with what he gives me. Before I leave, I test my mic, and notice a problem with the connection. This means I'll have to be diligent during interviews. I also bring my headphones to monitor the audio (hoping I wont have connection issues).
In the bag, as he was "showing" me his "great" camera, there was "wire" in the bag, and told me he wasn't sure what it was. I briefly look at it, and said it was a wired lav mic. I thought to myself "How he hell does not know what a lav mic looks like.  Granted, it was a $10 cheap lav mic, unusable, but still... any way... it showed me the level of technical knowledge this guy has. Keep in mind he's more of a photographer then a videographer... don't wan't to a judgement ******* either.
The locations changed a few times during the day. What was supposed to be a 30 mile route, turned out to be 60.
I got most of the important shots, but the lack of organization and time on the B&G side gave me no time to set up nicer shots, and only managed to get two quicky interviews during prep. Hey! These people pay "lots" (such a big word in this case) of money to get a video... you think they could spare a small 5 minutes for their $$$ video? I can only politely insist up to a certain point.
No VU meters on the viewfinder. Of course not, who would one need VU meters when the camera is equipped with the best technology in the world, know as AGC!?!?!?!  Pfffft
My nightmare come to life.  I do 2 interviews during prep, monitored audio and all was well. I reviewed the interviews and b-roll footage before doing a full day. Again, all was well, sound and all. Thinking I'm using on-cam auto-level sound, I don't really need to monitor the audio all the time, other then for mic'ed interviews. This was my error! Remember I told you I had a connection problems when hooking up the interview mic? As I get ready for a batch of interviews at the reception in the EVENING, I plug the mic, put on the headphones, and listen to... NOTHING?  I play with the connection a bit, and I finally have sound.... but then, a dreaded thought comes to mind. I review the ceremony, and ... I WANT TO SCREAM, and FAINT at the same time..... NO FRAKIN' AUDIO AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL... just a buzzing noise.  There's audio at the grooms, but nothing after that.  I guess the connection problem was more serious, even after the external mic plug removed. Could it be the bypass in the 1/8" TRS jack was defective?
I'm seriously pissed, both at the cheap camera, and even more at me for being pretentious enough to not constantly monitor my audio. VU meters would had been a great visual tool to ring a warning bell. This could have been prevented. I always monitor audio. Just, not this time. I managed to get more interviews at the reception to help pad things a bit... but it doesn't change the fact that i'ts a total disaster. No audio at the ceremony. The shots are nice, the visuals can make a great music video... but.... it doesn't change the fact that I want to kick myself.  Anyway, even if the audio worked, an on-cam top facing mic in a church would have been shityy anyway during the ceremony. Still.... this was an amateur mistake... I feel so stupid!
Now, ask me if I'lll do this type of contract again?
I know I can't go back in time. The last time I made such a novice error was more then 10 years ago?  I feel my only option, professionally, is to refund that person, and call it a loss (and a learning experience), and probably do a quick highlight music video.
What would you do in this situation?

Answer 1

I will open the cellar! I'll even start with a toast, as soon as the PGA is over, and I declare Wine Thirty.
It is assignments like these, that kept me away from that area of work.
Back in New Orleans, my partner did high-end weddings, and portratiure. I handled the advertising shoots. He had one of his Hassleblads, switch to M-sync, from X-sync, though the switch was still correctly set. As this was a major event, for a major family, he flew the prime participants back from CN, IIRC, and staged the event again, on his $. When done, he had all of his Hassy lenses pinned, so that the error could never happen again. Expensive as heck, but he kept the family as clients.
I feel very sorry for you on this one. Doing a 16mm shoot with a rented DP-16, someone picked up the camera by the mag to hand it to me in my perch, and it flexed just enough to loose the loop - 400' of abject garbage! I just refunded, edited the other spool, and gave it to the event organizer, with my abject apologies. Almost 40 years later, and I still feel the pain, when the lab called, and told me to get over there in a hurry.
Hunt