This has been a long drawn out saga... My wife and I are so tired at this point we debated on even posting this review. We have filed formal complaints with the BBB and the state attorney general who is currently building a case on this company. I would strongly encourage others who have had the same experience to come forward so others will not fall prey to the same scam we did. Here is the letter we sent:
We booked Expressions Photography LLC for our wedding photography in February 2009 and we paid our contract in full in April 2009 in the amount of $650. On August 25th Roy Parks called me and told me that he was canceling my contract, just 30 days before my wedding. I told him that I wanted a refund & his exact words to me were "You gave me that money almost 6 months ago; your money is long gone!" We informed him that we planned to take him, and his mother, Debra McDermott to small claims court for our refund. He called my husband and I names and he used foul language toward us. He made repeated phone calls to us, we asked him to stop, but he continued to harass us. When we did a search online we found several posts from other past clients who were also ripped off. We knew this was not just an isolated incident, My husband tried to go to the business address that was listed on our contract (2618 Lynch Highland, MI 48357) and it was a vacant home! My husband called Roy to try to find out what was going on and FINALLY Roy agreed to refund our money. He then mailed us 2 post dated checks, which we received on August 27th, each written for half the amount of the refund. ($325 each). The first one was cashable on 9/12/09 and the second was supposed to be cashable on 9/26/09 (the date of our wedding) but the account was closed before we could cash the check. At the end of a couple of phone calls, and Roy swearing at us, he finally said that he would send us a money order in 2 weeks, so we should have recieved it on October 8th, 2009, we didn't receive it. We called him again on October 13th to try to find out when we should receive the rest of our money, he said that we could take him to court and he wasn't going to give us our money. The next day (October 14th 2009) he called us and said that he would pay us $75 that day and then give us the rest of the money the following week. We felt that we had waited far too long already & told him that he needed to pay us the remaining $325 by 6pm that evening or we were going to be taking him and his mother, Debra McDermott, to small claims court and press charges for writing us a bad check on a closed bank account. He called us back again later that day and said that he had a cashiers check for us, we met him & finally got our money back. I am writing this letter to inform people about how this company does business. My issue is resolved, but I am hoping to warn others so they wont have to go through all of this. It was hard to have to find another photographer on such short notice and pay them before we got any of our money back from Expressions Photography. Not to mention all of the stress it caused us when we were so close to our wedding
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Anonymous
Highland, Michigan, USA
Brides Beware - This malicious report was posted to frighten people and mislead you into thinking its how we operate
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, December 10, 2009
Most of the statements in this report are not accurate and its more of a hoax with the intent to harm the reputation of this business and one of the photograhers we hired to photograph several weddings. We found other malicious reviews posted by this person on various websites and had them removed with the help of our lawyer in the past 3 months. This contract was cancelled for several reasons prior to the wedding date and this person received a refund from the company in less time than she claims in her report. We have the necessary evidence to support our claims.
We've been demanding this author provide proof of every claim written but we already know the statements contradict the evidence we have against them. This person(s) is presenty under investigation for slander, libel, defamation, and tortious interence of business in the State of Michigan. A lawsuit is being prepared and will be filed against this person in 30 days for the above criminal and civil infractions.
We spoke to the Attorney Generals office today and they gave a copy of that complaint this person filed so we can include it with our lawsuit next month plus they emailed a copy of the repsonse. The report was closed and they're not building any case against this company or the photographer.
We have given photography or videography services to more than 20 brides this year and they posted excellent reviews under our company on various websites. We allow Mr. Parks to display his recent work on the website so every bride can view his previous wedding photos. We never cancel a contract without cause and we don't steal money and not show on the wedding dates. Mr. Parks doesn't drink and is one of the nicest persons I've had the opportunity to work this year. We've also hired another fantastic photographer Brian Masserman to shoot weddings next year and he has 23 years experience and a beautiful studio in Keego Harbor. We strive to work with only skilled photographers with the ability to photograph in many different siuations using the best compostions and creative style to deliver beautiful wedding photos after the special day. Quality, service and price are what matter most. So we never charge more than a fair dollar amount for each job based on the client's budget and what she would like in her package.
If a contract is canceled by the company a refund is given within ten business days. If a bride must cancel a contract because her wedding date changes, we provide her with service on the new date unless we're already booked in which case she is given a refnd or we refer her to another company and transfer the funds to them.
We have several photographers working for this company each with different levels of experience from 5 years to 23 years and we try and match the client to the person that best suits her needs, style, and budget as best we can. For more information please contact us directly www.myexpressionsphoto.com
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Anonymous
Highland,Michigan,
USA
Brides Beware - This malicious report was posted to frighten people and mislead you into thinking its how we operate
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Thu, December 10, 2009
Most of the statements in this report are not accurate and its more of a hoax with the intent to harm the reputation of this business and one of the photograhers we hired to photograph several weddings. We found other malicious reviews posted by this person on various websites and had them removed with the help of our lawyer in the past 3 months. This contract was cancelled for several reasons prior to the wedding date and this person received a refund from the company in less time than she claims in her report. We have the necessary evidence to support our claims.
We've been demanding this author provide proof of every claim written but we already know the statements contradict the evidence we have against them. This person(s) is presenty under investigation for slander, libel, defamation, and tortious interence of business in the State of Michigan. A lawsuit is being prepared and will be filed against this person in 30 days for the above criminal and civil infractions.
We spoke to the Attorney Generals office today and they gave a copy of that complaint this person filed so we can include it with our lawsuit next month plus they emailed a copy of the repsonse. The report was closed and they're not building any case against this company or the photographer.
We have given photography or videography services to more than 20 brides this year and they posted excellent reviews under our company on various websites. We allow Mr. Parks to display his recent work on the website so every bride can view his previous wedding photos. We never cancel a contract without cause and we don't steal money and not show on the wedding dates. Mr. Parks doesn't drink and is one of the nicest persons I've had the opportunity to work this year. We've also hired another fantastic photographer Brian Masserman to shoot weddings next year and he has 23 years experience and a beautiful studio in Keego Harbor. We strive to work with only skilled photographers with the ability to photograph in many different siuations using the best compostions and creative style to deliver beautiful wedding photos after the special day. Quality, service and price are what matter most. So we never charge more than a fair dollar amount for each job based on the client's budget and what she would like in her package.
If a contract is canceled by the company a refund is given within ten business days. If a bride must cancel a contract because her wedding date changes, we provide her with service on the new date unless we're already booked in which case she is given a refnd or we refer her to another company and transfer the funds to them.
We have several photographers working for this company each with different levels of experience from 5 years to 23 years and we try and match the client to the person that best suits her needs, style, and budget as best we can. For more information please contact us directly www.myexpressionsphoto.com