Complaint Review: Raphael Rachman Studios

I found Raphael Rachman, photographer for Raphael Studios, through a Groupon.com advertisement offering an on-location sitting fee of $99.00 including one 11x14 print, two 5x7 prints,  20% discount toward additional prints ordered, and a sharing CD. I called the studio directly and talked to Raphael Rachman to see if the date I needed was open. We agreed that he would photograph our family on the beach on 12/27/2014. This was going to be the perfect Christmas gift for five separate families meeting in Naples for our Christmas vacation. Mr. Rachman asked that I pay him directly for the sitting fee instead of going though Groupon because he would honor the same price so I paid by credit card.

Mr. Rachman arrived on time and photographed our family as promised12/27/2014. We were all able to view the photographs on his website before leaving Florida and on 1/07/2015 I paid him $328.00 by credit card for our portrait packages ordered and another family member did the same.  Mr. Rachman stated that he was busy and wanted to take care in editing the photographs so it would be several weeks before the portraits were ready.

 I waited until the 2^nd week in February before I started emailing, calling, and texting to find out why we had not received the portrait packages. Mr. Rachman did not initially respond to any form of communication until 2/22/2015 when I informed him that I would be proceeding with fraud charges and writing unfavorable reviews on social media and the BBB sites. He did respond at that point politely apologizing about the delay due to a family problem and promised to complete our order as soon as possible. Again, I waited for a few weeks with no communication and no photographs. I contacted Mr. Rachman again by text. He sent  me USPS priority tracking numbers on 3/10/2015 promising that the portrait packages were being sent out and would arrive by the beginning of the next week.  The tracking numbers proved to be invalid and no portraits arrived. I have proceeded with complaints on YELP, BBB, Florida Department of Consumer Services, Groupon, Google, and Ripoff Report. I have also filed dispute charges with both of my credit cards for the reversal of charges for services and products that have not been received more than 3 months later.

It is sad to me that this business has scammed at least two other families besides mine that I know of. These are the families that actually took the time to write a review to warn other customers. I cannot get back the memories of my family being together or the time and aggravation I have put in trying to resolve this matter with Mr. Rachman  and the credit card companies.  It is such a disappointment that this business is still advertising for new clients on Groupon and is still taking advantage of unsuspecting out of town clients without any penalty. Please read the online reviews before doing business with Raphael Studios. Based on my experience and the experience of others, this business is untrustworthy even though they claim to have been in business for more than 20 years.