Complaint Review: Mirchi Productions - Iselin New Jersey

I haven't read everything in this report- but i know already what is going on here-

Let me start off by saying that i live in another state and i roommated with one of 'Robert's' friends from India who is a VERY nice man. He is a professional and hard worker. He knew i needed work and introduced me to Robert via phone. He knew Robert wanted to re-open an office in my city that failed due to the same non-sense i'm sure.. Anyway, long story short- Robert and I started talking business, making plans, yatta yatta.. I got very excites as i am a single mother, and thought this was my 'big break'- haha... so i booked a flight and went to Jersey City where Robert was living November 1, 2009~ i stayed until just before Thanksgiving. I staying in Robert's Apt with him and his 2 Roommates. Robert had seemed like SUCH a great person and had me doing a LOT of work for him, making calls to brides to be almost every day, setting apts, going to apts, created him a new business contract, helped him touch up his websites (he said he had Mirchi for indian weddings and Garden State fore others)... I also helped him create new business cards and post cards.. i thought it was odd he wanted me to use carolyn's name and cell on the cards and not his own, i believe he did the same thing on the website... We stayed up almost every night working on this business... which would cause late sleeping- however-

Carolyn Finnerty...

i met carolyn the 1st day i arrived in NYC off the bus from Boston. She was a very nice lady and always respectful. She showed up bright and early and ORGANIZED every morning with a game plan to get work DONE and produced for the clients. However- Robert would be asleep until usually about 5pm, not hearing her outside knocking and calling his cell phone. I witnessed Robert sleeping through shoots he had apts for! carolyn was always very concerned and worried about the clients- she did more work than Robert did and definitely was trying to do the right thing ALWAYS- however- it was not her company and she could only do so much.

Robert hired 2 other young girls who were also single mothers and they seemed really bad off- one was like borderline homeless! and robert promised a job and to be paid this x amount for an hour and commission, these girls were working with me, robert, and carolyn many days of the week, calling brides to be, setting appts and riding around NJ and NYC to all different hotels and banquet halls trying to make business. The funny thing was, none of us were getting paid- at ALL- even carolyn!!! she had always talked to me when we went places alone, like to get food or such since i had no car with me. she knew my situation and she knew i wasn't going to get $ out of robert because she had mentioned thathe owed her a lot of money. Carolyn was always buying me lunch or dinner, and even giving me a few dollars now and then. She felt so bad for the other girl who was working with us, the one who was almost homeless, she GAVE HER 100 DOLLARS OUT OF HER OWN POCKET!! and this was Roberts responsibility, but carolyn, unlike Robert- has a heart and does NOT like seeing unfair things happening to others! She would be really angry with robert QUITE often because he would have clients writing out checks in CAROLYN'S NAME and then he wouldn't produce the work for them! he has TONS of film and videos on his computers and all over his home office- but he just had a sleeping problem where he would be awake all night- and sleep all day. what can you produce at night? that is why carolyn was up early every day, she mentioned to me that she wanted to get a new job but she was scared that these people would never get their pics/videos and they may come after her even though Robert was the one who kept all the cashed checks and he had all the work.I saw Carolyn very worried and very concerned about all these people's problems but when Robert sleeps all day- the problems just increased every day and new problems kept brewing!!! i started to get pretty mad myself because i expected pay before i left, Robert also told me he would drive me back to my city and open the old office and i would be running it (thank GOD it didnt happen!) but i ended up leaving with NO pay- and he said he would wire me money when i got back to th other state. He didn't even speak to me after this.. he ignored my text msgs and phone calls.. carolyn however, always stayed in touch to this day, and she has been working here n there for robert trying to get clients their work to save herself from his scam. but a year later- i see she hasn't had much luck. it is a shame to see her going through this, she is a very sweet family oriented lady who i could NEVER see even speaking badly about anyone!! Even Robert, she knew he was screwing her over, but she tried to stay civil with him for her sake and to get out of the mess.

After I left NJC, one of Robert's 'associates' - a man who Robert also was friends with and screwed over- i met him a few times and we discussed some other business regarding my art- and he sent me a link....

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/photographic-discussions/140535-bad-experience-professional-photographer-ny.html

yes, this link uses Robert's REAL name

Pankaj Kumar

these are all kinds of names he has used in his years of screwing people in the wedding industry! Carolyn wasn't even involved with half of these problems, she came in later when he tried to make ANOTHER fresh start with new names and company names. I emailed carolyn all this info as soon as i found out about his FRAUD a*s and she was even more scared because she had a feeling she would somehow be held liable! it's really sad because i know her very personally as far as keeping in touch and what kind of person she has proved to me that she is- she is a loving caring mother of 2 boys and she is paying for their college and just a regular person- she never used any fake names or lied to anyone. Robert is just a VERY manipulative person and has everyone fooled because he comes off as such a kind, caring man who is very smart. And he IS. to this day i still wonder- Did he plan all this out? or did he just set up everyone else to take the fall if HE failed again?? either way- he didn't care enough about anyone, brides or his workers- and he let everyone down. I can not sit here and watch carolyn go down. I KNOW if you have a problem and you call carolyn and speak to her, she will do EVERYTHING in her power to help you. sincerely, that is how she is.. i understand why everyone is targeting her, but please please don't because she is as much a victim as anyone else here-

please give her a break, she is going to court already and hopefully 'Robert' shows up. if i wasn't in the south i would be there to help everyone out and back up this mess. I can't believe Robert is even emailing people as if he is carolyn and saying crazy things- trying to say he 'was' a 'freelance photographer' who NO LONGER WORKS FOR THE COMPANY'' WHAT!!! he is REALLY going too far and now i'm willing to sit here and spend my time typing this out when i should be unpacking my new place and taking care of my child. on that note- lunch is VERY late i must leave this at that. good luck everyone and again PLEEEEAAASE cut Carolyn some slack!! Thanks!!

This is in response to Carolyn's rebuttal dated Dec 06, 2010:

Carolyn,

Most of this things you mentioned here are wrong...I have saved all your emails and text messages to me that will show that what you are writing here are lies...WE DID NOT RECEIVE 4 HOURS OF EVENT COVERAGE and that is my main issue here... The total time of my event was 4 hours, the photographer (Robert Kumar) showed up 35 mins late and the videographer turned up after 90 mins into the event... do your math... and Robert stopped taking photos after 2.00 pm... so the main reason I filed this compliant was failure to cover my event as promised.

Secondly you offered the free shoot, WE did not ask for it...you & Robert sat in my living room offering the shoot, the 100 prints was part of the package you sold us and now you are saying that these were given as extras, the poster was just a print-out on cheap paper and you are adding value to it... shame on you.... and you have conveniently failed to mention that you made me pay over $30 fedex charges and you forgot to mail the DVD and then charged me an additional $28 to mail a DVD that is damaged and cannot be played....so in essence you have not delivered what you promised.... you have now conveniently distanced yourself from this company but the fact remains that you were also responsible for the consumer fraud committed toward me and my husband.

i will call the Manhattan's DA office and offer all the evidence I have.. and to top it all...see the attached:: I have offered to send the so called 100 prints offered as part of the original package and now cited as an extra back to you and here is the email clip...

----- Forwarded Message ----

From: Photography Consultant <[email protected]>

To: Kalpana <[email protected]>

Sent: Fri, December 3, 2010 2:40:24 PM

Subject: Re: Photography & Video Package from Nov 2009

I can order it and will be send it to you as soon as you remove your complaint from internet :)

On Fri, Dec 3, 2010 at 2:23 PM, Kalpana Tumu <[email protected]> wrote:

Carolyn/Robert

I am not interested in any store credit at this point.....What would matter to us is getting a clean copy of the video mailed to us at your expense...If you have any ethics left you will do this. Meanwhile if you provide me with a fedex no I'll mail the photos/photo album back to you...they are of no use to me.

- Kalpana

Again, we should all take time to check the facts before assuming anything.

I have in fact been in contact with many of the clients I assisted in booking and have been trying to resolve their production issues. Since I am no longer with the company (have not gotten paid anything by them) and do not have access to their office/studio, I have limited resources as far as what I can do for them. I have been communicating via voicemail, email and text and relaying messages to appropriate parties. P.S. Do not have access to photo/video files on my computer and I am not an editor myself.

As far as the case with DA (as you mentioned), I was not aware of this case up until now. Will have to do further research.

Any clients out there who I met with and are having trouble reaching the studio, you can email me at [email protected]. I will try to assist in any way I can

I apologize if you yourself have also be taken by this company but let us get these facts straight. You were employed by this company and you were paid by this company. Your representation of this company enabled them to obtain more clients. I do not know how many clients you yourself were responsible for but every commission you made was in fact money that was provided to you by these victims. You could have worked one or one hundred hours for them but you were part of this company. If your conscious allows it I would contact every one of the clients you were personally responsible for and get the true story. Apologize and help them get their photos and/or money back. If not you are just as responsible as the photographer himself.

The point of this site is to prevent other consumers from being taken advantage of. This was not a personal attack on you Carolyn but by your initial rebuttal it seems you were a real part of this company and you do share in it's responsibility. If I were you I would stop rebuttals here and contact the Manhattan DA at 1 hogan place, New York, NY 10013 attention to the special prosecution division telephone # 212 335-8900 in reference to Case # 23285.

Not if, but when this guy gets caught I do not know if your rebuttal of you were only working part time and everything was presented in good faith separates you from involvement with this company now that you know the truth. If you do wish to preserve your reputation do the right thing and contact the DA regarding the investigation. At this point turning a blind eye to the actions of this company is just as bad as if you were taking the actual picture yourself. Maybe the powers that be will be more lenient on you if you help them especially since you have never had a traffic ticket (and I kid you not I have not either) but once you turn your back on this opportunity to make this right I don't see why they wouldn't prosecute you to the full extent of the law for your involvement yet lack of cooperation.

As I mentioned before, I no longer work for Garden State Photography and Video or Mirchi Productions Studios (and have not been with them for several months). I was employed by the company from November 2008 till May 2010. My name and their office number still appear on the website but this information is obsolete.

Posters: Please be very careful when you post negative comments/complaints, that you have your facts straight. I have never attempted to scam anyone or would I ever do that to anyone. I have been a professional travel agent for the last 20 years, I am married and have 2 grown children. I have lived in the same town for 25 years. I resent the fact that anyone would accuse me of any wrong doing (unethical or illegal) since I have never had a complaint brought against me nor have I even had an auto moving violation in my life! I was just a part-time employee (commission only)!

Any agreements that I previously made with clients on behalf of this company were made with good intentions and I expected that the work would be carried out appropriately. I regret any problems that may have occurred after the fact. I don't feel that it's fair however, that I am to be held responsible for decisions/actions made by my previous employers! It is not right to try to ruin someone's reputation by misrepresenting the facts and proclaiming a person guilty by association.

As I mentioned before, I am no longer working for Mirchi Studio or Garden State Photography and Video (and have not been with them for several months). FYI - I was informed at the time of my hiring that Garden State Photography was the parent company and Mirchi the division that handled Southeast Asian weddings/affairs and I had no reason to question that decision by the owners.

My background - I have been a professional travel agent for the last 20 years and I am married with 2 grown children. I have lived in the same town for the last 25 years. I resent that someone would accuse me of any wrong doing (unethical or illegal) since I have never in my life even received an auto violation.

I took this part-time position with the studio because of my past sales experience and I was interested in a change in my career path.

I started working part-time for the studio in March 2008 and stopped working in May of this year. I never have or ever will participate in any kind of scam or attempt to steal anyone's money from them. Any agreements I made on the company's behalf were made in good faith and I expected that the work involved would be carried out appropriately. It is unfair that I should be held responsible for the actions of my employers.

People should be very careful to get their facts straight before making judgement and trying to ruin the reputations of others.

I disagree wholeheartedly with Carolyn's rebuttal. First ask Carolyn why there are two websites http://www.gardenstatephotography.com/ and http://www.mirchiproductions.com/# are virtually the same she happens to work part time for both companies? Or are these professional scammers?

To all prospective clients please be warned. Do your own research on google for the following:
"Robert Kumar" + "photography" and see "Prateema's blog" from the knot websites also "Bad experience with professional photographer" from the photo forum.

More searches of interest google "Helping misled brides" and you see some very incriminating evidence for this photographer from allure studios.
Lastly give "warning bob guiliani scam" a try and four more pages at photo.net are available which are very descriptive.

The Better Business Bureau also has a page for mirchi and guess what you score an F.

I feel sorry for you Carolyn if that is even your real name thinking that all you are doing is making an extra buck. You are destroying memories and are robbing good people of important parts of their lives. It is funny you chose Mirchi productions and your partner in crime is Indian because you know Kara does exist and with all the pain you have caused people over the years may whatever god you believe in help you. I am glad I found out about your scam before I gave you an oppurtunity to steal from me as well and thanks to this hopefully you will get caught. I assume after all this evidence mirchi productions and gardenstate photography will magically disappear and you will have another company name or location or telephone number but if you do not think the FBI is aware of your scam you are wrong.

In response to the above complaint by K. Tumu:

I was a part-time salesperson for the above company (Mirchi/Garden State Photography).  I am not or ever have been an owner/partner or a photographer working for the studio.  I acted only as an employee for the company: made the original appointment, met with client to discuss details of event and price for photo/video package. As far as problem with videographer on day of event; that was because of a mistake in our records/lack of communication between sales office/operations (my mistake which I did not realize until after the fact).  I did assist in finding a new videographer on the day of the event and unfortunately he was late in getting to the party.  The original photo poster that was ordered did not arrive in time from the printer but we replaced it with a different one (same photo/another design).

We tried to make everything up to Mrs. Tumu by offering additional prints (not part of the original package). She received 4 hours of event coverage with a photographer and videographer, photo cd, video dvd, 100 prints plus a free life-style shoot (outdoor shoot at Marina) as well as poster total: $750.00.  An average price for this same package would be $1200.00. I know this is not consolation for her disappointment for the product received but just want to clarify that this client was charged a fair price for the service rendered.

I am sorry that Mrs. Tumu was not satisfied with the coverage of her important family event. I also regret that anyone from this company spoke to her in an unprofessional way.  I was not aware of this (at the time).  As I mentioned, I have not been with the company for some time and only acted as a commissioned employee.  Nevertheless, I have personally emailed Mrs. Tumu to explain the situation to her and have fowarded her email response to the person in charge.