my videographer is a scam artist

lizcarreiro

i met with John Cipolla of Wedding Stories and hired him as my videographer.  I gave hima 450 deposit.  Now that my wedding is exactly 1 month away, i can NOT get ahold of him.  I have facebook messaged, emailed, and have called both number(which are all disconnected).] Now that i look him up I see that he has scammed numerous people and has been reported to the BBB by quite a few people.  My fault for not doing more research before I hired this vendor, but now what?

Summer2011Bride

Besides posting negative reviews of his service on any wedding site where he's listed, I might look into legal action. Do you have a contract with him and proof that you paid the deposit? I don't know what the lawyer, legal fees, etc. will cost and if it'd be worth it, but I would look into it.

This really sucks, but I would definitely file another complaint with the BBB and hope the negative reviews kill his business.

lizcarreiro

Thanks yes i have the contract and a copy of the cashed check.  Im also fileing a complant with the BBB right now!

crazykatiemae

thats horrible! at least you only lost the deposit (which you might get back after the wedding and you take some legal action) and have a month to hopefully score a good last minute deal on a different videographer!

please take a few minutes and review this guy on any site you can find that will let you review him so that other brides don't have the same trouble you did!

tbailey2013

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience!  I never thought to check the BBB when hiring photographer or videographers but I'll be sure to do so now!

roseofdeborah

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_photos-video_my-videographer-is-a-scam-artist?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:30Discussion:9e1fb8c3-8d16-46f9-8e75-2e050f923f8fPost:d7779e46-0677-420d-9854-1ef841cc0faa">Re: my videographer is a scam artist</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: my videographer is a scam artist : Just be very factual in your review and be careful what you say.  I ended up with my own personal internet stalker by doing exactly this.  I posted a vendor review of the classical guitarist who was supposed to play for our wedding, and made it very clear that I was reviewing only his business practices and professionalism because we'd had to cancel our wedding plans due to a medical emergency (instead, we ended up getting married privately, kind of on the fly). <strong>This guy eventually saw the reviews I'd posted and went berserk, threatening my life and smearing my name and the name of a business he thinks I own all over the internet</strong>.  We had to go to court to get a PPO against him.
Posted by LucyHC[/QUOTE]

Holy Mother....that's terrible.

crazykatiemae

roseofdeborah thats awful too! goodness lots of crazy and nontrustworthy people out there :-/

sophiabaxter81

Hi there, 
 
That is terrible, I am so sorry you were scammed! I don't know if you have already got anyone else but my friend got married last year and she used Magic Flute Videos wo she then recommended to me and their wedding video is truly beeautiful. It is dobne in the style of a documentary, and she said the couple who were filming were really discreet and helpful. Long story short I am using them for my wedding in the City next May, and you should definitley check them out!  

I hope I have helped!

kristineliz81

Hi Liz, We unfortunately used this vendor as well and we still have no video and no response from John Cipolla on when it will actually be done. You can file a complaint with the RI Attorney Generals office of Consumer Protection. There have been many other couples who pursued this and then the AG office 'went after' him and some couples started receiving their videos. There are a few couples including us who have filed and are waiting for the next steps. I'm very happy you found out before its too late.

kristineliz81

Ps he really dislikes negative reviews as these hurt his business. Just a little FYI :