Battle

[WildBillyT]

Some of you may have noticed the picture in the paper or the story on the news about the event photography place Celebration Studios going under. They had 8 locations throughout NJ, NY, and PA. Well, my wife and I are some of the hundreds of people that got hosed.

We signed up with them back in '06 and paid half the money (the rest was due after the event) and got married last July with no problems. The photographer and videographers were great and the shots that they took were even better. After we got back from our honeymoon we were supposed to get proofs within 3-4 weeks. Well, week 7 rolled around and we had to keep calling them and bitching at them to get thier S together. We went from person to person, voice mail to voice mail, email to email, and round and round. They finally delivered the proofs and told us that we would meet about the video and album after the new year.

Well, surprise surprise, they declared bankruptcy this week. Apparently they owe taxes since '05 and they owe tons of money to their vendors and staff. There is a ton of us in this predicament and a class action suit will be started.

So now we get to gear up to battle for what is rightfully ours. Natalie filed a police report and I filed a formal claim with the NJ State Attorney General's Office and BBB. Then to put the icing on the cake I called up some friends I have who are FBI agents (NY field office) to have their way with the situation however they can.

Should be an experience to say the least. I'd love to get all of our raw photos and footage from the place with some money but the word is that the studio doesn't even have a dime. Chances are the owner will be thrown in prison or something and we will be out 3 grand. Thank God we got the proofs so at least we have SOMETHING.

I hope nobody else on here was affected.

[79T/A]

Yeah, it's definitely a huge honking mess. Sorry you got caught up in it. I believe this is going to end up in the hands of the IRS, and if it is found that they are guilty of tax evasion, then the possibility of prison for the owner exists. I don't see how it couldn't have something to do with evading the taxes, as the average amount that couples paid was around $5k. The taxes owed were about $86k. There were HUNDREDS of couples so I don't see how the proper tax money wasn't set aside. Someone misplaced funds somewhere.

Can you do anything with the prints, like pick the best and get them scanned and put into an album? Obviously that doesn't get you your money back, but at least you can have an album.

[BonzoHansen]

That sucks Bill, sorry to hear that. Your wife must be devastated.

Hey, did you pay with a credit card? If so, at least you can call them and get your money back. Not that it is any consolation.

I say we start up a posse and go get you negatives back.

[WildBillyT]

Originally Posted by 79T/A

Yeah, it's definitely a huge honking mess. Sorry you got caught up in it. I believe this is going to end up in the hands of the IRS, and if it is found that they are guilty of tax evasion, then the possibility of prison for the owner exists. I don't see how it couldn't have something to do with evading the taxes, as the average amount that couples paid was around $5k. The taxes owed were about $86k. There were HUNDREDS of couples so I don't see how the proper tax money wasn't set aside. Someone misplaced funds somewhere.

Can you do anything with the prints, like pick the best and get them scanned and put into an album? Obviously that doesn't get you your money back, but at least you can have an album.

We were fortunate in that they gave us high quality prints of the proofs. We have 1300 pictures in 3 albums, but no formal wedding album and we can't blow them up into wall pics. The video stuff is a complete loss.