They sold us a package and at the time of the wedding we realized that we were not going to get the one we paid for.The ceremony was nothing like we were told and the arrangements were n ot the ones we had ordered. they were not willing to move the location eventhough it was not the one we had agreed upon. All in All it was a devastating experience and we would definetively not reccomend them to anyone.
Consumer Complaints & Reviews
They were very accomodating and helpful till we made a deposit. After we paid for the deposit our calls were not returned, the location we had chosen was changed at hte last minute and it was very hard for us to communicate with them about exactly what was included in the package.
I got engaged in May of 2006. Once I was engaged I started doing what any newly engaged girl does, I started looking for vendors and planning my wedding. My fiance and I knew that we would be responsible for paying for our wedding, so we were very concerned with finding good quality vendors at reasonable prices.
I found a company called Weddings By The Sea, Inc. referred to as ("WBTS") based in Ft. Lauderdale on the internet. It seemed almost too good to be true...they offered all types of wedding services and had great package prices. We set an appointment to meet with Charles James, the owner of WBTS in September of 2006. when arrived to the address, my fiance was a little put off, becasue it was not an actual business, but rather Mr. Jame's house. That probably should have been our first clue. however, he seemed to be a pleasant man and seemed to say all of the right things to ease a bride to be's mind.
He informed us that he could handle every aspect of the upcoming wedding. We left the meeting and discussed whether we wanted to use the company or not. In November of 2006 we decided to use WBTS. We had picked out a package that we like titled "The Ultimate 3" which was to include the following: Officiant, Photography for the entire ceremony and reception, 250 4x6 prints, 4 8x10 prints and 1 11x14 print of our choice, Videography for geting ready, entire ceremony and reception, 2 edited videos with music vinegttes and photo montage in custom cases and decorations for the ceremony. All of this at a modest price of $2295.00.
Once we had decided on the package, we called Mr. James of WBTS and gave him a "good faith" deposit of $200.00 on our credit card.
In January of 2007 we set an appointment with Mr. James to go over the pacakage details. We wanted to ask questions and determine if we really wanted to move forward with WBTS. We met with Charles and fine tuned the package to our liking.
Mr. James informed us in this meeting that we would be able to pick the photographer and videographer of our choice after we attended one of his vendor shows. The next show was February 28, 2007. We then gave Mr. James a check in the amount of $300.00 to add to our "good faith" payment.
We were not given a contract at that time and we were told by Mr. James that one would be sent for us to review before signing.
On February 28, 2007, my fiance and I still had not received a contract to review from Mr. James. However, we did go to the vendor show. When I approached Mr. James at the show to inquire about our contract, he did not even know who we were, even after I told him our names and wedding date. I had to remind him that we had already met with him several times and that we had already pciked a package out and were still waiting for our contract to review. Needless to say, this is when we started to get worried.
Nonetheless, we talked with the various photographers and videographers and decided which ones we wanted to handle our wedding. We decided on a company named Reindhart Productions for the videography and McKenna Photography for our photographer. Bith vendors said they were available and would mark our wedding date down and wait to hear from Mr. James. (All ofthe vendors own their own companies and do business from time to time with WBTS, they are not owned or operated by WBTS).
The following week, I began to try and contact Mr. James so that we may find out when we would get a contract to review and give him the naem ofthe vendors we had picked out. For approximately 4 weeks, my fiance and I tried to contact Mr. James via phone and email (I have saved all email correspondence on my computer). We received no calls back and we received one generic email saying that he was very busy and would get back to us.
On April 3, 2007, I was extremely upset and frusterated that we still had not received a contract to review, he still had not responded to any correspondence and my weddign was less than 6 weeks away. I called Mr. James from my cell phone and recieved his voicemail. I hung up and proceeded to call him from my work land line, he answered on the first ring. I had to explain to him who I was, he literally had no knowledge of who I was. Once I got him to remember who I was, I told him the photographer and videographer that we had choosen from his 2/28/07 vendor show to do our wedding. He rudely told me that they were not available and that he would pcik someone for us. I explained that both vendors had told us they were available and that and had already marked our wedding in their calendar.
I proceeded to ask him why we have not receiveda contract to review and why he had not been respon ding to our phone calls and emails. in his exact words, he said "your wedding is not on the top of my priority list". I was in shock, we had already given him a good faith deposit in the amount of $500 and we had no contract, and a wedding coordinator that was extremely rude and not taking care of a potential customer. I then told Mr. James that he was being extremely rude and he had no right ot speak to me in the tone he was using.
I then told him that I would have a conversation with my fiance to determine if we wanted to move forward with WBTS. Mr. James told me that if we decided not to use his company that he would refund our $500 good faith deposit, since we had never signed a contract with him.
My fiance and I decided that our best move was to find another company to handle our upcoming wedding. My fiance then called mr. James and informed him that we would be using another company. We requested that our good faith deposit of $500 be refunded.
Mr. James then told my fiance that he did not have the $500 that he had given it to the vendors for deposit. I contacted the vendors and asked if they had received any monies from WBTS to secure our wedding date. They had not recieved any money for deposits, nor had they even heard from Mr. James regarding our wedding.
I phoned Mr. Jmaes the following day and informed him that we had contacted the vendors and that they had not received and deposits from WBTS for our wedding. I then requested that Mr. James refund the money to us promptly. Mr. James said that I would need to write a letter to him stating that we would not be using WBTS and that we were requesting our money back.
On April 10, 2007 I wrote a letter and fax it to Mr. James as well as I scanned the letter and emailed it to mr. James. In the letter I offered to stop by WBTS on April 12, 2007 and pick up the refund check. Mr. James informed me that he could not guarantee that he would be there on the 12th. Mr. James then made several derogatory comments to me andhung up on me. I immediately called him back and the verbal abuse continued. I was completely in shock to what was happening to me. I got off the phone and I was in tears, by what this man had done to me.
On April 17, 2007, I had my boss, an attorney, write a letter to Mr. James in hope of getting a better response and possibly getting our $500 returned to us. The letter was sent via certified mail as well as scanned and emailed to Mr. James. We received no response from Mr. James.
Despite all of this, we had a wedding to prepare for and vendors to find. We were very fortunate that both the photographer and videographer that we had met at the WBTS vendor show were still on board to do our wedding on their own accord.
As planning progressed and I got to speak with both the photographer and videographer more, they both told us "horror" stories about WBTS and Mr. James. They both informed us that many couples had complained to them during adn or after the wedding about WBTS and Mr. James. They also informed us that Mr. Jmaes had never given them any tips that were allocated for their services when they went through his company. Upon light of everything that occurred between mr. James and us, the photographer actually decided to completely stop doing business with WBTS.
I did end up checking the better business bureau and WBTS has had many complaints registered against them for the very reason we had problems. I should have checked this site out prior.
We did have a wonderful wedding on may 19, 2007 and everything was beautiful and ran smoothly. however, to this date, we have never received our refund, only borked promises and a lot of stress and headaches. It is a shame that there are companies and people out there that will take advantage of such a wonderful time in someone's life. I just wnat everyone to know that this is not a reputable company and that they will not provide quality service and good customer service. In actuallity, they stole our money, they are scam artists. luckily Mr. James and WBTS were not able to ruin my special day, but I will always be tarnished by what I ahd to experience with this man and this company.
