laura_pucci

Thanks for your input everyone! Bob, I highly doubt that she would pay for us to fly back down there and restage our photos at her expense hah Unfortunately she is the only person who took pictures - it was my mom, the officiant, and her - and my mom took a video on her phone the whole time. I can't find the original contract.. In fact I'm wondering if there was one because it should be in my emails and its not. My problem with perusing legal action is that they are in St Thomas so that sounds complicated.. I would probably have to go there to do it.. And everything about that sounds expensive and I doubt I would get much if anything. I can't find one bad review on this company.. Like I said there are hundreds and hundreds. And they aren't on the BBB. It's just my luck that something bad would happen when she does our wedding..

<p>Hi - looking for advice here.. if any is availbale.. since I don't know how hard drives work or if she is lying..<br /> <br />My husband and I got married in December 2013 - destination wedding in St Thomas, USVI. We booked with a highly recommended wedding planner - They had 5 of 5 stars on multiple websites and hundreds of great reviews. The package we picked included their photographer which is what it appeared most couples did. They did have a list of other recommended photographers for an extra fee but we went with the included one - which turned out to be the owner of the company.<br /> The wedding itself went great - everyone was very professional. It was just my husband and I there as well as one of our mothers who just took a video on her cell phone..<br /> Since then.. the photographer/owner stated that the hard drive failed and she has sent it off twice for recovery but that OUR photos haven't been recovered. She said all December photos were gone. I noticed that other December 2013 brides rated them saying everything was great which I doubt they would do if they also hadn't received their photos. She keeps saying that they are working on it.. she refunded me for what she claimed was the 'photography portion' of our wedding package.. which amounted to a couple hundred dollars..obviously not what I want and not worth these priceless memories.. our family and friends who were unable to be with us are still hoping to see our wedding photos.. as are we. Also - she had said she would send more money at one point (as well as a gift) and never did.<br /> I want to know what to do at this point.. Do I continue to wait..? Do I post bad reviews..? Do I request a full refund for the entire wedding package? I'm at a loss.. and I just want our photos - do you think there is a chance we will still get them or are they gone for good at this point..? Below is a transcript of our emails back and forth:</p> <p><strong>Sent:</strong> Tuesday, January 14, 2014 7:58 PM<br /> Hi (Photographer)</p> <p>I was just touching base regarding the pictures from our wedding. We haven't received them yet and I know you said you had them finished before December 31st.. Any idea on how long they usually take to come? Could they be lost?<br> Regards, Laura<br> <br />On Jan 15, 2014 4:34 AM,</p> <p>Hi Laura,<br /> They are actually all ready to go but stuck in our external storage unit – they are all safe and sound but the connection from the unit to the computer is not working, making it difficult to transfer the files to the jump drive. L We’re working on getting this fixed. Do you have a reception at home that you needed the photos by? I think I remember you saying something about a reception at the end of January?<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p><strong>Sent:</strong> Wednesday, January 15, 2014 9:07 AM<br /> Hi (Photographer),<br /> Yes, our reception is this Saturday.. Is there any way to email us some of them? I'm glad they aren't lost in the mail but our family was really looking forward to seeing pictures of the wedding at the reception.. If not i understand.<br /> Thanks, Laura</p> <p>On Jan 15, 2014 10:33 AM,</p> <p>Darn, I was thinking it was the weekend of the 25^th. The storage device is at the computer shop now being fixed – I’ll try to get some images emailed as soon as I can.<br /> (photographer)</p> <p>On Jan 20, 2014 6:03 PM</p> <p>Hi Laura,<br /> I’m so sorry we didn’t have your pictures ready for your reception at home. The local computer experts are sending the storage device to the manufacturer to recover the data so it may be another few weeks before we have it ready. My deepest apologies.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p>(<strong>Asked for update</strong>):<br /> Date: Feb 3, 2014 6:58 AM<br />Yes, they are still under repair – we had to send them to the mainland (the device at least) but the good news is, they are able to fix it. It’ll probably be a week before the device is returned to us though.</p> <p>Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p>Date: Feb 20, 2014<br /> Hi Laura,<br /> Just wanted to give you an update on the photos. The company that is working on them said that the drive should be back to us by the end of next week – there was a delay as they had to order some parts.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p>Date: March 15, 2014</p> <p dir="ltr">Any news on our photos yet?</p> <p dir="ltr">Thanks, Laura</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Date: March 15, 2014<br /> Yes! They are being sent to us and should be here by Monday. Everything had to be put on a CD so once it arrives, I’ll have to find the photos on the correct CD (there will be about 15 CDs to go through) and I’m hoping they have them well organized. Once I have it ready, where should I send it to? I’ll also be sending you a gift for being so patient during this incredibly long wait!<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p>Date: April 12, 2014</p> <p dir="ltr">Hi (Photographer),</p> <p dir="ltr">Hope you are all well. Nick and I were wondering if you have an update on the pictures since its been a month. Please let us know!</p> <p dir="ltr">Thanks, Laura</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Date: April 14, 2014<br /> Hi Laura,<br /> They should have been received by now. Let me check into it.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p dir="ltr">Date: April 24, 2014<br /> Laura,<br /> I have some bad news and I feel just awful. The drive came back with the recovered data but the images from December 2013 weren’t on there. My husband was in charge of getting this fixed and the photos off the device. He has sent it off to another company to see what they can do to recover the data. He is confident that they will be able to recoup what the last company couldn’t. We’re trying very hard to get your photos to you but in the meantime, I would like to offer you a refund for the photography. Please know that we are still doing everything we can to get the photos. Photography is very special to me and you deserve your wedding photos! We won’t stop trying to retrieve them but it’s been over four months since your wedding and you deserve your money back at the very least. Should I send a check or do you have a PayPal account I can send it to?<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p dir="ltr">Hi (Photographer),</p> <p dir="ltr">That really stinks.. but I really really appreciate that you guys haven't given up on trying to get our pictures.. I hope they are able to get some.. Any of them would be awesome. Our family and friends ask us constantly for them.. But we really wanted to see them too.. It all went so fast.. Some things are just out of our control..</p> <p dir="ltr">Nick said you can send money to his PayPal.. I guess you only need the email address? Its: xxx</p> <p dir="ltr">I still have hope that this new company can get the pictures from December.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thanks,</p> <p dir="ltr">Laura</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Date: April 24, 2014<br /> Laura you are awesome. I feel just sick over this situation but you are handling it with such kindness (some brides I’m sure would be calling for my head!). We will work very hard to get these to you. I’m going to refund the $275 to Nick now but will send more at the end of this month.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p> <p><strong>Me to Photographer:</strong><br /> Date: April 24, 2014</p> <p dir="ltr">I feel sick about it too..its not like we can re-do them.. And money is obviously not what we would prefer..lol. But I know you didn't do it to us.. .. Getting mad at you wouldn't solve anything. It just sucks.</p> <p dir="ltr">I just really appreciate that you haven't given up on getting them and hope that this attempt works</p> <p dir="ltr">Thanks,</p> <p dir="ltr">Laura</p> <p dir="ltr"> </p> <p dir="ltr">Date: July 7, 2014<br> Hi (photographer), I haven't heard from you lately and am following up to see if you have any news about our pictures... I have a feeling no news is bad news in this case.. Please let me know.<br />Thanks, Laura Date: July 9, 2014<br> Hi Laura,<br /> No, unfortunately we haven’t had any luck. I need to go through the CDs that another company sent us. We went through them once and nothing from December was recovered but I’m hoping that when they transferred some data, things may have gone out of order and at least some were recovered.<br /> Warmest Wishes,<br /> (Photographer)</p>