Wedding woes: South Jersey brides fear they'll never see the wedding videos they paid for
Jessica and John Healy spent $1,500 to capture their wedding day on film. Nearly two years later, they have yet to see the video they paid for.
“There's so many moments that you can’t capture (with still photography),” said Jessica, a Gloucester City resident.
Attracted by his “same-day edit” feature — a three-minute video edited on the spot and shown the day of the event — Healy hired Levittown-based Kenneth Stillman Video to videotape their October 2010 wedding.
“I did some research online, and he got horrible reviews, but I wanted to get his side of the story...because I really liked his work,” she said of owner Kenneth Stillman. “We met him and looked at more of his work, and he basically sold us on hiring him.” Healy added Stillman “made it seem like he was going to have a video within six months” — or at least by their first wedding anniversary.
Healy was so impressed by Stillman’s “amazing” same-day edit, she suggested his services to West Deptford resident Amy Morrell. According to Stillman’s website, the short video covers wedding preparations through the first dance. Guests can watch the video at the reception.
“I think I told her that he was slow but that it was worth it,” Healy said apologetically.
Morrell’s wedding is this August, and she said she has given Stillman about $600 toward his services. When Healy told her friend that Stillman wasn’t delivering, Morrell said she “gave him the opportunity” to admit he had too much on his plate. The women said Stillman told them both that, despite personal problems, he would be able to finish what he started.However, Morrell decided to hire another videographer and plans on ending her contract with Stillman “through a different route.”
“It’s a huge stress on me,” Morrell said. “I don’t want anybody else to be subjected to this guy because it’s not fair, it’s not fair what he does.”
“We’re going on 19 months (without receiving the video),” Healy said. “That is absurd.”
Though Stillman has no complaints filed against him with Gloucester County or Pennsylvania consumer affairs divisions, 32 people have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau. Stillman has also been featured on CBS Philly late last year for failing to deliver video footage to another couple. When confronted on camera, he eventually did turn the tape over to the other couple.
Calls and emails to Stillman from South Jersey Sunday were not answered before press time. On the CBS clip, Stillman defended his late delivery.
West Deptford Video Scam DSC_1724.jpg
Jessica Healy, left, and Amy Morrell, right, review the contracts they both signed with wedding videographer, Kenneth Stillman. (Staff Photo by Joe Warner/Gloucester County Times.)
“I lost editing time, due to family tragedies,” he said. “Getting it in a year and having it look good so it’s something they can watch 50 years from now is more important than getting it in six months.”The contract Morrell and Healy said they signed states that Kenneth Stillman Video “will do its best” to complete the final video within 26 weeks. However, this is only an “approximate length of time” and if takes longer than that it will “not void this contract.”
“Reading these terms and conditions, it’s all about him,” said Gloucester County Consumer Affairs Director Hal Spence, who read the contract on Stillman’s website. “There’s nothing in there to protect the consumer.”
Spence said one “red flag” in the contract is the amount of money Stillman requires up-front. According to the document that Healy said was her contract, she was required to pay an initial deposit of $600, another $600 90 days before her wedding, and the balance on the day of her wedding.
Spence suggested that an optimal payment schedule is one-third up front, one-third during the contract and the balance after you’re satisfied with the product.
Further, Stillman offers no grace period for cancellations. Once a contract is signed, the terms and conditions read, the money he has, he keeps.
“To say no time and no money back, regardless, I just wouldn’t use him,” Spence said. “Who knows what’s going to come up?”
Finally, Spence said there should be a drop-dead deadline for when the work will be complete, not an approximate time.
“The problem is they have these couples over a barrel because they can’t reinvent the day,” Spence said. “I think people really need to look at a contract.”
Spence said Gloucester County residents who are about to sign a contract should always get a second opinion and can even call his office at 856-384-6855. Spence also suggests that anyone who is in a position similar to Healy should file a police report.
In Pennsylvania, Attorney General Press Secretary Nils Frederiksen suggests any consumers with issues similar to Morrell and Healy visit their website at
http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/Complaints.aspx
. Frederiksen said if a complaint is filed, one should provide as much documentation as possible, such as receipts or emails.
http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2012/04/wedding_woes_brides_fear_theyl.html
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3 On Your Side Update: Pa. Attorney General Sues Wedding Videographer
By Susan Barnett
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — An update on a story 3 On Your Side has been telling you about for more than a year. We’ve received multiple complaints against a Pennsylvania wedding videographer. Now, the state attorney general is taking him to court.
Kenneth Stillman of Levittown has videotaped many weddings in his day, but multiple customers told 3 On Your Side he failed to deliver those videos.
“We would all love to see my grandparents together again,” one woman, Stacey Boytim, told us last year.
The couples each paid at least $1,500 for wedding videos they say still weren’t delivered more than 6 months later — until 3 On Your Side got involved.
Stillman told CBS 3’s Natasha Brown last November, “I lost editing time due to family tragedies. Getting this in a year and having it look good so it’s something they can watch 50 years from now is more important than getting it in six months and having it look like crap.”
He gave us some of the videos, but others never arrived. Complaints kept coming, so we talked to him again in May (see previous story).
“I got behind schedule,” Stillman said. “You know, I’m not a dishonest person.”
Now, the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office has filed suit, accusing Stillman of willfully breaking consumer protection law for at least 18 clients.
They say he failed to deliver videos from weddings as long ago as 2009 and gave customers “misleading, confusing or false information, explanations and excuses.” The attorney general is asking a judge to order Stillman to make full restitution and pay $1000 per violation.
Stillman emailed 3 On Your Side and said he never misled his clients. He wrote, “A series of unfortunate circumstances caused me to get behind schedule. All clients who are waiting on their videos should remain patient…as I am committed to completing each and every one.”
The attorney general says clients of Stillman who believe they are eligible for restitution can contact the Bureau of Consumer Protection at 1-800-441-2555 to file a complaint. Consumers with access to the Internet may file a complaint electronically at
www.attorneygeneral.gov
.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2012/11/20/3-on-your-side-update-pa-attorney-general-sues-wedding-videographer/
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YELP REVIEWS
1.0 star rating 1/11/2013
Please PLEASE PLEASE do not use this man for your video services. Just google his name and you will understand why others are saying the same. I booked him for a wedding in early 2011 and nothing. He never responds to your phone calls or emails. It's like a broken record but his #1 excuse - a family issue. Hey we all have family issues but we still have to work right? Stop taking on MORE clients and get caught up with those you've obviously neglected. He obviously has spare time in which he gets to update his blog rather frequently.
For those going through this horrible ordeal, the PA Attorney General has filed a suit against him. PLEASE take the time and file here: attorneygeneral.gov. You're not only helping yourself but others that have lost precious memories.
CBS did a report on it here:
philadelphia.cbslocal.co…
1.0 star rating 7/31/2013
Only gave him 1 star because it was the lowest I could leave. We got married in September 2010, and were told we would have everything by March or April. After being ignored via email & the phone -he finally got back to us in June to tell us he wasnt done and since he wasn't Walmart - he didn't have to respond to us like customer service. Those were his exact words -I still have the email! It took us a whole year to receive the video and the mini dvd's that were supposed to be favors at the wedding reception didn't get made until after - so we had to mail those out as well! He was HORRIBLE!
1.0 star rating 7/19/2013
Please, pretty please do not use this man, he videotaped my wedding two years ago, and I still have not received the video!!! He is a cram artist.
1.0 star rating 12/16/2011
First to Review
Please avoid this business like the plague. We were married oct. 2010 and have not received our wedding video. After several attempts to contact this business we never received or heard anything. Then out of no where while watching TV we see him on CBS Philly with a couple that was married around the same time we were and yet they never received their wedding video either. Here's a link to that video philadelphia.cbslocal.co…. Up until you meet him he's professional, well I should say his wife is because after we signed the contract, we never heard from him but it was always his wife. Ladies please if you're considering using him for Wedding Video Services please look else where. For more information just google "Kenneth Stillman Reviews" and you'll see alot of negativity in regards to getting back the finished product. I'm now looking into filing a small claims suit against him.
1.0 star rating 3/20/2012
We ran into the SAME EXACT issue! My husband & I just watched the CBS new story and couldn't believe how IDENTICAL our situation was. And Ken seems to be using the same excuse as before, "I have experienced family tragedies." We were married in June 2010, were promised our video in 26 weeks and did not receive it until end of February (after countless emails, phone calls, a visit to his home business and a complaint filed with the BBB). He stated he was backlogged THEN with family issues and tragedies. What a crock! I beg all brides not to use his services.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/kenneth-stillman-video-levittown-2
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Wedding Videographer Makes Settlement After 83 Consumer Complaints
A Middletown wedding videographer accused of failing to deliver wedding video products and services promised to and paid for by consumers has settled with the Office of Pennsylvania Attorney General.
Kenneth Stillman Jr. – who did business as Kenneth Stillman Video, 1970 Veterans Highway, Unit F-3, Levittown – reached the settlement recently after 83 complaints were filed by customers who paid Stillman and never received their videos.
A lawsuit filed in November 2012 by the attorney general’s office claimed contracts were signed between Stillman and consumers. The customers made “substantial payments” in exchange for videography.
According to the attorney general’s statement:
Stillman also allegedly failed to respond to consumers’ complaints, requests for status updates, requests for their videos and requests for refunds. Under the terms of the settlement, Stillman is required to:
Refrain from violating Pennsylvania’s Consumer Protection Law in the future;
Deliver to consumers any and all wedding videos in his possession that are outstanding; and
Pay restitution to eligible consumers as well as civil penalties to the Commonwealth.
Stillman had been marketing and selling wedding videography products and services since at least September 2005, according to court filings.
The agreement between Stillman and the attorney general’s office still needs to be approved by a Bucks County Court of Common Pleas judge, according to press release from the attorney general.
The Bureau of Consumer Protection is asking consumers who believe they have been victimized by these practices to file a complaint by calling 1-800-441-2555 or visiting
www.attorneygeneral.gov
or print a complaint form which can be mailed or faxed to the Attorney General’s Office.
http://levittownnow.com/2014/07/26/wedding-videographer-makes-settlement-after-83-consumer-complaints/
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KEN=FRAUD
MIKE=FRAUD
