Abella Studios

Review: On July 9, 2015, my fiancé and I met with Abella Studios in Fairfield, NJ to discuss photography services in connection with our future wedding to be held on Aug 5, 2017. At that time, details of the contract were discussed and the contract was signed by both parties. The contract included an engagement shoot which was scheduled for 6:00 pm on Thurs, July 23, 2015 in Long Branch, NJ. On Monday July 20, 2015, we called the office to confirm our appointment for later that week and was told it was in the computer and that [redacted], the owner and photographer was aware of it and would reach out to us to set up a meeting place. On Thursday July 23, 2015, at noon, we again placed a call to Abella Studios to confirm our appointment as we still not heard from the photographer. We were again assured that the appointment was on the computer and that [redacted] would call us before the shoot in order to arrange a meeting place. We both took days off from work and drove over 2 hours to Long Branch for the scheduled photo shoot. Six o'clock came and went and we never received a call. We began phoning the office. After several attempts someone finally answered the phone and advised us that there was no record of the appointment. After the office contacted him, we then received a call from [redacted] himself who stated he knew nothing about the appointment even though the office staff confirmed the appointment no less than 3 times. Abella studios admitted to missing the photo shoot, but considered it a minor error and offered to be "more careful" in the future. Besides the $5,181.47 taken from us without any service being rendered we both lost a days pay plus the confidence we once had in Abella Studios in addition to the humiliation we felt at being stood up for something that was supposed to be a happy experience. We can not chance our wedding day photographs to a company who does not honor their appointments and contracts. The $5,181.47 was a deposit for the wedding in Aug 5, 2017.Desired Settlement: I would like to receive a full refund for the deposit because the services laid out in the contract were never provided. The engagement photo shoot is in the contract. If this company can not attend a scheduled photo shoot, then we can not possibly move forward and run the risk of this happening again