Dancing DJ's

Review: We hired Dancing DJ's for our wedding reception. We were promised a professional with 25yrs experience, dressed professionally with matching colors, playing songs from the list we provided, and with wireless microphones. All the songs we chose and details were agreed upon 2 weeks in advance of the wedding.We did not get the DJ we were promised. Instead we got a replacement that did not meet our expectations or agreement.The DJ we got did not have 2 of the songs requested, the father/daughter dance and the garter toss. He was not professionally dressed and did not have wireless mics. He did not have the bridal party information and had to write it down as we arrived at the hall. He did not leave any messages at either of 2 contact phone numbers telling us of this ahead of time. I had to pick another father/daughter dance when I got there, with no notice or time to think. This is very disturbing to me. I will never get that moment back, and I was not given the opportunity to tell them where to find the song or think of an appropriate alternative.There was an awkward moment after the entrance song because he left it play the whole way through.The DJ only played 18 songs from our list of over 100 songs. Most of those he was told to play by myself or the groom. He was also barely able to be heard. We had to guess what we were supposed to do most of the time. He left the DJ booth to go outside multiple times, and he was videotaping without our permission.He also started to play the wrong last song until he was told by the groom what the correct song was. We paid for a professional DJ, but received sub-par service and would like compensation.Desired Settlement: We would like a 50% refund of our $700 payment.

Business

Response:

In response to the complaint filed against us by Monica Lacko Krejnus we contracted out the wedding to DJ [redacted] from Aftershock and she was aware of that from the beginning when she booked us. He has been in business 20 years and is a professional DJ. The night before her reception he turned ill with a hernia abcess so he had another professional dj fill in that has 15 years experience and has performed over 300 weddings. We have performed over 300 weddings ourselves and have had help from other DJ’s as well and have NEVER had a complaint from any couples, this is the first. [redacted] has been in the music industry for over 24 years with no complaints.

The lineup we did not have before the wedding and I spoke to her on the phone I told her I never had the lineup wasn’t sure if she had picked it back up when we went over the paperwork or what had happened to it and she said no she did not have it. DJ [redacted] said he had phoned them and got no response to get that lineup prior to the wedding. So the DJ did exactly what anyone would of done that would not of had the lineup prior to the reception would be to write down the names as he was lining them up.

There was no need for cordless mics because there was no toast and no announcements according to her timeline.

As far as the Father/Daughter song our program that most DJ’s use sometimes there can be a glitch if there is not internet connection for a song that was downloaded using the program that runs the music. The DJ said he didn’t know if that was the case with the song or if there was a glitch in the song itself. He told the Bride of the mishap and she seemed to be fine with picking another song. When she phoned us of her complaints she never mentioned anything about not having her Garter Toss song and after speaking to the DJ he said he had everything but the Father/Daughter song. The last song of the night she had told me she sent a email I went thru the email and found it in the junk mail so that was why I wasn’t aware of the change but it was not big deal according to the bride because the groom when up and told the dj and he played the song they wanted. She made some mention about if he would of told her the night before she could of told him where to find the song, the song was in his list and he didn’t know there was a glitch until that day when he started up his list.

The contract doesn’t state that the DJ has to coordinate colors of wedding he had on a pair of dress pants and a $60 pressed white collared dress shirt. He said the only times he left the dj booth was to go outside once to have a cigarette during dinner music and to go to the bathroom twice while continuous music was playing. The comment about him only playing 18 of her songs on her phone call to us she told us he only played 6 songs. The DJ told us the bridal party was 45 min or longer late arriving, the dinner music was almost 90 min and the money dance took about 45 min. so that adds up to 3 hrs of a 5 hr reception. That only allows two hrs to complete the grand entrance, cake cutting, special dances, flower & garter toss and open dance. They also allowed the DJ to take special requests for which he did so 18 of her 100 songs would be about what would have been played with time left of the reception with the request put in. She told me on the phone that the DJ only played one polka that she had wanted several, her money dance was polkas and for 45 min he said he at least played 6 polkas. The DJ takes pictures at weddings so we have pictures to make them a lightscribed CD for a memory for them. In all the pictures the bride, groom, bridal party and guests are all smiling and having fun and the dance floor is packed. We offered a gift card for dinner for the not having the Father/Daughter song for which she flat out refused.

We feel that they had music, guests had fun and that the restitution for not having the father daughter song could be compensated with the gift card to a restaurant as we had offered. She still had the father daughter dance and was smiling in the pictures.

I checked both incoming mail, deleted mail and junk mail and never received anything from the Revdex.com was it sent to [email protected]? So it must have been sent to the wrong email address. The first we knew of the complaint was the letter received, we would like the complaint removed because the services were performed as described there was no lapse in time of music being played due to a malfunction or a normal bathroom break. The DJ said the best man and the groom even came up to him at the end and said you did a good job.

Consumer

Response:

Many of the claims that they make in their response are lies. I have a video tape of the entire reception, and can disprove many of their claims.

They had 2 phone numbers to reach us. Both with voicemail/message capability. No message was left at either number. If there had been, one of us could have tried to resolve some of the issues I had the night before the reception.

The DJ did not say that there was a glitch at the hall and that was why he could not play the father daughter dance. When I arrived at the hall I was blindsided by the DJ saying that he could not find the song the night before, so I had to pick a new one that he already had. All of the options he gave me were not appropriate for my father and I; I picked the least distasteful. He also told my husband that he did not have the garter toss song, and my husband told him to play the same song as one of the other parts of the garter pull/toss.

The DJ was not well dressed. He was wearing wrinkled khakis and a white pull over polo.

He was witnessed smoking outside the hall at least 3 times.

The money dance was 1 polka, not 6. And if he was taking pictures for the CD I am supposed to get, why did I never receive that CD?

We were not overly late, the bridal party arrived at approximately 4:15 and we arrived at approximately 4:3o. Dinner started promptly at 5PM.

They say in their response that they offered us a gift card. This is only partially true. They said that they would try to have the other DJ compensate us with something like a gift card. No amount or definite compensation was ever offered.

We did not contact the Revdex.com until Dancing DJ's stopped returning our phone calls.

I had asked them many times before the wedding if they had the resources to back up materials/ people if there were any problems. I was assured that they did have all those resources. If the DJ that they were sending had a medical issue they should have sent a replacement. After all I paid Dancing DJ's for their services. It is not my fault that their DJ did not communicate with them and sent a sub par replacement, that did not have the songs he should have. I deserve to be compensated. I paid $700 for a professional DJ that would coordinate the timing of events at the reception, and who was prepared and had all the songs that I gave them 2 weeks in advance. Instead I got a sub par DJ, that was not prepared, did not have all the songs, and had to be told when to make announcements for special events.

The claim they make that everyone seemed to be smiling and having fun is not enough to dismiss the mistakes that were made. My husband and I are adults; no we did not pout and make a scene when the DJ told us of the issues that existed. We continued on with the reception like responsible adults should. That does not mean that we were happy with the services we received, they were not what we paid for.

If Dancing DJ's does not offer compensation we are considering taking legal action in small claims court.

Business

Response:

In regards to the Revdex.com second letter dated 11/18/2013 Dancing DJ’s [redacted] and [redacted] feels we are being falsely accused of telling lies. We have a very reputable business based on intregrity and honesty over the years without ever having any complaints. The situation has turned into a he said (being the DJ) she said (being the bride) and we were not there. The statements that were sent to you were from the DJ that we had contracted out to do their reception not us. DJ [redacted] from Aftershock told us that he had tried to call them prior to the reception to get the lineup and no one answered, as to rather he left a message or not or dialed the wrong phone number is out of our control. He had the paperwork that was given to us with contact info on it in at least a week or more in advance. [redacted] did text us on Friday night the night before the reception and said he wasn’t able to get in touch with them to get the lineup. Being Friday night and most couples are having their rehearsal dinner we would not of wanted to bother them. We have many couples that make changes at the reception in the lineup so it would not of been a big issue to write them down at that time which is what we suggested since he couldn’t get in touch with them. At that time he did not tell us he was not doing the reception and having someone else do it for him. It was after that text that he became ill.

As for the glitch in the program and the father/daughter song not transferring over from the thumb drive that DJ [redacted] gave him is what he told us. Again Dancing DJ’s were not made aware of any glitch in the transfer until the bride called us the day after the wedding. She did express her being upset about him not having the song and told me he had offered to play other songs. But on the phone call she did not tell me about not having a garter song also. Any reputable DJ business can have a glitch in their system when you are working with technology.

The DJ told us that he had a good pair of khaki pants and a $60 collared white shirt and that he went outside once to smoke and twice to the bathroom both at times that the music was playing either for dinner music or open dance. Everyone no matter what DJ business you are, you have to take a bathroom break or if a smoker a smoke break and that is done during continuous music such as dinner or open dance. There was no pauses in music, it was playing when he took a cigarette or bathroom break.

As for the CD the pictures he took were not of good quality but if she wants me to just use what we have we can I was hoping this matter would be resolved that we could possibly get better quality pictures from her photographer to put on the CD and don’t want to contact her until this is resolved. Also we use their song choices for special dances, etc. on the CD and didn’t want to use the father/daughter song and upset her more. We do deeply care about our couples and don’t want to do anything to upset them.

Dj’s have a history from each wedding of music played he looked back in his history and read us off 6 polkas that were played for the 45 minutes of a money dance.

She says we didn’t respond to their calls we got one missed call and we were djing a wedding at the time and couldn’t answer. I told them on the last call that we had to talk to the DJ and also with Aftershock business owner [redacted] before we could get an answer to her, we needed to get the details. With [redacted] being in and out of the hospital with his illness and surgery it made it almost impossible to get in touch with him, and when we finally did and talked to the DJ he hired to do their wedding we got the letter from Revdex.com in the mail. Also at the same time we were waiting for a response from DJ [redacted], my mother had to have surgery and I had to spend time with her.

We were unaware of [redacted]’s illness and he had called a replacement until she called us. Had we of known ahead of time, we would have had the opportunity to put another DJ from Dancing Dj’s out to do the job. But [redacted] from Aftershock did what anyone would of done and sent a replacement instead of calling the couple at the last minute to tell them he was ill. The DJ that was sent was in business for himself over 15 years and still is, is very reputable, has done lots of weddings with no complaints and wasn’t just some dj that does bars.

We understand that not having her father/daughter song was upsetting to her but if the DJ did such a terrible job why did the Groom and the Best Man come up at the end of the night and say good job. They still had guests dancing and having fun and had music for dinner with no pauses in music being played and the DJ was there and not late.

We did mention that we would see if [redacted] would compensate them a dinner card or something since we had paid him to dj their reception for inconvenience of not having her father/daughter song, she abruptly said "OH NO" that is not acceptable. She didn’t even give us the opportunity to say for how much.

We understand her being upset because it is a important part of the day, she still did have her father/daughter dance just not the one she had hoped for . It was not because it was intentional, it was a glitch and could of happened to any DJ so we would like to offer $150 to settle the matter for her disappointment. She still did have lighting, had dinner music and dance music for the reception and people had fun. Also if she would email us two pictures she wants on the CD and let us know if she wants the father/daughter song that was supposed to be played on the CD we would gladly send out the CD to her.

Dancing Dj’s

[redacted] N [redacted]

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.

I would like to add that in their offer they said they are accused of telling lies; that is not what I said. I said that the subcontracted DJ was lying to them and they are accepting his word over mine; even though I have a video to back up my claims.

They say that the subcontracted DJ got sick after contacting them, well he could and should have texted them again rather than contacting another DJ that the company I paid admitted that they had never met. They also say that [redacted] not leaving a message or dialing the wrong number was out of their control, but there were 2 valid contact numbers. If one number did not work the other should have been used. Plus, I paid them; if they knew of the missing lineup the night before they should have called me. It was their responsibility as the business owners.

They were told it was a glitch in the thumb drive transfer that caused the DJ to not have my father/daughter dance song. The DJ told me that he "looked on the internet the night before and couldn't find it anywhere". My response was, "you should have called me, I would have told you where to look on amazon." All he could say was "how about picking butterfly kisses or Elvis Presley."

They were told that he played 6 polkas during the money dance. I was busy talking to, and dancing with my guests at the time. But I believe that is untrue. I requested that the wedding polka be played on a loop during the money dance. Only 1 other true polka from my list was played all night. He is also lying if he is telling them my husband said "good job". He tells me he said "thank you" to be polite.

I called them 2 times after I had not heard from them about my complaint, and my husband called them once. We still did not receive a response. Only then did I contact the Revdex.com.

If they want to send us a CD to close out their contract, they can send it without pictures. Yes, we had music, but there were many mistakes, directions that weren't followed and a general lack of professionalism. The service we received was not what was promised us by the business owners, and was not what we paid for. Despite all this we will accept their offer of $150.