This was nearly a raving review. We found Dezember at a wedding expo and loved their photography,…read moreplus they also offered videography and we wanted both. We had a great meeting with Randy Despain (who is also the owner). His photography impressed us and although there are better options for videography their quality was sufficient. The only issue was price. As much as we wanted to book Dezember, we couldn't justify the $4,800 asking price.
Randy followed up and we told him we were unfortunately going to have to pass. He said he would try to work with us. We determined we could only afford $2,500 and accepted that Dezember was off the board. Imagine our surprise when Randy texted us and said he would half his price to work with us. Even better, he had just returned from Puerto Vallarta (our honeymoon destination) and had lots of tips for us. We were thrilled!
We texted back, "You are amazing!! I will talk to Kyler [groom] tonight and get in touch with you this week to finalize booking everything". He replied, "Sounds great. We're happy to do it for you :)"
As if a wedding isn't enough, we have a 1 year old and are also in the midst of a top to bottom home renovation, so spare time is nonexistent in our lives. Since everything was set and only formalities remained, we turned our attention to the other 235,171 things on our to-do list. We texted Sunday (5 days after expressing that we would be coming in to finalize) asking when we could come in and pay. We didn't hear back so we sent a follow up Tuesday morning.
It turns out they close Sunday and Monday. It was mid-afternoon Tuesday when we received a response that Randy was no longer available but we could book someone else if we paid a $500 deposit RIGHT NOW. This caught us off guard, since there had never been any mention that our date was at risk. We wanted to meet the new photographer and see her work before committing. The person calling, their Office Manager Daysia(?), acted as if it was ridiculous we would want to meet her first and said she wouldn't be available until Friday.
We were upset, but understanding. Even with a solid verbal commitment in place we had not placed a deposit, so it made sense. What we did not understand was not being informed that our date had been filled until we asked when we could pay. Little did we know this was just beginning.
With the way things transpired we decided that we would rather not work with Dezember. We told them Friday we would not be coming in. The response? "Well okay then.... what a dummy. No WAY she found photo AND video for the price we offered her." followed quickly by "So sorry to hear that Brooke! We offered a screamin deal and would love to still get you booked" Needless to say, customers should never be conversed about in this way, whether you think they are going to find out or not. At this point, we were floored. Brooke [bride] posted the story in a Facebook group. Somebody who knew Randy saw the post and informed him of what was going on. This is where it gets good.
His first course of action was asking the group admin to delete our post. The admin refused, so he gave us a call instead. It was clear he found everything rather amusing when he opened the conversation with a laugh, saying he had heard about the "situation".
He then offered his side of the story: his mother was diagnosed with cancer and his family was going to Lake Powell the day of the wedding. He, being the great guy he is, decided to skip the trip if we placed a deposit by Friday. If not, he would go to Lake Powell. None of this, however, was communicated to us, so we had no idea this decision had been made.
Randy was quite adamant the miscommunication wasn't his fault. He expressed repeatedly policy requires a deposit to hold a date. Had he listened he would have realized our question wasn't about policy but why we had not been told his offer would expire on Friday, as we would have paid the deposit right then and there. He told us how they all wondered the entire 3.5 days if we would book, but heard nothing and just couldn't wait anymore. Still no explanation as to why none of this was communicated.
He assured Daysia was being reprimanded for the dummy text (with a hearty chuckle), and said he was going to post his side of the story on the Facebook thread. We hung up to a screenshot of his remarks to the admin who refused to delete Brooke's post: "And if you knew the entire story you'd agree that she's a dummy." Well, Randy, it's all right here. We even have the screenshots and recordings so you don't have to worry about anyone being misinformed.
Bottom line: Don't pay Dezember's inflated prices and don't trust their two-faced owner Randy Despain. There are comparable or better photographers and videographers who will cover your wedding for the same price and won't act like they're turning their world upside down before deciding they would rather take a vacation to Lake Powell than work for a "discounted" rate anyway.
