I normally don't write reviews for anything, good or bad. But my experience with Russell John Films was awful enough to compel me to warn other couples against doing business with this company.
The videography company that my fiance and I were planning to hire ended up accepting a charity assignment in NY for 3 months next summer when our wedding will take place, so one of their recommendations for us was Russell John.
Our wedding coordinator helped us set up a telephone meeting with Brandon, who I assumed was one of their videographers. Turns out he is a salesman who basically just pitches their packages and services for them. I thought that was a little weird. None of the other vendors we have dealt with have these "front men" to pitch their work. I was wondering if this meant all their videographers were antisocial and awkward so they needed someone with a personality to attract business. But I was willing to roll with it, and Brandon seemed like a nice guy.
Our phone meeting lasted an hour and a half...much longer than I had anticipated. Brandon was friendly, but pretty cheesy in the used-car-salesman sort of way. But the videographers' work out-shined the cheesy intro and the price seemed right, so we decided to move to the next step. Brandon sent us a proposal and told us that we would be speaking with Russell, our lead videographer, a couple months before the wedding. Well that was news to us. What if we didn't like the guy?? Why couldn't we meet him before we booked?
We were willing to at least look at the proposal...but Brandon sent the wrong one. So I contacted him about it. About a week later he finally responded and sent a new proposal and apologized because Russell, who he promised would be our videographer and who he had nothing but glowing remarks for, wouldn't be able to do our event because he would be in Mexico shooting another wedding.
Well, turns out that for the package we chose, guaranteeing Russell as the shooter was one of the things that really differentiated the package from the lower packages, so we asked for a discount, which Brandon agreed to. He said he would send another link in a following email.
Another week later, no response. So I emailed Brandon again. He sent me a link to a proposal. Wrong one again. So I emailed again. Another week later, no response. So I emailed again. He said he would send me an email by the end of the day, no email. The next day, I emailed again. He sent a link for a proposal...WRONG ONE AGAIN!!! I had also asked several questions in my emails regarding their services and each time Brandon managed to email me back it was with an automated response containing a link to the proposals. Never once did he answer a question.
I was frustrated, and told him so and asked for the correct proposal and also asked to speak with whoever would be our videographer before we booked.
His response to that was basically that since I seemed to be displeased with their service that I should look elsewhere for videography services.
Unbelievable. Brandon is the epitome of a sleazy salesman, but doesn't even follow through enough to make the deal. He is completely unprofessional and does not seem to understand that successful business deals center around good communication, follow through, and attention to detail. And somehow, I'm supposed to not become upset about being ignored, not having my questions answered, signing with a videographer I've never spoken to, and receiving the wrong proposal three times?
Brandon was nice enough to copy many of the Russell John Film staff, including Russell John, on his email to me asking me to take my business elsewhere. I took the opportunity to let the videographers know that their work is beautiful (which it is) and they would do much better to divorce themselves from this sleaze-ball Brandon and pitch their work for themselves. He is doing nothing but chasing customers away with his off-putting salesman attitude and his total lack of professionalism.
So, save yourself from dealing with this ridiculous man. He is a waste of time. I have nothing bad to say about the videographers, as I never got to speak with any of them and they do have excellent quality work, but this guy is a giant piece of red tape between you and them and frankly, just not worth the effort.
Russell John Films, fire this guy and you will see a dramatic increase in business. read more