If you book Sybex, be sure to pay the deposit with credit card because in the possible case that he doesn't show up to your event, at least you can try to dispute the charge with your credit card company. I regret referring Ruben to my friend for her wedding. He gave me a good deal for my event, let me customize the photo strip design which turned out nice, and provided a friendly attendant (his father) who showed up, so I thought he'd be fine to refer to my friend. He offered my friend the same deal he gave me. The only issue I had with him for my event was that I didn't get the backdrop that I specified in the contract. For my event I used my credit card but forgot to tell my friend to pay with credit card. She paid with check which he cashed. A few weeks before their wedding they emailed and called him but got no response. I tried to contact him too and got no response; I finally tried calling his father who said that his son will get back to me but he never did. Nine days before their wedding my friends and I emailed him stating we will file a consumer fraud complaint if he still doesn't respond. He finally responded that he is unable to honor the photo booth rental because the photo booth is currently not working so he will have to refund the deposit. Although they were stressed by the situation, my friends luckily were able to hire someone else less than ONE WEEK before their wedding. A few days later, he replied again that he would be able to provide a photo booth if he can leave it at their venue overnight. They declined since they hired someone else and asked for their deposit back again. Sybex still has not sent their deposit back and it's been 10 months. Reading the yelp reviews, it seems like he's flaked on other people as well. read more

We have used Sybex booths for several events in the past with no problems. However, for some reason HE DID NOT SHOW UP to our recent event after he asked for payment of the full amount because it was too close to the event date. " This was a month prior to the event." He confirmed 2 days prior, asking for start time and just didn't show! After several attempts to get a reimbursement for payment received for doing NOTHING, ghost......... Nothing! Don't get duped by this guy. Ruben Contreras is a scammer. RUBEN I HOPE YOU DON'T EVER DO THIS TO ANYONE ELSE! YOU SHOULDN'T BE IN BUSINESS because of your unprofessionalism. Hire someone who will actually SHOW UP!! Lesson learned, do not pay a vendor full price until services are rendered. read more

We were excited to book with Sybex.. until Ruben became totally unresponsive. We booked a photo booth for our 2020 wedding in Fairfield- which was postponed to 2021. Due to safety reasons and our venue not being open in May, we decided to do a small wedding in Sacramento and decided not to need a photo booth. I asked Ruben for a refund but his last email was in March 2021 saying he is not refunding deposits since things are opening up. We ended up getting a venue in Sacramento and I have been calling, leaving voicemails and emailing Ruben to confirm the new location and times with me and it's been over a month of no response. He still has my deposit. This is extremely unprofessional. read more

What a disappointing experience I had with this company. My fiancée booked a photo booth with Sybex Booths on Nov 1st 2019 for our engagement party. We were charged $393.30 for a 2hr rental. When she proposed to me in the booth & the pictures printed out, we noticed that my name was spelled COMPLETELY WRONG. Imagine booking a photo booth on your big day and the only image taken of the proposal has your fiancée's name spelled wrong! & all the images that everyone took in the photo booth for the 2hrs we booked it, all spelled WRONG. We were devastated. We contacted Ruben the next day to let him know what happened. He sounded apologetic but his resolution to the issue was far below our expectation. He offered us a complimentary photo booth rental that valued up to $485 or a $150 discount. First of all, we would never get a rental with this company again so the first option was automatically eliminated. Then he offered us $150 off which is less than 50% off the rental rate. My name was spelled wrong in ALL THE PICTURES TAKEN FOR MY ENTIRE ENGAGEMENT PARTY & the best you can do is $150 off. To avoid going back & forth, we accepted the $150 off. A month goes by & we still had not received the refund. We contacted him and he said he's mailed it and we should receive it. It's been 2 months and we still haven't received the refund. We'd called, texted & at this point, he's ignored us altogether. What kind of company doesn't even keep their word to their customers?? Shows how much they value your business. Do yourself a favor & NEVER book with Sybex Booths. You will regret it. I've attached picture of our text conversation where it shows how he never responded back once we inquired about the supposed "refund" coming our way. & a picture of my engagement picture that I'll always look back at with my name royally misspelled. read more

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We needed a (open) photo booth for our folks' surprise anniversary party ( and combo surprise wedding for my sister!) so I contacted Ruben. He was easy to communicate with, fast with responses and friendly. The day of, I was a tad panicked from all the chaos, and called him freaking out that he wouldn't show. He was sweet and calm and reassured me he would see us soon. He set up early, had 2 different themes ( as requested) and was so friendly and patient with all of our guests and family. He changed backdrops, counted down the on camera timer for the masses and smiled patiently. Our photos came out great and he sent me a link for all downloadable free pics within 48 hours. Ruben was professional, amazing and FANTASTIC!!!! I would hire him again in a second! Thanks you, Ruben, for making our family night awesome!!!!! (do not judge our family for our poorly timed photo booth poses, please) read more

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My wedding was scheduled in September and I hired Ruben and Sybex for a photo booth. Due to COVID, we've had to postpone to May. Ruben rescheduled us for May. With the ongoing pandemic not having an end date, we've had to contact all of our vendors to cancel our wedding, which is already devastating. All of our vendors understood and gave us back our deposits. Ruben, however, just didn't respond. I reached out multiple times to just cancel. Even if he wasn't able to refund the deposit, he could have just responded to confirm the cancellation to be professional. Dealing with Ruben has been the worst part of cancelling my fairytale wedding. I would definitely NOT recommend this business that keeps you on "read." read more

This guy is a scamer, HE DID NOT SHOW UP to my wedding reception, took my deposit, confirmed 2 days prior and didn't show! Don't get dooped by this guy. Don't be embarrassed in front of your guests bRUBEN I HOPE YOU DON'T EVER DO THIS TO ANYONE ELSE! YOU SHOULDN'T BE IN BUSINESSecause of his unprofessionalism. Hire someone who will actually SHOW UP!! read more

Sadly, I can confirm the other 1-star reviews here about Ruben. "Scammer" and "thief" are pretty close to what I experienced- someone who signed a contract with me, made me pay in full upfront, and then told me a couple days before my event that they could only make 1 hour out of the 2.5 that we had agreed on. Gave him a second chance because he promised a free 2.5 hour voucher, but when I tried to redeemer the offer, he deliberately avoided all of my emails, texts, and calls. He's really good at acting nice and accommodating until he gets your money and has a chance to run. read more

I would not use this company, Ruben changes the price depending on who is asking. If it's a female you will get a better rate and a faster response. If you are male if will price gouge you. He is not professional at all read more

Thief! I was overcharged by $300 above my signed contract. Look out EVERYONE!!! Ruban Contreras will rip you off, lie to you about it and not blink twice. If you are considering using Sybex Booths with Ruban Contreras please do yourself a favor and find another vendor. There are tones of them out there. read more

I used Sybex booths for our company holiday party. It started out all good, Ruben was responsive and the guys he sent did a good job at the event. Unfortunately couple weeks later I noticed on my credit card statement that I was double charged. I have left several messages and sent multiple emails to Ruben and have not gotten a response. It's unfortunate because I was happy with the service until then. read more

Ruben did my little sisters sweet 16 and it was beautiful he was on time so professional i would so come back to him for any of my party's thank you so much my husband and i are truly so happy with the outcome and so was my sister again thank you so much read more

My husband and I got married in Guerneville recently, and the photo booth at our after-party was the hit of the night. The setup was perfect, background and props were fun, and the quality of photos were impressive. Besides letting them know where to set up, we never had to interact with them or deal with any logistics, allowing us to spend our time partying with our friends and family. We'd recommend Sybex in a heartbeat to anyone planning a wedding or special event! read more

We chose Sybex Booths for our wedding day in San Francisco and they did an excellent job. We decided to go with the silver glitter open air booth. The photo quality turned out great! They also have tons of fun props and many of our guests really enjoyed it. Reuben was our contact person and he responds very quickly to emails. Their prices are reasonable and communication time was great. We definitely recommend Sybex as a vendor for any special fun event. read more

So happy to have hired Sybex Booths for our Wedding day! Everyone had a blast taking pictures with all the fun props. Ruben is very responsive and professional and very easy to work with. We were able to see all our photobooth pictures the next day as promised. I highly recommend them, book them ASAP! read more

I was looking for a photobooth last minute for my sister's Quinceañera and I'm so glad we were able to book it within one week. Ruben was AMAZING! He had patience with all of our guests (we had many children at our party) and was able to design the photo strips according to our theme. I also asked him to stay a half hour after our agreed time which he gladly accepted. He was on time and communicated efficiently. I highly recommend him to anyone! read more

This is the best photo booth service that I've ever seen, such a wide assortment of props, great booth and staff. The booking process was seamless, Ruben was great. He made sure to keep the stresses of booking to a minimum. 10/10 would recommend to anyone. read more

I was one of the main planners for our International Business Commencement at SFSU this year. We decided to try something new and hired Sybex Booths for our event. I can vouch for Ruben and his work because he did an amazing job with us. He was always patient and reliable when we were communicating across email and phone. Planning the commencement was extremely stressful and hectic for me, but having someone to rely on for the photo booth was great. He was able to set up the booth quickly and efficiently as well as take it apart when the event ended. We WILL be asking Sybex Booths to come back next year for sure and I will be using them again for my own events :) Thanks Ruben!!! read more

Sybex Booths - Sfsu international business commencement 2016! Loved the photo strips :) - Photo Booth Rentals Near Me - Napa, California

These guys were great! I needed a photo booth for my dad's birthday party, looked around and found Sybex. They were local but always willing to travel to areas around the bay area. Got into coordination with Ruben, and he was great in communicating the details. We went over all the details ahead of time, from the initial setup of the photo booth at the event and down to custom layout of the pictures. The guests had a blast with the photo booth! Nothing but positive reviews about them from what they told me. And of course it was a big hit for the kids! The guests got their photos in hand, and I have the digital files, so it's a win, win for all of us! I'm glad to have these on file, so we can reminisce about the whole event in the future! These guys are great and I highly recommend them! read more

Sybex Booths - Kids enjoying the photo booth at their grandfathers birthday bash - Photo Booth Rentals Near Me - Napa, California

Ruben did an outstanding job with our wedding photo booth. The booth was spacious and had the backdrop I wanted and the layout was exactly what I wanted to match our wedding theme. The service was great, the props even better and extremely affordable! read more

Sybex Booths - Photo Booth Rentals Near Me - Napa, California

This is a great deal! We used Sybex for our wedding last weekend and everything went well. Working with Ruben was very easy. We booked him a couple months back and then traded emails about the print design the week before the wedding; he even used a custom emblem we provided that matched our other stationary. There were plenty of cute props (we also supplemented with our own) and they brought their own "photobooth" sign. It has not even been a week and we already received the digital copies (as a head's up there is a small watermark). There were two attendants at our wedding; I wish I had known this ahead of time as we only prepped gratuity assuming one attendant would be present. Sorry!! I think everyone really enjoyed the booth and everything went really well the day of! As groom and bride, I just wish I had a chance to take more pictures in the photobooth. read more

I was worried being an out of state bride and planning a wedding without being able to take trips out and check on everything. One thing I knew I wanted was a Photobooth. I found Sybex through Yelp and pretty much had to trust the reviews were accurate. Sybex showed up early and set up promptly. Their prices were much better than some of the other companies that had really bad and cheap "make shift booths". I wanted something that was a real Photobooth-not just a camera propped up on a stand. Their booths are great and the lighting they put in the booths is extremely flattering to all. Their photo quality was amazing! I have been to many weddings where the pictures weren't great-but the clarity in the pictures almost looks like a professional photographer. The attendant was there helping our guests with props and making sure everything ran smoothly. I didn't order the photo book but after seeing all the pics and how great it all looked I'm ordering the copies now. I would definitely recommend Sybex! Even though the prices are low they definitely were high on quality! read more

We have worked with Sybex Booths for our corporate holiday party and had a great experience. They were very punctual with setting up the booths and did a wonderful job with photos and ensuring our guests had fun. They brought a variety of props and were also very prompt e-mailing us the link to the digital photos after the party. We were very satisfied with the service! read more

I hate writing negative reviews, but I felt compelled to warn potential customers in hopes that they can avoid the negative experience we had. Sybex runs the gamut on a terrible photo booth company: low quality photos, cheap booth, unprofessional attendant (and owner). We had similar negative experiences as other reviewers - Ruben takes your money, provides a subpar experience, and will not bother getting back to you after the event. We ultimately chose Sybex for our wedding because they were a bit cheaper than some of the other booths -- that was a huge mistake. It was money down the drain and we don't even have decent photos to look back on. For any occasion you want memories from, it's worth spending $100 more for a professional company with quality booths and photos. 1. Terrible photo quality and camera: Complete garbage. They use an extremely cheap, low flash camera. All of our photos came out DARK and blurry (even the logo!). How can someone rent out an enclosed photo booth doesn't have enough flash light to capture the people it photographs? On top of that, we sent Ruben our custom logo to test to ensure it would come out in full resolution when printed. He confirmed that he tested and it did. Well, that was clearly a lie because not one of the photo strips printed that night had a legible logo printed: all of the lettering was illegible faded and half of my husbands name didn't even print. Our guests didn't even take their photo strips home with them and even the online photos are dark, so forget about making an album. 2. Cheap Booths: Don't let the misleading "theatre" booths pictured in their website fool you. It is a flimsy cabana style booth with a hanging piece of fabric as the backdrop. The backdrop kept falling down because it was held up by two clothespins (that also showed in every picture). Ruben had told us that the booth could easily fit 6, but you could barely get 4 people in the shot. The buttons didn't work well, the photo delay made it so no one was ready for any of the photos. The black and white printed out just black. 3. Unprofessional attendant: The attendant couldn't have been older than 16 and was completely apathetic and unhelpful the entire time. She was completely unprofessionally dressed - wearing a hooded sweatshirt, ripped blue jeans, and a beanie (to our black tie wedding). My bridesmaids asked her if there was anything she could do about the low flash lighting or the backdrop that kept falling down, but she just shrugged and said she had no idea. 4. Unprofessional owner: As I mentioned already, Ruben was very responsive when it came to getting the payment. After the event, I reached out to him to ask if he could lighten and sharpen the photos. I got no response and a few days later we lost access to the photo gallery. It wasn't until my husband reached out to him and let him know that he was in breach of our contract by removing our access, did he reinstated our access. Since then, he has not responded to one of our emails. To all of those brides and grooms reading this, I know how hard (and expensive) the planning process is, but it's honestly worth paying a bit more for a professional service and photos you can look back on for years to come. read more

I had spoke to Ruben to book a party and was informed they will be who attends the party. I was over charged, and then charged again about a week after the event which is fraud. At the party it was someone else who came to the party which was also not expected. I do not recommend this company for photo booth service. And don't give out your card information, as they may charge more than you think. read more

My husband and I were very disappointed about the Photo Booth at our wedding. We heard feedback that the Photo Booth was "kind of sad." First, our e-mail correspondence indicates we asked for the theater (open) booth. We were expecting an open backdrop for people to take pictures in front of so that large groups could fit. The day of the wedding, we had a private traditional "booth" style photo booth. Not too many people could fit inside. Next, we requested a photo book. The week before the wedding, I e-mailed Ruben and asked if I should provide pens for guests to sign the photo book and he said his team will provide them. However, NOT ONE guest signed the book for a couple reasons: the team did not bring pens, and the photo book was NOT the kind that could be signed. It was a photo album where the photos had to be slid in from top--the covering on the pages did not peel off so that people could sign the paper. The photos also do not stay in place in the photo book--they keep sliding from side to side. The photo book also isn't cute like the ones on the website--it's completely plain and boring. I am SO DISAPPOINTED and SAD because we had no back up guest book and I feel stupid for having the DJ announce that guests "sign" our photo book. :'( ALSO, I asked Ruben a few times how to choose our custom template for our prints. He said it's something we can figure out close to the wedding. He never sent examples or told me how the process of choosing a template works, but said he has some online. I looked online at his website but didn't find anything I liked, so I sent Ruben a picture of our Snapchat filter and asked for something similar, though it did not have to be exact. Our filter had bistro lighting on top and pink and white flowers that went perfectly with our wedding decor and theme. Ruben never sent me the completed template to approve before the wedding. The first time I saw our template was after the wedding (I never had time to make it to the booth myself) on the prints that guests left for us. Our template was absolutely hideous and was the ONE thing that did NOT go with our theme at the wedding. It was a gray chevron background with black and white swans.... how did we go from pink and white flowers to black/white/gray swans and chevron print?!! Please tell me how this is similar. Another thing we were unhappy with was the couple weeks leading up to the wedding, my husband called Ruben multiple times. He never picked up the phone, nor did he return the voicemails. I even e-mailed him letting him know my husband was trying to get ahold of him and he said he didn't get the first call and provided me a number, which he still did not respond to. Initially when we reached out to Ruben, he told us idle time for the booth would be $75 an hour. He later told us it was $90 and then increased it again to $120. We asked if he could honor the $75 he initially told us (which we also had documented in e-mail correspondence) and he did not respond to our question and charged us the $120. I didn't hear any feedback about the team members on site, but overall a very disappointing experience--I would've forgiven the mistake on the Photo Booth style if everything else worked out well, but the template and photo book, which are our memories and keepsake, are especially disappointing. read more

They promised to refund me for an event that did not happen and never did. I booked about a month in advance and then the event got canceled. I called and spoke to Rueben and he said because it never happened that they would refund me in full (it was at least 2 weeks notice). They NEVER did. I called and left email and nobody would call back. I do not recommend them they are crooks that will not even call you back. After months still no one will call or email. They see my number and don't answer, I'd be afraid for anyone who uses a company that will just take your money not fulfill their part and never answer the phone again. DO NOT USE THEM!! read more

So I booked Sybex for my wedding and was a bit disappointed. I researched many companies and decided on Sybex due to the lower price, template design, and that their pictures looked to fit in many people. I booked Sybex about 10 months in advance and stated that I wanted an open booth, which I assumed meant a camera at least 5 feet in front of a backdrop in which people stood to take the picture. Well, the day of the wedding, the booth was very small and one where you sit down in. I had guests complain about how they could only fit 3 people and that they did not have many props. We did have one group of 7 jam into the booth, in which some were kneeling on the ground and the attendant angled the camera sideways to try to fit everyone into the picture. Also, people were looking at themselves on the display screen and not up at the camera, so they are looking down in the pictures. I don't think this is so much a problem when the camera is further away, as in an actual open booth. I must rave about the attendant. She was excellent and my guests did talk about how nice and accommodating she was. The light bulb in the booth also went out towards the last hour, so people could not see themselves in the screen and the camera ran out of battery while I was in the booth with some family. The attendant kept completely professional. Some of the pictures were printing out funky so she also offered to stay after our rental time and do reprints for our guests. I did really like the design of the template and they were very speedy in uploading our pictures and giving us access to the online gallery. read more

We had a great experience using Sybex Booths for our daughter's sweet 16 party. Ruben was very professional and we received everything as stated in our contract. My family has also used Sybex Booths for other parties and had great experiences! read more

We used Sybex for our daughters September wedding. We decided on a photo booth only one month before the wedding and Reuben responded immediately and was very professional. We had about 120 guests and heard repeatedly how fun the photo booth was during the cocktail hour. I would recommend Reuben and Sybex for future events. read more

I wasn't going to get a photo booth but literally changed my mind a couple of days before my party and Ruben happened to be available on that Sunday. He was so accommodating with it being so last minute. The equipment worked perfectly and he was early to set up. The photo booth made the night so much fun. All the strips were sent digitally via Facebook. Such a great experience! So happy I went with Sybex Booths. read more

Amazing, brilliant, creative, reliable, professional, beyond the best customer service ever and by far the nicest and most helpful person...all are words that best describe Ruben. I went through some hurdles in putting my event together and Ruben was so flexible, helpful and understanding. I even had last minute changes but I couldn't quite come up with anything creative enough to put 2 completely different events into 1...Ruben stepped up and creativity made it happen. I've hired and rented several different booths over the years and NEVER have I ever had this pleasant an experience. If you have an event, big or small, SYBEX BOOTHS is, hands down, the ONLY WAY TO GO. I wouldn't recommend any other! THANK YOU RUBEN/Sybex Booths! Til next time... read more

Ruben and his team had a booth for our son's halloween party. We had nearly 200 guests, live music, the works! Ruben's staff fit right in. They were professional, engaging with the guests, and hard working. They knew their place and arrived on time and stayed until the designated hour to end. Thank you Ruben and thank you to your team! We look forward to enjoying another event with Sybex. Don't think twice folks! Great value and great work from these guys! :) read more

We got married in April and we're pretty disappointed with the photo booth. The communication on this company part is poor. We had to ask them all the questions they should have asked us. (I.e. Custom layout for photo, backdrop, day of payment etc.) day of the wedding they come set and the attendant, who never introduced himself but I'm assuming was Ruben,was less than enthusiastic according to all my guest. He was just there to hand people their photos when they came out of the printer. Wasn't expecting him to do back flips but a smile would have been cool. He also didn't set up the back drop we requested so it was just a grey sheet backdrop. When we booked we were told that we had a video booth but no one was told to use it, so I don't even know if it was really a video booth. And to top it off, no one ever got their photos they emailed to themselves. We got one email with a link to the photos. Moral of the story is you get what you pay for... Our fault for trying to save a few bucks. If you're getting married spend the money or DIY it don't go cheap. read more

I'm happy to say that Ruben and his assistant made a stressful day go by as smoothly as possible. Ruben kept in contact with me via text and phone calls. Since I contacted him just one day earlier he allowed me to concentrate on planning my daughter bday party without worrying about filling out his contract or giving a deposit. He trusted me. Right away I knew we were in good hands. His assistant showed up promptly and setup within minutes. After that all our guests enjoyed enjoyed the photo booth and he allowed groups of people to take pictures. The photo booth allowed us to do this. They stayed until the party ended and they did not take a single break during the party. I would not hesitate to hire them again and recommend them to friends. Two thumbs up for sure!!!!! read more

My first time ever hiring a photo booth company and I'm happy to say it was smoooooth sailing! From the beginning Ruben was super helpful, friendly, Attentive and easy to get a hold of! Just a couple weeks before the wedding I decided to add the scrapbook package and Ruben made it easy to add the package. Unfortunately my wife and I never made it to the booth ourselves but all our guests loved it and said the props and the backdrop were awesome! We definitely weren't the easiest clients to deal with so I really appreciate all of Sybex booths' professionalism and patience! Will definitely hire again and recommend to others! read more

We just had a booth for my 40th birthday this past weekend and it was fantastic! They were able to do full body shots for us so they could be like prom photos for our 80's prom theme. The attendant was super nice and attentive and the booth was the hit of the party! Ruben was extremely responsive to emails and kept in contact with me constantly. Electronic invoicing was awesome too! Overall you won't go wrong with Sybex Booths! read more

Fantastic work done by Ruben and his team! We hired Sybex for an outdoor wedding reception, and are so glad we did. From my first contact with Ruben, he was always responsive to my emails and patient with my questions. He was extremely organized, from set-up before the event, to Ruben Sr's work at the event, tear down afterwards, and even payment (pricing is very reasonable). Guests are still raving about the photo booth a month later. Everything was awesome, and I'm recommending Ruben to everyone I know! read more

This is the 2nd time SEIU 1021 has hired sybex for a union event. Tho' I was on vacation, I got rave reviews from folks upon my return. The photo booth was the highlight of our gathering. Thanks so much and look forward to using them soon! read more

Sybex Booths was an outstanding company to deal with and I look forward to encouraging people to go thru them if they are looking for a photo booth for their event. Ruben was professional, patient (to answer my multiple questions), flexible and kind! Our event was less than a week away and he came thru above and beyond our expectations!! Everyone of all ages LOVED the photo booth and the quality of the pictures will last a lifetime and that's priceless! read more