Warning about Maui Photographer
 

I would not recommend using Shooting Stars Photography while in Maui. We had a photo shoot in Aug. and still have not seen the pictures.

What are the circumstances of you not seeing your pics yet? What have you done to try to get them? What did they say is the problem? We need more information before we can be sure that we need to avoid tehm. Thanks.

While photographing us, the photographer told us that his wife was a cancer survivor. We were supposed to view our pictures on his website within two weeks.Weeks went by.Calls to him and emails went unanswered. We were concerned that something had happened to his family. Meanwhile, while doing a search of his company, I read that there were others who were photographed in August and still had not heard from him. Finally, in Nov. he wrote an email saying that his wife had a recurrence of cancer and that he had been off the island for a few weeks. He reassured us the pictures would be posted within a week. I still have not heard back from him and it is the end of Dec. Meanwhile, he has posted 11 other shootings taken in Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov and Dec. A complaint has been made to the Better Business Bureau. I am sorry that I trusted him to take our family pictures. I realize that family tragedies happen but I think we have been very patient. If he was unable to process the photos, he should have been honest up front. He came recommended from other websites and has a beautiful web page of his photographs.

Hello marilynr, did you pay the photographer up front for the family photos?

The Better Business Bureau <http://tinyurl.com/3yg4od> has a total of 26 complaints about this company in the last 36 months. That's enough for me!

We gave him our credit card which he assured us would not be charged until our pictures were posted. That is one good thing. However, we drove an hour to meet him, spent two hours with him, and then an hour drive back.
We now have a family trip/30th anniversary celebration without many photographs because I was foolish to think we would have professional pictures. If these were wedding pictures, I would be livid.

I am sorry marilynr, what a dissapointment. And from what Orlando posted it sounds like this photographer business is a problem for sure. I am so glad you didn't give them cash or a check. But still, I understand your feelings, lots of wasted time and no photographs.

Did the photographer take all of the images with a digital camera? It shouldn't take much to post the digital images up to the website, unless he accidently erased them (which still can possibly be recovered with recovery software).

You should also lodge your complaint with Action Line:
http://www.khon2.com/features/actionline
But be sure to mention the 26 complaints in 36 months....it helps if the person is a repeat offender.

They may do an investigative report and bring the story to light for everyone.

Thanks, I will look into this.

Holy moly. When my wife and I got married 5 years ago, we had our pictures AND two prints put on canvas before we even left Maui! I can't imagine waiting all this time.