SUBMITTED: Monday, April 20, 2009
POSTED: Monday, April 20, 2009
I believe this man Hayden is running a scam, advertising wedding videography yet making his money by selling his wedding video demos. I do not believe he has any intention of actually videotaping a wedding. I bit the bait and requested a demo, assuming he was located in CA where the emagazine Videomaker (where I found the ad) was located; however, there was no address on his web site. I requested the wedding demo and as charged $17.
When I emailed Hayden thanking him for sending the demo promptly, I informed him that the demo was defective and wouldn't play on my laptop. Rather than offering to send me another one (it is not that uncommon for DVDs to have an error and I didn't think too much about it), he gave me a rude response and immediately said he didn't give refunds, which I never requested. Apparently, he has had requests for refunds before.
I have copied the emails back and forth below so that you can see the lack of customer service. Out of my 3 DVD players, I found only one that played the video and quickly surmised why he had not even bothered to put a label on it. It was horrible -- just some very poor resolution video put on a DVD with little or no editing -- I suspect the latter. The envelope didn't even have cardboard to protect the disk -- just something thrown in there and sent so he could say he provided the demo and keep the money. No one in their right mind would hire him to video their wedding after watching such an incredibly bad wedding video -- and this was his demo! His total cost of production was no doubt under $3. Not a bad profit margin.
I believe he deliberately neglects to put an address on his web site and return mail so that no one would know where he was located. He could not offer $500 wedding videos to people in CA if he was located in Boston -- no return address on the demo so I still don't know where he operates from.
I'd hate for anyone else to be ripped off like I was. He had his ad on Videomaker Magazine which is reputable and I contacted them about the scam. They could find no ad in their e-magazine and I checked -- it was a rotating Google Ad. Who knows how many people from all over the US are taken in by him? The irony is he had a place on his web site to order an on-line demo yet charged shipping. I asked him about that --- no response.
See the emails below --- he has a lot of chutzpah!
> > > ------Original Message------
> > > From: Bette
> > > To: Hayden
> > > Subject: wedding demo
> > > Sent: Apr 11, 2009 3:04 PM
> > > Hi there
> > > Thank you for being so prompt in sending me the wedding video
> > > demo; however, it doesn't play on my computer ---- Windows Vista.
> > > Could you please send me another one.
> > > I paid the $15 + $2 already. Also, I never understood why you offer
> > > an on-line version and charge a shipping fee -- is the video on-line
> > > or?????
> > > Thank you
> > > Bette
> > > --------------
> > > Hayden replied:
> > > Bette,it plays on our PC and DVD player,we always make sure of that
> > > before we mail them out.
> > > I cannot give you a refund,you may have to watch it on another PC.
> > > If we gave refunds we would be sending out free demos all day and
> > > giving people their money back.
> > > The extra cost is what the credit card company charges us.
> > > ----------------
> > From: Bette
> > To: Hayden
> > Subject: Re: wedding demo
> > Sent: Apr 11, 2009 5:14 PM
> >
> > I never asked for a refund -- I'll try it out on my DVD player -- and
> > you are wrong about people not watching DVDs on their laptops. Just
> > curiosity -- did you make this on a Mac?
> > Bette
> > -----------------
> Hayden replied:
> > Bette,
> > If your family will get around a laptop to watch a 2 hour wedding and
> > reception instead of a tv then more power to you.
> > Nope,it was not made on a Mac.
> > I"m with my family for Easter weekend,can't write anymore.
> > Take care.
> > --------------
> From: Bette
> To: Hayden
> Subject: Re: wedding demo
> Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:35:47
> This is a DEMO -- not a family movie and no, my family does not want to
> watch a demo with me. I am evaluating your ability to film and edit as a
> potential customer -- my son is getting married. I got it to work on
> only one of my three DVD players. I'm giving you my feedback; you can
> evaluate it and either use it to your advantage or choose to disregard
> it -- makes no difference to me. As Simon Cowell would bluntly say, your
> demo was VERY POORLY DONE! At least put a label on your demo -- even
> a handwritten indication of what the DVD is would be nice. No title with a
> fictitious name and date and place -- ending trailed off with sound
> although video cut off -- poor quality resolution - no menu. Even for a
> budget video, the demo should at least have good navigation --- doesn't
> take that long to do. I've done horse videos and films for over 20 years
> now and I know how long editing takes and what it entails. From what I
> saw, you did zip editing. You have a bad rep on the internet -- I
> normally disregard one bad post; however, you displayed the same poor
> attitude to me. Can't understand why Videomaker even allowed you to
> place an ad with them.
> Hope you had a nice Easter
> Bette
> ------------------
> Hayden replied:
> Bette,I read your first sentence and stopped reading.
> Goodbye,have a great life LOL.
> Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed