Jon Abeyta Photography rip-off! Dishonest! Kept money but provided no service! Ruined engagement announcements! West Hollywood California

In September of 2003, I hired Jon Abeyta Photography in West Hollywood to take engagement pictures for my new fiance and I. We planned on using the pictures for engagement announcements. We were very excited! The photo shoot was scheduled to take place in San Francisco. The scheduler, R.J. told me that I needed to send in a deposit of 50% to hold the appointment. I wrote a check for $250 and mailed it to Jon Abeyta Photography. The check was cashed immediately.

My fiance and I flew from our home in Idaho to San Francisco for the photoshoot. I called R.J. several times to confirm our appointment and left messages. The day before the photoshoot, R.J. called to tell me that the photographer (Jon Abeyta) had injured his ankle and was unable to do the photoshoot. They cancelled! I offered to drive to their studio in West Hollywood and do the photoshoot there, since he was injured. R.J. agreed that was a good idea.

My fiance and I drove from San Francisco to Los Angeles the next day and called R.J. several times to confirm the photoshoot. No one from Jon Abeyta returned our phone calls. I left messages demanding my $250 deposit back and, still no one returned my calls.

When we returned to Idaho, I emailed Jon Abeyta and pleaded for someone to return my call. I then received an email from R.J. stating that I could not get a refund for my deposit because of their "no refund policy" which he NEVER told me about. He agreed that he never said this to me, yet would not refund my money.

Our engagement party was quickly approaching, so we decided to hire another photographer and just have her take our portrait DURING the engagement party... a bit too late for the engagement announcements. Jon Abeyta still refuses to return the deposit we made for an engagement photoshoot that HE CANCELLED. He offers to use the deposit towards a future photoshoot. TOO LATE! We have no use for his services. We were married MONTHS ago. I warn anyone even THINKING about using this photographer... DON'T DO IT!!!

Vannessa
Moscow, Idaho
U.S.A.