Melissa Chinici Photography Picture Me Pissed Voorhees New Jersey

I cannot attest to the previous complaint in regards to Mrs. Chinici, however, I can give a very honest and candid review of my personal experiences working with Melissa.

I am both a business owner, recent bride and future mother. I can only say that over the numerous times Melissa and I have conducted business for my many needs, she has only ever given 100% of herself towards my projects.

I work in an industry that is sever in judging one based on their reputation. Melissa is golden. As I said, this is based on my many experiences with her in both professional corporate settings and personalized celebrations. I would recommend her to any family member or client. Her work is remarkable. Her pricing is incredible and I can tell you that as a service I use regularly for my clients, Melissa Chinici is one of the TOP photographers in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area.

Please understand that unfortunate circumstances happen. Melissa is a young and enthusiastic business owner who is learning daily. We should be so fortunate to have such a passionate artist at our fingertips.

I recommend her for any situation, under any circumstances, this gem will come through.

Kindest Regards,

Emily J. Carr-Czimback

Financial Advisor
Entertainment Coordinator

I cannot attest to the previous complaint in regards to Mrs. Chinici, however, I can give a very honest and candid review of my personal experiences working with Melissa.

I am both a business owner, recent bride and future mother. I can only say that over the numerous times Melissa and I have conducted business for my many needs, she has only ever given 100% of herself towards my projects.

I work in an industry that is sever in judging one based on their reputation. Melissa is golden. As I said, this is based on my many experiences with her in both professional corporate settings and personalized celebrations. I would recommend her to any family member or client. Her work is remarkable. Her pricing is incredible and I can tell you that as a service I use regularly for my clients, Melissa Chinici is one of the TOP photographers in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area.

Please understand that unfortunate circumstances happen. Melissa is a young and enthusiastic business owner who is learning daily. We should be so fortunate to have such a passionate artist at our fingertips.

I recommend her for any situation, under any circumstances, this gem will come through.

Kindest Regards,

Emily J. Carr-Czimback

Financial Advisor
Entertainment Coordinator

I cannot attest to the previous complaint in regards to Mrs. Chinici, however, I can give a very honest and candid review of my personal experiences working with Melissa.

I am both a business owner, recent bride and future mother. I can only say that over the numerous times Melissa and I have conducted business for my many needs, she has only ever given 100% of herself towards my projects.

I work in an industry that is sever in judging one based on their reputation. Melissa is golden. As I said, this is based on my many experiences with her in both professional corporate settings and personalized celebrations. I would recommend her to any family member or client. Her work is remarkable. Her pricing is incredible and I can tell you that as a service I use regularly for my clients, Melissa Chinici is one of the TOP photographers in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area.

Please understand that unfortunate circumstances happen. Melissa is a young and enthusiastic business owner who is learning daily. We should be so fortunate to have such a passionate artist at our fingertips.

I recommend her for any situation, under any circumstances, this gem will come through.

Kindest Regards,

Emily J. Carr-Czimback

Financial Advisor
Entertainment Coordinator

I cannot attest to the previous complaint in regards to Mrs. Chinici, however, I can give a very honest and candid review of my personal experiences working with Melissa.

I am both a business owner, recent bride and future mother. I can only say that over the numerous times Melissa and I have conducted business for my many needs, she has only ever given 100% of herself towards my projects.

I work in an industry that is sever in judging one based on their reputation. Melissa is golden. As I said, this is based on my many experiences with her in both professional corporate settings and personalized celebrations. I would recommend her to any family member or client. Her work is remarkable. Her pricing is incredible and I can tell you that as a service I use regularly for my clients, Melissa Chinici is one of the TOP photographers in the South Jersey/Philadelphia area.

Please understand that unfortunate circumstances happen. Melissa is a young and enthusiastic business owner who is learning daily. We should be so fortunate to have such a passionate artist at our fingertips.

I recommend her for any situation, under any circumstances, this gem will come through.

Kindest Regards,

Emily J. Carr-Czimback

Financial Advisor
Entertainment Coordinator

Wow. Melissa I feel for you! As a fellow NJ photographer I absolutely agree with you and your work is gorgeous! I wouldn't worry about this report, this woman sounds like a complete nightmare and any sane person reading this can see that! I have NEVER heard of getting 1,000 images from a wedding photographer,especially one without an assistant!! Is this woman high?? I hope she knows that $1,000 for a wedding photographer is a BARGAIN!!! I wouldn't touch a wedding for under $5,000 and you would be lucky to get "maybe" 300 images from me and most certainly NOT the digital negatives. Sweetie...raise your prices...you will weed out the bargain hunting ignorant sears portrait studio clientle like this nut job..lol..seriously..your good..raise your prices and you will find clients who really get you and appreciate you.. unfortunately NJ is full of spoiled little brats like this...so sorry you had to deal with this nonsense and I hope 2009 is a better year for you!!!!!

I just wanted to give an update for anyone who may read this. I am still waiting for my refund that I was told I was going to be given. And to hear from Ms. Chinici's lawyers....
I think her responses may have done more damage to her business than my complaints. They speak volumes of her lack of professionalism.

And in response to the person who commented about the pictures on her website, just let it be known that I do not have one photograph of my husband and I that I can frame...

and if the wedding pics on there were the ones of her wedding, they were absolutely beautiful. i'm a photographer myself and sometimes things happen that can't be avoided, eyes being closed over exposure so on and so forth. she wouldn't have wanted the over exposed or the blinking of eye pictures why would she? i think that i only had about 100 pics of my wedding and all of mine were printed and they were several with eyes closed and i would have prefered not to have them. so mellissa your pictures are beautiful and if i lived close enough to you i would recommend you to people i know. but new jersey is a little far from scottsburg indiana :)

Then you stick by the fact that it's ok to talk down to people, slander their name, and make up lies about them to get a $150. You know all of the stuff you made up about me. You stick by what you said? Well I stick by the fact that I did exactly what I was paid to do and then some. I was still there over an hour before the wedding was supposed to start to get photos of you getting dressed. It was completely out of my hands that my car over heated.

Someone from the wedding volunteered to pick me up right away (stop lying). I drove almost 4 hours out of my way free of charge to save you and your husband money (because that's the type of person I am) . I stayed later because my car broke down and I felt horrible about it. You're response has been "we never asked you to stay late or not to charge us for travel, this is business." How you can trash someone for something when it wasn't even their fault, and when they went above and beyond to please you is beyond me.

How you can sit there and still ask someone for $150 after you LIED, MADE OUR PERSONAL BUSINESS PUBLIC, HARASSED ME, AND TOLD PEOPLE NOT TO HIRE ME TO TAKE THEIR PHOTOS just boggles my mind. When I have emails saved from you stating what a wonderful job I did and that you would recommend me to anyone! You claim that your friends got 1,000 photos. Alex, I told you a million times 125-200 perfect photos is the normal amount for one photographer, depending on how long the wedding is. It's about quality, not quantity. You don't seem to want to understand that. I have done nothing but remain respectful and professional through all that you have pulled with me. My job means everything to me.

I do what I do to give people beautiful photos, NOT TO RIP PEOPLE OFF. But I did what I was paid to do. I agreed to pay you your $150 because I don't want you in my life anymore and you will get it. But you chose to publicly bash me and lie. Here I am, defending myself on a public trash talking website like I'm in middle school!! And it's going to be up here forever, for everyone to see because it can't be removed. I'm not going to dignify your lies and "internet harassment" anymore with a response or glance. It's not healthy for me or my family. I will send you a check for $150 and I will save the receipt, along with everything else that still have for my lawyer since you refuse to cooporate and get this taken off the internet. This was the last straw

Since posting this report I have been contacted by Ms. Chinici's husband, not herself, offering to send me a refund. He also asked if I would remove this report. I told him I did not think I would be able to but I would try because he was attempting to resolve this issue. But as I thought I am unable to do so.

I have read Ms. Chinici's response and would like to say just a few more things. I received her counter from the BBB and promptly replied, deeming it unsatisfactory. It does take several days for their office to review it so that would be why she thinks I have failed to respond.

Ms. Chinci has repeatedly called me a liar and I would just like to say that I stand by my complaint 100%. I would never go out of my way to do this had I not felt cheated. This is my own personal experience with Melissa Chinici Photography and I felt I should let the public know.

Since posting this report I have been contacted by Ms. Chinici's husband, not herself, offering to send me a refund. He also asked if I would remove this report. I told him I did not think I would be able to but I would try because he was attempting to resolve this issue. But as I thought I am unable to do so.

I have read Ms. Chinici's response and would like to say just a few more things. I received her counter from the BBB and promptly replied, deeming it unsatisfactory. It does take several days for their office to review it so that would be why she thinks I have failed to respond.

Ms. Chinci has repeatedly called me a liar and I would just like to say that I stand by my complaint 100%. I would never go out of my way to do this had I not felt cheated. This is my own personal experience with Melissa Chinici Photography and I felt I should let the public know.

Since posting this report I have been contacted by Ms. Chinici's husband, not herself, offering to send me a refund. He also asked if I would remove this report. I told him I did not think I would be able to but I would try because he was attempting to resolve this issue. But as I thought I am unable to do so.

I have read Ms. Chinici's response and would like to say just a few more things. I received her counter from the BBB and promptly replied, deeming it unsatisfactory. It does take several days for their office to review it so that would be why she thinks I have failed to respond.

Ms. Chinci has repeatedly called me a liar and I would just like to say that I stand by my complaint 100%. I would never go out of my way to do this had I not felt cheated. This is my own personal experience with Melissa Chinici Photography and I felt I should let the public know.

Thank god that some of my clients saw this and notified me. Here is her full complaint to the BBB:

Case Description: Melissa Chinici was hired as my wedding photographer for October 2007. She was supposed to be at the wedding 2 hours prior but she showed up only 20 minutes prior and has refused to refund us the money paid to her to be at the wedding the 2 hours before. She only gave us a partial amount of the photos that she took at her own discretion and refuses to let us see the ones she doesn't approve of. We can tell by the counter number on the photos that there are numerous photos that have been removed and we were given an exorbitantly low amount of photos to chose from (i.e. 139). The 60 prints we were guaranteed were sent to us over exposed and cropped down from the originals that we chose from. She never once met with us to ask us what we wanted in our pictures and when we made suggestions during the wedding she would not do it.
DesiredSettlementID: Refund

Desired Resolution: All of the photos that were taken and the $150 paid for her to be at the wedding 2 hours... (More) All of the photos that were taken and the $150 paid for her to be at the wedding 2 hours early.


My response back to her claims to the BBB:

I photographed Alex's wedding on October 13, 2007. I traveled an hour and forty five minutes there at no extra cost. About 20 minutes away from the wedding site, my car began to overheat and broke down. I phoned alex and she told me that a friend would come and pick me up. I waited in a shopping center parking lot for 45 minutes until I was picked up, I then arrived at the wedding site 30 minutes early, according to when the wedding was going to start. When I arrived I immediately started getting photos of her putting on her dress, bridal portraits, family portraits, etc. Everyone was very nice to me. The wedding started late (not by the time I was told) but the day was great. I got a lot of wonderful photos and got along with everyone really well. The next day I had my car towed back to my area in NJ and had to pay $400.

Alex stating that they suggested photos for me to take and I refused is a flat out lie. Her father had told me I had to get table shots of guests sitting at the dinner tables, but Alex told me not to because she wanted mostly candids. Every single photo that her and her husband asked me to take, I took. If I had "refused" (to pretty much do my job) I would have been sent home and asked for a full refund and I wouldn't have emails saved from Alex stating that "we appreciate your skills, the photos are gorgeous and we hope you will be a success. We would recommend you to anyone." Never had I once told her that she would get every single photo taken that day because sometimes photos are ruined because of circumstances out of our control. A subject blinks, a guests flash goes off at the same time as mine, my flash might lag because a battery is dying. There are a lot of things can ruin a photograph, these are not saved.

The photos of good quality are saved. Alex received 150-160 photos (139 is another lie). 130-140 photos is completely normal when you have only one photographer shooting. Double that number if you have two. Alex emailed me a few days after receiving her prints and cd and never said she had any problem with the prints. She only demanded that I send her another cd because her father accidentally erased them off of the cd I sent her (which is another lie because the cd's are not eraseable). It wasn't until almost a week after that she wrote me a extremely rude email insulting me and my work. She stated "do you really just suck that bad????" among many other things. And this was the first email that I had received expressing any dissatisfaction with her prints. I would have been more than willing to try and resolve any issues she has with her prints had she come to me like an adult, in somewhat of a respectable manner.

I will not continue to converse with anyone who harasses me. The prints look exactly like they did when she viewed the proofs on the web and said they were "so lovely!" (I have that email, as well. Nothing is different about the color. Cropping is completely normal when it comes to printing photos and shooting close-ups. Alex has no knowledge whatsoever about photography, cropping, or printing photos so she cannot state what is done correctly or incorrectly. Alex never expressed an interest in meeting me face to face to discuss prints. She only expressed an interest in receiving them as soon as possible. I have every email from Alex saved as proof if needed and I also have her wedding photos online if anyone from the BBB would like to form an opinion on the quality of the photos.

I would be happy to print out her photos identical to the ones that she received if need be or she can send you hers if she is so dissatisfied with them. I take what I do very seriously and sincerely care about my clients happiness but what Alex is doing is slander. She is fabricating and out right telling lies about me and this could affect my future business. If I have to contact my lawyer for what she is doing I will. The complaint filed by her states numerous lies that can be proven false.

I see no validity in what Alex says. For her to ask for a full $150 refund under the circumstances of that day (and to present) makes no sense, considering that my vehicle broke down on my way to her wedding (which was completely out of my control), I waited 45 minutes to be picked up and brought to the wedding, I still arrived at least 30 minutes early, (to get candid shots and photos of her getting dressed) the wedding started 30 minutes late, I stayed an hour later at no charge, I traveled almost 4 hours at no charge, and I had to pay $400 to have my car towed. Not to mention the slander on my business that I am trying to build, the harassment and insults. I have done what I was paid to do and then some for Alex to try and make her tastes happy. Again, I have emails, her wedding photos, and prints if needed to help form an opinion or decision on this matter. Thank you.

I received word back from the BBB that she has failed to comment back. I never once refused to give Alex a refund. I only explained to her where I was coming from, in hopes that she would understand or even appreciate [just a little] everything I did. Since then, she has told lie after lie, making things up to get what she wants. She has not once phoned me or discussed anything with me in a respectable manner.

125-200 finished edited photos (with one photographer) is the normal amount of photos to receive, not 1,000 like she "claims". I do not state any specific number in my contract because every wedding is different. I'm not there concentrating on taking a certain amount of photographs. I am there to making sure that I capture every important and special aspect of that day. I actually did take more photos at the reception but a lot of people were intoxicated-bumping into me and my camera, and jumping in front of the camera while I was taking pictures. Since my complaint back to the BBB, Alex has not once mentioned anything being wrong with her prints or that I did not do my job and take the photos she had asked me to take.

This is not just a job to me. I do not do what I do just to make money, which is why I will always have reasonable prices and rates, and why I will always make sure a bride gets every single photo she asks me to take. I am the most easy going person in this world, and there is no reason why she couldn't have discussed any problem with the $150 refund with me like an adult.