James Hickey Photography, James Hickey, Hickeyjames.com ripoff; dishonest, unethical uninspiring photographer - master of the bait & switch Santa Cruz California

If you are looking for a horrific experience with a wedding photographer, then look no further!

The reason we know about this site is that our photographer James Hickey called our house on Friday evening (8/27) at 9:50PM accusing us of posting a report on him. While we are not surprised to learn he has had issues with other customers, we regret we were not the first ones to file a report on him.... until now (and ironically due to him making us aware of this forum!).

Our experience with James Hickey was frighteningly similar to that reported by "Louie in Cupertino". We contracted him for our wedding as well and have had nothing short of a horrific experience with him. "Bait and Switch" and "emotional blackmail" seem to be reoccurring themes here, and are terms we would use as well to describe our experience with him.

No one should go through what we went through (and are still going through!) with a photographer. We have correspondence from him where he admits that he attempted to renegotiate our contract AFTER he agreed to terms and accepted a deposit from us. Further, that he attempted to do this just DAYS before our wedding! He still has yet to complete the job that he contracted to do, but feels completely vindicated in demanding the balance due and calling our house at 9:50 at night to harass us for something we didn't do! He has threatened to delete all the negatives from our wedding as a means of trying to blackmail us to pay for the services he refuses to complete, and/or, to pay more money to him to finish the job he originally committed to do.

Consumers - BEWARE! He is a legend in his own mind and the quality (or lack thereof) of his work could never justify the risk associated with working with him! We found him to be unethical, temperamental and rude, not to mention disorganized and exceedingly difficult to work with once we were suckered into helping him build his business. His business is going nowhere for a reason and we would like nothing more than to spare others the experience we have had and the heartache of not having decent photos from their wedding day. Hopefully this posting will achieve that.

Kevin
Burlingame, California
U.S.A.