I needed a focus for all of my wedding anxiety, and I picked the DJ, who I found through The Pros. I was afraid that she wouldn't show up on the day of and I wouldn't know until it was too late, and we'd have no music. I acknowledged that this was completely irrational, but I clung to my fear. We booked with a big corporation that wouldn't let us contact our DJ in advance (the one DJ who specializes in the bhangra music we wanted at the wedding), but put on every contract that she was "confirmed", so I made my final payment over the weekend.
Monday evening, my DOC calls me and tells me she got a phone call from someone at The Pros, saying that my DJ is unavailable and I have to choose between one of the two remaining DJs in Los Angeles—let's call them BoyBand and PipSqueak, neither of whom have any background in the kind of music I booked the company for. I won't be music-less, but if I want to hear the music I'd been so excited about for the wedding, I will pretty much need to collect all of the music for them. I don't have time for that!
Why they called my DAY OF COORDINATOR (I told them to add her as a contact for the day of only, but that didn't stop them from calling her instead of the person who just paid them, go figure), I couldn't tell you, but since The Pros is based on the east coast, there was no one to take my call, on top of my contact there being out of the office until the 11th.
I'm actually sort of frothing at the mouth right now/in the middle of one of the worst headaches I've had in a long time because I'm so mad. Don't book with The Pros! Not if you care who your DJ is.
So I have a couple of options: I can use one of their DJs and bust my ass trying to put together the play list that I shouldn't have had to work on myself, I can use one of their DJs and just forget my Bhangra music, or I can go to the bank tomorrow and close my account so that they can't get the balance payment I made, and find a new DJ. What would you do?
Anyone else's vendors throw down some last-minute shenanigans?
Ugh, I'm so sorry this happened to you! As someone also planning a fusion wedding, I definitely understand the importance of a DJ who has knowledge of the type of music that will keep the crowds happy.
ReplyDeleteMy advice would be to ask around the Indian/Pakistani community down there - a lot of times up here, the best fusion DJs are guys who do it on the side for much cheaper than the big company DJs. They don't usually advertise since it's just a side gig, but everyone knows about them through word of mouth. Good luck!
DO NOT USE THE PROS DJ! ahem. Have you read the reviews on these guys? I almost booked them for my Los Angeles March 2011 wedding until I saw all the 0 star reviews saying DJ didn't show, was late, left early, brought no music they requested, didn't play the cds they made, played nothing but rap, wouldn't play requests, played reception music during the ceremony and vice versa, stole CDs and ruined the wedding. Apparently they are known for this bait and switch, they tell you you're getting x person and then suddenly they're not available right before your big day and you have to go with y. They have actually been reported to the better business bureau. Although I'm sure you meant it as a joke, i might close the account, request a refund, they probably wont give it to you, and you'll have to report them to the BBB. Definitely find a new DJ.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.weddingwire.com/vendor/VendorViewRating?vid=b1c77b7b0e7f806a&z=z&mode=&tab=reviews&sortBy=lowestRating
I wasn't joking. Mr. S is planning to go to the bank tomorrow morning to change our checking account so they can't get the payment. We found at least one person that we would consider, although he costs three times aw much as they do, and he's available. I just can't risk it with those other two.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely the right decision. If it were little complaints about them I'd say try them out, but with the kind of reviews they got they were definitely "too good to be true". Be glad you only booked them for the DJ, a lot of people did their photography/videography/DJ package and got screwed on all three counts! I almost booked that package too, the prices are insanely cheap but there's a clear reason why!
ReplyDeleteMaybe keep looking for DJs? Do you have till the end of March or are you in the last last minute time crunch? 3x the DJ prices is a lot!
Oh no! We did book with them for DJ & Photo. We actually only booked with them because we met & loved the husband/wife photog team instead of letting them assign us someone. Now I'm worried... off to email my consultant.
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