Relatives of the bride and groom told them to go enjoy their honeymoon while they are deciding what legal steps they may take, but it was hard for a sister to watch the disappointment in the bride's face when no one showed up to videotape her special day.
Last Saturday was a very happy day for Christina Villa and her family as she watched her sister Elizabeth get married.
"She was very happy, gleaming and so was the groom," said Christina.
Two hundred fifty guests arrived to celebrate. The still photographer snapped away, but the videographer hired to capture the day was nowhere to be found.
"He didn't phone, nothing, my mom got an email on Sunday just replying with a question mark," said Christina.
Christina says her sister had placed about $700 down and signed a contract with Hollywood Express Productions for video services.
Dan Parsons, President of Houston's Better Business Bureau, says the Villas are not the first family to complain about the company and owner David Turner.
"This is particularly bad, and that's why we are referring it to a government agency. He's ignoring us and the consumers," said Parsons.
The BBB gives the company an F-rating and Parsons says they have more complaints on file including the following:
"I am without priceless memories of my wedding for which I will never be able to relive again."
"It's been four months and all we've received from them is one unedited (very badly videotaped) DVD and it doesn't even have sound!"
Parsons went on to say, "All the complaints circle around two things: either we haven't received our video and that's particularly cruel because that's your evidence of your wedding, you have nothing to show. The second complaint, we yell and moan and get raw tape."
But this family says they won't even have that.
"You can't get those memories back, it's basically gone. We can't relive them through a video," said Christina.
We could not find anyone with the company at the listed business address. As for the Villas, they say it's not even about the money now.
"It's the principal of having someone else go through that, that's what she would like to avoid because it's a horrible feeling," said Christina.
The BBB says it will be referring these complaints to the Attorney General and the Harris County District Attorney for further investigation. The owner has not returned our phone calls for comment.
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