Wedding Forum - Jellybean creatives, Manchester in...

Hi guys,

Hope that I am allowed to name the company on the forum. A message to anyone who has booked wedding photography with ************* in Manchester/Salford

I went to my pre-wedding meeting with our photographer found on groupon, only to turn up at their office block and be told by reception that they were no longer in the building and to their knowledge were no longer trading. The reception took our details to forward to the company, as we got to our car - not 1 minute away - I received an email from the company saying that they were in liquidation and we would need to contact Groupon for a refund.
Groupon have been given an order to refund on request, and after speaking with them - they were very helpful - they have said that it will be refunded in full to my account by the end of the week.

I just wanted to let anybody on here who may have booked with them know about it as it seems they are not informing people of the fact that they are in liquidation - just leaving people to find out for themselves. Luckily we have 4 months now till the wedding so have time to find another photographer, but others haven't been so lucky. And I know that photographs from weddings before Christmas have not been recieved by couples.

This is the email that was sent to me (after I had spent 45mins driving there):
"To whom it may concern

It is with regret that we have been advised to contact all customers to inform you that *************************** has ceased trading. We have recently been dealing with an insolvency practitioner who will be managing the winding up process and liquidizing the company. We are also taking legal advice in order to manage the closing of the company in the best way. Once a decision has been made all customers/creditors will be contacted by an insolvency representative.

If you have paid us direct – As we are still in the process of winding up/liquidation a decision has not yet be made, with regards to refunds. This may take some time but once it has been resolved all parties will be aware. Your contact details along with a copy of your contract will be passed to the insolvency practitioner who will contact you direct.

If you purchased a deal (Groupon) – A list of all customers who have not received any services has been emailed to the head office of Groupon. This list, along with the email sent should be enough for each customer to receive an immediate refund

As we are no longer trading we have also left our Manchester office, we would kindly request that no further contact is made to *the offices* as they where only an office provider. They have also been informed of the insolvency and are now fully aware of our position.

Finally, we would like to apologise for the inconvenience this may have or will cause you. It is not a decision we have taken lightly and fully understand your frustration. In certain cases we have not handled this situation favourably and regret our actions. As we are now seeking legal advice we will not be responding to any other customers, you will all be contacted in due course and the matter is now out of our hands. This process may take some times but we can assure all customers that we are not simply walking away from this matter. We kindly ask for your patience during this time, we will be dealing with all individual cases as soon as possible."

EDIT - THE COMPANY NAME HAS HAD TO BE REMOVED TO CONFORM WITH FORUM RULES HOWEVER PLEASE POST IT ON YOUR WALL SO THAT ANYONE WHO THINKS THEY MAY HAVE BEEN AFFECTED CAN CHECK. -MODERATOR