Deborah Norville
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Wedding Video Nightmares

Airdate: 2/22/2008

Couples hope their wedding video will capture the beautiful moments they will cherish for a lifetime.  But that’s not what some couples ended up with.

Shaky video that can make you dizzy, missed shots, video that turns blue, crackling audio and inaudible well wishes.

Imagine one couple’s surprise when they sat down to watch their edited video.  The groom and the best man can be heard speaking when they had no idea their microphone was on.  The groom comments on the dress his bride has picked, before laughing with his groomsman.  They then joke about wedding vows saying, “One of them was 'I love you more than bacon and that's a lot’” and “’I love you as much as Def Leppard loves their leather pants.’”  “That’s deep,” says the best man.

The lousy videos all came from the same company, and couples around the country are furious.

Richard Osborn told INSIDE EDITION, “I really couldn't believe that a professional photographer could be so incompetent.”

Richard Osborn and his new wife Michelle of Dallas couldn't wait to watch their wedding video.  They expected it to be as professional looking as the promotional video they received from the wedding video company, a video that looked and sounded great.

But the Osborns were severely disappointed.
 
As the bride came into the church, the videographer seemed poised for the shot of the bride coming down the aisle.  But when everyone stood up, the cameraman missed the moment and shot the guests’ backs. 

“To not get what you would call ‘the money shot,’ that's it…the bride's coming in.  That's the shot you have to get…and they blew it,” said Richard Osborn.

But that wasn't the only problem.  Some shots were so shaky it looked like they were taken during an earthquake.  Plus, as Richard’s about to say “I do,” the cameraman cleared his throat.

Michelle called the owner of the company called A Sensory Sound System dozens of times but she says she just kept getting a run around.

So what could be worse than getting a bad wedding video?  Not getting one at all!

Colleen and Jason Johnson of Baltimore were a little skeptical when the videographer for their wedding showed up with a small home video camera.  Their worst fears were realized months later when they never got their video.

Colleen Johnson told INSIDE EDITION that she was informed over the phone that the company had lost her wedding video.  “They can’t find it.  They don't know where it is.”

The Johnsons say they’ve called the company 30 times between the two of them, if not more.

The Johnsons thought they'd been dealing with a local company called A Solid Gold Sound.  The contract listed a local address outside of Baltimore and a local phone number.  

But when Jason went to the address to complain, all he found was a mail drop at a UPS store.  

The two different couples in two different states both experienced problems with their wedding videos.  As it turned out both wedding video companies are owned by John Kruer, whose offices are located outside of Cincinnati.

The man that many customers could never get on the phone agreed to sit down and talk with INSIDE EDITION.
 
According to Kruer, “Our customer satisfaction rate is about 99%.” 

However, INSIDE EDITION found dozens of complaints against Kruer's companies on the consumer complaint web site, Ripoff Report and the Cincinnati Better Business Bureau gives them an unsatisfactory rating with 127 complaints on file.

Jocile Erlich, who works with the Better Business Bureau in Cincinnati, said “The bottom line is that he really doesn't care about his customers."

When INSIDE EDITION’s Senior Investigative Correspondent Matt Meagher asked Kruer about the Johnsons from Baltimore, Kruer said, “Over 25 years and 125,000 customers, I don't have full recollection of every customer we've ever dealt with.”

He added, “If we failed that customer then they deserve a full refund, an apology and we'll make it up to them as best we can.”

It turns out Kruer hires local people to videotape the weddings, but when there's a problem, customers can't find anyone locally to complain to.  All their calls are transferred to Kruer’s office near Cincinnati, where customers say they get the runaround.
 
Kruer said, “We have a record of 125,000 happy customers.  Yes, at times we fail...if you have the information I’d like the opportunity to make it right to them personally.”

As for the Johnsons, Osborns and the dozens of other unhappy couples INSIDE EDITION spoke with, it will be hard to give them back their wedding memories that were lost forever.

Although they never got their lost video, the Johnsons did finally receive a refund.  And the owner of the company insists many of the complaints on that consumer website and at the Better Business Bureau are false or have been resolved.  But he does plan to work with the Better Business Bureau to resolve any outstanding complaints.

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