Oct 1, 2008 11:00 pm US/Eastern
I-Team Investigates: Wedding Photographer Scam
Reporting
Jim Osman
WASHINGTON, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
One South Jersey man took
tens of thousands of dollars from local couples looking for a top notch wedding
photographer. Some of the couples could never judge the work because they never
got any pictures, and others are waiting for the photographer to deliver all
that he promised.
Wedding photographer
Joe DiFeterici lunged at our I-Team Photographer inside of a police station of
all places. He's not a stranger to the police or to these South Jersey Women,
who along with dozens of other women, say he ruined the most important day of
our lives.
"You're a little
girl... you think about that your whole life... what's it going to be like
walking down the aisle," said Laura Wirtshafter, a customer and bride. "We have
absolutely nothing to show for our wedding day," she continued.
Danielle and Ron Alia
who only have family photos from their wedding, paid $3200 up front to
DiFeterici to capture their wedding day in November 2007. Danielle says what
happened just before she walked down the aisle should have been a major clue.
"We were emailing
him... calling him... nothing... and I was starting to panic because I was
really worried he wasn't going to show up for the wedding day," said Alia.
DiFeterici turned up to
take the pictures after all.
"It just wasn't a good
experience that day at all," said Danielle.
But Danielle still
doesn't have them.
"I always thought I'd
have my wedding pictures before I'd have my new born baby pictures."
Ten months after the
nuptials the Alia's have plenty of their own photos of Danielle's newborn baby
Dominic, and not a wedding picture from Joe DiFeterici in sight.l
"We have received 30
complaints in the last year," said Dan Crevina, New Jersey Better Business
Bureau.
The Better Business
Bureau of New Jersey has been tracking complaints against DiFeterici with
little luck getting him to face up to consumers.
"Twenty-five of them
(complaints) have been closed as unresolved," said Crevina.
Couples out thousands
and thousands of dollars, some have been without their wedding pictures for up
to three years. Laura and Mike Wirtshafter waited a year to finally get the
pictures they paid $2200 for, but they only got them out of sheer persistence.
"It's just a bunch of
lies and the only way we have really gotten this far is to go to his location,"
said Mike Wirtshafter.
And that's exactly what
the I-Team did to try and get answers for the women who are still out of luck.
"Why are you ripping
off these brides," asked I-Team reporter Jim Osman.
"I'm not ripping off
anybody," responded DiFeterici at his doorstep.
DiFeterici repeatedly
denies, despite all the complaints, that he's done anything wrong and storms
off.
"Go away," he told
Osman.
"Go away?," responded
Osman.
As we did just that,
little did we know what was about to happen. DiFeterici gets in his car and
skids away. He calls our producer and tells her he's headed to the Washington Township, New Jersey Police Department.
The very place where brides have filed complaints against him.
He's angry and
demanding to see an officer, ironically, to lodge a complaint against the CBS 3
I-Team.
"You have nothing to
say," asked Osman.
"I have nothing to say
to you," responded DiFeterici.
But here comes the
brides, who have plenty to say and no plans to stop voicing their outrage until
DiFeterici lives up to his end of the bargain.
"How could you live
with yourself being like this and cheating people and just lying?," said
Wirtshafter.
The Gloucester County
Consumer Affairs Office would confirm it has 16 ongoing complaints against Joe
DiFeterici.
DiFeterici sent us an email before our broadcast
conceding that there were delays in album production because of what he claims
are "personal reasons," but says he's working to fix the problems. He calls the
persistence of some of the couples "character assassination" and calls this
reporter "obnoxious." DiFeterici says any further delay in work will be due to
the quote "vile" action of the couples.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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