Alaina M. Sent on 08/17/2023
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Quality of service
2.0 out of 5 rating
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Average response time
1.0 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism
2.0 out of 5 rating
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Value
2.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility
2.0 out of 5 rating
Be cautious!
My husband and I used Karina at K Bencomo Photography for our engagement photos and wedding photos. Working with her at the beginning for the engagement photos was easy and we loved the pictures we got. However, when it came time for wedding prep, timeline, coordination, and the actual event, things took a turn for the worse. We signed with Karina for her to personally be our photographer (it is her company) in August 2022 for our March 2023 wedding. We were told we would be getting a certain package (at wedding expo discount) which included all raw photos digitally, a sneak preview of edited photos 2 weeks after the wedding, and then edited photos (her packages indicated print photos) and we discussed an album be added to our package. We then found out, not from Karina but through an Instagram post, in January 2023 that she was expecting. We contacted her immediately to make sure that our March wedding was still going to be covered by her and were assured she herself was still going to do the shoot. Throughout the next few months, the only communication we could get from her was via text when I personally or my father (who signed the contract) would reach out to ask her questions about timeline, photo lists of the pictures we wanted to make sure we would get (including a full family photo of both the bride and grooms extended families all together and a staged exit photo as she suggested). We got our photos request list to her and had to explain how the timeline she wrote on her own needed revisions to accommodate some traditional Jewish wedding flows she was not aware of, and things seemed to be set for the big day.
Then on the afternoon before the wedding day, Karina informed us that she was put on bedrest for her pregnancy and she would be sending us ‘one of her best photographers that she would share the photo list and all wedding details with to be sure things ran smoothly. The photographer (independent contract, not part of her alleged ’team’) she sent was fine, but despite Karina’s assurances he was never given details nor the photo list we requested (confirmed), so many shots were missed including the full joint family photo, individual photos of me with my veil and bouquet, exit photos, and many more: we only got 17 of 42 photos that Karina had been informed we wanted. To top this all off, we never received the promised 2 week sneak preview, and when asked about our raw photos, Karina struggled to figure out a way to get them to us. Eventually she shared her Dropbox with us, but Dropbox has a limit of bandwidth and disables the link for 24+ hours each time you hit the limit. It took me over a month to get all the photos downloaded. In addition to ALL of that, we had to ask her for months about our edited photos. First she said she was working on editing since she was the photographer we hired and liked her vision, then it was members of her team were working on them and they were “coming soon” or ‘next week’, but nothing arrived. A period of non-response followed. Then we were told our contract did not include prints, only edited photos that would be available in a digital album and if we wanted a print album we could pay extra, but then she said because her maternity leave she would not be doing albums either and recommended we use a site like Shutterfly. After silence, responses of “the edited photos should be ready this week”, and continued delays without explanation, we finally got a link for 102 edited photos on a digital album in July after threatening legal action due to breach of contract. Of those 102 images, several of them are duplicates including 7 only slightly different pictures of myself and husband with our cake. Karina never bothered to ask us what images we wanted edited for our wedding album, but selected them herself (how would she know what we wanted?!). And since she wasn’t present at the event nor did she ask us before choosing which photos to include, she did not know who was who in photos and we have several edited photos of my husband’s side of the family, but only 1 with anyone from my side of the family. She has continued to deny any wrongdoing and does not take any accountability for the delays, lack of communication, and failure to have properly arranged for an informed substitute photographer resulting in a permanent absence of family photos that she knew we wanted. The promised package as discussed with her was also altered, for which she had only excuses.
While her engagement photos turned out very nice for us and we were very hopeful about our experience with Karina, WE DO NOT RECOMMEND HER! If you do choose to use her, please make sure to get a VERY DETAILED CONTRACT that outlines everything you are supposed to get, including timing of delivery of photos, and consider withholding part of the payment until delivery. My family, my husband and I are NOT happy and we would warn you to STAY AWAY!
My husband and I used Karina at K Bencomo Photography for our engagement photos and wedding photos. Working with her at the beginning for the engagement photos was easy and we loved the pictures we got. However, when it came time for wedding prep, timeline, coordination, and the actual event, things took a turn for the worse. We signed with Karina for her to personally be our photographer (it is her company) in August 2022 for our March 2023 wedding. We were told we would be getting a certain package (at wedding expo discount) which included all raw photos digitally, a sneak preview of edited photos 2 weeks after the wedding, and then edited photos (her packages indicated print photos) and we discussed an album be added to our package. We then found out, not from Karina but through an Instagram post, in January 2023 that she was expecting. We contacted her immediately to make sure that our March wedding was still going to be covered by her and were assured she herself was still going to do the shoot. Throughout the next few months, the only communication we could get from her was via text when I personally or my father (who signed the contract) would reach out to ask her questions about timeline, photo lists of the pictures we wanted to make sure we would get (including a full family photo of both the bride and grooms extended families all together and a staged exit photo as she suggested). We got our photos request list to her and had to explain how the timeline she wrote on her own needed revisions to accommodate some traditional Jewish wedding flows she was not aware of, and things seemed to be set for the big day.
Then on the afternoon before the wedding day, Karina informed us that she was put on bedrest for her pregnancy and she would be sending us ‘one of her best photographers that she would share the photo list and all wedding details with to be sure things ran smoothly. The photographer (independent contract, not part of her alleged ’team’) she sent was fine, but despite Karina’s assurances he was never given details nor the photo list we requested (confirmed), so many shots were missed including the full joint family photo, individual photos of me with my veil and bouquet, exit photos, and many more: we only got 17 of 42 photos that Karina had been informed we wanted. To top this all off, we never received the promised 2 week sneak preview, and when asked about our raw photos, Karina struggled to figure out a way to get them to us. Eventually she shared her Dropbox with us, but Dropbox has a limit of bandwidth and disables the link for 24+ hours each time you hit the limit. It took me over a month to get all the photos downloaded. In addition to ALL of that, we had to ask her for months about our edited photos. First she said she was working on editing since she was the photographer we hired and liked her vision, then it was members of her team were working on them and they were “coming soon” or ‘next week’, but nothing arrived. A period of non-response followed. Then we were told our contract did not include prints, only edited photos that would be available in a digital album and if we wanted a print album we could pay extra, but then she said because her maternity leave she would not be doing albums either and recommended we use a site like Shutterfly. After silence, responses of “the edited photos should be ready this week”, and continued delays without explanation, we finally got a link for 102 edited photos on a digital album in July after threatening legal action due to breach of contract. Of those 102 images, several of them are duplicates including 7 only slightly different pictures of myself and husband with our cake. Karina never bothered to ask us what images we wanted edited for our wedding album, but selected them herself (how would she know what we wanted?!). And since she wasn’t present at the event nor did she ask us before choosing which photos to include, she did not know who was who in photos and we have several edited photos of my husband’s side of the family, but only 1 with anyone from my side of the family. She has continued to deny any wrongdoing and does not take any accountability for the delays, lack of communication, and failure to have properly arranged for an informed substitute photographer resulting in a permanent absence of family photos that she knew we wanted. The promised package as discussed with her was also altered, for which she had only excuses.
While her engagement photos turned out very nice for us and we were very hopeful about our experience with Karina, WE DO NOT RECOMMEND HER! If you do choose to use her, please make sure to get a VERY DETAILED CONTRACT that outlines everything you are supposed to get, including timing of delivery of photos, and consider withholding part of the payment until delivery. My family, my husband and I are NOT happy and we would warn you to STAY AWAY!
K Bencomo Photography's reply:
We always aim to deliver a great experience, and we are gutted when we don’t meet expectations. Thanks for taking the time to bring this to our attention. We will use the feedback to make us better and to ensure this doesn’t happen again.
