What would you do about terrible DJ?

I was so shocked that he showed up looking that way! He quickly sets up, realizes he forgot some cord and runs back to get it. It was 4:15-4:20 by the time he started playing music. So our list of special music was completely cut and he also played the incorrect song for our parents walking.

Fast forward to reception time, my fiance and I arrive and I see the dj outside unloading his stuff....he had told us he would come set up the reception equipment prior to our ceremony. Didn't happen. So I walk over to him and say, "Hey dude, what's going on." He gives me some crap excuse about him being in the hospital a few days ago and he's not doing that great, etc. Huh? Then why didn't you call us and tell us to find a replacement. Or send someone else.

Anyway, he managed to put on his dress pants and a button up for the reception. There were several other things that went wrong that I wouldn't have cared about if he hadn't been so terrible with the ceremony. The two things that made me most upset at the reception were these:

We had taken the time putting together a list of must play songs, including guest requests that had been put on our RSVPs. Maybe half of these were played and none of the country requests were played, so all of our guests who only like country music didn't get to dance. Most shocking to me was that I was told that he and his two crew members were hitting up our open bar and getting a LOT of drinks on our tab. This is so incredibly unprofessional IMO.

Anyway, I wrote him a long email of all of the issues we had with him and requested a refund. He responded and said he would refund us $300 (we paid about $700) if we would sign a form that us, our guests and family would not leave a review. Is that not the slimiest thing?! Now I know why there was only one bad review. Do I just take the refund and be done with it? I can't help but feel angry that this may happen to other brides. It put a cloud over our day...I've gotten so many guest comments on how unprofessional he looked at the ceremony. Isn't it awesome that is what they will remember...ugh.

I'm sorry this happened to you. That is some shady crap trying to get you to sign a silence paper.

I am not sure if $700 is the going rate in your area but I would have been leery about that, we are paying $1500.0 for our DJ ( in NJ & he has great reviews and has been in business over 20 years). If I was you I would def put reviews all over everything of him so that this doesn't happen to another couple. I would demand more than $300.00 back also.

I am so sorry that happened to you. You should get at least 50% back IMO. Also, we on wedding wire aren't your family or friends. You could write something up and have one of us post it...

Where's OG Alecia, IIRC I think she's a lawyer - I question the legality or validity of any paper you sign saying you, your family or guests cannot leave poor reviews. You and FH are one thing, but there's no way you can control what guests do or say.

Good call, FutureFuji!

$700 is just under going rate around here. We were looking at another DJ who was $900 and I so wish we would have gone with him. I didn't want to shell out the extra $200 for what I thought was equivalent service. Hindsight is 20/20.

Fuji- I think they make sure that the person who posts the review had a contract with the vendor. So i dont think thatd work maybe on yelp.

Yikes. I'm so sorry you had this experience, though this sounds like a super unfortunate case of you get what you pay for.

If it were me, I would demand more of a refund (probably more like $500), state your reasons why in a factual manner, and let him know what date you expect to receive that by. If he will not comply, your options are to either take him to small claims (which will probably cost you more time and energy than it's worth), or accept your losses and DEFINITELY write a thorough, honest review.

Absolutely do not agree to the silence form for a measly $300...you are correct, that is slimy.

ETA: Fuji - it's super against WW rules to leave reviews on a vendor that you didn't have a contract with.

Our DJ was the most frustrating part of our night as well. He kept the music going, but played next to none of our requested songs and did not do a mix like we wanted. I wrote a bad review and moved on, but wish we would have shelled out more money for a better one.

Well this sucks all around. He sounds like the worst variety of slime.

Here are my thoughts.... I don't know where you live but 700.00 in my area is really not a pro price, especially with two locations for setup. And three crew members. IME, when a company is priced really, really well, there is a reason. Perhaps you found that out the hard way and that sucks but it bears mentioning.

Your DOC should have been more on top of this too; if you're supposed to have music at 3:30 and he isn't even there yet? He is 50 minutes late and she should have been calling from 10 minutes late.

No. You don't take the refund with a gag order. You tell him you expect a refund and you'll write an honest review that notes his willingness to 'make things right", which truly cannot be done, but at least he is trying.

I would also contact the places where he is reviewed and let them know that he is paying to suppress reviews (there are lawyers here; is that legal?)

If you paid with a credit card or Paypal, I'd be disputing the bejezus outta it.

I"m sorry this happened to you.

First of all, you should get reimbursed the money spent on the bar. That is so incredibly unprofessional and outside of the $700 you paid for his services.

Then, the fact that he is the sole reason your ceremony started late, to me, is enough for a full refund. In addition to the attire and the abuse of the open bar. I wouldn't take any less than a full refund plus around 200 for the bar.

I would tell him if I got that back - $900 - then I would consider signing not to put comments online. Key word is consider. The amount of websites that you can comment on and hurt his business is worth more than $900.

I agree with you that it is slimy to block you from leaving reviews but at the end of the day you should get the full refund and I wouldn't want the chance to warn others blow that up. You can always call the bridal show you hired him from and say your experience there and hope they won't invite him back. That wouldn't be a written review.

I would tell him the refund is for extremely poor service and unrelated to a review. A review is completely at your discretion. If he is a local vendor I would also tell him that without a refund I would make it my personal mission to contact every single venue within 50-100 miles and ask them to warn their brides about this man. I'd also go to the company that put on the bridal show . Did he actually put that in an email? In writing? Get your refund and warn the world. Don't take his crap. THATS BS!! Also how can you possibly be responsible for whether or not your guests do a review? I'd come out fighting against this POS.

Unacceptable behavior on his part.

You're better off forgoing the refund and leaving an accurate review on every forum that exists.

I'm terribly sorry this happened to you. Couple of things - $700 is not a Pro price - definitely amateur and further proven by a 1 hour arrival time. That was way too close. DH Is a pro DJ and he requires all of his DJs Emcee(s) to be onsite and setting up 2 hours before they are supposed to start. It's also in the contract.

If I were you and you paid with a credit card - I'd follow Celias advice and dispute the charge for a possible refund that way. In any event there is no way in hell I would sign a NDA. I would request a copy of it though "to review it". Then once I got it I would eat that $700 and rip him to shreds with reviews all over YELP, FB, WW, The Knot and anywhere else I could think of and include an image of that NDA as a reference to why there are probably no bad reviews for him. Businesses like his live/die off of referrals and reviews - it's a much better ROI than paying for advertising. Think about it - why do you think he's willing to give you a partial refund in return for your silence?

Thanks for the responses! I'm glad I posted this here. I agree, $300 is peanuts and I would rather warn others. I'm going to try to dispute and see what happens as well. I went for the lowest cost on DOC and photobooth and ended up with star vendors on those. I guess you can't win them all. The risk of trying to save $$!

@OGA - Good point on the price comment. A lot of factors go into determining a pro vs. amateur other than price. In this area $700, along with an arrival time of 30 minutes prior to the beginning of an event does not a pro make. It may definitely be different in other areas.

There is probably only one bad review because he refunded prior customers and told them they could not, like he is offering for you.

Absolutely do not sign that paper. Leave the reviews and dispute the charges with your bank or credit card company. I completely agree with Celia.

Umm can we hear more about the DOC who punched a guest and threw away the cake?!?

Everything OGAlecia said. We’re in a very expensive area and our DJ was $800 including uplighting. This was less than half of everyone else we looked at. He was amazing to work with, very professional, and did a wonderful job. Our photographers on the other hand were $4100 and we were very unhappy with our photos.