Scorned New Yorkers Say Scammer Photographer Stiffed Them On Wedding, Sweet 16 Memories
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some New Yorkers say they paid up front to have the most special moments of their lives recorded, including weddings and sweet 16s. Instead of happy memories, they claim the photographer left them high and dry.
Bibi Mangroo of Richmond Hill, Queens says her daughter's Sweet 16 party was supposed to be the the most special moment of her young life. She says she hired Guy Paray to photography the event in August 2016.
Mangroo paid Paray $1,500 in cash, but says she still hasn't gotten her finished photo album and video CD.
"Years go by and I still haven't gotten anything from him," she said.
On his personal Facebook page, Paray presents himself as a "wedding photographer who loves what he does." The page for his company, NYphotovideo, encourages people to "call now."
Two years after she hired him, Mangroo says she's only received proof of her photos on the internet which she can't even see anymore because he took the site down. An unfinished version of the party's video is also on the internet, with no final CD of her own.
"There was no office," Mangroo recalls. "It was his brother's office that they own a business there."
Mangroo says she took Paray to small claims court as a last resort, but he didn't even show up. As it turns out, she's not the only person who says they've been taken by Paray. Sangeeta Bhoj, of Kew Gardens, says she hired Paray to photograph and videotape her wedding two years ago. She paid him $3,200 but is still waiting for her album and never received a finished video of her wedding on CD.
"It's like you're ripped off, basically," Bhoj said.
CBS2 found five other similar negative posts on NYphotovideo's Facebook page, with comments like "the worst experience of our lives" and "horrible person... never again." Multiple calls to Paray to speak with him about the complaints against him were not returned, and no one answered the door at an address where his angry customers say he lives.
The New York City Better Business Bureau tells CBS2 Paray's business has four complaints filed against it in the last 12 months, essentially for failing to deliver services promised. The complaints have resulted in the company earning an "F" rating from the BBB.