A DJ is sued on The Peoples Court
It happened again; a DJ is taken to the Peoples Court and gives all of us a big Black eye!
A young couple met with this one particular DJ and arranged to book him for their wedding that was only a few weeks away. The Bride had seen him perform at a bar where he was the DJ and really like his style and personality. This particular DJ did not have any kind of written contract (mistake #1) and only used a verbal commitment with the clients.
When he spoke with the couple they expressed to him the importance of not playing songs that had any bad language or sexual references because the groom’s family was very religious and they did not want this music played.
He was booked to come to the rehearsal two nights before the wedding to help with the planning and to get a plan of the room and help this couple handle the details. He failed to show up at the scheduled meeting. (Mistake #2)
The groom then contacted him by phone after he missed the meeting at which point the DJ told the groom that his DAY JOB is making him work and that he could not DJ the wedding. (Mistake #3)
He then informed the groom that his business partner (owner) of the company would take his place and he would do just as well as he would. It was the old “Bait & Switch” routine. (Mistake #4)
The new DJ did show up but was completely unprepared for the event. (Mistake #5) The new DJ did not have a schedule or any idea of what was to take place. He did not do any of the important special moment’s introductions but instead had the groom’s sister make all announcements, introductions and handled all the microphone work. (Mistake #6)
During the course of the event he did not have the songs that were being requested so he instantly went on line and “Down Loaded” the necessary songs. I would have to guess that this was done illegally through one of those “Free” download sites. The songs he downloaded were not edited and had the exact bad language that they had asked him not to play. (Mistake #7)
The Bridal couple was suing the DJ & his company for the entire cost that he charged. Guess how much this DJ was charging for the wedding……. $500.00
The judge wanted to reward them the entire amount because this DJ did the old “Bait & Switch” trick on this unknowing couple but said that she could and would reward them for half the amount. As she walked away the judge came back and made an announcement.
She clarified that the $250 was to come from the DJ who originally agreed to perform the wedding and not the business or the other DJ who did take his place at the wedding. They paid him with a check written out to his name and not the "Company". She wanted to punish him for his pour business handlings and trying to cheat this couple.
When the case was done they interviewed the DJ and his flunky partner who did show up and you could tell that this “business partner” was not trained or skilled at all. He referred to items that are done at every wedding in an incorrect manner calling them the wrong things. It was almost like it was his first time ever doing this.
Needless to say, it is unfortunate, that this couple got exactly what they paid for…a $250 really bad DJ.