THE Davao Event Suppliers Association (Desa) once again warns clients against event scammers in the city as June, known as the wedding month, approaches.
“Do not transact immediately with wedding organizers and wedding suppliers that you meet online,” Desa president Elinor Marcelino said, adding that clients should do thorough research when planning for a wedding.
These days, when almost everything can be found online and in different social media platforms, Marcelino said it is much easier to deceive other people by posting pictures and videos that seem legitimate.
“Anybody can make an ad on the internet. We say, do not rely on that. They should also do their own research. It would be best if they check the background of the one they’re transacting. They can also check with other suppliers, too. If for example, they want to hold their wedding reception in the hotel, they can ask the hotel who the reliable wedding suppliers that have organized a wedding reception there as well,” said Marcelino.
On average, yearly complaints on event scammers in the city have reached at least 20 cases.
On their part, Marcelino said they can only do so much as warning and giving tips to the clients as to how they can detect scammers. She further clarified that it would be difficult for Desa to go after these scammers as they are not members of the organization and do not have records there as well.
Marcelino cited an instance just during the last week of April when an American planned to get married with a Dabawenya and has already paid P600,000 but three days before the wedding, the organizer was nowhere to be found. There were no gowns and other necessary wedding stuff that the P600,000 should have covered. They were only able to have a pre-nuptial photoshoot but after that, the couple wasn’t able to get the best of what they paid for.
Marcelino said cases like this may affect the event organizing industry in the city especially that more meetings, conferences, and private events are being held here. If these illegal practitioners continue to deceive other people, Marcelino said they fear that this may stain the reputation of event organizing in the city in general.
Currently, Desa has 300 accredited members – all coming from and are catering to different wedding-related activities such as catering, photography and videography, venue dress-up, and a lot more. Even when event scamming is not a new thing anymore, Marcelino said it still continues in the city. For this, she said clients should be more cautious on their part.