Camille Waring/Kitty L'Wren review: Photographer not turn up for Wedding 46

WARNING! DO NOT USE CAMILLE WARING AS A PHOTOGRAPHER
We got married in June 2009 and have not had the service that Camille promised to deliver. We were one of the lucky ones as she actually turned up to our wedding however has been virtually uncontactable and in Dec 09 it was the last time we heard from her. We wrote an official letter of complaint to Camille and hand delivered it on 27/03/10 to the address she had given us – Studio 526, 28 Old Brompton Road, south Kensington SW7 3SS. This is in fact a private mail box company whereby ‘studio 526’ is in fact a hired mailbox / courier service. It has been over a year since our wedding and we have only received the memory stick with the photos on. We have not received our 2 wedding albums which we paid for, online album, 150 prints, airbrushing on selected prints or the 2 boxed frames that she had promised us when we initially complained. We have not heard from Camille since 6th December when she acknowledged she had received the memory stick with our selected photos for the albums and boxed frames and selected prints. Prior to this it has been very difficult to get hold of Camille as she changed her number shortly after we got back form our honeymoon and despite requests for a replacement contact number, Camille has never given us one. From July to Dec 09, it has been a constant struggle to liaise, receive the memory stick, post the memory stick with selected photos and the online album has never worked. Camille moved addresses without notifying me which resulted in me sending the original stick with selected photos to the wrong address.

The contact number that is on the Society of International Travel & Tourism website; [protected] was not hers - we were told is not her number when my husband called on Saturday 27th March 10. A gentleman answered saying he has never heard of Camille and that he has had numerous phone calls from people expressing unhappiness about Camille as she “has not delivered”.

We sent a copy of all correspondence to SWPP were she was registered and they eventually got hold of her where she promised she will be back in the country soon. We never heard from her. We were advised by them to go to trading standards which i have done and in responce from claire C who also posted her experience her i will be taking it further as a criminal matter. There are others brides out there who have been in the same boat and experienced this from Camille.

amandabonds@hotmail.co.uk

My daughter was a victim of this heartless, ruthless woman who failed to turn up to photograph her wedding after taking her
money in full then disappearing to Australia . Now more and more people are emerging who have been cheated out of their money and had their wedding day ruined. How could one female do this to another? She must now be stopped from ever doing this again. Everybody who has been affected in this way by Camille Waring should go to the police and if necessary take separate legal advice. She seems to be going about her business in Melbourne without a care in the world and certainly without a conscience, which is morally and professionally wrong and can't be allowed to continue.

CAMILLE WARING - WARNING!

My husband and I have also fallen foul of Camille Waring.

We employed Camille in Jan 2009 for our Wedding day in August 2009 and paid in full up front for her full day service, proof photos on a memory stick and expected to receive 100 prints in a french linen album plus a boxed framed print. Camille did attend our Wedding and we even paid for her to have a lunch, she was very proferssional and lovely to all of our guests. We did receive the memory stick but have never received the album or framed print, none of our guests can believe that she has done this to us.

We were in contact with Camille to chase our album, via email as no phone numbers provided were ever answered by her, up until Dec 2009 and were promised that although there was a delay due to ill health that we would receive our goods as paid for. We sent recorded delivered letters to her studio address in South Kensington but unfortunately they were only signed by a mailroom and we have since found out that it was literally a PO Box and not a studio at all.

We wrote to all of the photography societies that were listed on the photosbycamille webpage but only heard back from SWPP who advised that they had been trying to contact her and as unsucceeded that she would be removed from their listings. We also wrote to the Wedding magazine where we had seen her advertised through and they managed to make contact with her via email and she basically advised that it was nothing to do with them and that she would be in contact with us. We have heard nothing!

We urge everyone who is considering using Camille to really listen to these warnings, this has marred our memories and we still have no album printed as we just cannot afford the extra costs and to be honest why should we have to pay someone else when Camille has already been paid for this service.

Following on from the above reports we have also reported Camille to the police and urge other couples that this has happened to to do the same as she is now under investigation.

Here is a link to Kitty L'Wren's comments to the above on her recent blog: http://kittylwrensblog.wordpress.com/

Her comments have left me speechless, partly from anger, partly from disbelief.

Disregarding the fact that it is littered with poor grammar and spelling mistakes, I see she is going to address various allegations being made against her. I shall be very interested to hear her explanation as to: a) Why she simply failed to turn up to photo my daughter's wedding on 17th July, with no explanation, having taken a payment in full, thereby being in breach of contract, b) Why she has failed to respond to any emails since, c) Why she has not refunded the money she took from my daughter.

We, and the British police, will be interested to hear her explanation.'

Another blog from Kitty L'Wren: http://kittylwrensblog.wordpress.com/

Again, bad grammar, bad spelling. She continues to ramble on about re-branding but this is merely a smokescreen to cover up the more serious issues: i.e: She took money off people to photograph their weddings and did not turn up on the day. There has been no explanation and no apology and she refuses to communicate to explain herself or to refund their money. Simple as that. It's completely indefensible and no amount of waffle on her part can alter that. Is this a criminal offence? Well, you can make your own minds up on that. I can assure her though that the matter is in the hands of the British police.

If, by referring to brides whose wedding day she has ruined as 'bridezillas' she thinks she is going to earn public sympathy and professional respect then she is achieving exactly the opposite. And if she thinks we who are compaining are engaging in character assassination then she's doing a perfectly good job of that herself without our help. Her behaviour is shameful and her lack of conscience defies belief.

I am, by the way, happy to give her my full name and address as she will no doubt need this to send the money she owes.

This is what Camille Waring looks like Oooh La La...

For you brides who weren't fortunate enough to meet her after paying in full for your wedding and those who are yet to become her next victims.

Watch out - BEWARE / EVITER!

Kitty L'Wren is no ledgend and is not going to become one either - she is a figment of opportunist Camille Waring's overactive imagination and who wouldn't know photographic art if it slapped her round her demented head with a french baguette - sil vous plait.

Bravo, 'Camille strikes again'! Your comments sum the woman up perfectly. She is a fantasist who know her reputation and her professional credibility are crumbling all around her. Her pathetic attempts on her 'Oooh La La' blogs to show her as a sophisticated international artist are a joke, and her despicable mockery of the brides she has cheated show the kind of person she is. She is a desperate woman, blindly lashing out at her innocent victims. It would all be laughable were the consequences of what she has done not been so serious.

A final message to Camille/Kitty... The arm of the law is long and you must realise that, sooner or later, it will come knocking on your door. I hope it will be sooner.

What a wonderful language, the French language - it can bring to life those things that are otherwise shallow, tedious, or boring. Take the following sentences for example:

Vous parlez de la merde! or

Vous ne sauriez pas l'art s'il vous a giflé dans le visage! or

Vous êtes un arnaqueur invertébré! or

Vous pouvez courir mais vous ne pouvez pas cacher! or

Bientôt vous serez pris et serez puni pour vos crimes!

Mugshot, last picture on the top row, the woman's head:
http://www.123people.co.uk/s/camille+waring

Yes we were all aware you had another wedding scheduled this weekend Camille/Kitty and we all guessed that you would HAVE to turn up for it because you are fighting for your professional life and desperately need a positive endorsement from someone. Did you earn enough from it to pay back any money to the brides who've been fleeced? Sorry, you're not fooling anyone in your blog (a blog incidentally that only seems to be read by the people who have a grievance against you, I don't think anyone else looks at it).

The case against you is moving on in leaps and bounds and is gathering momentum with every new victim that comes forward.

What's another word for a rogue wedding photographer? How about ' Camillezilla'? Ooh la la!

I too have also fallen foul of Camille Waring/Kitty/Frederick or whatever other name she goes by! She came to our home in June 2009, and as she came across as being a nice person and appeared to know what she was talking about, we booked her, paying the full amount upfront due to receiving £100 off if we did. Moving on 1 year to June this year she emailed me about meeting up. I suggested July 10th which she replied was fine. A week before she emailed saying could we change it because she had agreed to do a wedding that day. I emailed with some new dates asking which was best for her to which 2 weeks went by and i had no reply. I emailed again and still no reply. Our wedding was August 7th so naturally as it was only 3 weeks away we started to panic.
I then phoned a mobile number i had on a flyer she had given me and left a message to call me. A lady then called me back saying she was not Camille and she had received loads of phone calls from other brides asking where their photos were 6 months AFTER their wedding! Also numerous amounts of calls from debt companies chasing her for money. I then emailed Camille and explained what i had heard, that we hadn't heard from her and her website had vanished and we wanted a refund. Laughably she replied the same day! Wanting to know how i knew all this and that she had every intention of photogaphing our wedding and she would be happy to refund.
Needless to say we received no refund. I then wrote a warning on a website that i found where people were chatting about booking her. She then emailed me threatening me wih her a lawyer. I replied great could i have her lawyers phone number...again no reply!
The worst is yet to come...my now husband has his own business, she googled his name and sent him a threatening email. It said "is it true your a scam artist, how would you like some bad publicity...im going to ruin your sh***tty little business. It was sent from "Frederick Beeson" i googled Kitty L'Wren again and come across a wedding website with a comment saying how wonderful Kitty and her photos were and how amaing she was...this comment was posted by "Frederick Beeson" not so clever after all! I have collated all the emails and am in talks with the police who are liasing with other police across the country as more and more of us come forward. Jo Spencer- jojoannahammett@yahoo.co.uk (nothing anonaymous about that!)

It seems that Camille has now prevented anyone from leaving a comment on her blog - well done Camille!

As some of us have discovered, as Camille is probably a pathological liar its hard to know whether she can actually speak any French at all but I thought I'd pop these small paragraphs for her to have a little try at translating purely from an educational point of view and of course ‘Any resemblance to actual persons — living or dead — is purely coincidental’.

Camille est un sociopath ! Elle a volé de l'argent des gens, elle ne montre pas se faire son travail sur les jours des noces des gens et elle ne soigne pas. Fait non seulement elle ne soigne pas mais elle appelle en fait ces gens ces noms horribles comme s'ils sont en fait l'une qui est fautif. Elle refuse de répondre des appels téléphoniques ou la réponse aux e-mails. Les mariées ont été parties avec aucune option autrement que poster leurs expériences en ligne. Les réponses de blog de Camille dégoûtent et contraire au code professionnel dans l'extrémité. Ce qu'un fichu cas d'écrou !

Le banquier d'investissement elle parle de sur son blog, dit que le vagin de Camille sale sent comme le poisson et qu'il ne voudrait pas le toucher encore s'il a été payé beaucoup d'argent ! Son juriste conseil français dit le même !

On the off chance that you cannot speak French, I will attempt to translate the sentences on the previous thread for you:

1. You talk [censored]! or
2. You wouldn't know art if it slapped you round the face! or
3. You are a spineless thief! or
4. You can run but you can't hide! or
5. Soon you will be stopped and punished for your crimes!

Refering to women as Bridezillas because they paid you to do a job that you didn't turn up to do or didn't do properly says EVERYTHING about you!

Thankfully these threads have been started because if they hadn't then Sam & Chris might not have been so lucky either!?

Well done for coming forward and posting your experiences Jo; I have to say, I am simply horrified by what I've just read and by the personal distress caused to you & your husband (and to many other brides, including my daughter). I cannot even contemplate what sort of mind could do this. I thought at first we were dealing with someone heartless and dishonest ( no names mentioned of course, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental, etc) but this sort of behaviour is bordering on psychopathic. It really sends a shiver down the spine. At least, in common with many others, you've reported it to the police thank goodness. Another nail in the coffin, we hope...

And, 'Camille strikes again', I think you're absolutely right, our infamous blogster wouldn't have a clue as to how to translate French grammar - apart from 'Ooh la la', 'merde' and 'mon amour' (as in 'my lawyer').

I really didn't think people like this existed except in fiction. I am truly shocked.

" Just because you have a traditional wedding, does not mean that you can’t be a Kitty L’Wren couple. Chris and Sam epitomise that ‘life is too important to be taken seriously’ attitude that all Kitty L’Wren couples have in common.

They married on a Saturday without all the tears and tantrums that come with a lot of traditional brides. I was insanely jealous as Sam looked like a statuesque goddess! "

Don't think this couple would have epitomised 'life is too important to be taken seriously' if you hadn't turned up to their wedding! They are one of the lucky ones (depending on what way you look at that).

The only brides (and grooms) that have tears and tantrums are the ones that have paid in advance for a photographer who doesn't turn up on the day! Then blames the couple for her not turning up - messed up in the head this one!

I echo your comments entirely 'camille strikes again'. And as for this 'life is too important...' philosophy. Does this mean it's ok for her to fail to turn up for weddings she's been paid to photograph, and that the distraught brides should simply smile and say, 'Oh, life's too important to be taken seriously.' Is this her justification? Is she for real?

Weirdly, the blog you refer to now seems to have been removed (although it's still cached). Do you thinks it's because she realises her remarks are inflammatory? No, perhaps not - that would take a rational mind. It must be because of that awful picture of the bride and groom on the crossing. The groom looks awkward and embarrassed and the bride looks... well, let's just say it doesn't flatter her.

And as for her being worried about inflammatory remarks (not that she is), well, it's too late anyway. The damage has already been done in her previous blogs where she lays into the brides who were impertinent enough to be upset because she wrecked their special day. I wonder what the Judge will think when he reads that? As the saying goes - 'Give 'em enough rope and they'll hang themselves...'

I am sorry to hear of everyones horrendous encounters with Cammile Waring and all the terrible stories on the complaints board . My husband and I also been subject to her lack of integrity and blatent misconduct.

I was sent the link to your complaints board re Camille Waring by my wedding photographer who stepped in at the last minute after Camillie let us down two days before our wedding. Camille referred to us to our new photographer who was apparently a colleague of Camille (weve now learnt theyd met a couple of times). She agreed to take on the job and Camille said she would transfer our full fee. She had been fully paid and we are still struggling four months on to get our photos released as our new photographer has not been paid by Camille. She has now up and left and seems to be in Aus but we also believe she is working on occasions in Europe. We have sent some emails and shook her up a bit mentioning bad publicity. She actually sent some emails and a little money to our photographer but nothing near the total fee. It has been stressful and frustrating. What annoys us most is her lack of a conscience and her arrogance that she has done nothing wrong. However, we now realise that there are many people who are a lot worse off than we are.Oour photographer has contacted magazines she advertises in, the local police and the Australian police.

To be honest we dont have much expectation of getting our money and the longer it goes on and the more people we find out that she has ripped off the less likely we all are to get any money back. I think our main concern is that she cannot do this to other people and I agree maybe we need to conspire together to make sure she is not allowed to be a professional photographer anymore and ruin peoples big days. It makes me feel ill to read what she has done to people I cannot believe anyone would not even notify a couple that they will not photograph their wedding at least so they can organise another photographer - whether she returned the money or not - at least people could have photos. I think she is an utter disgrace and we have told her so.

We have been to the local police who referred us to trading standards who referred us to consumer direct (who are partners with trading standards). NO one seems to think there is much we can do on our own but if everyone contacts consumer direct and logs the complaint trading standards will build up a profile of Camille or whatever her name is and possibly then pursue criminal law instaed of us trying civil law individually - if they decide she has acted criminally they will pursue her. Think it needs a whole approach here.

So here are the details of consumer direct and our case reference number
phone number: [protected]
reference number: EE3202342

If you need any more info or want to discuss following this up please let me know
many thanks Hannah and Nigel Coasby Smart
hannah@coasby.com

Hi Hannah. Sorry to hear of your experience, I cannot believe how many people she has done this to. You're right, there's little hope of any of anybody getting their money back and the main things now are: 1) To get her arrested. The police are actually pursuing my daughter's experience as a criminal case. 2) In instances where the police are unwilling to act then everyone should go to Trading Standards, which I think most have done anyway. She has got to be stopped from ever doing this to any other brides and I suspect that the rash of complaints now appearing when you google Camille Waring/Kitty L'Wren will cause her eventual collapse anyway. Everyone who's been wronged *must* pursue this.

My name is Sarah Greenwood, I am a professional (wedding & commercial) photographer who has also fallen foul of Camille Waring/Kitty L’Wren/Frederick Bresson...

I first met Camille through the SWPP (Society of Wedding & Portrait photographers) towards the end of 2009. We chatted on the SWPP forum, via email and on Facebook before finally meeting in November 2009 in Trafalgar Square to photograph a ‘proposal of marriage’ in front of the Xmas tree. I then met Camille again on 12th December where I 2nd shooted a wedding in London with her. This was mutually beneficial as I wanted to expand my portfolio – having mainly been a commercial photographer since 2005 and it also meant that the Bride & Groom had extra coverage of their day.

Camille told me that she had been living in a youth hostel and was due to fly out of Heathrow the day after the wedding on 13th December to Melbourne, Australia where she would be for 8 weeks.

By coincidence, I was also travelling to Australia and NZ on the 19th Dec but returning back to the UK one week earlier than Camille had intended (or so she says) We continued to keep in touch, we shared personal stories and I had no reason to suspect that she was anything other than honest at this stage.

25th Jan, had an email from Camille “... I will be back in March but not sure how long for so I might be handing you some weddings... Ive been in school now for 2 weeks and get the grant at the end of march.”

27th/28th March – met with the couple that Camille had asked me to photograph in her potential absence for a May wedding. She had told me she was still waiting for the grant payment. Was also told by Camille that she would pay me the full amount that the couple had already paid her – she said it was £500. It turns out they paid her £600.

Tue 30th March, had details of the April 10th wedding forwarded to me as requested, Camille said she would pay me the full amount for this wedding that she had been paid –again she told me it was £500. I asked Camille on a few occasions whether she had spoken to the couple to let them know that I would be their photographer and not her – she told them 2 days before their wedding.

In both cases i made it clear to both Camille and the couples whose weddings I would be photographing that I do not release images until I have been paid in full. This was agreed by all but unfortunately I am still waiting for nearly £800 payment from Camille. In both cases I also took an assistant whom I paid in full on the day of each wedding for their time out of my own pocket.

8th April. Email from Camille saying that she gets her first grant payment on 29th April and that she will pay my in full plus the assistant costs, plus petrol expenses etc.

15th April. Email from Camille saying she thought she would be back in the UK by now but she won’t be coming back for the May 8th wedding so can I do it?

Camille did offer me other weddings but when I said I want payment up front, unsurprisingly there weren’t any.

11th May. Camille made a payment of £100 via paypal to me towards the (nearly) £1200 she owes me.
25th May. Camille made a payment of £100 via paypal towards the money she owes me.
7th July. Camille made a payment of £100 via paypal towards the money she owes me.

This was the last payment I ever got and she has since sent me two emails stating that a power of attorney will be getting in touch as she is registering as bankrupt with the insolvency agency in the UK.

Throughout July, Camille had heated email exchanges with both couples. They both want their images and when I was going to be paid. Camille got quite nasty and fails to see what she has done wrong. She also stops replying to my emails.

26th July. After all this I started wondering whether the couple whose wedding I shot with Camille in December 2009 had ever received their photos so I emailed them to ask. An email from them on 27th July confirmed that they hadn’t had any of them so I agreed to send them a copy of all the ones I had taken so they at least had some!
So this is where we were at: I have photographs for two weddings totalling around 700 images per wedding. I can’t release the images until Camille has paid me the money that the couples paid her for their wedding photography but Camille isn’t going to pay me. Neither couple took out wedding insurance so are unable to stump up the cost of paying me out of their own pocket (and neither should they have to anyway).
Horrible catch 22.

This is where we are at this week: I now have my own agreement with both couples and I will be releasing their images this week. It couldn’t go on any longer, I wanted to release the images and both couples wanted them! I cannot imagine how upsetting it must be for any wedding couple to be put in this situation. I have been copied in to all email discussion between Camille and both couples and the lies are beyond belief. I don’t think that she realised that we actually communicated with each other as she would tell me one lie then tell them something else and I think she probably forgot who she said what to and that’s when she started getting nasty and ended communication.

The wedding industry isn’t currently regulated which is great in some ways for those of us who are honest as it means we don’t have to pay ridiculous fees to a government agency to spend on having new logos designed every ten minutes. However, it is a shame that there isn’t some way of tightening up on fraudsters like this particularly given the importance of a wedding not to mention the emotional and financial investments involved.

In some ways, my experience has positives, I got to meet some wonderful people, photograph two gorgeous weddings in April & May, both couples have said that they prefer my style of photography to Camille’s and I have written it off as a bad debt/bad experience. I still continue to work with other photographers in much the same way as I once worked with Camille and that’s with openness and trust – sadly qualities that I think Camille may be lacking – but I won’t let it put me off working with other photographers.

I only wish that I knew about the other couples whom Camille didn’t turn up for and wished that I could have photographed their days for them but all I can do is offer my support to try and prevent her from doing this to anyone else again in whatever way I can! I have contacted my local police station and have a ref no: CHS6151 10th Aug 2010.

I’d also like to offer any couple (who had their wedding day spoiled by Camille not turning up), a heavily discounted rate to have some beautiful romantic shots of the ‘Bride & Groom’ or invite as many of your original guests as possible or maybe just the bridal party for some portraits and extra fun shots?! Why not get that dress on again, get glammed up, have a mini wedding day all over again... I know its not the same and I can’t make up for what you lost but you’ll definitely have something to talk about when you look over your pics in years to come. You never know, there might be a generous venue owner or publican out there somewhere that will let you use their facilities free of charge for a short time especially after they read the complaints board website? Please contact me for details.

Yours sincerely
Sarah Greenwood
www.sarahgreenwood.co.uk

Anyone reading the above posts should now be wary of this woman. I've attached a photo of her to aid identification.

Here's our story:

She will almost certainly have changed her name again by now, so please be aware. She is aged about 34, 5’9” tall, slim build and speaks with an Australian accent. When we met her she had long dark brown curly hair, which she often wears tied back. She also uses Nikon camera equipment and has a fascination with burlesque and French/Paris styles – this may help to identify her if you come across her.

She was chosen and contracted to take my daughter’s wedding photographs, here in the UK last April. We gave her an initial deposit with the full balance being paid 3 months before the wedding. We have since found out that other customers were offered a 10% discount if the full fee is paid straight away.

One month before the event she contacted another photographer and sub-contracted the job to them, although technically we still had a contract with Camille Waring. We were only informed of this change a few days before the actual wedding, but fortunately the alternative photographer turned up on time and did a great job. They had been told that the fee that we had originally paid to Camille Waring would be forwarded to them to cover their services, but this never happened. Camille Waring lied to the new photographer and told them the amount we had paid her was less than the actual figure. But only a small amount of this lower amount has ever been paid to the new photographer, with the result that they are reluctant to supply the high-resolution images of the wedding to us until they have been fully paid. Our option now is to have to pay twice in order to obtain our treasured memories of the wedding day.

From our own investigations it appears this is a stunt Camille Waring has pulled numerous times. Worse still, it appears on some occasions, apart from not turning up herself to take the wedding photographs, she even failed to provide a stand-in photographer or notify the bride and groom. One can only imagine the distress and heartache this must have caused to the couples getting married. Not only did they lose their money, but ended up without any professional images of their wedding day. Camille Waring started posting comments on her blog calling these Brides, ‘Bridezillas’ – all because they got upset and were warning others on a complaints board at having lost money and had no photographer on their wedding day which they had paid for in advance – as if somehow they were the ones to blame!

Soon after our own experience Camille Waring flew to Australia where it would appear she was still attempting to lure potential victims, not only here in the UK, but also in Australia, France and Ireland. She then flew back again to the UK where she advertised her wedding services on Gumtree in the UK & Ireland. She also claimed to be filing for bankruptcy with the Insolvency Agency in the UK, using the email address for her (currently defunct) website: photographsbycamille.co.uk to both ourselves and our new photographer.

Her credentials and web links all looked very credible at the time and she is (or at least was) listed on Redbubble, SWPP, BPPA, SITTP, Facebook, Wedding Ideas Magazine, Confetti Wedding Forum, Linkedin, Melbourne Wedding & Bride, London.Craigslist, Qype, Off Beat Brides and no doubt others. Her contract claimed she was covered by insurance if she is not able to do the wedding – but we have had no information on this or received any refund.

We have contacted the UK police but as an individual case we can only approach it through civil law. This means the small claims court – which we have to pay for. However, without knowing which country she is currently in (and whether indeed Camille Waring is her real name) it’s not likely to come to anything. We have also contacted Consumer Direct, and Trading Standards – other victims have contacted Watch Dog

It appears she may be currently in the UK (August 2010) so we are attempting to establish her whereabouts.

Our new photographer also contacted the UK police but they didn’t consider the circumstances a crime so they won't be taking any further action but have linked that complaint to the numerous others by couples whose circumstances are considered criminal cases. Trading Standards are building a profile on her and are looking for any other people who have suffered under her misconduct. They can then build a case on her and pursue criminal law under the enterprise act for consistent pieces of civil legislation (those are the proper terms which means she has had several cases that are civil law misconducts and breeches of contract).

As an individual case she can appear to look like a poor photographer who cannot afford to pay her fee back – its only when you start looking at the whole picture do you see how manipulative she has been and how she is conning people left right and centre!

We know of at least 10 other couples that have been conned by her and feel sure there must be others we have yet to hear about. She is a master of making excuses and run-arounds; is very manipulative; and is obviously very used to tricking people.

Be warned!

David Coasby

to all,
You are right David, before Claire posted this on the complaints board I thought I was the only one it had happened to and even felt sorry for this poor excuse for a woman as she made it appear as if she had got in over her head and that she was struggling to keep her business going. Very clever of her - but her luck is running out and I do believe that what goes around comes around. I am just shocked that another woman can do this to a bride on her wedding day - not once but to brides over and over again (she must be frustrated and not able to fnd a groom or bride! of her own). It has been clear since finding out about the other victims that she is very callous and all of this has been pre-meditated on her part. She never had any intention to showing up to the weddings - I know that me and my husband were 'graced with her presence' unlike most brides and grooms but after the frustration and upset and huge difficulty in trying to get our photos from her, when i look at our wedding pictures now I feel anger for this fraudster and it has tainted what was a perfect day. We got married in June 2009 and only now have i managed to get my albums made by another photogropher.
I too have gone to trading standards - we could not take it forward as a criminal matter like other couples have been able to as she delivered half the 'goods'.
I have reported her to watchdog - if ALL her victims report her they are more likely to take the case on and investigate and i urge everyone to report her to trading standards and of course the police if a criminal matter.
I reported her to Gum tree and they were very good and blocked her add - and they offered to help police or trading standards with their enquiries -(fax number: [protected] or email: lawenforcement@gumtree.com).
Re; her bloggs - no one bloody reads them apart from her and her victims - and we only do for sheer amusement for her ramblings and nonsense. I am sure all what is on the internet is set up by her as how can someone with such a great reputation be such a fraudster and have so many victims?

Just to let everyone know, I have just sent a full report of this woman's activities to the Australian Police Federation.

Amongst other things, I have also provided links to her blog page in which she mocks the brides she has defrauded. I had also previously taken prints of all her blogs just in case she decided to hurriedly remove them.

Tony

Absolutely stunned at how many people have been caught out by this woman ! Like many of you, I thought that I was the only one initially, or perhaps there was one or two unlucky people and that she had simply let things get out of hand and actually felt a bit sorry for her. Cant believe that she seems to have no remorse for absolutely ruining peoples days.

Luckily for me, I had begun chasing her about 5 or 6 weeks before our wedding which was at the end of July.After 2 weeks with no response to emails and after calling the non-existent number, I finally bit the bullet and booked another photographer with the intent of claiming on our wedding insurance for camille regardless if she turned up or not (I was pretty sure she wouldn't). Luckily my new photographer was fabulous and took great shots. I actually received her "bankruptcy" email when I was opn honeymoon, and I just had to laugh ! I was actually surprised that there was no real online reference to her dissapearing when I first started looking for some more evidence. Obviously this new thread has just started to gather steam and hopefully now that it is here, then we can help prevent this woman ruining any other couples special day.

Father of the bride - you say that approached your local police. Could you let me know what force and any reference number that you have been given. I'm actually a serving police officer in London, so if there is a case going on at the moment, I'd be more than happy to add some more info to it. The hard part is trying to prove a criminal offence; there may be grounds to investigate her for fraud as I dont think she had any intention of completing the work; and thats what needs to be proven. Its a troublesome thing to actually prove, but an initial allegation should be enough to get her arrested in the first place and then questioned. If nothing else, Id quite enjoy seeing her banged up overnight.

Hi London Groom, good to hear from you and to have somebody else on board with us all in bringing this woman to justice.

Yes, we did report it to the police and they are pursuing it as a case of Fraud by False Representation. I am more than happy to give you the police force, case reference number and the name of the officer dealing with it, but am reluctant to do so on an open forum. If you wouldn't mind emailing my daughter Clare who started off the original thread then she'll be pleased to supply this information.

Her email (as shown in earlier threads) is: clare27c@hotmail.co.uk

I'd love to see this woman banged up too but for much, much longer than overnight. No gaol sentence could be long enough for what she did to my daughter and to the other couples out there to whom she's caused such distress. That'll stop her laughing at her victims on her blogs.

Hi London Groom

I am sorry to hear of your experience but thankfully you were able to book someone else to do the job Camille was already paid to do and have gorgeous images of your day by a professional!

I'd like to bet that Camille hadn't banked on conning a Metropolitan Police officer!

My case isn't considered a criminal case because even though I am down by £800 (was nearly £1200 but she paid some), the fact that I didn't give her money means that nothing can be done - I'd have to go through small claims court which would cost me more in time and expenses than I am ever likely to receive anyway. However...I still have a ref no. given from the Met Police which is: CHS6151 10.08.10. I told them about the other cases so they said they would link it to the names Camille Waring and Kitty L'Wren.

Father-of-the-bride - I too would like to see her behind bars for somewhat longer than a night but she is obviously a very shrewd and knowledgeable criminal who no doubt knows how far she can push things before anything can really be done to stop her.

Kind Regards
Sarah

Hi Sarah

Thanks for providing your case reference to London Groom, hopefully it can be co-ordinated with my daughter's to give the case against her more momentum and a greater degree of gravity.

I agree with you that this woman has a criminal's cunning but she's not as clever as she thinks she is, and I believe she has already pushed things too far. Who knows how many times she's done this in the past and got away with it, and from her blogs it's obvious she was starting to get cocky thinking she was untouchable but she reckoned without the coordinated backlash that is happening now. The evidence against her is gathering momentum daily as more people come forward, and any would-be wedding couples that google her name(s) now would never use her as their photographer in a million years.

She can't keep rebranding herself and she can't keep running. I really am confident that she will be caught and, when all these cases are added together, the weight of evidence and seriousness of her crimes will be sufficient to put her where she belongs.

Has anyone seen Camille's latest trashy blog post? Were our weddings not good enough for you Camille, do you only bother to show up if you think you can get something more out of it than money?

For any of you that would like to use it my claim number with my local police in Worthing is 556/1508.Unfortunatly mine also can only be seen as a civil case and not a crime...even though she never gave us our money back and threatened my husband by email! But hopefully the more of us that come forward the more they may persue her.

Good news! I have received a phone call from my local police today and they are now treating my claim as a criminal matter.

that's great news Jo! that's progress!

hi father of the bride - was so pleased to hear you have also reported it to the austrailian police - i wonder how many innocent victims have fallen foul of her there...?

I should immagine she is seriously starting to panick - especially conning a police officer!

Hello everyone,

Little update from Australia that you may find interesting. We've just been scammed by this particular and illiterate individual. We paid $175 deposit (bank transfer) and a further $175 three days ago.

Today I get a letter by registered post, apparently from 22 Sandfield Drive, Carrum Downs, Melbourne 3201, stating the following:

"Dear Mark

I have made a foolish error and doubled (sic) booked the date of your wedding, so regrettably I need to cancel. I am aware the impact this will have on your event, so please find enclosed a cheque to the value of $200 [enclosed, and dated 5/10/10, drawn on an Australian bank]

I have lodged a claim with My (sic) insurance company to refund you the total cost of the contract, I am anticipating a response from them within 21 working days

Regards

Camille Waring
22 Sandfield Drive
Carrum Downs
3201"

We shall see if the cheque bounces - I banked it this morning. A little odd that she should refund some of the money, and assuming the date on the cheque is genuine, she did so before I paid the remaining $175. But who knows.

For background, we are in Perth, Western Australia. We're getting married in two weeks' time so I suppose I should be grateful that she admitted that she couldn't come (or find someone else to do it) before the actual event. I certainly feel foolish now!

Mark

Hi Mark, sorry to hear you've also had your day blighted by The Illiterate One. Thanks for posting your experience on the forum and for providing an address in Oz, this could prove very useful. Do please let us know whether or not you get your money back and I hope you're able to find an alternative photographer that you can trust in the meantime. All best wishes to you both for the wedding day!

I note from another website that our friend Camille Waring/Kitty L'Wren is still at it. Here is the link, as recent as late 2012: http://www.weddingsuncovered.co.uk/reviewview.asp?CategoryID=6&CompanyID=441

Back in May 2011 she was taken to the police station for questioning, however, she somehow managed to convince the police that she was having some kind of personal issues. Clearly she was having issues as she is a nasty and vile human being. The police fell for her act and let her go without charging her as Camille whatever her name is promised she would not con people any more. Yet, as you can see from the above link she has been at it as recently as November 2012! APPALLING and DISGUSTING. Just how many more has she continued to rip of. Not only stealing money but also ruining what is supposed to be the happiest day of our lives.

Apparently she is now not only doing wedding photography but also children photography! How can this be?

If anyone is still trying to take legal action against her here is her latest address. Please note, it is a couple of years old, but at least it's something. Go to the police immediately. This woman needs to be stopped!

Kitty L'Wren/Camille Waring
13A Theatre St
Lavender Hill
Battersea, London
SW11 5ND

Camille is now operating as Elly Mac (Camille backwards - how clever) and also shooting Paris. She will be exhibiting at the National Wedding Show. She is still not turning up to people's weddings

It has been 4 years since camille waring / kitty l'wren / ELLY MAC ha s ruined our wedding and every now and then I google the spineless 'being' in the hope that she has been caught. At least her name can always be linked to complaints and bad reviews and she can run but can 't hide. Thankyou for updating us all on her current 'name' .

Elly Mac gave an excuse to not attend our wedding 3 days before. She has caused a lot of stress to us with her constant lying and false promises.

Details-
Phone:
[protected]
Address:
Battersea Studios, 80 Silverthorne Road, London SW8 3HE

Hmmm the water is getting a bit to hot for Camille, kitty L wren, elly mac, she has protected her twitter account and has asked for propel not to enquire through face book. And a victim has a blog on the web showing her different aliases, her name is becoming mud on the web and the wedding seen, she will get what's coming. Karma will happen

Apologies for spelling errors was rushing!

Elly Mac photographed our wedding last Autumn. It was a pretty bad experience all around - she stood me up at our venue walk-through, but it was too late to hire another photographer, so I micromanaged her to get her to at least attend the day. She did - and the photos are okay. However, I'm still waiting for her to send me some of the photographs that we paid for - but I'm just about to give up as I'm sick and tired of listening to excuse after excuse after excuse...

It's Anita Green here someone emailed me back in February about Camille whoever she is saying they can give me details about social services and her recent arrest. However I've tried to respond and the email keeps bouncing back. Any details you have please post them here.

Little update, i have had to other victims email me after seeing this site. I think one is pursuing with police as he said he couldnt discuss any details at the moment. I also managed to warn another bride to be as she had put an unhappy comment on elly mac facebook page. She paid £200 deposit and she didnt show at pre wedding meet. Her elly mac website isnt in use anymore. The usual ramblings are present on her fb page with references to her being a cocaine user in the past . Maybe at last she really is close to being caught. I hope so

Hey just wondering if you guys are still trying to track down this lady?