Talk of the Town Rentals

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/08/15/suspect-defrauded-elderly-police-say/ https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1995/09/12/man-pleads-guilty-in-swindling-case/ Feel free to contact consumer reporter Jackie Callaway at ABC Action News for more information (JCallaway@wfts.com or 813-354-2934). She has been looking into Talk of the Town. This company takes money from couples upfront, which is supposed to be paid to photographers, musicians, djs, and other contractors, then fail to pay those workers. Couples are then put in the terrible position paying again for these services — sometimes ON their wedding day — and then chasing down Talk of the Town for repayment. The company also fails to pay workers on time, if at all, and many of their checks bounce. The following has been our experience as photography contractors for Talk of the Town. Steven Curtis Morgan is a long-winded talker who promises much and delivers little to nothing. When our photo company initially discussed partnering with him in January 2023, he said the company earned millions in business the year before. He promised us a high salary and bonuses for leading his company’s new photo department. We contracted for Talk of the Town for two months this year and received six bounced checks in that time. Steven Curtis Morgan and office manager Lauren Douglas gave us all manner of excuses, such as faulty payroll software and switching banks. They then sent out a company email saying the bad checks were due to bank error, but our bank confirmed the checks bounced due to insufficient funds (see image below). After receiving so many bounced checks and excuses, we felt we had no choice but to withhold clients’ photographs until we received full payment from Talk of the Town. As of July 21, 2023, we are still waiting for payment for in-office work for the weeks of Feb. 19-25, 2023 and Feb. 27-March 3, 2023. Client Bri K.'s wedding was on Feb. 17, 2023 and we didn't receive full payment until May 16, 2023. She wrote a negative Google review. Payment for client Luz O.'s wedding was sent to us on THE DAY OF her wedding. It is typical practice that contractors & vendors are paid at least one to two weeks before the wedding date. This caused a huge amount of undue stress for the wedding couple and for our company, as we didn't know whether to show up for the wedding that day without payment. Luz also wrote a negative Google review. Many of the positive reviews on Google, Wedding Wire, The Knot, Bark, social media and elsewhere are fake and written by the owner and/or his family members, who work for Talk of the Town. (See images below.) Jason Morgan and Christopher Morgan are the owner’s sons and Coreen is Steven Curtis Morgan’s wife. Other fake positive reviews are from “Curtis Stevens.” The owner is a terrible speller and makes the same mistakes in multiple reviews. (See attached images.) The owner created multiple websites and pages on Google, social media, Weddingwire, and The Knot pages using name variations. Talk of the Town Catering, Talk of the Town Wedding Venues, and Embellished - Tampa Bay’s Planning & Catering Company are all the same crooked business. Don't fall for the owner's oft-repeated line that he “worked in ministry.” The only ministry he’s involved in is fraud.