Eaton wedding photographer sued by state

Clients claim they paid for photos, videos and never received them.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing an Eaton wedding photographer in response to complaints from newlywed couples who say they paid for photos and videos but never received them.

“These couples tied the knot and now they’re tangled up in a dispute with a dishonest photographer,” Yost said in a statement Thursday.

The consumer protection lawsuit accuses Kelsea Hopkins, 27, of violating Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act by “failing to deliver promised goods or refunds to customers who paid for her services,” the attorney general’s office said.

Yost said five consumers complained to his Consumer Protection Section, saying Hopkins photographed their weddings but did not give them all the items included in their wedding packages. Among the missing items were videos, black-and-white photos, photo albums and canvas prints, Yost said.

Madeleine Secrist of Mason said Hopkins was paid in full in August 2017 and did take photos and videos of her October 2017 wedding in Lebanon, but after the wedding, Secrist said Hopkins ghosted her — no pictures, no video.

“It’s a roller coaster. You know? You are angry, you are upset, you are mad,” Secrist said in April.

Jen Petrey, of Ukiah, California, is Secrist’s mother. Petrey

said Thursday her daughter had wanted to deal with the situation on her own.

“I let her, until about the one-year mark,” Petrey recalled. “Then she said, ‘Go for it, Mom.’”

Petrey said she contacted Hopkins repeatedly to no avail. That’s when she created a Facebook group.

“The Facebook thing just kind of took on a life of its own,” Petrey said. “I had no idea there were so many people.”

Today, the group has nearly 260 members.

The Facebook group seemed to get a reaction.

“She responded to me and said she was doing the best she could,” Petrey said of Hopkins. “She said she would handle it. I said, ‘OK, by handle it, do you mean you’ll give my daughter the (wedding) video?’”

Unfortunately, her daughter still has not received her wedding video, Petrey said. “She sent a corrupt file that no one could open.”

The company does have an ‘F’ rating with the BBB,” Sheri Sword, a vice president with Dayton Better Business Bureau, told WHIO.

Hopkins has operated under the names Dear Tomasine Stills and Films, Dear Tomasin, and Blue Boots Photography, according to Yost. She has not registered any of the business names with the Ohio secretary of state’s office.

The lawsuit — filed in the Preble County Court of Common Pleas — requests an order requiring Hopkins to reimburse affected customers and pay civil penalties, as well as court costs, Yost said. It also requests an injunction ordering her to stop violating the state’s consumer protection laws.

A phone voice mailbox for Dear Tomasine Stills and Films was full Thursday and would not accept messages. An email address returned as undeliverable, but a message seeking comment was sent to Hopkins on Facebook.

Consumers who suspect an unfair or deceptive business practice should contact the Ohio attorney general’s office at 800-282-0515 or www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov