The Wedding Planner Scam - A cautionary tale

Abel and Laba's Wedding Plans

Q1.Abel and Laba decided to get married. Laba had always wanted a large wedding. Since both were very busy in their respective professions, they felt that they had precious little time to do the organization themselves. Therefore, they decided to hire a wedding planner to organize their wedding.Laba was told by one of the secretaries at her work that she came to know somebody through word of mouth from one of her friend who had used a particular wedding planner. The planner was not only inexpensive but also very efficient, with the result, hence the said wedding concerned went off without a hitch. A day or so later, Laba was handed a slip of paper with the name ‘Cain’ and a contact number by her secretary. Laba had heard of a planner called ‘Cain’ who is fondly known as a person whose every effort turned to success and Laba felt overwhelmingly pleased and relieved that she finally found the right candidate to organize their wedding. She telephoned the number and spoke to ‘Cain’ about organizing the wedding and how nervous she felt handing everything over to somebody else. Laba was told:“Don’t worry! I ‘ve done dozens of weddings!”Laba was reassured. As requested, she and Abel immediately posted to ‘Cain’ a cheque for RM500 as an advance sum to cover ‘preliminaries’.All that Laba had been told was partially true, in actual fact ‘Cain’ was a conman. ‘Cain’, was the stage name of Leonard Dippenstein, a young DJ who had performed at nearly 30 weddings. However, Leonard had grown disenchanted with his lot whenhe was told how much a wedding planner made compared to the miserly sum he was paid as a young DJ. Watching from a distance, he figured planning could not be all that hard and resolved he would try his hand at the role at the first opportunity. This resolution, made aloud to the late stayers of a well intoxicated wedding party, was the garbled message eventually conveyed to Laba.When Abel and Laba asked about a photographer, Leonard recommended his old school friend, JR Ewing. Leonard told them:

“He doesgreat wedding photos. He’s very professional”.Leonard just made an assumption, out of his own that JR Ewing is a professional wedding photographer because he had not seen JR Ewing for some time. Leonard too did not know that JR Ewing now only took photographs of landscapes, because he suffers from a strange syndrome that causes uncontrollable nervousness; when he photographed people he cut their heads out of the picture. When Leonard approached JR Ewing, the latter confessed his affliction. Leonard told him things would be fine. Abel and Laba were happy to go with the recommendation and signed a cheque for RM300 as a down payment for JR Ewing’s service. Things began to unravel at the wedding practice, which Abel and Labaasked JR Ewing to photograph as part of their package. Abel and Laba were shocked to see the disastrous results. When they confronted JR Ewing, he revealed Leonard’s true identity.Advise Abel and Laba.( In advising both of them, assume that both Abel and Laba want to ONLY rescindall the purported contracts with the respective parties ).Q2.Manda is a school leaver. She just celebrated her 17th birthday. While waiting for her examination results, she joined a local dance club. Theclub is organizing a “Gangnam style” dance competition. Manda decides to impress the judges with the latest “Gangnam suit”. She ordered a beautiful suit including all the accessories from Top Class Fashion House. The total cost is RM80,000. Unfortunately,Manda did not win the competition and the judges were not impressed with her suit. Top Class Fashion House is now demanding payment from Manda or returns the suit and all accessories.Advise Manda.