Faux blogger Steven Frischling brags he carries knives on planes all the time! HAH!

Steven in his dreams

Firstly, he has not responded to any of our challenges to verify very simple claims (big surprise), like the name of the hospital where on Thanksgiving he supposedly heroically removed his own IV and walked out. He claims on Twitter he addressed everything we said but in actuality did not address any of it. Check for yourself.

Secondly, he just bragged that he flies with a knife in his carry-on bag and so do thousands of others "on a regular basis" - highly dubious!!!!

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@fotodave Oh ... you can. Keep in mind I fly with a knife and so do thousands of other people on a regular basis in our carry on

What kind of moron would try to bring a knife on a plane these days? What purpose does this serve and why does "a travel strategist" need a knife anyway? You can bring one in your checked luggage. You cannot, repeat, cannot bring anything in your carry on beyond a plastic or maybe a butter knife on a plane. (Google "can you carry a knife on a plane" or see http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5065786 or "Man charged with trying to bring knife onto plane"). If there is a way you can legally bring a knife in your carry on then please tell us how because every search we've found indicates you cannot. And, why does he claim there are "thousands" of other idiots even trying?

(And yes we've also made a screenshot of this tweet in case he tries to delete it.)

Update: FishTard obviously reads our blog as he responded on Twitter and pointed this article of his: http://boardingarea.com/blogs/flyingwithfish/2010/02/12/travel-essentials-swisstech-utili-key/ about flying with a miniknife disguised as a key. 

First, we asked how someone can LEGALLY travel with a knife. In that blog he even admits it's not allowed, and several people comment that TSA is hip to that and confiscated theirs. If TSA is aware of this scam and checking keys for the Swisstech, this is further proof FishTick does not fly as frequently as he boasts. Especially after he bragged about it online (or maybe nobody at TSA reads his stupid blog because they know he's no frequent flier).

Secondly, why does Frischling refuse to answer our simple truth challenges? This entire blog is devoted to exposing him as a pathological liar. If he really wanted to discredit us, then he would take the two seconds to answer those simple questions whose answer ANYONE can easily verify. His silence is proof he's a phony.

We ask again: 

Where were you an EMT, as you said you were in 2007?

Which hospital's "Critical Care Unit" were you in on Thanksgiving, as you claimed on Twitter, where you supposedly removed your own IV and walked out?

Steven the lifesaving hero?! (BS challenge No. 3)

Didn't intend to blog so much but the funniest emails keep coming in with more tall tales. Check out this hilarious blog from a young/dumb photographer who had the amazing "opportunity" of spending the day with Steven in 2007.  She clearly buys everything he told her, which apparently included his tales of photographing for newspapers at age 11 on his bicycle and working as an an emergency medical technician (unsure if it this was also at age 11 and on a bike)!!!

She mentions "Steven's fearlessness as a former journalist (and EMT)..." (from Not So Still Life Photography blog)

So in addition to being a "globe trotting" award-winning photographer and fearless journalist, he's also a lifesaving EMT! He's practically a super hero! Holy stink, Fishman!

(Also hilarious are that the only comments on the blog over the past three years are from brides he defrauded and someone else who said he's a liar.)

So Steven, in which state were you an EMT? There is education, training, testing and certification required - they don't let just any idiot ride around on ambulances (which is why we're sure you never did).

Even if your imaginary EMT certification has expired, you would still be on record as once having a license. Which state was it? (More like, which planet?)

Fish challenge No. 3: We challenge you to tell us which state(s) you worked (or were certified) as an EMT.

Warning to national media regarding Steven Frischling

We contacted national media outlets to warn them about associating with Steven Frischling, including ABC News, NBC News, CBS News, Fox News, CNN, NPR, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the LA Times, US News and World Report, Associated Press, and USA Today.

An edited version of our warning (leaving out sensitive information) is below:

Dear media,

I'd like to warn you that an individual who recently has been used as a news source on airline travel is a fabulist and fraud in the vein of Stephen Glass.

According to his various websites, Steven Frischling claims to be a "globe hopping professional photographer, airline emerging media consultant working with large global airlines" who has "racked up more than 1,000,000 miles since he started to track his mileage in 2005."

In reality, he is a failed photographer who has invented an online persona to seek attention and profit. He has been expelled from professional organizations for his behavior and has no long-term clients or references. I believe he has used his inflated resume to gain contracts with notable corporations and publications, but given further scrutiny, there is a suspicious lack of long-term credibility in his employment history.

I'm alarmed to see him being quoted by national media in several recent articles. I have no doubt that his recent claim to have "interviewed 20 TSA agents" is an exaggeration or pure fabrication.

DO NOT use this individual as a source UNLESS he can verify every detail he is "reporting" to you, by producing credible witnesses, receipts and credit card statements, audio tapes of interviews, etc.

While much of the blog (fishfraud.blogspot.com) serves to make fun of him, this notice is very serious. Please pass this information on to your reporters, and urge them to do background checks on ALL bloggers used as sources.

I wish to remain anonymous because he is a bizarre individual, and I do not want him to show up on my doorstep. However, you may contact me at fishfraud@yahoo.co.uk if you need additional information.

Does truth matter to you?

I want to point out a well-written blog by ValetNon, who brought up this Frischling fiasco in a post called "Is There In Truth No Beauty?"

ValetNon is interesting because he's probably the typical Fish follower: He doesn't know him personally, nor does he really care about him, but finds his comments on travel entertaining. It seems like ValetNon actually took the time to read all the stuff compiled here, and just doesn't really know what to think. In fact, he wrote that for all he knows, Steven Frischling could be running this blog himself for attention! While that was good for a laugh, it made it clear this guy is smart because he questions.

The reason people get duped is because they don't question. For most things, why would you? If you've never met a pathological liar, you don't know that such people exist. In your naivete, you assume people lie to get out of things or to steal; you don't know they lie simply to lie or to make themselves more interesting. When people tell you stories or say they've been to a certain place or met a certain person or tell you a story, you most likely take them at their word. And on the Internet, your interactions with people are so superficial that you really can't be bothered to do any fact checking.

In his blog, ValetNon writes:

"I am sitting on a red couch, typing this out on my laptop. The TV is on, but the sound is down. At the moment, a Mercedes commercial is on TV and CBS has just gone back to the Texans-Titans game. 

You can’t verify this, by the way. And, in the end, does it really matter what’s true?"

In this case, no, of course it doesn't matter. However, you are not posing as a photojournalist. Here would be the Steven Frischling-ized version of his day sitting on the couch:

"I shot back-to-back football games in two states one day, despite being sick with 103 temperature and earache that made me totally deaf!  These two guys got in a huge brawl and as they were being dragged out, I went in to get a wide-angle shot and got too close as usual. I ended up getting 16 stitches in my head. Man, I tell you, they just don't pay photogs enough these days to put up with what we do in the trenches" (followed by a long rant about safety or something)

If you read this online, you're going to sympathize and think wow what a story. And if you're a photographer, you're going to think, right on! But are you going to demand medical records to prove he got stitches? Ask to see travel receipts or itineraries to prove his two games in one day story? Ask to speak to witnesses? Of course not. Why would you not take him at his word? That's why Steven's audience is entirely online.

From the messages I'm receiving, Steven's not really as respected as he claims to be, but he does have a few thousands followers on Twitter who are ignorant of his issues. Apparently a lot of people in the travel industry think he's a joke/idiot.

The point is, he's passing himself off as a photojournalist. He apparently even is quoted in the media (most disturbing). He spins elaborate tales to seek fame, and most importantly, influence that he hopes will pay off in financial contracts. While his opinions may be genuine, the fact is the majority of what he claims to base his opinions on are pure fiction. 

If the truth doesn't matter to you, then by all means, Steven Frischling is the guy for you.

Public challenge to Steven Frischling: Prove you're not a fraud

@flyingwithfish Flying With Fish

For those asking about what is going on, read my last 40 tweets. I need to get back to work, since my TSA coverage hasn't been challenged

Yes we ARE challenging it. You make up almost everything. You live in a fantasy world of your own creation.

Our first two challenges:

1) You claim to have racked up more than 1 million miles. We challenge you to back that up with evidence.

2) You claim to have been in the Critical Care Unit of an unnamed hospital over Thanksgiving. You claimed you oh-so-bravely removed your own IV and left because they were taking too to find your "discharge papers." We challenge you to back that up with evidence. What was the name of the hospital?

Most likely you will refuse to produce evidence on grounds of personal privacy. If so, we will then challenge the people at Boarding Area, where your blog lives, and suggest they ask for their own proof to validate anything you have ever written.

I bet 99 percent of it can't be verified. Steven Frischling is the Stephen Glass of travel blogging: A seemingly charming guy who spins entertaining stories that seem valid on the surface, but are in reality, wild exaggerations or outright fabrications.

But even that comparison is unfair to Stephen Glass, who actually graduated from UPenn and was employed full-time at a prestigious publication. Steven Frischling never graduated from anything and his professional claim to fame is having an internet blog and a Twitter account (so prestigious).

UPDATE: Silence from Steven on this simple challenge to verify one recent Tweet, though he continues to Tweet about this blog every six minutes. Surely he would at least say the name of the hospital he claims he was in, but he won't because he fears anyone can call and find out he was never admitted and made the whole story up. Anyone can call a hospital and find out what someone's general condition is (eg critical, fair, treated and released) by providing first and last name. His silence proves he's a liar.

Steven's pathetic tweets #idiot

First, I have received several interesting emails that unfortunately can't be posted as of yet, as they deal with ongoing investigations against Steven Frischling. And they have nothing to do with his wedding photography fraud. This guy is in serious trouble.

But the main point of this post is to laugh at how Steven is trying to defend himself via Twitter and doing a terrible job at it. Let's take a look at it. (We've taken screenshots of everything in case he tries to delete the tweets later and claim he never said that.)

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
I think my hater is I think this is aviation security related.They mention weddings but attack my TSA coverage & a photo biz that isn't mine

Hah, we're not related to aviation security. But fortunately we now have the attention of some people in that industry, many of whom found you "fishy" to begin with.

Secondly, Shoreline Photography IS your photography business. How can you claim it's not when 1) You registered the domain name 2) it has an identical template to your own website at stevenfrischling.com 3) Who is this supposed award-winning photographer describing if not you, and if the photographer is so great, why isn't he named? and 3) some of the photos are of your own children. You are disgusting.

Would you like us to contact Connecticut's Secretary of State's office to determine exactly who is associated with Shoreline Photography?

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
Is it funny or sad that many of the comments quoted on the Fish-Hater blog are unnamed? Unnamed is easy ... since they can't be verified

That's why we're posting links to court cases, which can be verified. People have sued you for breach of contract. Additionally, we found these court cases because Connecticut and New York offer public searches available online for free. Vermont, Rhode Island etc don't offer this service. How many lawsuits against you are in their systems?

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@jbernie No, I am pretty sure nothing on that site related to airlines & security ... but that image they have violates my copyright


Our linking to a photo on your own site is your only legitimate complaint? How about we use this photo to represent your stank instead?

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@FishFraud The address listed for that web address is not one I live at ... and I left the WPJA in 2007. Nice detective work!


It's the same, identical address listed for your personal website. (Though it's definitely probable you were evicted since then!) And you left the WPJA? Or you were thrown out?

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@FishFraud Also leaves out the positive reviews on Yelp & that my positives come from more consistent users than the 30+ fake negatives


As noted repeatedly, the positive reviews on Yelp are suspicious and all come from accounts opened around the time of posting and most don't review anything else. (Signs you planted them.)

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@FishFraud wants to call me out that I did poorly in the wedding photo business & yes, I did.My work flow was flawed & caused major problems


You've done poorly in all your business endeavors. You have no long-term clients and have been unable to sustain consistent employment. Additionally, you've been ejected from professional organizations and sued for fraud.

You claim to be a professional, "globe trotting" photographer, yet you admit your "work flow was flawed & caused major problems." How professional can you be if you can't even shoot weddings? You have weeks or even months to turn the job around. What is so hard about it? What did you find so challenging? At the end, some people didn't even care if you made them the nice book you promised. They were simply begging for their raw images on CDs and they would have left you alone if they had gotten even that.

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@thewinchesterau This person leaves out all the positive reviews & cites one negative review area where I publicly proved the review wrong


flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@thewinchesterau In the review I proved wrong,citing the bride's own blog, turned out someone else posted the review using the bride's name


This is so stupid. You never proved any review wrong, yet now you claim the review was posted unbeknownst to the actual bride, by someone posing as her? Do you think everyone is as stupid as you are?

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@thewinchesterau I had a disagreement with 3 brides who found each other on The Knot who created 30+ fake names for Yelp reviews


That is ridiculous. Who, looking at the evidence, would believe such a story? That a mere three unhappy brides would conspire to take down your professional reputation? I don't see these people conspiring to take down their caterer or the people who delivered their flowers. This is highly implausible.

The truth about your reviews on Yelp is exactly what it appears to be: heartbroken brides who are angry because they were defrauded by a con man who took their money and never delivered their photos. These reviews are backed up by the evidence in your court cases (including failures to appear on your part) and the solid F rating you have from the Better Business Bureau.

flyingwithfish Flying With Fish
@user47 Would you vote for me?I wouldn't! It's convenient those I sued were left out as were the positive reviews. Oh well


False. We included the links to the cases in which you brought suit, and noted they were dismissed. And stop mentioning the positive reviews because nobody buys them.

Steven Frischling DBA Shoreline Lifestyle

Beware, Steven is trying to still work as a photographer under at least one other business name. On the surface the business makes no mention of him, which makes sense since his reputation under his own infamous name is ruined.

"Shoreline Lifestyle Photography" (http://www.shorelinelifestyle.com) was supposedly created by Steven's wife, Susannah. Here is the description in the "About Us" section of the site. Glaringly absent is the name of this supposed fantastic, award-winning photographer she has an "exclusive" contract with:

"As a mother raising three small children along the Eastern Connecticut Shoreline I was unable to locally find the type of personal, and candid, photographs I was interested in for my family. Utilizing my years of experience working with professional photographers I created a plan to locally offer relaxed and personal lifestyle family photographs that are about my clients, their families and their personalities.

To achieve the highest level of photography standards, Shoreline Lifetyle Photography has an exclusive contract with a local Shoreline resident photographer to produce all the images for our clients. Our photographer has created every image you see in our photo galleries.

Shoreline Lifestyle Photography's exclusive contract photographer provides our clients with more than a decade-and-a-half of experience creating images for major international news outlets, Fortune 100 corporations, and has worked with private commission clients around the Globe. Our exclusive contract photographer's accolades include awards from The Associated Press, the National Press Photographers Association, the New England Press Association and the New York Press Association. His work has appeared in Life Magazine's Year in Pictures, Time Magazine's Year in Pictures, and Life Magazine's Annual Photo Album and has been ranked among the Top 35 Wedding Photojournalists in the world by the Wedding Photojournalists Association."

In typical Frischling fashion, most of the accolades are exaggerations or outright lies. Check http://www.wpja.com/wedding-photographers/connecticut-photojournalist.htm to see that Steven Frischling is not listed for Connecticut or any state for that matter. (Wouldn't he be listed if he were truly among the top 35 in the WORLD?)

To see who is behind Shoreline Lifestyle, simply look it up on network solutions:


http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/shorelinelifestyle.com

Registrant:
   S.E. Frischling, LLC
   18 Atttawan Rd
   Niantic, Connecticut 06357
   United States

   Registered through: EpicDomains.com
   Domain Name: SHORELINELIFESTYLE.COM
      Created on: 28-May-09
      Expires on: 28-May-11
      Last Updated on: 21-May-10

   Administrative Contact:
      Frischling, Steven  steven@stevenfrischling.com
      S.E. Frischling, LLC
      18 Atttawan Rd
      Niantic, Connecticut 06357
      United States
      (413) 626-2369

   Technical Contact:
      Frischling, Steven  steven@stevenfrischling.com
      S.E. Frischling, LLC
      18 Atttawan Rd
      Niantic, Connecticut 06357
      United States
      (413) 626-2369

Identical registration to: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/TheTravelStrategist.com

Registrant:
   S.E. Frischling, LLC
   18 Atttawan Rd
   Niantic, Connecticut 06357
   United States

   Registered through: EpicDomains.com
   Domain Name: THETRAVELSTRATEGIST.COM
      Created on: 13-Jun-08
      Expires on: 13-Jun-11
      Last Updated on: 14-Jun-10

   Administrative Contact:
      Frischling, Steven  steven@stevenfrischling.com
      S.E. Frischling, LLC
      18 Atttawan Rd
      Niantic, Connecticut 06357
      United States
      (413) 626-2369

   Technical Contact:
      Frischling, Steven  steven@stevenfrischling.com
      S.E. Frischling, LLC
      18 Atttawan Rd
      Niantic, Connecticut 06357
      United States
      (413) 626-2369

Steven Frischling's sad attempts to defend his behavior! LOL!

One of Steven's wedding victims just pointed me to the following blog exchange. It's pretty hilarious actually, as Steven attempts to defend himself against the facts, specifically the solid F rating he has from the Better Business Bureau. He basically says the only mistake he made was not weeding out the demanding brides. He claims that everything will soon be cleared up in his favor, and then starts claiming he had cancer. Yet a year or so later, nothing has been cleared up. Instead he no longer pretends to be photographer and now pretends to be a "travel strategist."

Taken from: https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=7553278593406733377&postID=6417193555303801040

(Our comments in red)

"You And Your Online Reputation"

24 Comments - Show Original Post Collapse comments

flyingfish said...

John, It is interesting that you bring this up. For the past few weeks I have been working on clearing up Yelp.com and the BBB. I fully agree with you about maintaining and following up on your online reputation. Yelp.com has actually been quite helpful and should be removing all the information shortly. I have provided documentation to them regarding the complaints, and they have initially agreed that the complaints are factually incorrect. The problem in some ways with the internet is the anonymity. Yelp.com contains a complaint from a bride who ran out of money, asked me to halve the pricing of my contract, and then canceled her contract shortly before her wedding when I refused to rewrite the contract. This bride demanded her 'non-refundable retainer' be returned, and I refused. Following her canceling of her contract she reversed the charges with her credit card company. Her credit card company found in my favour reinstating the funds to my account less than 24 hours after submitting my contract and a series of dated e-mails to their complaints department. Since this series of events I have tracked down her posts and had them removed from many forums. Of course this online-complainer does not mention this in any of her posts online. This former client just rips into me because she is upset she lost her How did this bride find me on Yelp.com? She tracked down a negative entry posted by a bride who decided she wanted to be able to choose the images in her photo album; nearly a year after the album was delivered. When I create albums I let my brides choose approximately 10 images, from there it is all up to me. This bride never replied to my requests for her selection of images. I waited and waited and waited then when ahead and designed the book and sent it off. I heard nothing for almost year. What did I hear after nearly a year? A complaint from the BBB about her album and a complaint stating she never received her prints (which were shipped to her on the 14th of March 2007). This same bride also wrote up a negative review on Yelp.com. This bride's primary complaint to the BBB was that she did not like her album and that she wants me to custom design a new book with images she has selected. This is not a service I offer. I expressly do not allow my brides to play a large role in the image selection of their albums. I am absolutely not redesigning and delivering an 8.5x11 20-page leather covered book to this bride. I have a number of e-mails from her telling me how much she loved her photographs. If she complained to me about the album image selection within a month of receiving the book I would have done something. But waiting a year, then contacting me through the BBB and using Yelp.com rather than dropping me an e-mail or calling me is the sign of someone who just wants something for free. Surprisingly Yelp.com has been much easier to work with than the BBB. Two complaints at the BBB are from non-brides. They are complaints from people I have not worked with, they are ghosts are faux-complainers. As the BBB cannot verify these complaints to ensure they have been 'resolved' they will not remove them. This has been quite frustrating. I have been asked to show contracts and tracking information for two 'phantom' bride complaints. Despite my repeated enquiry of asking how to show documentation I didn't work with someone is becoming frustrating. The BBB shows that I didn't respond to these complaints. This is true, I have been unable to properly respond to these two complaints, but I have diligently been attempting to address these. As for the bride who complained to the BBB about her album, I have been submitting all the information I need to in order to have that removed. I have e-mails, receipts, tracking information and order information from my print lab and album producer. Hopefully this detailed information is enough to have her unwarranted complaints removed. So given these two websites, it appears I have 7 complaints against me. In reality I have 1. The one complaint is from a very difficult to please bride. I have been learning to weed out the difficult (to nearly impossible) to please brides because they are extremely difficult to work with. I have made this mistake a few times in my 3 years of shooting weddings. In my first two years I did a poor job at times matching up who I am to whom I will work with. I am up front with my couples, some still move forward. I have learned to say 'No' and pass along the contract info for photogs who may be better suited to these couples and their personalities. My style is informal, my images are relaxed and overall my personality does not mesh well with 'bridezilla.' So one complaint will stand at the end of me working to clean up these complaints. The internet allows people to have the personality of 20 people instead of one. I ruffle feathers. I have always ruffled feathers. I have my opinions and they can be strong. I have been known to go out on a limb or stand out in the wind and that draws attention. Some people like me and some people don't like me, that I OK. What is not OK is that the internet allows people to become unknown attackers. I have found one wedding photographer who has gone into a popular wedding website simply to create faux brides and not only trash talk me but other photographers they feel they compete with. I have had this personls 'fake bride complaints' removed a number of times. I know quite a few other photographers who have also has this person's fake-complaints removed as well. This type of anti-marketing is unfortunately not as uncommon as many would like to believe it is. Have an argument with someone? It is easy to make up a fake e-mail address, a fake user name and log into a forum as a whole ‘new person’ and begin your assault. Being unable to verify who your accuser is can be challenging, especially when defending yourself in front of a potential online audience of billions of readers. For those of your readers who do not use Google Alerts they should absolutely set up an account immediately. Everyone needs to know what is being said about them and when. I was slow to use Google Alerts for certain keywords, but now have that sorted out. With Google Alerts in place I am able to move ahead in clearing up potential roadblocks in bringing in clients and be more aware of my online reputation. -Steven Frischling

October 6, 2008 10:15 AM

John Harrington said...

Steve -- Thanks for the commentary. It surely is a cautionary tale. I've used Google Alerts for some time - interestingly enough, the police chief of St Paul - where the RNC convention was and all the protesters were arrested - his name is John Harrington (no relation), so I get his information with my alerts. Maintaining your reputation in this era of worldwide access to data means it's not something to be taken lightly, or to be ignored. -- John

October 6, 2008 2:37 PM

Kenny said... (We highly suspect this is Steven, as it uses his typical language and vision of himself, ie referring to himself as a kid, "slugging it out in the trenches")

Bravo Steven! Bravo John! This kid, whom I don't know but have followed his career online on the forums for years has been slugging it out in the trenches and working his behind off it an example for us all IMHO. Not only has he competed with the best in this industry, he has done so while all the snot nosed upper tier have tried to squash him at every...EVERY opportunity they can and they all know who they are. Good for you Steven. I can't speak for anyone else but I'll start getting subscriptions to sports magazines again when they start using more of your work instead of the photographers they use, who use the name of their publication to flaunt(call us out)about how nothing we are when they have a bad day. A simple search will find those threads too. Integrity/Photography... I doubt it.

October 7, 2008 8:04 AM

Kara said...

John, I am one of the brides (Miss K) that complained about Steven on Yelp.com. As he mentioned, he tried to get my review taken off of on Yelp, but they actually wrote back and told me that after careful review, they will leave my review on Yelp.com as is. You can see that my review is still there. I'm not sure if I'm the bride that Steven references as the one who "ran out of money" and tried to get a discount and renegotiate the contract because that is completely false. Steven was in breach of the contract. Period. It is important for consumers like me that have had bad experiences to alert others to be careful when selecting a vendor...especially when it has to do with one of the most important days of your life. When I chose Steven to be the photographer, I actually googled him as well but didn't see any negative or positive reviews about him, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt considering he has numerous websites out there and seemed legit. The reason why I started posting reviews is so that consumers out there can at least get one person's point of view on their experience. After that, it's up to them to decide. I agree that everyone should be aware of what is being said about them on the internet. I'm sure there are false reviews out there, which is unfortunate, but in my case, it's all true. Speaking of false reviews, I find it funny that my Yelp review has been up for 2 months now with one other bad review, but as soon as Steven sees his bad reviews, all of a sudden, there's 6 raving reviews (all 5 stars) about Steven, all with accounts created in October 2008. Hmm...fishy. In any case, I hope, my review will help at least one bride, or give some insight to Steven that he should follow better business practices and uphold his end of the contract. Thanks, Kara

October 7, 2008 10:55 PM

Kenny said... (fake Steven again)

Dear Kara: I feel your pain. I have never known or been involved in a business or industry that lacks the most basic of professional protocols or ethics. You will find that the higher up the food chain you get in this business the more important burrito's become and the less important professionalism becomes. The old guard is dieing out but it's more about self-aggrandising themselves and their wallets at all costs and at anyone's expense and the rest are liers and theives. This is all before you even start looking at Editors, SID's, Event Planners.... Your lucky, for those of us who cherish integrity and professionalism, it's a life sentence to love photography. Be glad your not in this business, at least your feelings as an outsider read...."customer" have meaning in real life. Good luck, be well, buy a good digital camera and you can be a photographer too! Kenny

October 8, 2008 6:00 AM

 

flyingfish said... (... a bunch of stuff but does not back up any of it)

Kara, I understand you are upset that you lost your retainer. Please keep in mind that whatever the circumstances were for your cancellation, my contract clearly stated in the first line that retainers are non-refundable. I photographed your engagement session on the 4th of April and delivered your images via e-mail less than 48 hours later. You even received a few more images than your contract specified within that 48hr period. Following this I sent your engagement session DVD to you via USPS Priority Mail with tracking. The package was delivered to the address on your contract, and the USPS confirms that the package was delivered. Following this you inform me that you have moved to Southern California and provide me with a new address, and another DVD was sent off. You never confirmed receipt, but this DVD was sent with tracking as well. A short while after the DVD was delivered you asked about your 30-page engagement session album and I was puzzled. Your wedding album in the contract was 20 pages, yet you seemed to think you were entitled to a 30 page e-session album. When this was questioned you sent me back a contract that was not all the contract I sent you. In fact the contract you sent me back did not match the format or language of any wedding contract I have ever used. I am sure you got confused in all of this, as you are now claiming on Yelp.com that you were not supposed to receive a 30-page album, but only 30 images from your engagement session. We had a 2-hour session, in 3 locations, which you were roughly 45 minute late for and you expect 30 images from your e-session? Why were you late? Your friend was in a car accident, I then photographed the damage to her car, as well as the bus that dinged her and dealt with her insurance company for you after sending off the photos of the accident. This brings me to August 15th. 11 days before your wedding. You filed a chargeback with your credit card company for $1875, not the $2,000 that you claim. Your reason for filing the chargeback was 'services not rendered." It would have been impossible to have rendered the services as stated in the contract, as the service date for the contract was 11 days in the future. After speaking with the credit card company I supplied them with a link to your engagement session; a tracking number for your wedding DVDs; an email correspondence between us; a copy of the contract I submitted to you, forwarded from my box; a copy of the doctored contract you sent back to me in early August (again forwarded from my box); and discussing the fact that the reason you were filing the chargeback was invalid. The credit card company reviewed the documents and reversed the chargeback returning the funds to my account in less than 24 hours. If you plan to come after me you should please stick to the facts. You should keep track what stories you are telling what people and in what forum. I have screen shots of your slip up, as well a copy of the doctored contract. As for the number of positive posts that sprung up? I contacted some former brides and other clients I have worked with and they were happy to supply positive reviews. (Yeah right) Should you wish to continue this course of action I will have no choice but to sue you for the remainder of your contract, $1,875. The evidence is overwhelmingly in my favour. (Overwhelmingly in his imagination) I wish you and Howard a long and happy life together. -Steven Frischling

October 9, 2008 1:14 AM

Anonymous said... (Probably Steven)

Guy, you should charge this woman for all your time wasted online searching for her fake complaints and damaging accusations as well as for the time to answer each time.

October 12, 2008 7:28 PM

Anonymous said...

They're most likely not fake, and she is not the only one...and he knows this. That's why he's online waiting for when the people he hasn't fulfilled paid contracts with write reviews to let others know. He's so vigilant about scouting out his negative reviews because he is just waiting for the people he didn't complete contracts with (or just completely cut off all communication with...very professional) to show their face. Well, here we are.

October 14, 2008 10:59 PM

Kenny said... (Steven again)

A false complaint with the intent to besmurch another persons reputation should be easy enough to prove through the posters isp, even if the call themselves anonymous,if I'm not mistaken. I look at it this way. If I have a contract with someone and they don't fulfill the contract I can sue them and get satisfaction. If not, shame on me. After all, it's the most important day of my life? Any laywers around to comment? PS: Get use to the silent treatment. It's almost the first thing they teach on some photography websites. Unprofessional treatment? I would have to agree but we are talking about upper tier photogs aren't we :)

October 15, 2008 5:16 AM

 

Anonymous said...

I am not surprised that negative reviews are now surfacing for fishfoto, and I don't believe they are false. Steven is quite arrogant and it's only natural for him to try and squash any negative thing said about him out there. If you're not careful Steven, the fact that you try to remove all negative posts will ALSO become a part of your online personality, which will be even more damaging than the reviews themselves. I found this blog on a simple Google search of fishfoto reviews. I'm not sure your responses help your case. (Which makes me wonder if one day this blog entry will cease to exist as well.) Quite simply if you want to maintain a stellar online reputation, try maintaining stellar customer service and a good reputation off the internet first. If the reviews were all false, then why are there so many of them from different brides with similar but not exactly the same experiences? Maybe you need to stick to editorial and let the weddings go. You don't appear to have the sensitive heart necessary to photograph weddings.

December 8, 2008 6:08 PM

Anonymous said...

*Sigh of relief*....I am glad to see that people can see through him, despite his efforts to save face. Do the right thing Steven, do the right thing. You know where to start.

January 2, 2009 11:38 PM

Anonymous said...

I like how "mysteriously" there are 5* reviews next to 1* reviews of his work. I understand asking your customers to post good reviews of you and the good reviews may very well be true, but they look SO fake next to the many many bad reviews! "I got my all my photos 2 days after the wedding". Yeah right. Anybody who knows anything about photography is going to think one of two things: A. The photos are unedited and thus poor quality (who can edit an entire wedding properly in two days?) or B. This review is blatantly false (who can edit an entire wedding in two days?) Steven Frischling needs to quit trying to be a wedding photographer and go back to being an editorial photographer where no one cares if you're an arrogant prick.

January 5, 2009 8:25 PM

Anonymous said...

Steve & John: I am not a bride. I am the groom. My lovely wife and I were married July 5th in Philadelphia and Steven was paid in full 3 months prior to the wedding! Steven has yet to fullfill his end of the contract. Not only have we not received our photos or albums from the wedding as promised, he never sent the album from our engagement shoot as described in his contract. I would say that after having been paid in full prior to the event that his professionalism for providing eveything that he says he will provide in his contract would have been provided within 30 to 60 days after the shoot. We have have very little to show for our wedding besides his fee (of which we have receipts). One of the photos that he took was of my wife's grandmother who died December 27, 2008. We were not able to include it in our family album because he will not complete his contract. He has now left me no alternative but to contact one of my associates in Connecticut and seek legal recourse against him including punitive damages for his conduct and actions. It is now not a matter of obtaining the photographs but to show him that he must be held accountable for everything that he puts in his contract. My wife has sent him several emails and he has given one excuse after another - If we were a publication would he being doing the same thing???? I think not. It's time the Mr. Frischling step to the plate and honor his contract. No, I have not been to yelp.com. That is next on the agenda. Will

January 9, 2009 6:31 PM

Anonymous said...

Steven, More "mysterious" 5* star reviews on yelp have popped up, yet they are mostly written by new members to yelp who joined in January 2009, and any other reviews they have written (to make it look like they are legit yelp members) are all written on the same day as their review of Fishfoto. How dumb do you think the public is? I'm sure you are getting up there in the number of yelp ids. It's disgusting that you have done absolutely nothing to make amends to your numerous dissatisfied clients, yet you (and your wife) go through all this effort to increase your rating, probably because you are now booking weddings for 2009. Are you even planning to complete those contracts? Why bother to book if you're just going to continue to leave unhappy brides in your wake?

January 13, 2009 6:56 PM

Anonymous said...

Steven, Your online reputation is a train wreck that I can't look away from! All your padding of 5* reviews by "happy clients" (or yourself) is like a soap opera. It's down right comical, and yet it's tragic because your REAL clients still haven't received what you've promised them. All of you fishfoto brides out there who have a bad review, keep posting everywhere that you can! He can't spend all of his time padding your reviews if they are everywhere. Post on cityvoter, theknot, wedding channel, onewed, eventective, facebook, and any place you can find that allows you to review his services. Unfortunately, Steven removed his facebook page due to the bad reviews he had listed there. You can counter that by making a group where all fishfoto brides can join and share their experiences. Do it now! Do you really want another bride to go through what you've gone through? Take him to court and keep fighting the good fight. Cheers

January 13, 2009 8:42 PM

Steven Frischling said...

Shaunelle & Will, I am going to address a number of your online forum postings here in one reply. First off it is important to note that you did not spend more than $4,000 on your wedding photography. (WHY is this important?!) Secondly, I am sorry that I was diagnosed with a significant medical issue in late June. This medical issue resulted in major surgery on the 26th of August where my thyroid was completely removed, along with a 48oz cancerous mass from within my neck. (Who believes this?) I did go out and shoot a wedding less than a week after surgery in New York and another in California a week later. (A week after surgery? Literally unbelievable) I did these weddings, and others, because I felt like I was ready to feel better and get back on with working. In fact I kept shooting will advised not to because I knew in order to complete my contracts, even if delayed, I first needed to shoot the weddings. My working was against all medical advise, and due to my medical condition, following shooting I was completely wiped out. I am sorry there have been delays, but my health has become a significant factor, and medications have taken somewhat of a toll on me, and my post production productivity, however all of my contracts are being fullfilled. (All facts, including court cases, prove  otherwise.) You should also note that aside from delays I have so far met and exceeded your contact. (Why would they be bothering to post if this was true?) You contracted stated you'd receive 8 fully edited ready-to-print image files within a few days of your wedding; you received 25 of these images less than 24hrs following your wedding . You contract stated you'd receive a 50 image photo gallery; you received an 80 photo images gallery. Additionally your gallery was changed to a fully downloadable image gallery so you'd have direct access to your images as would anyone else you wanted to share the photos with. In other forums you indicated that you had received 70 fully edited, ready-to-print, image files from me. Your contract stated you'd receive 80 fully edited, ready-to-print image files as part of your package and you were delivered 80 fully edited, ready-to-print, image files from me. So yes, I was sick, I am still not really healthy, but I am also working as hard as I can with someone limited energy to not only complete all my contracts, but also make sure my family is taken care of, as considerable personal risks to my health. (Steven, as always, likes to see himself as a hero) I agree Karma can be a bitch, but there is no need for foul language, and is troubling for me to believe that someone who is so devoted to their faith, such as yourself, has a hard time understanding that another person's health is not something you should hold against them. (Steven tries to guilt them by invoking their religion and fails miserably) I'd also like to address Will stating that he has retained an attorney in various forums is incorrect. I have requested that he send me the contact information for his attorney more than once to work though his attorney, yet Will has repeatedly refused to produce any contact information for an attorney. (Highly unbelievable, considering Steven's numerous failures to appear in court) I will not bow to strong arm tactics. I also will not bow to people who do not have a legitimate complaint whipping up a whirlwind of mob mentality. Hopefully neither Will nor Shaunelle will ever become ill, and if this do, hopefully they are never self employed with five mouths to feed. The stress is unbearable, and they clearly fail to have the compassion it takes to work through it.  (Tries to use guilt again to distract from the issue) -Steven Frischling

January 30, 2009 6:02 PM

 

Steven Frischling said...

Kara Lee, On the 6th of November I filed a suit against you in the New London District Court of Connecticut. You and your husband have both now been notified by the Connecticut Centralized Court System, regarding Docket #: SCA10-94913. (This ridiculous case was dismissed!) Your required answer date is the 11th of February and at this time neither you nor Howard have answered the courts to enter a plea. At this time I have substantial evidence against you in this case, should you wish to settle the case out of court you know how to contact me. Should you default, I will transfer the judgment and come after you in your home state. -Steven Frischling

January 30, 2009 6:06 PM

Steven Frischling said...

Will, To further counter act your claims that I have not delivered your wedding images to you, I'd like to direct you to Shaunelle's "The Robersons... The beginning" page , which was set up through her account on The Knot under the My Real Wedding section. You may review your wedding page on The Knot here: http://myrealwedding.theknot.com/photo/view/The-Robersons-The-beginning Your wedding page clearly shows multiple images, shot by me, credited to me, placed online by you and Shaunelle. Further more, the comments for these images appear to be made in September 2008. Clearly you have had your wedding images for quite some time. The fact that you and Shaunelle would like additional custom editing and additional pages in your album is no reason to grossly twist the facts as the continue to present themselves against you and your public statements. Clearly you have not heard the term 'you catch more bees with honey and vinegar.' (We hope they've never heard of this because 1) it's a phrase, not a term, and 2) this is not the correct phrase!) -Steven Frischling

February 1, 2009 11:49 PM

Steven's new identity: strategist

It appears he's officially given up on photography now that his reputation has been ruined (by himself). He's apparently in such demand that he's reinvented himself as a "travel strategist," probably because there's no such category for that on Yelp.

But he's apparently not that busy, since he spends all day yapping incessantly on Twitter or his stupid blog. And those of us unlucky to know him know he's making up 90 percent of it. Just today he claimed to be in the critical care unit of a hospital, until he couldn't be bothered anymore, and heroically removed his IV himself and marched out! Such heroics!

Steven Frischling in NY small claims court

Lost another case in New York, but damages were not specified:

Court:	New York County Civil Court
Index Number:	CV-058782-09/NY
Case Name:	KLAPROTH, ELIZABETH S vs. FRISCHLING, STEVEN STEVEN FRISCHLING PHOTOGRAPHY, LLC
Case Type:	Civil

Appearance Information:

Appearance Date	Time	Purpose	Appearance Outcome	Judge / Part	Motion Seq
10/25/2010	09:30 AM	Inquest: Court	Decision for All Plaintiffs Against All Defendants	Clerk's Office Part 12 J - Inquest JHO
06/30/2010	09:30 AM	Inquest: Court	Adjourned	Honorable Kathryn E. Freed Part 12 J - Inquest JHO
06/02/2010	09:30 AM	Inquest: Court	Adjourned	Honorable Jeffrey K. Oing Part 12 J - Inquest JHO
05/10/2010	09:30 AM	Inquest: Court	Adjourned	Honorable Kathryn E. Freed Part 12 J - Inquest JHO

Steven Frischling in CT small claims court

A quick search on the public lookup (http://www.jud.ct.gov/jud2.htm) reveals five small claims cases in Connecticut:
FRISCHLING STEVEN     MAK et al VS. FRISCHLING et al     SCA10-93910     New London    
FRISCHLING STEVEN     MAK et al VS. FRISCHLING et al     SCA10-93910     New London    
FRISCHLING STEVEN     FRISCHLING vs. MCGREGOR-BETANT et al     SCA10-94912     New London    
FRISCHLING STEVEN     FRISCHLING vs. LEE et al     SCA10-94913     New London    
FRISCHLING STEVEN     SJA SERVICES COMPANY (ASSIGNEE) vs. FRISCHLING     SCC-165269     New London    

- The case from the Maks did not continue and no reason is given.
- Both cases where Steven dragged his former clients into court (probably for negative reviews on Yelp!) were dismissed.
- The final case the judge ruled against Steven and ordered him to pay back $1535.00. He's apparently so broke he can only afford to pay back $50 monthly!

Weddingwire.com: Steven is an idiot who won't shut up

These are two of the funniest reviews from very angry brides. They're funny only because anyone who has ever worked with Steven knows how true they are. This jackass never shuts up!

kkazland
Wedding:
09/06/2006
0.7 out of 5.0
I could have probably written the previous review because we had the SAME exact PROBLEMS with this photographer. DO NOT USE HIM. He was annoying and in your face talking about himself the whole time. Everyone around me couldn't stand him, and my hairdresser still brings it up every time I go to get my hair done. After the wedding, I called him to see if I could add a parent's album to my package, which he agreed to. I called him one more time to see how he wanted me to pay for it, and I haven't been able to get in touch with him. He has three different phone numbers, and numerous emails. I finally had to get a lawyer involved, and still wasn't able to get my album, which was a large portion of the cost. I have to put a large deposit down to bring the matter to court, and don't know if it is worth it at this point, except to let him not get away with this. In the end, I received the raw photo images and the photos in the mail a year later, and still haven't received the wedding album. It's a horrible feeling to look back at your wedding photos and have an automatic angry feeling when you look at them, when that day is supposed to be filled with good memories.

Lindsey
Wedding:
06/09/2006
1.6 out of 5.0

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! Working with Steven was a disaster! The original photojournalist we had hired went on assignment in Iraq a few months before our wedding and was shot twice by a sniper- obviously, had to cancel his bookings for that summer while he was in the hospital recuperating! With only two months until our wedding, we scrambled to find someone who was not already booked. The only person we found was Steven.

Truth be told, his portfolio speaks for itself; he is a very talented photojournalist, but he is anything but professional! His price was ridiculous, but it included the engagement pictures, and some on the night of the rehearsal dinner (so that we and our party would be comfortable around him the following day), so we were willing to pay (and what other choice did we have with 8 weeks to go!). There are several huge problems with Steven. The first is that he just doesn't shut up! He told us when we interviewed him that he was a "behind the scenes" guy and that we "wouldn't even know he was there". WRONG! I was sitting with my bridesmaids having lunch the day of the wedding, and he would interrupt every 30 seconds with his two cents. It was so uncomfortable! And I knew if I said anything, I would risk the quality of my pictures. He consistently talked/interrupted when talking with my family, getting ready, and when my husband and I were riding in the limo from the wedding to the reception. That is supposed to be a time that you spend together cherishing what you just accomplished, and this whacko in the front won't shut up!

The second has to do with his false promises. Steven boasts on his website that you have him for the full 24 hours the day of the wedding. He sold us on the fact that he would be returning to the hotel with us for the afterparty to get a few shots of us with our friends. It didn't happen- Steven asked my husband at 11 o'clock if he could go home! Who does that???? Also, the morning of the wedding, Steven called my husband-to-be to ask for a ride from the reception to my house so that he could park his car there and ride with us from the wedding to the reception. That should have been his responsibility and something he should have thought of a little earlier than the morning of our wedding. One of our groomsman took a hit for the team and drove him the 20 miles, listening to him talk the entire time... we still owe him!

Lastly, and most importantly, we were not able to contact Steven after the wedding. He has 4 phone numbers and 3 email addresses- is he running from someone? I finally was able to track down his home number and speak to his wife! The prints and DVD's containing our pictures were supposed to be delivered within one month to our home. The DVD's showed up 5 months later and the prints 14 MONTHS LATER! I can't tell you how many phone calls were made to all of his numbers and how many emails went out to him. It wasn't until our lawyer sent him a letter than he finally sent them.

While the quality of his photos are amazing, anyone can do the same with the right equipment. This man should not be trusted to photograph one of the best days of your life. He is extremely unprofessional and will give you more headaches. He is not worth the money!

Steven Frischling - Failure to Appear when sued

Check out the following case when someone dragged him to court, and the coward apparently couldn't even bother to show up. Steven, how do you live with yourself?

http://civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov/CaseDetail/PublicCaseDetail.aspx?DocketNo=KNLCV085005658S

KNL-CV08-5005658-S	ALEARDI, COURTNEY ET AL v. FRISCHLING, STEVEN
Prefix/Suffix: [none]	Case Type: C90	File Date: 01/29/2008	Return Date: 02/19/2008
Case Detail Notices History Scheduled Court Dates E-Services Login Screen Section Help                  Detail                                   Party                                   Motions

Data Updated as of: 11/25/2010

Case Information  Case Type:   C90 - CONTRACTS - ALL OTHER  Court Location:   NEW LONDON  List Type:   COURT  Trial List Claim:   12/02/2008  Last Action Date:   05/13/2009  (Last Action Date is a data entry date, not actual date)   Disposition Information  Disposition Date:  05/13/2009  Disposition:  JUDGMENT-COURT TRIAL Judge or Magistrate:  HON JOSEPH PURTILL, JTR

Parties & Appearances Party Number Plaintiff/ Defendant   No Fee Party 01 P COURTNEY ALEARDI  Attorney:   MATTHEW GEORGE BERGER(411899) ATTORNEY AT LAW, LLC 164 HEMPSTEAD ST NEW LONDON , CT 063205638   Appear Date: 01/29/2008 02 P JOSEPH ALEARDI  Attorney:   MATTHEW GEORGE BERGER(411899) ATTORNEY AT LAW, LLC 164 HEMPSTEAD ST NEW LONDON , CT 063205638   Appear Date: 01/29/2008 50 D STEVEN FRISCHLING  Self-Rep:   13 OSPREY ROAD NIANTIC, CT  06357    Appear Date: 09/05/2008

Motions / Pleadings / Documents / Case Status Entry No File Date Filed By Description Arguable   01/29/2008 P SUMMONS     01/29/2008 P COMPLAINT     01/29/2008 P RETURN OF SERVICE   101.00 08/11/2008 P MOTION FOR DEFAULT-FAILURE TO APPEAR   RESULT: Granted 8/26/2008 BY THE CLERK No 102.00 08/11/2008 P MILITARY AFFIDAVIT No 103.00 09/10/2008 P MOTION FOR DEFAULT-FAILURE TO PLEAD   RESULT: Granted 9/17/2008 BY THE CLERK No 104.00 09/22/2008 D ANSWER No 105.00 12/01/2008   CLAIM FOR TRIAL LIST   106.00 05/13/2009 P EXHIBITS FILED No 107.00 05/13/2009   JUDGMENT AFTER COMPLETED TRIAL TO THE COURT WITH NO JURY   RESULT: 5/13/2009 HON JOSEPH PURTILL, JTR