Camellias always respond to renovation pruning, however if i renovate camelia, then i would do it carefully and would leave a certain amount of foliage on so that it does not look to drastic, the best way to deal with renovation pruning of camelia is to do it in stages ie first year after flowering select a few long branches hard prune, these will respond and give you flowers next year, then hard prune the rest in the second year, by the third year the camelia will be well balanced, this work is best carried out april/may time after flowering, hard pruning now will result in new growth but will not have time to toughen up for the winter and if where you are the winters are harsh then the new shoots will get burnt by the frost, give it plenty of water and hope it picks up for you.

he doesnt sound like much of a landscaper with any knowladge to me . sorry about that . i would definatly complane .

A few years ago a tree was blown down and snapped a camellia off low down it took a while but it has regrown. So do not give up hope.

never give up unless a plant is completly and apserlutly dead .

I remember seeing a tv documentary set in a botanical garden, but can't remember which one. They had huge Camellias which they cut back very hard, I remember them saying that in 3 years the plants would have made a good recovery. So this kind of confirms what Julien says, but should be done at the correct time.