DETROIT (WXYZ) — A group of super fans of Netflix’s hit show "Bridgerton" say they were left with a bad taste in their mouth after a themed event in Detroit turned out much different than what was advertised.
The event was originally set to take place last month on August 25th but was canceled just a few days before because of a venue issue. It was rescheduled for Sunday night.
Dozens of people showed up to the historic Harmonie club dressed in ballgowns expecting to be transported into a fantasy world similar to the show but say they instead were served undercooked food, presented with little themed decor and an exotic dancer and a stripper pole as entertainment.
"Honestly, I just want my money back," said Faye from Grosse Pointe as she stood outside of the venue Sunday night in her costume.
7 News Detroit showed up to the event at the tail end. Our crews were met with several upset attendees.
"The way that it was described was this was going to be a Bridgerton evening. We were gonna have classical music, good dinner. There was gonna be a play and they were gonna pick Diamond of the season. They were gonna give away all of these prizes and we went in and it was completely empty in there," said Amanda Sue Mathis as she stood outside of the Harmonie Club. "There is nothing going on. They have a pole in the middle of the dance floor. A stripper pole in the middle of the dance floor."
Mathis says she drove in from Shelby Township and was really excited to get dressed up like the characters in one of her favorite shows.
"I mean all of these dresses that you see on these beautiful women, we've all been getting them tailored to fit us. So we spent extra money on costumes, all of this beautiful beading, getting our hair done, our nails done for this to be the way that it is," said Mathis. "It's heartbreaking. We were supposed to have this last month. They canceled it and we were like okay. We waited, they rescheduled it to today. We got a limo for this, did all these things, and, basically, got an empty building."
Charming Amecia Fuller-Ragland says she was disappointed with the turn of events Sunday night as well.
"It was complete chaos today. They never even scanned our tickets. Then there were random people that we had paid to eat dinner and there were random people all throughout the venue," said Fuller-Ragland.
Ayrton Hamrick says he and his girlfriend attended the event Sunday to celebrate her birthday. Hamrick says they purchased what was called the "Duke and Duchess" package which was $250 and set to include a professional dance card, professional photo, valet service, dinner, music, and entertainment.
"It was definitely the price tag that had given us this expectation of luxury, regality, class, the Bridgerton experience and even arriving to the event we were told there would be valet service and we had to end up self-parking and paying for parking," said Hamrick.
Camerin Morey says as a super fan of the show, she and her friends were excited to get dressed up Sunday but were left disappointed.
"We were all really angry about it because we had built up these expectations and the tickets were not cheap," said Morey. "I definitely think that the people in this company were just in it to make money and try to maybe copy cat off a successful event but they had absolutely no idea what they were doing or they just didn’t care and had no problem taking people's money."
The owners at the venue, The historic Harmonie Club in Downtown Detroit sent the following statement regarding the event:
We would like to clarify; The historic Harmonie Club is a new venue and events center located in Paradise Valley in downtown Detroit. The Harmonie Club can be rented by all for private or public events. We are in no way affiliated with the promoters and/or organizations that rent our venue for events such as the Bridgerton Ball. While we offer support for all events i.e., providing a proper back-of-house facilities and management team; The planning, programming, and execution of the actual events are handled by the venue lessees, promoters, and their teams. Thank you for your understanding. Feel free to contact us if there are further questions or concerns.
The company behind the event, Uncle N Me LLC, has since disabled comments on their social media posts regarding the event.
7 News Detroit showed up to the venue to see if anyone from Uncle N Me LLC would be there cleaning up the event but no luck. We also went to an address listed for one of the businesses co-owners, Chelsea Beard, who we had spoken to previously. However, no one answered the door. Additionally, our crews called Beard, left voice mails, left text messages, and called a media representative for Uncle N Me LLC but received no response from the company.
On Tuesday, Uncle N Me LLC released this statement to 7 News Detroit.
"We understand that not everyone had the experience they hoped for at our most recent event Sunday night at The Harmonie Club, and for that, we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to provide a magical evening, but we recognize that organizational challenges affected the enjoyment of some guests. We take full responsibility and accountability for these shortcomings.
Please know that we are working diligently to address all concerns to ensure that all guests have the enjoyable experience they deserve. Your feedback is invaluable, and we truly appreciate both the positive and constructive comments shared with us.
We are reviewing resolution options, which will be communicated shortly. Your understanding and loyalty mean the world to us, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right."
"Bridgerton" fans say the company needs to do the right thing.
"I think we should absolutely get refunds and honestly I want to see this company never doing business again," said Morey.
