By now you’ve heard of scammers setting up a web site advertising a fake bridal show in Boston, billed as the "biggest and most extravagant" ever. But what you probably haven’t heard is the behind the scenes information being sent to eWedNews involving show producers that are trying to come in and save the day.
Using the guise of being the “biggest bridal show ever”, thousands of brides-to-be were reportedly enticed by the prospect of chances to win fabulous gifts and prizes, forking over money to attend a show that never existed. A web site called The Boston 411 invited would-be brides and vendors to the Spring Home and Bridal Show at the Hynes Convention Center that reportedly duped 6,000 people and around 200 vendors.
“Have you heard about this?” said Richard Markel of Bridal Expo in California yesterday. “This is simply unbelievable; that a show of this magnitude—or shall I say a scam of this magnitude— was not discovered sooner,” he told eWN. Markel likened the breaking news to the Madoff- rip-off, except the culprits are nowhere to be found. Local police and the FBI are now working with the management of the Hynes center to track down the perpetrators.
The Hynes center in Boston will be the venue where no show is held this weekend, but may become a monument to the extra care taken when participating in bridal shows in the future.
Social Media is taking some punches for the story, as vendor statements say they heard about the 411 show on Face book. Varied charges to vendors from as little as $350 dollars to over $4,000 were reported. “That in itself should have been a tip off,” feels Bill Heaton of the Great Bridal Expo. Heaton, the Kingfish of fanfare and longtime showman, said the lower number for a booth held in a convention center the size of the Hynes Venue made no sense. “With labor and all the associated costs, it would have been a loss for the people running the show,” he felt.
Heaton has been in contact with eWN saying he is actively involved in trying to help the vendors and brides, being familiar with a similar instance that happened in California several years ago. “We went in and credited the paid deposits from the vendors that would have been lost and applied it to our show; at least there was some good that came of it. We hope that this will not reflect poorly on all bridal shows in the future. Like everything in life, there are good and bad and people should not feel that an isolated case is reflective of our entire industry,” said Heaton today.
Others in associated businesses came forward. Jim Duhe of Bridal Guide said he was very concerned on the perception to the public. He, along with others, including Richard Markel and Heaton, said they plan to issue statements and cautionary guidelines to both vendors and brides in the future, telling them what to look for in bridal shows. “We hope to take this negative instance and take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again. In the meantime, we want to do whatever we can to help these people this weekend,” said Heaton.
eWedNews will be posting updates on Twitter, Face Book and Linked In and keeping you informed, as news develops.
eWedNews
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2010
Posted on 03/02/2010
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