Fans of
Bridgerton who bought tickets for an evening ball in the theme of the Netflix historical drama series were disappointed after the ticketed event delivered far less than what was advertised.
Instead of being transported to a world of elegance and romance with fine dining and entertainment, costumed ticketholders arriving at Detroit’s Harmonie Club were served under-cooked food at a stripped-down venue that featured a dancer with a stripper pole.
According to WXYZ, the event had already been postponed from its August 25th date due to a venue issue and rescheduled for Sunday night.
Angered ticketholders were livid and shared photos and recollections of the event.
Many felt it was a scam reminiscent of the controversial unlicensed " Wonka experience" in Glasgow, Scotland early last year where visitors essentially entered a warehouse with scattered props and a bouncy house instead of what misleading advertisements promised would be an experience akin to stepping into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory as depicted in the movies.
The company responsible for organizing the event is as mysterious as Lady Whistledown's identity.
Uncle N Me LLC, who hosted the Bridgerton Ball, did not respond to 7 News Detroit's voicemails or text messages. When the reporters visited one of the listed addresses of one of the business co-owners, Chelsea Beard, whom they had previously spoken to, no one answered the door.
On X (formerly Twitter), Rachel Eaton warned never to attend any event run by Uncle & Me LLC.
They accused them of being "disorganized, dishonest" and that they would "take your money guilt-free."
Eaton also noted the organization did not provide refunds, "nor did they respond to anyone’s email asking for one."
"At that point I knew I got scammed lol," wrote the disappointed attendee.
Eaton shared several images, including a "poor lone violin player" as one of the entertainment offerings.
A follow-up post with a video showed a stripper and her dance pole, an element that would certainly be out of place in the world of Bridgerton.
Things didn't get any better.
Faye from Grosse Pointe was one of dozens who attended and felt scammed.
She told 7 News Detroit outside the venue:
"Honestly, I just want my money back.”
Amanda Sue Mathis, who dressed up like one of her favorite characters from her favorite show and made the trek from Shelby Township, said:
"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.”
"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."
"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 was none too pleased with the so-called people in charge.
"It was complete chaos today. They never even scanned our tickets,” she said. “Then there were random people that we had paid to eat dinner and there were random people all throughout the venue.”
Ayrton Hamrick took his girlfriend, who was celebrating her birthday, with a package called the “Duke and Duchess” that included a professional dance card, professional photo, valet service, dinner, music, and entertainment.
Hamrick said the $250 price point was misleading for what they experienced, saying:
"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.”
Camerin Morey and fellow fans looked forward to living out their Bridgerton dreams in their elegant gowns on Sunday night.
But when the experience fell way below expectations, Morey said she and her friends were all “really angry.”
"We had built up these expectations and the tickets were not cheap," Morey recalled, and cited malicious intent.
"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,” she said.
You can watch a news report here.
Social media users face-palmed.
The historic Harmonie Club, which hosted the scandalous affair, clarified they had nothing to do with the event itself.
In a statement, the owners of the venue wrote:
"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."
On Tuesday, Uncle N Me LLC released the following 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."
As of this writing, refunds were not issued.
