Superfans angry after Detroit's 'Bridgerton' ball is a bust

DETROIT (WXYZ) — A group of superfans of the hit Netflix series “Bridgerton” say they were left with a bad taste in their mouths after a themed event in Detroit turned out very differently than advertised.

The event was originally scheduled to take place on August 25 last month, but was canceled just days earlier due to venue issues. It was rescheduled for Sunday evening.

Dozens of people arrived at the historic Harmonie Club in ball gowns expecting to be transported to a fantasy world similar to the show, but said they were instead served undercooked food with little themed decoration and an exotic dancer and a stripper pole was presented as entertainment.

“Honestly, I just want my money back,” said Faye, of Grosse Pointe, as she stood outside the venue in her costume Sunday night.

7 News Detroit appeared at the end of the event. Our crews encountered several disgruntled participants.

“The way it was described was that this was going to be a Bridgerton evening. We wanted to have classical music and a good dinner. There would be a play and they would pick Diamond of the season. They would give away everything.” these prizes and we went in and it was completely empty. said Amanda Sue Mathis as she stood outside the Harmonie Club. “There's 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 said she traveled from Shelby Township and was excited to dress up like the characters in one of her favorite shows.

“I mean, all those dresses that you see on these beautiful women, we had them all made to fit us. So we spent extra money on costumes, all that beautiful beading, hairdressing and nails.” “It is what it is,” Mathis said. “It's heartbreaking. We should have had this last month. They canceled it and we were fine. We waited, they postponed it until today. We got a limo for it, did all these things and basically got an empty building.”

Charming Amecia Fuller-Ragland says she was also disappointed by the turn of events on Sunday night.

“Today there was complete chaos. They didn't even scan our tickets. Then there were random people we paid for dinner and there were random people all over the venue.” Fuller-Ragland said.

Ayrton Hamrick says he and his girlfriend came to the event on Sunday to celebrate her birthday. Hamrick says they purchased the so-called “Duke and Duchess” package, which cost $250 and included a professional dance ticket, professional photo, valet parking, dinner, music and entertainment.

“It was definitely the price that gave us this expectation of luxury, royalty, class and the Bridgerton experience and as soon as we arrived at the event we were told there would be valet parking and we would end up self-parking and for would have to pay for parking.” Hamrick said.

Camerin Morey says that as a big fan of the show, she and her friends were excited to dress up on Sunday, but were disappointed.

“We were all very angry about it because we had built up these expectations and the tickets weren't cheap,” Morey said. “I definitely think that the people at this company were just out to make money and maybe try to copy a successful event, but they had absolutely no idea what they were doing or they just didn't care and They had no problem taking people's money.”

The venue's owners, the historic Harmonie Club in downtown Detroit, sent the following statement about the event:

We want to make this clear; The historic Harmonie Club is a new venue and events center in Paradise Valley in downtown Detroit. The Harmonie Club can be rented by anyone 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, e.g. B. Providing appropriate back-of-house facilities and a management team; The planning, programming and implementation of the actual events is carried out by the venue tenants, organizers and their teams. Thank you for your understanding. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.

The company behind the event, Uncle N Me LLC, has since disabled comments on its social media posts regarding the event.

7 News Detroit came to the venue to see if anyone from Uncle N Me LLC would be there to clean up the event but had no luck. We also went to an address listed for one of the company's co-owners, Chelsea Beard, who we had previously spoken to. However, no one opened the door. In addition, our teams called Beard, left voicemails, text messages, and called an Uncle N Me LLC media representative, 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 had hoped for at our last event on Sunday evening at Harmonie Club and for that we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to provide a magical evening, but we recognize that organizational challenges detracted from the fun. We accept full responsibility and responsibility for these shortcomings.

Please know that we are working diligently to address all concerns to ensure that all guests have the pleasant experience they deserve. Your feedback is invaluable and we greatly appreciate the positive and constructive comments you share with us.

We are examining possible solutions, which will be communicated shortly. Your understanding and loyalty mean a lot to us and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.”

Uncle N Me LLC

“Bridgerton” fans say the company needs to do the right thing.

“I think we should absolutely get refunds and quite frankly I never want this company to do business again,” Morey said.

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