To think this woman is entirely deranged?

[annoyedatotherparents]

I’ve just had a big birthday, and hired a room in central London for a party. I booked a photo booth and thought I’d get a glitter backdrop for behind it as well. The first company didn’t do them so I found another one on Instagram that provides them, and booked it all months ago.
The woman in charge of the glitter wall company seemed fine, if slightly incompetent (lots of emails to me and the venue asking obvious questions) but all was ok until the day before the party when she says she’s unable to contact anyone at the venue and starts sending frantic emails again. I loop her in again, and she seems to have sorted it.
Then it’s the day of the party, and three hours before it starts she begins texting me again to say she’s too stressed about this all (ie lack of contact from venue) to come out now and wants to cancel the whole booking. I point out that’s not great to leave me with no notice, and she says her mental health has been triggered by this extremely stressful situation.
She’s now ignoring my messages asking for my money back. What on earth can I do? But also, surely proving glittery wall backdrops is literally the least stressful job ever?! How does she cope with everyday life?!

Well, if she has lots of loyal followers on SM and you leave a factual, negative review, she can gain sympathy with this tale.

I agree, though, she sounds bonkers and if it was an admin error, and she couldn't admit to this with apologies like an adult, saying she was unwell would have been easier.

If it really was stress-related, 'unwell' would cover that without the need to give a client chapter and verse.

Sorry you had that too @Mehmeh22! Wedding must have been far worse/more stressful!!

Yep, either a scammer or double booked herself. No way is anyone this discombobulated by delivering a glittery backdrop, if their full-time profession is delivering glittery backdrops.

Scam

Keep any review factual and brief. Say communication was difficult and she seemed to have problems liaising with your venue which you did not experience. That she cancelled at last minute.

This is a bit hard to follow. I think if you are going to post a review, make sure you post her actual emails so people can see how illogical it was. On the surface it’s hard to see what’s “triggering”, but she’ll likely have her own way to spin things

Have you asked the venue for their side of the story?

When was the party?

I can’t believe you handed over £250 to someone:

you had never met
didn’t have a recommendation for
thought seemed incompetent

I think you've lost your money.

This women may be “entirely deranged”

but I do think you were a little bit deranged yourself!

@Barrowgirl 😁 not deranged, just overly trusting perhaps!!

@Leavesofautumn I saw all the emails to and from the venue as I was copied into them. They were a bit slow at points at answering questions though they did eventually, but they offered to call her and go through everything and she didn’t respond to that.

I’m not sure I quite get what providing a “glitter wall” would entail. But.. it costs £250??

It does sound like she's a scammer. What a stupid thing to scam though. I mean just turning up with a curtain covered in glitter is surely quicker and easier than constructing an elaborate scam like this?

Why the hell does a glittery photo backdrop cost 250 QUID

but still yes she's either a complete drip or a scam artist

Goodbye money

You do know her postal address, right?

If she won’t give your money back, you can take legal action as a small claims.

When was your party?

What conflict did she have with the venue? Also why did she need to be in contact with the venue, I’m assuming she could deliver it to you at the venue and set it up there if it’s the kind of backdrop I’m thinking of which looks like a green screen

Have to say, I’d expect several glittery walls for £250?! Quite a cost. I can understand why you paid up front - it’s quite common in my business. But if I hadn’t met the person before for a consultation or whatever, I’d be dubious. Send the email and hopefully she’ll sort a refund.

There's doubtless liability insurance the provider has to pay, as well as the cost of transporting the wall to and from the the venue. £250 probably isn't unreasonable.

£250 for a ‘glitter wall’? I think she saw you coming honestly.

She does sound a bit irritating.

Sidenote - £250 to hire a glittery wall? I'm in the wrong job. 😂

I’ve just searched for these glitter walls and honestly? 99% of the images of these in situ with the balloons etc would look better without the glitter wall…

I think you’re all being a bit unfair to the OP, she entered into this arrangement in good faith. Lots of businesses expect payment in full before the event. The reverse could be said otherwise, once someone has provided their services, why would the recipient pay? That could leave the provider at risk. There has to be an element of trust at some point in the relationship. Anyway, I think this woman isn’t a scammer as that would be too weird and surely too much effort but I do think she is doomed to failure if performance of the basic service she is meant to provide is too much for her. She needs to find a less demanding line of work than glitter walls, I would suggest.