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Friday November 25, 2005

Bridal shop in embers, wedding plans in disarray

By FLORENCE A. SAMY

More than six soon-to-be-married couples have been left in a quandary when a bridal shop burnt down and efforts to contact the owner came to a dead end.

The angry couples, who paid between RM1,000 and RM4,000 each for their bridal albums and wedding gowns, claimed they had been cheated as the owner did not try to contact them or make an effort to return their calls.

In a fix over what to do and with their weddings looming near, the six couples went to a police station on Monday to lodge a report against the owner of the bridal shop.

The bridal shop, located in Jalan Ipoh, had burnt down on Nov 4.

The couples, some of whom would be getting married in a few weeks, said they had to fork out more money and spend extra leave days to look for new bridal shops to get gowns in time for their wedding.

They were also upset that their bridal photos, which took two months to do, would not be ready in time for their big day.

S. Mano, who is to be married this Sunday, said not only was his wedding plans disrupted but it would no longer be as special as they planned.

“We feel cheated as we have been left in the dark. I had planned to decorate the wedding banners using the photos. Now there won’t be any photos to show the guests. I even thought of postponing the wedding as most shops will not rent out a gown on such short notice.

“Luckily, we manage to get a new gown on Tuesday but I had to spend extra RM1,500 for the gown and new pictures,” he said, adding that he learnt of the fire on Nov 19 when he went there to collect his wedding album.

Another customer, Celine Poh, who is to be married next month, said the owner should be responsible and put a notice to update the customers on what was going on.

“We are very angry and upset as we had already paid RM2,300 to the first shop and now we have to pay another RM2,788 to get our gowns and photos done again.

“We tried to contact the owner many times, but our calls were not answered nor did they respond to our messages which we placed in front of the shop,” she said yesterday.

T. Malar, whose wedding is in early January, said not only did she have to fork out an extra RM2,600 but the hassle had caused friction between her and her fiancé.

“We are now short of cash because of this and our album won't be ready.

“The stress is also causing my fiancé and I to argue. Why is the owner not contacting us if there's nothing to hide?” she added.

A check with the Jinjang police station confirmed that police reports had been lodged against the bridal shop.

Efforts to contact the owner by The Star were also unsuccessful and calls were not returned.

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