Pronuptia - Chelmsford : Please help!

C.O.Y.S - when I contacted FRP last Thursday they were very helpful and contacted the director and got back to us promptly. Hopefully they will continue to be so. We also received the letter today, as had 8 suits paid for (but luckily I managed to get my dress from the director last week). I imagine a lot of people will have that land on their doormats and that be the first news they had had that the company was no longer. Would you advise us attending or should we just claim via VisaDebit / insurance? We have never had dealings with liquidators before. Thanks

Sorry but from experience dealing with pronuptia franchises going under there is never any money to pay creditors your best bet is direct with the owners or through a credit card company if you used a visa card etc.

We helped another wedding today for suits in 2 weeks time. if any of you are stuck please contact us we have the most stock in the area and will help anyway we can with suits. just quote pronuptia chelmsford and we will help with a 15% discount

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about everyone's trouble with this! I have my Wedding Dress in Pronuptia Romford, all paid for and out the back. Does anyone know if this Pronuptia Shop has been affected?

Also, we are getting our Wedding Suits from Mr Savile in Brentwood, I don't know if this is an option for anyone who has been messed around by Pronuptia Chelsmford! xxx

I have sent a few your way in the last couple of days (for dates that I am fully booked). There was one couple who needed suits for this weekend and I could not do it. I hope you guys managed to help, they seemed like a nice couple. If I get any more, is it OK to send them your way and tell them about the discount?

Marc

Hi,

Welcome to Hitched. As far as I know it is fine. Pronuptia are franchises, so they are all seperate businesses so one should not affect the other.

Marc

P.S. I haven't heard from Mr Saville for a while. Its good to know they are still going, been there years!! ?

Thank you Yes, I have called Pronuptia Romford this Morning and they are now called Bridal Shop, I think they said, and they also said they are unaffected, which is good!

Yes Mr Savile is still there! Our Suits are all sorted through them now, so fingers crossed they stay going strong!

I paid my £550 deposit for my wedding dress on the 26th February 2011, I then received a letter from FRP Advisory telling the shop is going into liquidation.

Surely they would have known the day I paid for my dress they were going into liquidation and yet they still took my money!!!

I have since phoned FRP Advisory and they told me there is no way I will be getting my money back as I paid a cash deposit. I can try and claim it back but I’ll be lucky if I get anything.

What makes it worse is the night before I visited the shop to get measured I was burgled so losing my deposit on my dress just adds insult to injury!

I just can’t believe they were all smiles and so helpful and yet they were quite happy to rip me off.

I’m so angry – I don’t know where I can take it from here.

hi

i have been to the police and to trading standards and they dont seem to care alot really. its going to be in the essex chronicle hopefully this thursday. i havent even had a letter from the liquidation company i just rang them and they told me they would ring me this week but still havent heard from them.

the whole situation isnt good as he was selling the week before he closed the shop. i have tried to ring the owner but he doesnt seem to answer his calls.

try and go to the police as they may listen to more than one person.

I have spoken to FRP and because i paid my deposit in cash i definitely won't be getting any money back because as it stands they have no assets that can be ceased!

I'm now buying the same dress from another shop Confetti and Lace in Lakeside they have been really helpful they are going to honour the price of the dress.

I hope you all have better luck then i have! Lesson has been learnt this time i won't be paying for anything else it will all go on my card so at least i'll be insured.

I have tried to contact the owner of the company at home no such luck they are either out or just simply not answering the phone.

Hollie12 my wedding dress is AA if i find any contact details i will let you know.

As my wedding isn't until June nxt year it is very unlikely they even ordered it.

Good Luck to all of you.x

Dear all,

Thanks for all your calls - and those willing to pose for a picture! An article on the problems at Pronuptia will be in tomorrow's Essex Chronicle. If you're not in our circulation area (Chelmsford, Braintree, Maldon) then I'm sure it will go up on our website in a few days (thisistotalessex.co.uk).

I'm sure by now everyone has been in touch with the administrators in Hornchurch - and realised that without wedding or credit card insurance you'll be slapped down as an unsecured creditor - and in for a long slog to get your money back.

If so - there's still a couple of options. I know some who ordered dresses a while back have managed to go through the suppliers and get your items back. And some have managed to go directly to the owner's house and pick up your dress (apparently he smuggled loads back before administrators got them).

I don't feel comfortable giving out the address but I know a few of you on this forum have it - so, those wanting to go with this option, best to use this message board to find it out.

Goodluck with it all - and best of luck with the weddings (hopefully you'll have something to wear!!)

James

James Drummond | Reporter | **** 348| www.thisistotalessex.co.uk

making local matter more

The Essex Chronicle Media Group l Westway l Chelmsford l CM1 3BE l ****

Hi Hollie,

I have found the telephone number for Alfred Angelo, i called them about my dress and it has been ordered.

They have told me i can buy it direct from them so i hopefully won't be losing my deposit after all (fingers crossed)!x

There telephone number is ****. Give them a call to find out if your dresses have been ordered, they have been getting alot of call from people about Pronutia in Chelmsford and were really helpful.

Good Luck hun - Let me know if you get anywhere with them!x

Our suits are also with Pronuptia but in Nottm. They have recently changed there name to Mia Sposa. Sorry I know that's not much help at all. I hope you get your dress back ☹️

Lally Hay - sorry for the late reply. Going to the creditors'meeting will not help you get your money back, as FRP have confirmed that there are no prospect of dividends to unsecured creditors (such as ourselves).

If you have paid by card use that as your first recourse, as you should be entitled to a full refund (provided you did not use a Maestro card). Insurance will probably charge you some excess so speak with your Bank first.

Attendance to the creditors'meeting will be very helpful only for those on here who want to discuss matters with the director of the company. I understand that some of you have tried to contact him at home but he was not available: the meeting will be your chance to express your views and obtain some extra information!

So, essentially, only go to the meeting if you want your voice heard. Don't expect anything back in terms of money, but you could be able to retrieve some information and..a good old face to face confrontation with the business director may make you feel relieved!

Thanks marc. yes by all means send any our way we can always make stock qucikly. And fine with the discount as well.

regards

iain

Hi,

Im new to this site.

I found out yesterday about Pronuptia in Chelmsford after receiving my letter from FRP. My heart nearly fell out of my backside.

I spoke to an extremley helpful lady called Elizabeth at FRP. She was great.

Im very fortunate to collect my wedding dress last night which i believe was salviged from the store. Not too sure for definite. It had been paid in full since last September. My bridesmaid dress, an Alfred Angelo dress is still in the main stores and after speaking to Alfred Angelo yesterday, they are sending me forms to fill in as i am now technically under a new agreement with them and after an additional courier fee i should get my bridesmaid dress soon (i really hope so).

For any ladies who have not yet received their dresses etc.., I cannot stress to say how sorry i am, if i can help in anyway, please let me know.

I dont understand how my bridesmaid dress next got ordered!

i ordered my dress in november and had to pay half of the cost then i had another phone call in january saying i had to come in to pay the other half. the dresses are now 4 weeks over due and i find out that the bloke didnt even place my order he just took my money.

why do i seem the only person this has happened to.

contact me if anyone else is in the same situation as me.

x

Hi Hollie,

Did you phone Alfred Angelo?

x

We had a problem with a bridal shop in Surrey for my b2b's bridesmaids dress for her sisters wedding last year - they have subsequently gone under as well.

We contacted Alfred Angelo to find out if it had been ordered, and it had but was in their warehouse awaiting release - possibly as he hadn't paid the bill.

If you have an Alfred Angelo dress it might be worth checking to see if it's sitting in their warehouse in Milton Keynes awaiting delivery to the store.

I have rung them to see if they have my dress but they said they havent. they thought that he had ordered us the dresses but in a different colour, but when we went to a different bridal shop they spoke to them and the hadnt got ours or the other dresses.

thanks for trying to help me

i just cant believe that this would happen.

x

x

Hi All

I have just read about Pronuptia in the local paper today. My sister in law to be has ordered her dress from here but she is currently in New Zealand for the month, so my brother is trying to sort it out.
We have got the number that the paper gave out, so I have left him calling that. Can anyone give me any advice or information on what has been happening if they are in the same situation with this company so I can pass it on to him.

Would be a great help, thanks

Jules

Hi Jules,

I have been told by FRP that as it stands Pronuptia have no assets, so the likelyhood of getting a refund is nil!

If your sister-in-law paid the money by card then she will need to speak to the card company about getting her money back. But if she paid cash like me then unfortunately there is nothing that can be done.

There is one other option which to find out the designer of her dress and to call them direct to see if the dress is on order.

My dress is made by Alfred Angelo so i called them and fortunately my dress has been ordered so i am now going direct through them which means i haven't lost the deposit i gave Pronuptia.

I hope this helps!

I thought this would be the issue. Its really annoying as cant remember if she used the credit card or not, fingers crossed she did.

Lets hope she can still get the dress from the supplier. It will be horrible for her and other brides to have to find another dress

I am totally shocked that this has happened, the shop has been so busy each time we have gone in to look - arghhh

Thank you so much for your help

Any brides who are fortunate enough to have their dresses from Pronuptia but need altering can contact us - Bird's Birdal **** and we will try to help.

Any dresses ordered from Trudy Lee via Pronuptia can be delivered to Bird's Bridal, contact us for more information.

Any brides who are fortunate enough to have their dresses from Pronuptia but need altering can contact us - Bird's Bridal **** and we will try to help. Any dresses ordered from Trudy Lee via Pronuptia can be delivered to Bird's Bridal, contact us for more information.

Update:

I would advise any brides that are still trying to find their dresses to get onto the designer of the dress and ask them for their advice. In my case, I had a Sophia Tolli dress on order - Apparently, Sophia Tolli have arranged that any of their dresses that have been ordered by Pronuptia are going to now be delivered to Serenity Bridal in Colchester. Happy circumstance (and luck) led me to finding out that my dress was going to be sent there instead and they seem to have a bit of a list of them.

Hope that this helps some people

Hi all, just received this from administrators.

Kind regards, James

FRP Advisory appointed Joint Liquidators to Pronuptia Bridal and Mens’ Formal Wear in Chelmsford

Ascott Trading Limited (Pronuptia Chelmsford), which ceased trading on 29 March 2011, has been placed into liquidation with the appointment on 13 April 2011 of Joint Liquidators Martin Weller and Glyn Mummery of FRP Advisory LLP, the specialist restructuring, recovery and insolvency firm.

The boutique store, situated in Chelmsford, Essex, supplied Pronuptia bridal, bridesmaid and formal mens’ wear ranges, as well as creations from leading bridal collection designers such as Sophia Tolli, Alfred Angelo, D'Zage and Trudy Lee.

Commenting on the situation, Martin said: “Further to our instruction on 24 March 2011 and a review of the Company’s finances, due to the extent of its liabilities, brought about by the economic downturn, high rent and rates, as well as local competition, it was not feasible to attempt a rescue of the Company and liquidation was unfortunately the only option."

“Following our appointment as liquidators, we will now take steps to realise the assets of the Company for the benefit of creditors."

All four staff have been notified and the Joint Liquidators are providing assistance, where practicable, in the processing of their redundancy claims.

The Liquidators have been liaising with customers to arrange alternative supply of dresses/menswear and obtain refunds of deposits/monies paid where applicable.

The company was able to secure dresses for 10 brides with imminent weddings.

Clients with existing orders should contact Liz Heggs, Senior Administrator, FRP Advisory, on Tel: +44(0) **** or Email: *********.*****@***********.***

LALLYHAY HELP !!!!!!!!! My wifes dress went back to Pronuptia for cleaning, and we were waiting to hear from them when done. We selected the bridal box and have not heard anything since!

Please can you send me the details so I can contact them and get to the bottom of this. My wife is distraught as you can imagine.

Thanks so much for your help.

UPDATE : Called liquidators, and they called owner who then contacted me personally to advise drees was in his possesion. They said it was cleaned, but not boxed, but to be honest I just wanted the dress back.

When I got home, I saw that it WAS NOT cleaned as the owner had said (and his staff in the shop advised prior to going out of business) so the pocketed my GBP150 for cleaning and dress box for absolutly nothing. Unfortunately, cash was paid, so I have lost out, but given the troubles some have had with them, I'm thankful I got away quite lightly.

Good luck to eveyone still trying to get things sorted!!

Calling all Sophia Tolli Brides

Like you all i bought my dress (luckily by Credit Card) in March and when i was in New Zealand was told they had gone into liquidation

I then started to ring around looking for the exact dress, the first shop i tried was one in Colchester, Serenity Brides, and Tolli house had sent them all our orders, they just werent given any contact details so all they have is your surname and the dress which are all still on order, they presumed we had all been given this info but hadnt been. You will have to rebuy the dress unfortunatly.

Hope this was a help to anyone

Charlie