The first thing Brandi Ingram did when she contacted KPRC 2 Investigates was tell the man who had failed to fulfill his promise to her and many other small business owners and brides: Magnolia Wedding Expo. was to call.
Mr. Ingram’s attempts to contact event organizer Adam Dobres resulted in the same results that KPRC 2 Investigates encountered when he attempted to call two telephone numbers in Tennessee connected to Mr. Dobres. became.
Ingram and others are desperately trying to contact Dobres because, in Dobres’ words, they “don’t have any money.”
Ingram, 35, is the owner of NXT LVL Weddings and Events. Not only is she a small business owner, but at home she is also a mother of two young children. She claims she and others lost hundreds to Dobres.
Ghazi Asadullah, owner of Ashlin Manor in Magnolia, said hundreds of people are also out.
“Vendors who registered, including us, had to pay money,” Asadullah said.
Asadullah said Dobres took money from people but canceled at the last minute, and said she was worried about the reputation of the event venue. He added that Dobres had shown no insight for weeks about an event he was scheduled to host and told him he was in the hospital.
Asadullah thought his silence was unusual.
Ingram said she had a bad feeling Sunday morning when she and her assistant pulled up to the fair. They chose to showcase their services rather than creating once-in-a-lifetime memories, which they do on a daily basis over the weekend.
“It’s frustrating because we run a business and we’ve had our calendar booked since June for this particular exhibition. So we’ve decided to block it out completely and have a wedding. We’ve turned away a lot of brides who were requesting our services for the day of, and unfortunately, that’s what’s going on now,” Ingram said.
After speaking with NBC Tucson (KVOA) Chief Investigative Reporter Corus Nylander, KPRC 2 Investigates was able to confirm a documented history of Mr. Dobres’ hype events, but that promise went unfulfilled.
“He came onto my radar when I started hearing just numbers about how festivals all over the country were doing badly and not at all what their customers expected,” Nylander said.
The word he heard from customers who invested in Dobres-promoted events was “fooled,” and Nylander acknowledged that our call was what he expected.
“I’m not surprised at all. I pretty much expected a call like that and was waiting for a call,” he said.
Ingram told KPRC 2 Investigates that Dobres contacted her on Monday afternoon and insisted that she email a member of his team named “Rick” to request a refund.
Ingram said she and others may eventually file criminal charges with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.
KPRC Click2Houston Copyright 2023 – All rights reserved.