Makeup artist arrived more than 1 hour late on my wedding day - and threatened me when I asked for a discount to reflect the stress caused
I booked wedding hair and makeup for 550CHF as a special treat which I had saved up money for, for my wedding day - which I was extremely excited about and communicated to the team at Beauty Concierge over 6 months before my wedding day.
I was told by their team (via instagram) that usually 2 make-up artists (MUAs) arrive, and (via whatsapp) I had provided them with details such as venue location and timings 2 months before the wedding day. A couple of days before, we agreed the final timing for the company's arrival.
On my wedding day - 7 minutes later than the agreed arrival time - no one had arrived therefore I rang the whatsapp number - no one picked up. After having to search on Google - I called the number of the MUA (the CEO herself) who was still on route to the location. Around 1 hour later she called me asking for the venue name and a live location (despite me giving this information 2 months in advance). She therefore arrived over 1 hour late on my wedding day. Despite the company being from a place that's less than 1 hour away from the venue. And only 1 MUA arrived. I was so stressed I couldn't even eat before she arrived - my brother had to feed me whilst the MUA prepared me.
I had to adjust my timings accordingly to ensure I did not have a rushed job of hair and makeup and even then she had to work very fast and later on I realised she'd left fake eyelashes and glue on me (which I'd firstly requested no eyelashes over whatsapp prior, and after her insisting I gave it a try but asked her to remove them). I had to start getting my dress on...therefore there was no time to make any adjustments that I would've wanted - I felt like I just had to say "yes" and "thank you" just to ensure nothing following was delayed any further.
I have given her 2 stars rather than 1 as she still did my hair and makeup.
Despite the surrounding rush of my wedding morning, she requested payment on the spot to which I said I'd sort out at a later time (given she was more than one hour late). Through instagram, all I had been told was that I'd need to pay after the service but no clarity as to exactly when or how.
3 days later I received 6 missed calls in the space of 1 hour and a chaser message to pay - with no apology or commercial gesture given despite her extreme lateness on my wedding day. I therefore emailed giving my rationale asking for a reduction in the cost especially for such an expensive service that was not delivered with the Swiss Hospitality and stress-free wedding morning that they claim on their website.
She then WhatsApped me a series of threats - asking me to pay the outstanding invoice immediately - but I had not received a single invoice or clear means of payment. The threats included photos and videos of me smiling (as obviously, I smiled on my wedding day especially when in front of a camera) and the mention of using social media.
She also replied a series of lies - saying that I had agreed to pay in cash on the wedding day (which is absolutely not included in any communication) and that she stayed 2 hours extra (I have timestamps on the contrary).
She then @mentioned me in an Instagram story as a means of threat to tell her falsified version of events. I had to get Swiss Ombudsmen advice on how to respond, and I informed her of their advice - yet she still demanded immediate payment and continued to add Instagram stories, therefore she carried out threats of payment under coercion. I had to ring the police who recommended I pay purely to stop her threats and harassment.
I had to ask again for an invoice - and even this had incorrect dates etc. and they still had not provided an up to date means of payment but kept chasing me...I finally paid once they had given the payment means.
Even if there was no discount - a simple, honest apology would've been fine. But instead the CEO was immediately vicious.
Extremely disappointing, unprofessional and untrustworthy service - it absolutely does not follow the Swiss Hospitality they claim. Also something very dodgy about them urgently needing a cash payment...