Complaint Review: Well Being International Inc. (Fredrick Honig-owner)

At the beginning stages of planning, I found a wedding site I really thought we would like.  I had my "free" consultation with the wedding planner.  She told me her company (Maui Wedding Planners) represented the property.  I was never told they worked for another company other than the one I was calling and would be working with.  I was told there was a 10% coordination fee, which was great compared to other wedding planners on Maui.  I decided to go with this specific wedding planner, big mistake!  I was never told there were additional cost for a company, which I found out the night before the wedding. 

The night before the wedding, I was made aware that my wedding planner was very upset with my stylist for directing me to the stylist's website, which showed her work as well as her price list.  The wedding planner did not want me to see the actual price due to the significant mark-up that I was being charged for in addition to her 10% coordination fee.  This put me in a very uncomfortable situation.  I also asked many times why the prices were a certain amount.  My wedding planner, Nadia, never told me there was a mark-up even when I asked specifics regarding costs.  I was told that was what the vendor charged.  I would have been okay with a mark-up if it was explained to me and not kept a secret.  She was supposed to be getting me the best deals, but failed to tell me all the details of those "great deals."

On the wedding day, the transportation that came was not what I paid for and couldn't hold all of my guests.  In addition, one of the bouquets was not the correct bouquet.  They added things we did not want and messed up on things we did want.  The wedding assistant that was "required" at the site, who I also had to pay for, didn't seem to know what I wanted or what I had asked for regarding certain things.  She was also dressed completely inappropriate for a wedding even if it was in Hawaii. 

The next day when I contacted the company regarding my concerns, they explained they would look into the mistakes.  They also tried to blame me for not knowing about the mark-ups, even though I did ask specifics about pricing.  They explained that this was something I should have known.  The fact was, I didn't even know my wedding planner was tied to another company until we were well into the planning stages.  It was never an obvious thing, they made it very sneaky.  I also found out after many months that my wedding planner didn't even live in Maui where my wedding was taking place, she lived in Seattle.  I felt I was too far along to change wedding planners at that point. 

After many emails back and forth, over a period of 3 months, they agreed that the transportation did not hold the right amount of people going to the wedding site and the transportation company would refund me only for one way.  They felt because the transportation held the right amount going back, they would not provide a refund for this.  I was not happy about this because not only was there a problem with my guests going to the wedding site, it was not what I was told I would be getting or what I paid for.  I was told I would be getting a "classy" 14 passenger shuttle and that it would be very nice.  Instead, we got an old, rundown van that didn't hold the right amount of people.  I was unhappy with this, but they did not want to correct it.  I decided, after I felt like I was getting nowhere regarding the van, to accept the partial refund.  Also, the company finally agreed that the bouqet was wrong and that I would receive a refund for their mistake.  Yes, they tried to blame me for having the wrong bouquet originally.  When it came down to actually sending a check for the refund, which took many phone calls and emails to get the company to send out a check, they suddenly changed their minds and decided that they would not send a refund for the bouquet even though they already agreed to it. 

On top of these issue, I had a problem with the videographer that they hired for my wedding day and the video I received.  The videographer (DMI Video) was not what I expected at all and I was not pleased with him on the wedding day.  His style was different than I expected and when I asked him to just do the regular type of video, he made it clear that wasn't what he usually did and he continued to do what I asked him not to.  At that point there was nothing I could do, but hope his work turned out to be good.  Unfortunately, his work was not what I wanted and was very poorly done.  Since the company is responsible for hiring DMI video, I have attempted to seek compensation from them to no avail. 

I explained many times that they were responsible for the mistakes that happened according to their own contract we signed.  When they finally decided to comment on the contract, they decided to change the wording of the contract to benefit them.  They changed the wording from "up to a full refund" to "up to 40%."  I responded with a copy of my contract that my husband and I signed, which showed the discrepancy.  I have yet to resolve this or hear back from the company regarding their mistakes and any type of compensation. 

This company is only out to take your money and they will not correct their mistakes!  They have no interest in making things right, just getting their chunk of your money.  Stay away from this company!!  They are dishonest and unprofessional!  They also have many names they go by: Maui Wedding Planners; Well Being International, Inc.; Spirit of Aloha, Inc.; and A Marriage Made in Heaven.