We originally were very excited for the Bridal Expo 2022 at the AZ fair grounds. We picked a particular booth, paid the large fee, and got ready! Once we arrived, we were shown a booth we did not chose. They told us they moved us. We needed to set up and expressed we would have preferred the other location, and then agreed to stay where we were as we thought the crowd would pass us in a specific direction.
Once we were set up we went to grab some additional ties to hold our banner as they did not provide sufficient attachments to the backdrop we paid additional for. Once we returned, we were forced to pay parking fess as the show began within an hour, even as an exhibitor.
Then we were excited to begin our marketing and service as the doors began to open. The crowd was not very large. The majority were looking for free items, and the rest signed up for our giveaways.
We then noticed the majority of the vendors near us were not present, 3 to be exact. We looked like the center of a dead space.
From there we decided to talk to one of the individuals from the company, Annette Cora, whom we shared our dissatisfaction With.
From there we placed an email to the company stating our displeasure with the event and our disinterest in continuing in with future expos if they were to be held at the same location with the same marketing strategy.
Now, the company is trying to force us to pay for another year, claiming they did not receive our email, and that they will not cancel our contract. They expect to be able to charge us for their upcoming show that we have chosen not to participate in, along with the fact that they claim we never contacted them and therefore we are made to pay.
This is the worst type of show as they do not care about a vendor or client experience; they just want to be paid a large sum for a poor venue.
Claimed loss: Attempt to charge an additional year by contract
Desired outcome: Removed from future emails, exhibits, sponsorships, media, and anything to do with American consumer shows.