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How to Avoid a Bridal Scam

To Boston brides who were scammed! Members of Bridal Show Producers International (BSPI) are offering free tickets to four legitimate bridal shows in your area! Call 800-422-3976, ext. 5078.

When the Big Boston Bridal Scam came to light this week, we went straight to Bill Heaton, CEO of The Great Bridal Expo Group (GBE), for his advice on how to avoid getting taken for a ride in the future by some very sophisticated scammers. (FYI, GBE and Bridal Guide have a long-standing relationship.) For those of you who haven’t heard what happened, here’s a rundown: A website called The Boston 411 recently appeared, advertising a bridal show billed as the “biggest and most extravagant” and invited brides and vendors to a Spring Home and Bridal Show at the Hynes Convention Center. Brides paid $10–$15 to pre-register, and vendors paid up to $4,000 to participate. Unfortunately for a lot of people, there was no bridal show.

Bill Heaton’s words to the wise:

  1. When you hear about any bridal show, check its track record before signing up. If the show is new, be skeptical. Heaton suggests going to The BSPI’s website, bspishows.com, to find out if the show belongs to the organization. If it does, this is an indication that it has met minimal requirements for legitimacy.
  2. A show must have at least a three-year track record before BSPI will even consider it for membership.
  3. If a new show sounds good to you, validate it by checking with other media sources within the industry: magazines, websites and other industry professionals. (Remember the old maxim: if something sounds too good to be true, it really might be!)
  4. Verify the venue where the new show is booked by checking the venue website or calling the venue directly.

“In the twenty-five years that I have been producing bridal shows in Boston,” Heaton says, “I have never seen such a flagrant disregard for ethical business practice and clearly criminal behavior, if things are as they were reported. This is a wake-up call.” Amen.

Posted by Susan at 12:37 p.m.