Wedding limo rip-offs
Reader Mail, WTF!?
By
on September 22, 2007
15 Responses
Bramwith Limousine © by exfordy, used under Creative Commons license.
Dear Ariel. I'm a bride from Southern Maine and while researching Limo companies in my area I came across Mr. Limo in Scarborough, who advertises 10-passenger limos. His "basic rate" is $45 an hour. His "wedding rate" is $250 for three hours including "complimentary red carpet service and champagne." So that's $115 MORE for the same thing only with "complimentary service"? Not too complimentary. I emailed him on this and here's his response:
"Hi Brittany,
In the limo business, special events are normally booked at 3 hours at a time and include red carpet and complimentary beverages at a higher rate, hence the difference. The same holds true for proms, etc. It's based on what the market will bear, not unlike many other service industries. I suspect you won't find a limo service that differs, but I wish you good luck.""What the market will bear"?! Brides everywhere need to stand up to this "market" and refuse to pay more than the average person!
I've been going through all my chosen vendors and getting a "wedding" quote then getting a "family reunion" quote. I refuse to book them unless they give me the price for the every day type event and not the rip off price! —BrittanyRae
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
Lara said
Agreed. The photobooth for my wedding is going to cost $300 more than the photobooth for my "family event". And they are on the SAME day in the SAME place. Seriously, these people can't even pretend not to be ripping people off.
Canadian bride said
These clips from BBC's "Man Stroke Woman" give humorous insight into how retailers suddenly increase the price with the word 'wedding.' Very funny, yet still disturbing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ff13zZ0h0k
Ang L. said
Yeah, I think I'll just happen to get married while I am hosting a family reunion. After all, that is my vision: to have the first family reunion between our two families, which will also be the reception. And, to accomplish the 500 or so guest list, we are probably going to end up in a park, which is cool by me!
Alison K said
So what if it's being sneaky? They're making us be sneaky by being so sneaky themselves!
Brittany said
I don't know if it will accomplish anything or not, but I reported him to the Better Business Bureau for false advertising. According to the BBB advertising rules you can't charge more for something when you advertise it as being "Free or Complimentary".
Jessie said
Good for you! I hope other people do the same, if they run into the same situation.
Bride Diva said
I stayed away from people who practiced that but it wasn't easy because a lot of vendors do. It's all a part of the money-hungry wedding industry.
megan said
I am running into the same thing when trying to get hotel room blocks. Every hotel ALWAYS asked for the reason why the room block was needed & I found I wasnt getting very good rates. So I then had my fiance call many of the hotels back and told them it was hor a family reunion & we were getting significantly better rates. So we ended up booking it as a family reunion of 2 families. it seems like this should be illegal!
cyndilee said
I would suggest when planning a wedding and looking for places to hold your wedding, when asked what is this for I started out saying its for a private party and I find that you almost always get a cheaper rate than a wedding rate. Why that is I have no idea but Im planning on my wedding and thats what I am doing to save a buck here and there!!
mary said
i just booked a bus online to take guests from my wedding to the reception. i did not specify the event was for a wedding and do not want to tell them. i'm concerned after the job they will adjust the rate (its a 500$ difference between point to point and "wedding" rates). could this happen? i cannot believe its legal for them to have different rates for the same service.
Kit said
I agree with him: get what you can take until you can't take it anymore. But you should have emphasized to him more not to use the word "complimentary" as it is an outright lie.
MidwestElle said
Let's shout this from the rooftops, ladies! Not only for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of all the ignorant folks who keep falling for this!!
Angela said
Canadian: It's the exact same limo service! They just added some shit champagne and doubled the price!
Mallory said
This drives me up a wall. I hate that I have to choose between lying and being sneaky to a business, or being charged a huge amount more because the word "wedding" was used. It's like there's some freaky love-tax going on here.
Sad that I already have to discuss with my family which vendors we're going to have to lie to. I don't like having to be dishonest, but I don't have the money to pay extra for the same damn service.
Ariel said
More about this issue: Should you lie to vendors about your wedding?