Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/07/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  We had a free, zero down meeting with Formal Builder when my organization was looking to plan a formal. We were shopping formal companies to see who had the best deal. To get the free consultation meeting, they had us sign a large terms and conditions document. Within the document, there is a section which they vague used to ***** us for money when we decided not to go with their company. We had a 20 minute meeting with them and they alleged we owed them $21,000. After expressing issues with their business practices, they waited 9 months to send a follow up. I recently received an email from their lawyers alleging that we now owe them $31,000, and if we do not pay them they were threatening litigation or lawsuit. All of this for a 20 minute consultation meeting. They are an immoral company attempting to take money from college students.

  Business Response

  Date: 11/09/2023

  Hello *****, Im the Head of **************** here. Were ordinarily known for our exemplary customer experience here. We hope you accept our sincerest apologies for your recent experience with us.
  
  Your account has been placed with MCB and they will be in touch as soon as possible to try and make things right. If its more convenient for you, please get in touch with them directly as we no longer have access to your account. We are confident they will try to resolve your issue ASAP.
  
  Thank you for your review. All feedback is important to us and were sorry to hear youve had such a frustrating experience.
  
  **************************************************** office is now acting as the representative for Formal Builder regarding your accounts in question. Kindly update your records to reflect their representation and direct any future communication regarding this matter to ************************************************** office using the following contact information:
  
  Phone: ************** 
  
  Email: ***************************
  
  Address: ****************************************************************************

  Customer Answer

  Date: 11/09/2023

  We were sent to a debt collection agency for a debt we never agreed to. I would describe this company as predatory and immoral. They know their clientele and they understand how to take advantage of them though shady practices and aggressive verbiage. "We apologize you weren't satisfactory" is not enough for threatening my standing in my university, personal financial standing, and standing within my organization. 

  Business Response

  Date: 11/21/2023

  We pride ourselves on our Fraternity formal event planning services and the high quality standards that we have maintained for nearly 14 years. We ask that you contact the information posted prior as our company no longer has direct rights to your organizations account since it has been placed in collections. We do try to resolve this at the chapter level, but when that is no longer an option we must move our attention to our traveling clients who have adhered to their agreements. That being said, your MCB rep will do everything possible to find a reasonable and fair solution for you and that chapter.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/04/2023

  This is a blatant lie. Their collections agency has reported multiple times that the Formal Builder decided the outcome of this case. It is Formal Builder driving the predatory practices. 

• Initial Complaint

  Date:06/03/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I am submitting this response on behalf of the Zeta ********************* governed at the **********************************************. We contacted Formal Builder regarding having them plan our end-of-year formal party. We paid an initial $1,000 to begin the preliminary planning process and filled out an interest form to know what we wanted to have at our event. We stated that we wanted to have a couple price of $400, have 70 couples, and have the date of the event on May 21st. Upon receiving that, they provided us with the first invoice which included four packages. The cheapest package to choose from was $565. We emailed back stating it was too expensive and they provided another invoice with four packages. The cheapest package on this invoice was $523. Again, too expensive. Along with that, they were unable to accommodate the selected date for our event. We expressed our concerns and there was minimal to no acknowledgment. Prior to any agreements of service, our organization was no longer able to host an event. We relayed this information to Formal Builder and their response was such: We have three options, A) continue with the event B) sign a two-year agreement to use their services C) be sent to collections for the amount of the event that was not contractually agreed upon or scheduled (which is said to be $31,096.00). Our organization is in shock that FormalBuilder is charging us for an event in which the discussion never reached the most basic requirements, including venue, vendors, dates, and pricing. We have been continuously harassed and bullied and this seems like a deliberate attempt to coerce us into paying them for the event or, what they want most, our organization agreeing to their two-year non-competing contractual obligation. We would like this business to stop contacting us with their harassment techniques and threats of sending us to collections for an arbitrary monetary value as well as a refund of our deposit, $1,000.

  Business Response

  Date: 06/10/2022

  We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your chapter's complaint. After reviewing your organization's file, we reached out on several occasions to try and settle the matter. Your organizations failed to respond for weeks, then at a final effort management sent one more final request with a simple signature of an agreement that would have also settled the matter, we attached the invoice as well as the options to avoid further collection, unfortunately the individual decided to deny those options on behalf of your organization.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 06/16/2022

  Formal Builder's response is deceitful. We never had an agreement with any event, including date, time, transportation, venue, and vendors. The "invoice" is fictitious. We were in preliminary stages and discussing ideas until any progress was made with booking the event. Formal Builder's suggested resolution is egregious as we were not obligated to any form of an event. We continue to find their sense of reasoning illogical and without any merit. We hope the BBB recognizes the unreasonableness and illogical conclusions Formal Builder is claiming after a couple exploratory conversations.