ComplaintsforFrancesca's Element LLC

• Initial Complaint

  09/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  ********* elements promised to complete a few resin items made from my wedding flowers. I paid them to complete the job and sent them my all of my wedding flowers. The expected time frame was about 6 months. I had reached out several times asking why the wait was so long. They explained it was due to the flooding in *****. I was graceful once hearing the news. After a year of waiting for my flowers, they finally said they would be working on my flowers. Another 3-4 months passed and I had not heard from them. I soon get an email saying they went bankrupt and that they would he shipping my flowers back to me. I have yet to receive my flowers back. This has happened to so many brides. I want a refund AND my flowers back.

• Initial Complaint

  09/11/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I paid for and sent my bridal bouquet to Francescas Element last year after my wedding. They were to dry my flowers and set them in resin. I paid for the services and never received them. They sent an email at the end of July saying they had to close down and orders would not be finished.

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I found this business online that preserves your wedding flowers. When I placed my order I had to prepay $715.00 for them to take my order. This was in January of 2022 as my wedding was in July 2022. I followed all the steps and sent in my flowers. I was informed when they received my flowers. I was contacted by them in February of 2023 saying they had a flood but my flowers were safe and they were working on them. I recently in August 2023 looked them up on social media because I haven't heard anything from them and found that they have filed bankruptcy and never contacted me. I then found a ************** of other people who also were in the same situation as me. Some received emails about the closing and other didn't. I did not receive anything saying they closed. I found a number and ****** form on the social media page to fill out to try and get my flowers back. My husband also called and left a message. They texted him the next day saying they are working through hundreds of flowers to return and they did receive my ****** doc to get them returned. When he asked about the refund he was told they would not refund as they have no money and to file a complaint with our bank. Reading through the ******** page it seems a lot of people have found them to be scamming people and are filing charges as they will not refund them or send them their flowers back. I want to make sure they are held accountable and people get refunded their money. As they already took something from all of us as we may never get our wedding flowers back and the memories that go along with it. Thank you for helping us in this situation.

• Initial Complaint

  09/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I paid them on March 16th to preserve my flowers from my wedding that is scheduled for 4/6/2024. Was notified on July 31st that the business will not be able to fulfill my order. I did not receive a refund. I am looking for a refund as services will not be completed.

• Initial Complaint

  08/25/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Transaction Date: July20, 2022 Amount: $1,033.80 Commitment: To provide flower preservation in the form of a serving tray, purse, oval ring dish, and two round ball tea light holders.Dispute: Merchant kept pushing eta of items back and in July shut down all of their accounts and did not provide any items or money reimbursement. Business is ignoring all forms of communication and has made it clear to their clientele that they will not be providing any assistance whatsoever. Invoice Number #**** Tried to get reimbursed from my bank and was denied due to the merchant being a "Money transfer merchant with no protection for goods or services." Additionally, I have a plethora of email exchanges, with no indication from the merchant, that the purchased items were never to be delivered.

• Initial Complaint

  08/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  In October 2021 I paid them over $500 for flower preservation for my July 2,2023 wedding. In May of 2023 I sent them more money for add ons for my upcoming wedding. The day after my wedding, July 3,2023, I sent them my flowers. Everything was fine until I get an email I will attach stating they are indefinitely out of business. They still have my flowers and will not send money back. There is a small chance they will send my flowers but there is no form of communication now available to their clients.

• Initial Complaint

  08/14/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Paid amount via credit card on 6/4/2022. Charge posted on 6/6/2022. Amount of $935.28. Charge was made as a prepayment for a service from Francescas Element LLC. Service was for custom resin items to be made to preserve wedding flowers in different items. The service was paid in full due to discount being offered to pay in full. It also requires you to reserve a spot &book months in advanced (why I paid in full in June). My wedding took place 9.2.22, we sent the flowers via 2 day shipping. Were told to expect 4-6 months for completion, yet there were email correspondence explaining delays &reasons it would not be finished in time. The last email from company stated they were issued a cease &desist &will stop all operations &that no refunds will be given &to make a dispute with your credit card. Below is a timeline. 6/24/22- paid in full 6/6/22 posted to credit card. 8/22/22- Text from ******* (employee) about recent flood &new address. 8/26/2022- email about new address, shipping instructions, bouquet care, purchase agreement, etc. 9/2/22- Sent flowers (missed overnight option so we sent via 2 day shipping) 9/4/22- Text to ******* asking about flower arrival, she said shed check then didnt message back. 9/7/22- email from company confirming flowers arrived with picture. 10/29/22- email from company about flowers are out of silica and reviewed/repaired if needed. 11/11/22- email from company for design approval/stating they will be placed upstairs and awaiting the resin que which could take 4 months and 6 months for completion of items. 3/8/23- email from company about flood and firther delays 7/4/23- email from company updating about fulfilling June 2022 orders, also update about workflow/delays/ and notice of upcoming portal. 7/20/22- email from company for customer portal invite. Flowers were 75% complete for the awaiting resin. 7/31/23- email from company- urgent announcement. There is no evidence in public record that company has filed bankruptcy yet.

  Customer response

  08/14/2023

  These are the dried flowers that were returned. Completely unusable and were not properly preserved nor cared for. The average preservation artist would reject these and request new to make a beautiful resin piece with- which would cost even MORE than the $935 spent with this company.

  No refund, no finished product, no usable flowers returned. This is repulsive.

• Initial Complaint

  08/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  In October of 2021 I found Francescas Element via Instagram. They sold wedding flower keepsakes that were preserved in epoxy and designed into a product (trays, coasters, earrings, etc.). I made 5 separate payments of $140 each plus tax and had completed these payments in the early months of 2022. We had agreed upon my custom tray that my flowers would be laid in and also free coasters were to be included with this purchase. I shipped them my flowers following the instructions given to me (which cost me an additional $300) after my wedding this past December. I missed their initial email from April and responded to their email on June 19th asking that they text me a notification that my product was awaiting design approval. An employee named ****** responded saying it would be no problem. I received a text from ****** on July 10th and July 12th regarding the order and responded to approve the designs. On July 31st I received a very long and shocking email from Francescas Element stating that they had cease and desist orders after violating a non compete contract and had gone bankrupt in the midst of litigation. Stating that they would attempt to get products and flowers back to people as they were able. I received an incomplete product with a note telling me that I could take the product to another experienced professional to have them finish and fix any of the imperfections. I never received the coasters. The business cut off all ways for customers to reach out to them and inquire about products, refunds, etc. This truly feels like Ive been scammed and also cheated out of some amazingly special memories from my wedding day. It feels wrong that this business can get away with this without reimbursing their customers. They continued to take peoples business up until this past month knowing that they would soon have to shut operations down; Essentially stealing from brides.

• Initial Complaint

  08/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Paid ******************************* and ********************************* $530.19 on 4/6/2021 for wedding flower resin casting and preservation art services. My wedding was postponed due to covid and subsequently commenced on 11/20/2022. The flowers were shipped to the company address and received by the company 8 days later on a 2 day priority mail shipping container, with insurance, that confirmed arrival within 2 days. The flowers were photographed and included in a email showing significant damage. As such, I was promised replacement florals, via email, for the art pieces. I was sent a very misleading email suggesting a flood had occurred in April of 2023, causing a significant delay to their product completion and delivery. However, the flood actually occurred back in August of 2022 (before my wedding even occurred. Several other customers have provided evidence of this misleading fact with the same scripted email (sent on several different dates between December 2023-June 2023) from the company about a flood delaying their processing. This was misleading and terrible business practice as all clients should have been informed at the time the flood happened so that they could have been offered a refund if the flowers hadnt yet been shipped. The company continued to waste time and take peoples hard-earned money, despite the fact that they knew about their inability to continue business effectively. Most recently, the owners have emailed clients claiming that they cannot provide refunds for services that were not completed since they will be filing for bankruptcy. Shockingly, one of their former employees even set up a go-fund-me page asking the public for financial assistance to help them acquire art materials and money to help feed themselves and their dogs. Meanwhile, there were also social media posts about how successful their business was and how they made over $400K with their art/preservation company. Now we are lucky to even get our correct flowers and keepsakes back unfinished.

• Initial Complaint

  08/09/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  I made four payments of $220.56 to *********'s Element on the following dates: 12/29/2022, 02/03/2023, 02/27/2023, and 03/20/2023. I prepaid for my wedding bouquet to be preserved after my wedding on 10/28/2023. On 07/31/2023 myself and every other customer (over 400 people) received an email stating the comapny was closing down, leaning towards bankruptcy, and "refunds will be given where we are able". To my knowledge, NO ONE has received a refund. I attempted to dispute the charges with my bank, and was told that since the payments occured more than 120 days ago that the disputes were declined. I am now out over $800 and I will not be receiving any product. I am a member of a ************** where others have shared their experiences with this situation. Numerous individuals have received partially completed products, or dried flowers with no instructions on what to do next. Other's have received incomplete orders, completely incorrect items, or a mess of what should have been their dried bouquets. *********'s Element has made excuse after excuse as to why they cannot refund, stating they were going bankrupt, however there are no records of any bankruptcy on file. Instead of taking accountability and owning up to their mistakes, ********* and ******* have made excuses and their email was nothing but an attempt to make customers feel bad for them, when in reality we were lied to and stolen from.

*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. ↩