Bridal Show Scam? HELP!

I just got this call today and am supposed to meet tomorrow. I am nervous now seeing the mixed answers from everyone. I guess I am seeing you have to buy the product to actually get the prizes?

Why would someone willing to pay $680 just to get 2 extra days for the free trip ???? Thats like a whole trip price ! Plus the airfare ! And all the blocked out dates ! Do the math, you can easily book a trip yourself for the same price without all the hassles and restrictions !

Plus you have to pay expensive fees and taxes to get your "free" prizes.

And the product they are selling is always expensive ! why pay $2000-$3000 for pots and pans ? Even Martha would not pay so much for hers lol

And its a big red flag when they offer people freebie to put good words for them !

Just like anything, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is !

View Quoted Comment Did you ever get your trip? I received a call from them today.

View Quoted Comment Did you ever get your trip? I got a call from them today.

We got something similar. We ended up not going and I'm glad. Not worth it for us.

View Quoted Comment So it is a real thing i got a call saying we one a trip and also 300$ in gift cards and also 30% off our bridal registry and my fiancé was just like totally scam but i still want to go to see

Are all of these different companies? Are they in different or the same area? The one that contacted me was Nutri Health Tech and they were selling Carico Cookware. I went to a preview they held Friday night in Athens, GA and emailed in my "gift certificates" for the trips on Saturday.....no emails back yet. Also, I noticed on their Facebook that they only had like 500 likes, but the guy doing the show encouraged us to take out our phones and the first one to like the page would win a prize....so I would have thought there would be more likes if they did this often? Red flag....I would really, really hate for my fiance to be right and it be my fault for us wasting a Friday evening by me dragging us to that event.

It's not a scam, but it is a terrific waste of time.

Scam, sadly, every bridal show I went to I got a phone call like this... as my mom put it, bridal show's are not what they used to be.

Hello,

My fiance and I attended a presentation this past Friday and here's our take:

Is it a scam? - No.

Is it a sales pitch? - Yes. It's very similar to "pop-up" show cases that people host out of their home (think Avon, Amway and Pampered Chef). You will be asked to buy something, but you absolutely do not have to buy anything to receive the gifts. Bear in mind that these are not cheap cookware sets by any sense of the word, so if you're going in thinking that you'll buy something costing less than $1700 (this is the price after the 40 - 60% off discount), you will be disappointed. They do offer monthly installment options if you are seriously interested, and they run roughly the same amount as a standard cellular phone or cable bill. You and your family members will also be eligible to receive a 60% lifetime discount and will receive an additional gift (8 day/7 night all-inclusive resort stay) for buying a pot/pan set after the demo (and be sure to ask them about cheaper sets - you're eligible for an additional gift as long as you buy any pot/pan set. Make use of the catalog that you'll be given). With that being said, the cost can climb very quickly. Don't be swayed by the additional vacation time offers if you can't fit it into your lifestyle and remember that you are responsible for the travel expenses.

Did we receive all of the gifts that we were promised? - No, however, this will require some follow up. During our discussion with the NHI bridal department representative, we were told that we would be receiving three gifts; a gift card for any wedding band from Forevermore Rings (we received a gift card from JVI Jewelry. They may be a partner, but we haven't researched this yet. You will be charged $25 for delivery), a 3 day/2 night all-included resort stay outside of the United States OR a 3 day/2 night hotel stay within the United States (got it - only catch is that the check in date has to be on a Sunday), and $1000 worth of grocery coupons (nope - we need to follow up with the bridal department). We did receive one unexpected gift; crystal toasting flutes ($25 for delivery/insurance).

Is it worth attending? - If you are interested in or enjoy cooking, and you have a good presenter, it can be a lot of fun. If neither of these stars align for you, then it will be 90+ minutes of torture with free goodies at the end. Anyone who easily caves to sales pitches and has buyer's remorse afterward probably should not attend. You will end up buying a very expensive something.

Our personal experience was a good one. The presenter was funny, interesting, informative and stayed behind to help with order processing and to answer any questions. He invited us to ask questions throughout the demonstration and we were given a sample of the food mid-way through the demo (this is not a dinner portion, but it's not a small snack either. Again, it all depends on the person presenting). Although we were extremely impressed, we walked away without buying anything, deciding to do our own research before making that expensive of a commitment. After looking at the prices and hearing about the additional vacation package, my fiance rationalized that you're basically paying for a resort stay, but getting free pots and pans. Whatever you do to make yourself feel better about how much you're spending is totally up to you :-).

In short, I don't feel like I was mislead or ripped off. I was not asked for money or information up front and was not obligated to purchase anything. It did consume a good part of the evening, but if you have nothing else to do that night, there's no real harm done.

I got the same prize all you have to do is probably attend their cooking show you do recieve the vacation and gift card for free wedding bands.

It is legit, I went to one of those with all the same perks, you just have to sit through probably an hourish of a cookware show and you get the papers for all that. I ended up winning 5 different vacations lol. Gave one to my FMIL for going with me since my FH could not. The champagne flutes don't end up actually free, but it is only like $25 for them so not bad since they get engraved. Hope that helps

I went to a convention once where they were advertising to win a trip to Hawaii so we signed up. Both myself and FH started getting calls about once or twice a week from someone telling us we'd won ipads, baseball tickets, and a trip to Vegas. I never even called them back because there was obviously something fishy about it. Occasionally the time-share-like situations will work out okay and you'll have to go sit through the presentation and hard-sell, then they'll tack on some extra fees/taxes/make you buy more stuff, but you might end up on top if the "prizes" are anything you actually wanted. I also got an email from someone saying I'd won a David's Bridal package (I'd signed up online to win a free dress) but the email was like a Hotmail or something so I thought it was weird, but I answered and then she started asking me if I was familiar with Mary Kay and wanted me to host a makeup party.

View Quoted Comment I didn't say it was free, I said they weren't.

I literally just got off the phone with one of he people from that company. They are doing the presentation when we leave so we will not be in town to do it. I was thinking of going tonight to one but I do not feel like driving an hour to go to one. Glad I saw this post though.

I just got the same phone call. So glad there was this post to reference. Thank you all.

I just got the same call like 5 minutes ago. i know for sure that nothing is free.

i do not feel like going after i review all your comments..

I am very glad I saw this post.

Thank you ladies

As the saying goes - if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Bought some cookware. It is legit awesome, just really expensive. We got the cheapest college package. Got 3 trips with our purchase-1 for anywhere in US, 1 for all inclusive 4 night trip to mexico, 1 for 7 night stay anywhere in world (planning to use for Honeymoon). Haven't booked yet. There are a lot of black out dates and from what I've seen there are "upgraded" packages that cost extra on the 7 day trip if you book them because of maybe the dates are during peak season or maybe its a nicer place. All of the ones I have looked up reviews on seem to be pretty nice places, we just cannot make up our minds where we want to go so we have not booked rooms yet. So not a scam but it is expensive cookware and reading this will make you feel like you've been royally screwed over. I emailed the company frantically after going through this thread and although it took them a few days to get back to me, they did return my emails and get me the links to the travel company and the trips. I called customer service about my earbuds I was supposed to receive and they are on backorder so we will see how long it takes to receive them. I will comment again when we actually book a trip and receive all items.

Literally just happened to me a few minutes ago. Said the exact same things and wanted me and my fiance to come to the bridal expo meeting thing to hear more about the prizes and claim them. Seems super fishy. Thanks for your post! Huge save.