Cheap Chair Covers

I SECOND THAT - PLS STAY AWAY!

Preston is a ripoff artist in the Bay Area. I've served him with a demand letter from my lawyer and he has vanished. I do believe Preston is not his real name. octbride - if you're out there, we need to talk! i think its worth the effort!!! i dont want any other brides to experience what we've both gone thru...

Thanks for listening!

UPDATE as of 08/14/08:
Spoke to Preston like juuules1 and he also told me to check back with him in 1 week, which happens to be approximately the same time he requested juuules1 to check back too. He did not claim to be able to pay me back entirely - but he claims that by then he will be able to tell me what he can do for me (i.e. pay me in installments, lump sum, etc). This sounds all too familiar, but I will follow up regardless. To be continued...

STAY AWAY!

we were lucky and actually got what we were promised, but boy was it stressful to get there!

preston promises the world and encourages you to pay in full up front (you get a discount that way), but his organization is just not there at all. i had already paid in full before i started hearing stories of him being late, bringing dirty chair covers, etc.

i asked for an updated contract and a sample sash MONTHS before the wedding, and repeatedly called and emailed to get updates on the status of these things every week, and even everyday at a certain point...and was disappointed time and time again. countless "meetings" were cancelled last minute, and i was given endless excuses and lots of "i don't know what happened" when he once again failed to get me these two things. i made every effort, offered to meet him whenever and whereever, and it just never happened.

i also talked to numerous venues and brides who had used him before and apparently his services are very hit/miss. some had no problems, but many venues actually said that they now refuse to work with him anymore due to him being late, providing dirty chair covers, etc.

luckily, our venue allowed us to begin setup as early as 8am, so i asked him to come at 8am and everything was beautiful. unfortunately, i knew of another bride who had booked him for the same day and he showed up late, so she never got her chair covers =(

and lastly, because i paid in full in advance and ended up not needing as many as i had anticipated (the contract says they will refund if the actual numbers are lower than estimated, but cannot add to the count if the actual numbers are higher than estimated), i was supposed to get a refund. well, what a surprise, none of my emails and none of my phone calls are being answered. i'm thinking it's just not worth the effort...

OMG, as I read OCTBRIDE's review, it was like deja vu. The same things happened to me but worse -- my tablecloths were never delivered. Below is the review I've also posted on TheKnot, Yelp, and chopstickbride.com.

I had a horrible, horrible experience using www.cheapchaircover.com owned and run by Preston in Fremont, CA. I prepaid (in order to get a discount) for chaircovers, sashes, floor length white tablecloths for my wedding in August 2007. The tablecoths were never delivered for my reception!!!! Luckily the restaurant had short white linens that they were able to use. At the reception, I noticed that the sashes were wrinkled and not tied well (crooked, etc). The quality was horrible. After the wedding, I called Preston to get a refund for the tablecloths that were never delivered. For months, he gave me the run-around - check is in the mail, money order available for me to pick up at Walmart, he'll have an employee drop the money off at my workplace, etc. He was always full of excuses when I never got my money. Finally, about 6 months after my wedding, he gave me $100 but still owed me an additional $200. Then, he stopped taking my calls or replying to my emails. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. He never responded to them or to me. Turns out there are other BBB complaints filed against this company as well.

Chaircovers and table linens should be one of the easier items to take care of in the wedding planning. But because I used Preston and cheapchaircover.com, it turned out to be worst part of the planning for me. Preston wasted so much of my time during the planning when I was trying to get some color samples from him. He kept giving me the run-around even then. Then, I was stressed out on my wedding day when the restaurant called to tell me that they never got the table linens. To top it all off, I couldn't even get my money refunded.

Please be warned and warn all your friends. Do not use Preston's www.cheapchaircover.com. Good luck in your planning and I hope that you don't experience anything as frustrating and maddening as I did with Preston!

Update as of 7/25/08:
Preston called me since I notified him about these reviews. He said he's no longer in the business, that he's in the process of selling off his inventory, and that he will pay me back the money he owes me in 3 weeks time. I will give an update again in 3 weeks to let everyone know whether or not he followed through.

The chair covers were beautiful and just as I asked... I wasn't sure in the beginning if this was the vendor I wanted to go with and he was a bit over zealous, but in the end he did a beautiful job. I didn't have to worry about a thing - he met with the venue and me to get exactly what he had to do, came in and set up - picked up with NO issues. Great rate, great work!