Beauty

A very angry bride and many others out there in your area and around the country!!

I had been looking to find a wedding gown. I had found heard that there were great stores in New York that had carried beautiful wedding gowns so I thought it was worth a trip down there to get something very special!! And that special store was thought to be Le Bella Couture Atelier of Dobs Ferry . I had called the owner Michelle M Mears and she convinced me to come to her store with her kind act she had assured me that no one else had carried what she had in her store and she said that she was a designer, all of her dresses were custom made.

I travelled and spent allot of money to come down to her store to meet her . I went to the store and found a dress that I loved. She had informed me that it was her own design and it was a one of a kind.At first when I got there I was surprised that the store was SO UGLY and trashy it looked like a consignment store but she assured me she had just ''moved in there'' Undoubtedly I believed her because the price was pretty hefty. She had told me that she needed 2500 now and 2400 later when the dress was finished . This was on May 08. After her letting me know that the dress would not be available the next day because of high demand. I was nervous about not being able to get it and went ahead and had paid the deposit with my Master card. Everything seemed very normal we filled out some papers and did some measurements too .I made her sign the contract stating my dress would be done in 14 weeks and then the deal was done I left thinking I was happy and was going to receive a dress.Michelle made me give her the deposit right there on the spot before I left , signed some papers and then left.
I got on the plane feeling a little nervous but O.K and left the town.
Michelle reassured me that she had clients from California that she had BI weekly meeting so I thought it would be fine. She even talked to my fiance on the phone and convinced him. She was such a great liar that he went along with it also.
I am a Canadian and obliviously she thought I was a complete idiot and she thought she would never have to see me again and she cold pull the scam off. Duh it only cost 10 bucks and 1 hour to come to New York!!!

Since the visit I had E mailed her numerous times and I had called everyday. I also left many messages on her phone. I tried calling her because I was wondering why she was not calling me for the other deposit of 2500. So after trying to call her again I started getting worried, After I did a little online research with the Better Business Bureau and found hat she had 12 disputes I didn’t know if that was normal so I checked out other bridal stores and they had 0 complaints. Then I looked at another website that had reviews and found to least 30 horror stories about people being scammed. After all the research and to make matters worse I found that she had lied and the dress she had ordered that she said was her’’ own creation ‘’was actually from a company that had made the dresses Michelle had ripped the tags out of my dress and had claimed that is was a one of a kind. I found out the dress only cost 1000 and she is trying to charge me 5000.
Another disturbing fact is that I also found out that Michelle had moved location and packed up and left changed names and didn't bother to call to let me know she had moved?

I frantically searched all over the net for her and finally found her new Website and store location now called Alexia Bridal Couture Atelier in Yonkers. She had not even called me and let me know that she had moved.
Michelle had promised bi- weekly meetings on the phone.
She still has not called me. So when finally got a hold of her by calling her appointment line with a private number, a woman picked up and I started crying. The woman said that Michelle and the others do not work there anymore and she does not deal with them. She said the bad reviews were other bridal stores writing blogs and none of them were true and that they were jealous.
So she said she would find my order and call me back. I hung up and didn’t really believe the story so I called back and asked for Michelle in a different voice and to no surprise the ‘’ worker’’ said oh one minute!!! I had caught her in a lie!!! Michelle is still the owner and no one took them over. I started crying to Michelle because I was feeling scammed. She hung up on me and I proceeded to call back several hundred times until the worker picked up and she said Michelle ran out of the store. My dress was to be done in October and I still have not received any phone calls or E mails.
After realizing I had been scammed of my deposit of 2500 I said to myself she was not worth the trouble and was willing to loose the 2500 she knew the scam because she did not call me in 125 days according to mastercard if you do not dispute within 125 days you cannot get your money back!!!!! I was very upset but we decided it was not worth our sanity!!!

Shockingly I0 days later I was surprised to find that Michelle M. Mears had STOLEN my Master Card number and unlawfully charged $4000.00 USD without permission or cause.
Michelle had just crossed the line now and had committed credit card FRAUD! Now we are disputing the case with MasterCard and I am in the process of pressing charges against her also getting a very expensive lawyer!!. This is very said because this woman has preyed on countless venerable women.Also this is not just Michelle it is also the workers because they are in on the scam too!!!
In all of this so far I have lost 7000 due to this fraud. The woman’s name is Michelle M Mears but she also goes by the name Lena or Lee. She pretends that Michelle ‘’herself’’ does not work there anymore...

I have a very disturbing website for you to check out to see all the unlucky ladies such as myself. I just want the public to know about her and to protect themselves from such a terrible person, thief and scam artist.
I have sent my story to many newspapers and TV news around the country and the area until she is stopped. And some people are already E mailing me back about my story!!
We need our voices to be heard!!!

How she is still in business baffles me????
Anyone that can help with the case please contact me ASAP

Here is a website that everyone needs to complain to get anything action done for your complaints!!!

Better Business Bureau complaints

http://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx?pid=44&page=1&id=91794


Angry Bride

I was in the store on 7/24 when Michelle the owner read some of these reviews and she started ranting about the reviews. She was telling one of the other girls to make up a good review. She was totally unprofessional. I didn't know this site existed until that day. Kate 777 review was a complete fabrication. I since cancelled my order and will lose my deposit. It is a small price to make sure I have what I want on my wedding day.
Michelle has called me 10 times a day. She is threatening to take me to court and even threated to show up on my wedding day. I am filing a police report.
On my previous visits i was also treated poorly. My mother was called "cheap" and my fiancee was belittled. Stay far away from this shop.
By the way I found a beautiful dress at RK Bridal and the staff treated me with respect.

**UPDATE**
Michelle called me this morning and threatened to sue me for slander (sic). She is a desperate woman. I do not know how this boiler room operation stays open. I have reported her to the Federal Trade Commission for ripping the labels out of dresses. It is illegal. Here is the weblink. Paste it in your browers and file a complaint. https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
Update 2
I receved this email from a supporter:
Hi Lisa,
Its a good thing that you cancelled your order. I bought an eve of milady from Le Bella and Michelle actually tried to give me a used, damaged, smelly dress when I went to pick it up. The reason why you heard her ranting and raving about this website is because I mentioned to her that I read over 20 terrible reviews about her on here that same day. And she took my story and fabricated it that very same day. Good luck with your dress.

**Update** 8/6
Here is one of the emails I received from Michelle:

You are a troll, you obviously have nothing better to do than to talk about me
thank you for the article
as you will be harrassed

the site contacted me and gave me your ip address
so I will own your home
your finance it stunned at how sick you are

This crazy lady has moved her rag shop to a new location and a new name:
Alexa Bridal and Rag Shop
1900 Central Avenue
Yonkers NY 10710

Stay away

Michele Mears is very scared of these reviews. This woman constantly harrasses me. She can't afford a lawyer and she is scared to go to court. At this point My Belle Boutique is a criminal enterprise. Call the NY State Department of Taxation and report her.

The only reason this place is getting 1 star is because I have to give it something. If you want your wedding to be an enjoyable, stress free time STAY FAR FAR AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. I honestly think their goal is to make your life miserable. Michelle or Lena (1 person, 2 names) must get a kick out of stressing people out. Then when you catch her in her lies she makes up something completely different to cover that lie up. If you get a contract...that doesn't matter, she does whatever she wants. She also has little tricks up her sleeve to steal money from you or try to pawn off a sample dress from the floor or a completely different dress to you. She is out of her mind. It's amazing that she's still in business. All of the horrible reviews are 100% true, no doubt in my mind. I totally believe that Lena...Michelle...whatever she's going by today or her little lacky writes the reviews that are positive. I was complaining to my friend about the situation and she freaked out because she had a similar HORRIBLE experience with Michelle/Lena when she had her store in Dobbs Ferry. BOTTOM LINE, STAY AWAY from this place. If i can spare one person the headache of dealing with My Belle Boutique MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Michelle, have your attorney contact me for slander. It's not slander if it's true. You are pathetic and I hope your "business" crumbles to the ground. You are a low life and you deserve EVERYTHING that you get. So funny how you only recall the so-called good experiences from your store but can't recollect any of the bad ones. Try running an honest business and you won't have to worry about bad reviews on the web.

Same owner, same scam store. You can change the name but you can't change the fact that this woman's mission in life is to ruin your wedding. Michele Mears is a thief and a liar and she has to keep moving and changing the name of the store in a pathetic effort to escape the TONS of negative publicity she's had from angry brides and grooms. I'm a victim of her terrible business model - after I signed a contract I never heard from her again until I threatened a lawsuit, and I eventually had to get a dress somewhere else 3 weeks before the wedding because she never ordered mine. She called the police on me. I was afraid she would show up to my wedding, and I'm not even kidding. THIS is the kind of person she is. Search for "Le Bella Coutre" and "Alexa Bridal" on this website and read the stories. Then look up the stores on Yahoo! reviews. What she does is despicable, she belongs in a jail cell.

Hello, well I can see why there are so many bad reviews by how these people have treated my fiance. She came to see Lee, and Idalia they were acctually very nice to her until she gave them payment for her gown.. then it has been like contacting ghosts.. My fiance would like to purchase shoes, a viel ... but they are pretty much ignoring her. I did tell her to just go to Davids Bridal and get a dress but I guess she just has to learn a 2 thousand dollar mistake. But you never know.. these people might pull threw for her but I absolutely doubt it. Go to the BridalShop.com in Mamaroneck, they have very skilled very accomidating people there.. And they are very honest people... She should have stuck with them!!! Unless you are buying the tester dresses available in the store in Yonkers.. I wouldn't suggest telling the people your acctual wedding date.. give them a date 4 months before your wedding so that you can go to Davids Bridal for a back up dress if it falls threw. Also, always pay by visa, or credit because if the product is damaged you can get your money back.
It is funny, when my fiance came to the store a girl was coming out of the store and to her " Run for your life.. this women rewind my wedding..." Lets see if My Belle is going to keep the ball rolling. So far it is not looking good

IF I COULD GIVE -100000000000 STARS I WOULD!! OK I DONT BELIEVE ANY OF THESE GOOD REVIEWS ABOUT THIS SHIT WHOLE "STORE"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL THE GOOD REVIEWS ARE WRITTEN BY MICHELLE.. WHO IS A SCAM ARTIST!!!! THIS WITCH ALMOST WROINED MY WEDDING!!!! SO I WAS FOOLED!! I went to "alexia Bridal on central ave in yonkers off Corse Michelle wasn’t there one of her slave's was there (because that’s how she treats them!) She was very nice, had lots of pations and was very helpful! I found my dress.. so I put money down and signed the contract. Everything was great I was so happy even though the dress was almost $4,000 its my wedding and why not? a few months go by and one of my mothers friends told her that she drove past the store and it was closed and empty!!!! you would think that they would tell they were moving???? NOPE never happen! so we freaked out looking for this b*#@$!!!! She moved to yonkers ave and now her store is called MY BELLE BOUTIQUE and made some bs story about the landlord yea right she probably never paid her rent! and got kicked out because why did she change the name of the store??? My contract said the delivery date was April 1st I guess it was just a bad April fools joke! April 1st came and my dress wasn’t there ok cool no biggie.. they told me by the end of the week it would be there.. yea nope never happen.. next week never came they kept giving me the go around... Not to mention I ordered 3 flower girl dresses that were ordered in ivory and they came in as white as white can be!! this was around the second week of April.. MY WEDDING WAS APRIL 26!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I had to take the flower girl dresses back to the store so they could return them and re-order them.. Michelle called me to find out what the problem was.. Mind you I’ve been to that store 1000000000000000 times and she was never there.. so I told her what the problem was she feed me a bunch of bs and told me that the flower girl dresses were the same color as my dress.. ( I ordered my dress in IVORY! she's telling me that my dress was DIMAND WHITE) bigggg bigggg problem.. MY WEDDING IS APRIL 26 this is maybe the 2nd week of April.. we got into a BIG BIG argument and she told me to SHUT UP!! and that I was by far the most difficult person she has ever had to deal with! HA! HA! HA!!! are u kidding me????? why bc I ordered something and I spent allot of money in this store and its all FUCKED UP?????? she called my mother they got into it and she called me an apologized ok whatever we cooled down she guaranteed me everything would be just fine.. I mean I was suppose to be going for my last fitting! All the bridesmaids had there dresses.. THANK GOD I didn’t get them there! I was basically the only one with no dress.. I dress finally came in I was so happy!! I get to the store and guess what??? MY DRESS WAS WHITE AND USED NOT NEW IT WAS DURTY NOT NEW USED!! so all that time fighting and her telling me that she guaranteed me a new dress was for what?? this woman enjoys ruing peoples weddings I swear! it was a night mare u can only imagine this was APRIL 16 we waited in that store for hours and hours for her to show up and she never came in.. she faxed some bs letter guaranteeing me my dress in IVORY would be there in 2 days.. at this point I knew it was bs bc it literally took a whole year for the wrong used dress to get there.. April 18th came and i had no dress.. again my wedding was April 26th.. I gave up on that dress and realized I had to do something other wise I would have no wedding dress.. So i went to the place were my bridesmaids got there dresses I found a new dress the same week as my wedding.. can u imagine the stress i went through?? i mean i saw all these reviews about her when all of this was going on and i just knew at this point that it was all a scam, i paid for the dress and she wouldn’t give me my money back and told me it was my problem that i went and got a new one not hers! ahe made it seem like i changed my mind and i didn’t want the dress anymore.. my mother was afraid that she was going to close down and go bank rupt like she did with her 2 other stores so my mom took the dress as it was.. so PLEASE PLEASE dont go there.... there are sooooooooo many other stores that are 4real! this store is a scam and the only way to bring this lady down if is allot of us brides get together and do something about it because the stress she put me through was not cool and no one should go through it. its a shame that there are snake out there like this and i really hope no one else has to go through this!


SORRY IF ITS LONG I JUST DONT WANT ANYONE TO GO THERE AND GO THROUGH WHAT I DID!!!!!

This store is the same as Le Bella Couture and Alexa Bridal... read those reviews, the woman is nuts. She just keeps moving stores and changing names to avoid her bad reputation.


UPDATE TO ALL THE "positive" POSTS:

Why would you keep changing the name of the store? YOu had a leak so you change the name of your store? Its funny how on the same day all these positive reviews came in. Guess Michelle or Lena or Lee or whatever name she is now using called up her 3 satisfied customers and had them write something nice, just like under Le Bella reviews all "good" things came in on the same day one after another. Call the Dobbs Ferry or Yonkers Police- they know all about her and dont even want to deal with her. The Dobbs ferry chamber of commerce told me they didnt want to involve themselves with Michelle because shes not in her right mind.
If you did have a good experience- consider yourself very very lucky and one of the very very few.

Please do not believe ANY of the positive reviews abot La Bella in Dobbs Ferry, Alexa Brida in Yonkers or this place My Belle Boutique in Yonkers NY.

They are all owned and operated by Michelle Mears who wants nothing more than your money, NOT, your happiness for your wedding day. Con artist from one of the baddest batches I have ever come across

After reading all the reviews (only pay attention to the negative one's as I am 100% sure Michelle made up the positive ones herself) I feel lucky to have gotten my dresses and bridesmaids dresses, 4 days before my wedding.

This woman really needs help as what she does really isn't right.

I purchased one of her designs for my 7/7/7 wedding. I had no issues with this vendor, I know she moved because my brother worked in the same area of the first store and understood it was sold or picked up a partner. My co-worker's sister purchased a dress from the new store and she said she did not have any problems either. She said that Michelle had to get the business back as she was not paid. I guess you only hear the bad and not the good. Based on my experience I would try it if you want things that are unique and not have to go into the city and pay for parking.

This is a very bad store. Michelle who has owned alexa bridal and la belle coulture is a used car salesman. She sells dirty, stained, and smelly dresses.. This is her fourth store in four years. She must change the name and move when she cannot deliver your dress. She is the Bernie Madoff of bridal shops.
I cancelled my ordr after reading these horible reviews. I have emailed some of the reviewers and they all seem legitimete.
i am now being harrased for full payment. She takes your order and takes your money. She only is able to deliver half of the dresses that are ordered. After a year or two she pulls up stakes and moves to another location. This is a scam.
I am out my deposit. Boy did she pressure me for the while amount. I would rather be out my deposit than not have a dress for my wedding.
You will arrive at the shop one day and she will be closed.

Most of these good reviews are written by the store owner and her staff. Some of the bad reviews are multiple posts by people who have been cheated. The owner of this store has owned numerous other bridal shops. These other bridal shops folded up their tents when they couldn't deliver the products.
Don't take a chance. You may get what you want here but more likely you will get nothing or a sub par product.
Check out the other stores she has owned. Then check the Better Business Bureu. Go with a real and reputable bridal shop.

This site is odd as it had many good post that seem to be gone as I logged on to give my review, I have a positive post as I was just married in September and purchased a demetrios gown here for less than the city, I purchase my veil and 5 out of my 7 girls got there bridesmaids gowns here and loved the service. We and I had no issues at all and the seamtress I had Juliette did my dress perfectly. I think this is one of the nicest stores in Westchester and even if she owns a few shops that is good too.

this shop is fantastic, I could not believe all the dresses they carried and the items are beautiful and I do not have to shop online..they are priced right..I am getting married in December 09, and I will keep all posted as all is going great...

This store is absolutely fantastic.

A fantastic waste of my time. They are rude and very oily. I was pressured to leave a deposit. Then I was told to sign a paper that I would not post negative comments on any blogs. I ran out of the store. I did my research. They get sample gowns and rarely deliver the goods they promise. When enough complaints come in they move to a new location and change the name of the shop. If they were reputable they would keep the same name. Look at the photo of the award on this website. It says Alexa Bridal. They had it made up at a trophy shop on Central Avenue. Then took a picture. They weren't smart enough to realize that it links them to their last rag shop. The owner is an ugly little troll, who cheats people.

The only reason there is even one star is that Project Wedding forces you to put at least one!

This is hysterical! I cannot believe how many fake reviews are here regarding this bi-polar chicks "new" rag shop! Lina and her spellcheck needed group of bridal misfits need to just give it up already! RUN RUN RUN from this woman and her rag shop!! Keep posting the "real horror stories" because that's all you will encounter! I have proof to back up my story. I will take legal action against this thief!

Any post on here that is mispelled and "coincidentally" on the same days are obviously her attempts to make herself look good. Her reputation speaks for itself! Be warned! Do not use this shop! Do not believe her BS stories! She's moved three times in a years time for a reason LADIES WAKE UP!!! Does it even make sense that someone (Danielle828) would read these horror stories and STILL go to her shop??? If it doesn't make sense then it's not true!! Come on they spell the sidekick Idalia's name correctly!!! Seriously people read between the fake lines!

She just recently moved there and ALL of these recent posts got their dresses already??? Come on Lina you can try as hard as you want to make people believe this BS you've posted here. No one believes you. Hurry up and pack again and move because we're all on to you!

For those of you that have gotten robbed by this woman REPORT REPORT REPORT!!! If I can help at least one bride from making a mistake then it is worth it to me.

The horror stories aren't only here. They're all over the internet!

I visited My Belle Boutique to find 'the perfect gown' and Michalena did a fantastic job in helping me find it. I am not sure why all other reviews posted about this store are negative but the 2 encounters I had with Michalena (who also goes by Lena or Michelle) were excellent and I couldn't have asked for more. I informed her of my budget and that I wanted an Eve of Milady gown and she helped me find my dream dress. It is a sample which needs a little bit of work (including a broken zip) but she happily offered to fix the zip and bead work which had come a bit loose on the bodice, as well as clean and press the gown for only an additional $300 on top of the price of the gown. I have never entered a wedding store and felt free to go around the room, touching, feeling gowns to my liking and trying on as many as I want.It was Michalena who found my gown for me. She is very knowledgeable about her dresses and designers and was willing to work with me to make sure I was happy. I picked up my gown yesterday and it is beautiful; there was no problems with the gown. For those girls who say you were 'scammed' im terribly sorry to hear this; however I can only go off face-value and what I saw and got was the best. Thank-you to Michalena!

I had such a good experience at my belle, that invited Michelina to my wedding..my gown, bridesmaids, mothers and flowergirls and all accessories were done here. See my photos
word of advice:
Treat people the way you would want to be treated.
Michele has a phase she always uses and why the store is not locked up like fort knox, you can touch and feel everything there, this is the only and one time you can do this
Michele's phase is this" People are basically good, give them your best and trust them and they in return will give you there best
I know this is true and all my vendors came thru for me

on the BBB she has an A plus rating and it shows that the negative post given are beyond bull. go and see for yourself

I am glad I found my Amy Michelson gown there, I purchased her new stock piece at a great price, I customized it with a brooch, allmy brideamaids were by bari jay and there were shortened and all matched in length, my veil and bustle were custom and my headpeice borrowed. I loved the way my day turned out and I am happy we my bell ad that I trusted them
I pictures speak volumes

www.wpajamaica.com/danaly-alan/

I recently got married on June 12, 2008 in Maui, Hawaii. I purchased my dress from them and it was absolutely perfect. I went to her about 3 months before my wedding and found a beautiful dress. She ordered and it came about 1 1/2 weeks before my wedding. I knew it would some in late because I ordered it late. I knew they were extremely busy and she told me to come for my fitting after hours. She spent about 4 hours helping me find the right veil, accessories and undergarments. She even helped me find a perfect bolero that would match my dress and cover my tattoo. Leah had to do major reconstruction to the dress because I lost two dress sizes in the time period. Everything came together beautifully. It was definitely a time crunch but we made it. You can view pictures of my dress on my photographers website at http://marbelle.com/PublishedWeddingBook02.htm.




add to friends
10/16/2008