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The Chicago Tribune Jon Yates What's Your Problem Column: Limo Leaves Couple at the Altar

Posted on: Sunday, 15 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By Jon Yates, Chicago Tribune

Jan. 15--The cake was perfect, the reception sublime. The ceremony went off without a hitch.

The only thing missing from Matt and Allison Belda's wedding celebration Oct. 8 was the limousine.

It never showed, leaving the newlyweds stranded at the church.

In the three months since, the Beldas have tried repeatedly to get their $350 deposit back from Star Cruiser Limousine. The company's director of operations, who identified himself as Mike Anthony, promised the Problem Solver that the check was in the mail.

But it wasn't.

"When I give somebody my word, it's as good as gold," Anthony said. "They should be getting their check any day."

That was Jan. 5.

More than a week later, the check still hasn't arrived at the Beldas' Wheaton home.

"It's more than disappointing," said Allison Belda, 28. "He's not following through with anything."

Just why Star Cruiser didn't show up at the wedding is unclear. The Beldas said they signed a contract to have a limousine bus from 2 to 6 p.m. Oct. 8. The bus was supposed to pick them up from their Downers Grove church, drive them around for pictures, then drop them off at the reception.

Matt Belda said that when the limousine bus didn't arrive by 3:30 p.m., he called Anthony, who told him the driver had gone to the reception site, the Hyatt in Lisle, by mistake.

Belda asked that the driver be rerouted to the church, roughly 10 minutes away. Again, the driver failed to show. Belda called Anthony a second time and told him to have the driver meet the couple at a bar nearby.

With the limousine bus still missing at 5 p.m., Belda called Anthony again.

"I said: 'Forget it. We don't want you coming at all,'" Belda said.

Relatives drove the couple to the reception.

Anthony said the driver went to the Lisle location because that was where the couple originally said they wanted the limousine to start.

He said the company does 600 to 700 weddings per year and should not be judged by this one incident.

Anthony said that technically, because Belda canceled the limousine, Star Cruisers wasn't responsible for refunding the deposit. But Anthony acknowledged that Belda canceled the limo only because it was more than three hours late and said he had to pressure the company's corporate office for the refund check.

When the Problem Solver called Anthony again Thursday to ask where the check was, Anthony said that corporate officials told him the check was in the mail and that he was simply relaying that message.

He said he would e-mail the corporate office for an update, then call back.

By Friday afternoon, he had not called back.

The Beldas, meanwhile, continue to watch their mailbox, but their expectations are low.

"We're taking action and having [Star Cruiser's] name out there with what happened, and he still doesn't care," Allison Belda said. "Hopefully, something will convince him to send it."

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THE PROBLEM

Three months after the limousine they reserved failed to show at their wedding, Matt and Allison Belda are still waiting for Star Cruiser Limousine to return their $350 deposit.

THE OUTCOME

The company's operations director promised the Problem Solver on Jan. 5 that the check was in the mail. By Friday, it had not arrived.

HAVE A PROBLEM?

E-mail us your story, providing as many details as possible, to yourproblem@tribune.com or write to What's Your Problem, Newsroom, Chicago Tribune, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Please include your name, a way to contact you. We cannot respond to everyone, but we'll get to as many as we can, and publish the results every Wednesday and Sunday.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Chicago Tribune

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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