TAMPA, Fla. — Couples and families who had weddings and events planned at a well-known venue that abruptly closed claim they’re out thousands of dollars and aren’t being given refunds.
The families said Crystal Ballroom closed its Tampa and Clearwater venues with no notice.
Annette Irizarry was supposed to hold her 15-year-old daughter’s quinceañera in August at the Clearwater location and said she’s now out the $6,160 she paid. Without that money, Irizarry said she can’t afford to have her daughter’s celebration somewhere else.
WATCH: Brides, families fighting for refunds after event venue closes suddenly
“I just can’t believe that this is happening,” Irizarry said.
She said Crystal Ballroom would not accept credit cards, so all her payments were made with money orders and checks.
On June 25, a different bride reached out to ABC Action News, stating that she was out $8,000 due to the closure of the Crystal Ballroom.
Crystal Ballroom is a franchise with locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, and multiple locations in Florida.
State records show Jessica Ray was the franchisee listed as the registered agent for the North Tampa and Clearwater locations.
ABC Action News reached out to Ray multiple times. The I-Team received an anonymous message blaming Crystal Ballroom's corporate office for the closure, but couldn’t verify if Ray sent it.
ABC Action News obtained copies of contracts that multiple customers signed. Attorney Charles Gallagher III, who is not involved in this case, reviewed the contract.
“It’s a series of red flags.”
“There’s nothing in there at all about their breach or their fault,” Gallagher said. “The second that they fail to comply fail to preform i.e. providing the venue itself, they can’t expect to enforce the contract against the other side.”
Gallagher has years of experience representing consumers and said he thinks customers have a strong case.
Multiple sections in the contract say it’s a “final sale” and that Crystal Ballroom "does not offer refunds of any kind.”
The contract also stated, “we urge all clients to protect their investments by obtaining event insurance.”
“They’re going to have a trial court trial judge say you breached you’re in default you’ve got to refund the money back to them. It’s not yours whether or not you called it nonrefundable whether or not a contract said it’s nonrefundable,” Gallagher added. “Sorry we’re canceling the event but we’re going to keep your money, good luck finding any trial judge in Florida that would agree to that.”
One of the things that stood out to Gallagher was that on the last page, the contract was signed by “Crystal Ballroom.”
“You can’t have a corporation sign a contract as a corporation, typically in Florida law you have to have an officer,” he said. “I think there’s some problems there with enforceability and whether truly you have an enforceable contract because of that signature.”
Crystal Ballroom’s corporate office claims it had nothing to do with the Tampa or Clearwater closures and posted a statement online saying those locations were “independently owned and managed.”
ABC Action News found court records showing an LLC tied to the corporate CEO was evicted from the Tampa location in May, accused of not paying more than $1.3 million in rent. The CEO told ABC Action News those were legal and financial arrangements and do not reflect operational ownership or day-to-day control.
Customers, like Annette Irizarry, said they’re contemplating filing civil or small claims.
“We’ve struggled so hard to scrape the money to be able to do this for her,” Irizarry said. “She’s my only girl and I wanted this so much for her.”
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