Complaints mount against Fort Myers event planning company

Reporter: Lindsey Sablan
Published: Updated:

FORT MYERS, Fla. The number of strikes against a local event planning company keeps growing.

A woman who says she paid the company $800 to organize a gala for her cancer fundraising organization is among more than two dozen who say La’Elegante, which operates in Fort Myers, Miami, Atlanta and California, failed to deliver on its promises.

La’Elegante owner Shantell Sutton said last month the venues canceled the events. Since a WINK News story about the business aired, Christine Fabrizio, founder of the Lee County-based Shirley Mae Dove Foundation, added her name to the list of 31 who say they’ve been cheated out of a combined $3,290.

“I don’t want anybody to be taken by this man,” said Fabrizio, whose organization also fights for abused women and children and the homeless. “I mean, he seems nice over the phone, but he has no business doing anything for anybody.”

La’Elegante received an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau while Wedding Wire gave the company a half-star out of five stars. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office has opened an investigation against the company and Sutton.

Sutton has promised to respond to the allegations but has yet to do so.

 

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