Angeldust/ Melody Reed Shenck = Scam Artist!

Watch out for her, girls. She IMed me offering to sell me a gown she saw I had posted about on www.theknot.com. I asked her which she had in stock for immediate delivery and she told me which gowns. I told her I wanted different gowns/ colors/ sizes, and magically they were all suddenly in stock, too. She had forgotten.

She sent me out a "contract" which was a misspelled e-mail with very few details, except that the dress would arrive in 10 days. I wrote back changing the contract (thanks to my one year in Contracts class at the Ohio State U. School of law...) and she approved the changes. The changes included that I would pay her only through an escrow service at www.escrow.com and that I would pay the associated fee. If the gown never showed up or showed up past the deadline, she would pay the fee (approx. $25).

Then, she actually went to the escrow site and figured out how it works. The buyer pays the escrow service plus a small fee. The escrow service notifies the seller that the money has been received. The seller ships the item and ONLY THEN is allowed to receive the money. (She wanted me to pay by paypal, which despite their posted guarantees told me over the phone that they guarantee that they will TRY THEIR BEST to get your money back from the seller in the event that there is a problem, but they`re only 65% successful.) When she saw that she couldn`t just take my money and keep it for months and months, she balked. Despite our contract, she blocked me from her e-mail list and the MSN messenger list and hasn`t responded to any communication from me since then. I`m assuming she`s moved on to scamming people who are less knowledgeable about escrow, paypal, or contracts. Watch out for her. In case she is pulling any of this on you, here is her contact information. Get to her quickly, as there are rumors on other message boards that she has told people she is planning on "moving out of state very soon". If you paid her and she keeps making excuses, call Paypal or your credit card company immediately. If they can`t help (for example, you can only file a paypal claim 30 days after you pay, but no later) then CALL THE POLICE. She has taken the payments for many dresses, but only delivered two so far that I can confirm. She may come through for some people, but to me, it wasn`t worth the risk. I suggest using bridesave.com, pearl`s place, or another discount bridal "warehouse". Melody`s prices on Maggies were too good to be true, and you know what they say about things that are too good to be true. Good luck to you all.

Crystal Masters (CEMasters@ hotmail.com)


Angel Dust Creations contact information:
Melody L. Reed (Melody Reed-Schenck),
301-697-8864 or
301-689-0059 or
301-722-3679

Starkeeper_75@hotmail.com
12708 Mcmullan Highway, Cumberland, Maryland 21502 or
518 Bedford St, Cumberland, MD 21502