GLEN BURNIE, Md. — It was love at first sight for the future Mr. and Mrs. Ombanglil. When they toured Bleues on the Water in Glen Burnie, they knew it was their dream wedding venue.
"And we told him [the owner], it's not easy for us but we're gonna do our best to start giving money," the bride, Consty Coco, said.
They set a date for August 2024 and booked the venue for about $15,000. Then, the bride suddenly lost her father. They had to travel overseas for the funeral and wanted to postpone the wedding, even though they had already paid the venue $14,000.
"He said, don't worry, we're gonna transport that money for the next date you guys gonna choose," Consty recalled.
When the couple returned, and started thinking about a new date for the big day, they called Thomas Stuehler, the owner of Bleues on the Water, multiple times with no response.
"Finally, he answer the phone, the owner. We told him, what is going on? He said, 'oh we went bankrupt.' We said, 'excuse us?'" Consty told WMAR-2 News.
"He just said, 'I will give you a call', and then after that, he disappeared," Alain Pierre Ombanglil said. "We call, call, call. We send an email; the email comes back. It looks like even the email doesn't work anymore."
They now know, they're not the only ones dealing with this. Last week, WMAR-2 News talked to another customer who booked the venue for his daughter's quinceañera and was told he wouldn't be getting his money back. Below is a copy of a letter Stuehler sent to some customers.
Employees of the business say, Stuehler had been accepting payments well after he knew the business was going under.
Stuehler himself filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in February of this year, with more than $5 million in liabilities. The business was evicted from the property in July after Stuehler failed to pay rent for over a year. An attorney for the Bleues on the Water, Robert Stahl, told WMAR-2 News last week he was planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but so far there's nothing in the court system.
The attorney says a bad economy and the pandemic led to a substantial loss of business. He also says the business had issues with the landlord, and major repairs were necessary to deal with dangerous conditions and fire hazards.
Meanwhile, brides, grooms, and birthday girls are not only looking for a new place for their special day, they're out thousands of dollars.
"Right now we're stuck, we don't know what to do," Alain said. "We already pay photographer, videographer, all those people, DJ."
"The little money we had, we spent it all to my dad burial. So right now, we don't have none," Consty said.
WMAR-2 News reached out to the Maryland Attorney General's Office to ask what recommendations it has for people in this situation.
A spokesperson said:
“The Attorney General’s office recommends that consumers who have complaints against businesses that are known to be going out of business file their complaints with our Consumer Protection Division, either on our website at www.marylandattorneygeneral.gov [marylandattorneygeneral.gov] or by calling 410-528-8662 to request that a paper complaint form be mailed to them. If bankruptcy has been filed by the business, we recommend that consumers file a claim through the bankruptcy court to attempt to recover any monies alleged to be owed. If bankruptcy has not been filed, the Consumer Protection Division will work with consumers and businesses to try and reach a mutually agreed-upon resolution to the dispute.”
