Angry parents say prom dress designer took money and never delivered
OAK PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - Several girls contacted FOX 2 and posting their complaints on social media, upset their prom dresses they paid to get made months ago, aren't ready.
The teens are pointing the finger at Angelina Nwogu, the owner of the Ijeoma Collection on Greenfield in Oak Park.
FOX 2: "We wanted to talk to you, everyone is saying their dresses aren't ready, they said they paid hundreds sometimes, up to a thousand dollars and they want their prom dresses."
(door closes)
That conversation didn't last long. FOX 2 headed to the Crown Plaza's lobby and met up with one of the mothers who believes her high school senior was taken.
"(I wanted to) make sure she had everything she wanted because she worked so hard her way through high school to have a woman like this, do this, that is ridiculous," said Jana Wilkins.
Jana Wilkins says her daughter saw dresses advertised on Ijeoma Collection Instagram and on Facebook page - deciding on the one she wanted.
Last September - she put $600 down - and expected to pay the remainder of $400 when they picked up the dress.
It is less than a week before her senior prom - and they have nothing to show for it. That is why she headed to the Oak Park business - and FOX 2 caught their confrontation on camera.
Wilkins: "I am trying to find out how come she hasn't had a fitting, or seen a dress or anything her prom is next Thursday. I feel that is extremely inappropriate. If any type of work has been done on a gown, my child should have seen it by now.
"This is unacceptable and I want to know what is going on."
FOX 2: "What is the status of the dresses?"
"She is supposed to have a fitting next week, we have already established that," Nwogu said. "
Wilkins: "Why is she having a fitting if her prom is next week?"
"Because I don't have any help anymore," said Nwogu.
Nwogu refused to let Wilkins see the dress and didn't offer any sort of explanation about her daughter's dress or any of the others that still haven't been produced for prom goers.
Instead, the alleged dressmaker called police claiming we were harassing her. But Wilkins and many others who are out hundreds of dollars say they are the true victims - and just want their money back.
"My child has been taken advantage of," Wilkins said. "And I am going to fight for my child. That's not right and she needs to be punished for what she has done."
Another woman told FOX 2 by phone that her daughter has her prom this week and hasn't had her fitting yet.