She was a client at the law firm I was a legal secretary at and I can tell you she ended up with a good amount of money, after it was all said and done. She quietly went after the senator, who right after that the crap hit the wall for him.
All his slander and nefarious dealings came out, with all these women he had done wrong to. Political or not.
This scheme was a hit piece for his up coming election at the time and to get on the news. Michele had our firm send out cease and desist letters and after settlements, her accusers had to pay her damages.
I am pretty sure she had the last laugh. I could see she was better suited for the designing part and not customer service, she definitely knows her stuff. She seemed direct, upfront and pretty tough, absolutely not a push over or an easy client to deal with. Just stubborn in her conviction on what was right, wrong, true and untrue. She did refer me to an associate in another New York City store, to get my dress, a $7900 Dror gown and I got it for $3368 before taxes and hem. At the time, I asked her about these reviews and why they are still up, she said if people are talking about you, it’s the highest form of flattery. My firm at the time was using them as an example of internet libel for other clients and success cases. Now that I’m a stay at home Mom looking for a communion dress for my daughter, after landing on this page, I thought I would add my experience. To each their own I guess.

I just got married and had a good experince with this vendor..My gown was perfect and came in correct with a change I had made. My aterations were perfect. I had several questions and called numerous times and all my calls were always returned. I dod my bridesmaids there to and have no complaints! would reccommed!

I would highly recommend this store for great prices and over all selection. I bought my dress, bridesmaids and my mothers gown there, although at times it get busy and hectic. I feel I was and my family were treated fairly and in a good manner. My order and alterations were perferct, one of the easiest vendors I dealt with.

My dress came in over a month later than originally projected. Thankfully I gave them an earlier wedding date on purpose. The seamstress that she had alter my dress did a HORRENDOUS job. I ordered a fancy hair clip, taira and jewlery that had to be sent to me by one day Fedex because they couldn't find them!!! Then when I received it, none of it was what I had ordered. Thankfully I had backup jewlery and my mom knew how to sew my dress so it wouldn't have fit crazy big on the top. They almost ruined my wedding day look and I wouldn't recommend that shop to my worst enemy. Check out http://www.projectwedding.com/vendor/show/le-bella-couture-atelier for more horror stories.

It is difficult for me to talk about this vendor. I appreciate that vendors can be under a lot of pressure, especially during the busy months of May, June and July, but they should never, NEVER take their frustrations out on their clients. I had a wonderful experience finding my dress at Le Bella, but as soon as I came in for my first fitting, things went terribly wrong and ended on a very sour note. Essentially, the owner told me to pick up my dress a week before my wedding. When I went topick it up, it wasn't in the shop and she yelled at me and called me a brat, asking me why I felt like I could run her business. I would never, NEVER in a million years show up to an appointment that I didn't have to try to force something out of a vendor, especially something as time consuming as a dress, but she didn't have my dress and the veil was still not in (after being ordered for the third time). I was extremely frustrated by my experience here because it was so inconsistent. Also, the bustle broke twice, once in the store and once during the reception. Buyer beware.

MICHELLE MEARS
LEE
LENA
MICHELE GARRIOLA
MICHELINA GARRIOLA

SHE IS THE SAME PERSON AND SHE IS A COMPLETE CON ARTIST!
I PAID $1450 FOR A CUSTOM WEDDING GOWN! SHE GIVES HER BRIDES THE FLOOR SAMPLE!!!!! SHE WONT RETURN MY PHONE CALLS AND SHE WONT RETURN MY MONEY!!! SHES A LIAR! SHE IS SELLING PROM DRESSES WHICH MEANS SHE IS CONNING YOUNG GIRLS TOO!

I HAVE A WHOLE LOT MORE INFO ON HER AND I HAVE HER BEING INVESTIGATED... SHE CONNED THE WRONG BRIDE. ;D


JUST IN CASE YOU'RE NOT SURE WHO I AM TALKING ABOUT... THIS IS HER....
http://i43.tinypic.com/15zh9h3.jpg



******WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING******

MICHELLE MEARS HAS OPENED A NEW STORE IN THE BRONX!!!

Lily Fleur Bridal
3188 Philip Ave
Bronx, NY 10465
Phone: (347) 851-4591

and things have finally hit the fan! ch2 news as well as ch12 news has picked up the story and here it is! theres a video attached on the side showing Michelle lying through her teeth!

http://wcbstv.com/local/wedding.dress.lily.2.1828190.html#addComments


if you have been scammed, contact me at iheartjasmin@yahoo.com
and i will connect you to those who are helping me and other countless brides!

This vendor is beyond description. The store manager/owner is extremely unorganized and to be quite frank, not trustworthy. To say that I would not recommend this bridal shop to my worst enemy is an understatement. All one needs to do is visit this shop only once to see a dissatisfied customer, I've seen at least 4 in my visits and will likely partner with them on legal action. Only after I booked this vendor did I begin to hear stories of arguments, 'miscommunications', mistakes on orders- including ordering the wrong bridal gown! My particular issue revolves around bridesmaid dresses that were ordered in the wrong color, incorrect contracts and 'inclusions', the misrepresentation of getting new dresses and ultimately promises of refunds that were not honored.

This vendor is very unorganized. I tried on quite a few dresses there and when I was about to pick the dress I liked she wanted a deposit right then and there and became irrate stating " Well I don't give prices like this so if you don't take it now, you can forget it!" So I walked out the store and never went back. She doesn't even write your name and number down in order to check the progress of your wedding plans. I didn't feel comfortable leaving a deposit with someone so inconsistent. Buyer beware.

Where do I begin...this entire experience with her was a nightmare. Michelle is VERY unorganized, unprofessional, rude, and everything else negative a business person could be. i did not recieve my dress until a WEEK before my wedding which is good timing compared to other stories I've heard. And prior to that she claimed to had lost my dress in FedEx because she moved to Yonkers, NY and chanded the name of her shop to Alexa Bridal and didnt tell anyone. I wouldnt have found out she had a new location if i never would have called her. She then proceeded to tell me that if i didnt pay my balance before fedex delivered that "she wasnt taking it off the truck" (her exact words). I told her i wasnt going to pay for anything i hadnt seen how did that work. she never recorded my payments and was constantly telling me that i owed more than i actually did. good thing i keep copies of EVERYthing including cashed checks! She was extremely desperate for money at one point she blamed the recession for her behavior and she desperatly needed to pay off some debt. what business is that of mine lady! the only business i should have been worried about was my dresss and she couldnt even get that right!! I'm asahamed to admit it but silly me gave her the benefit of the doubt and ordered my bridemaids dresses through her as well. My maid of honor's dress came in the wrong color another bridemaid dress came in two sizes too big! originally she told me alterations for the girls would be no more than $50 which was not bad at all, until it came time for alteration and the lady claimed she was an independent worker and was making her own prices so her price was almost $200 for alterations!!! We had to fight tooth and nail to get the prices down but we did. The alterations lady also had an issue with my dress because of my extended train she had to put 28 bustles and she would let me forget how much time that was...I ordered my vail and tiara from her The veil showed up but the tiara never did. And then the most upsetting part was we decided to add on these beautiful crystal straps to my dress i waited and i waited and the straps didnt com in until maybe a week or so before the wedding the seamtress put one side with the dress on and the other side with dress OFF they ended up popping off the dress before i even got to my ceremony. i will never return to this vendor especially since i found out that a little less than a week after my wedding date i passed by the store and it was completely vacant my heart goes out to all the girls who placed orders with her. Do your research ladies she is scam artist! the dress is supposed to be the most exciting part of wedding planning it wasnt for me and i have Michelle Maers to thank for that...BUYERS BEWARE!!

This was the worst experience I ever had. Michelle Mears is the owner. She pretends to be a designer and calls herself Michelle Lee. How original? The store smells of smoke and is a mess. She tears the labels out of the dresses and claims to have designed it. That is a lie. I sae my Casablanca in a wedding magazine. She claimed it was her design. She did offer me a good price, but I lost more in frustration. I booked an appointment and when I showed up she said that I wasn't in the book., but she would try to fit me in. I spent the whole afternoon in the store. It wasn't that busy but mMichelle kept leaving for a cigarette, a phone cal and god knows what. I waited a whole hour for her to return. I finally picked out the dress and ordered it. She said she needed a 50% deposit. I told her that I would like to take the contract home. She said, that she couldn't allow unsigned contracts out of the store in case her competition got a hold of it. That should have been my tip off.
Someone from the store called me to come in for a fitting that my dress had come in. When I got to the store they couldn't find my dress. Michelle apologized. She said that her husband had taken it by mistake and it was in the trunk of his car. WHAT? Thats right it was in his trunk. They call me nteh next week and tell me to come in my dress is ready. When I get there they bring out this smelly (smoke) stained dress. I don't think it was in her husband's car, I think he was wearing it. It was a used dress. Shee tells me that the factory sent a sample and she could take 10% off. I am furious, but it is 1 month before my wedding. She agrees to take 20% off. I say ok but I better have a clean dress in a week. A week goes by and no dress. I can't even get Michelle on the phone. The sales person tells me that I need an appointment to call Miss Lee. I finally get the dress a week before the wedding. I still smells, though the stain is gone. Now they won't give me the 20% off. If I don't pay in full, I can't get the dress. What I am I supposed to do before the wedding? Michelle will not take my calls.
Stay away, far away. Nothing but lies from Miss Michelle Mears, who calls herself Lee.