They were expecting the ultimate tea party experience, but women say they were ripped off.
Friday, May 8, 2026 12:38AMThey were expecting the ultimate tea party experience, but women say they were ripped off. It takes passengers on a luxurious bus ride for tea, pastries and a tour around the city.
"Chicago is a city of beautiful ladies. They like to dress up and the thought of being at a tea party excites us," Thyressie Randolph said.
"I had people come in from out of town. I had some cousins come in from Memphis, like 22 of my closest girlfriends," Randolph said. She says, the morning of the tour, the company changed the pickup location to the Shedd Aquarium. She says shortly before their scheduled departure, she got an email from Tea Around Town that said, "the 3pm trip is canceled due to operational issues.
An email will be sent.
" "I was more so embarrassed because we had been planning this for a couple of months," Randolph said. "I was practically in tears. "Sophisticated banking spoof callers drain local customers' accounts, nearly fool ABC7 anchor To make matters worse, she says the company only offered half of her money back and a credit for another trip. "No, I'm not taking half the money.
I don't want half. I don't want to deal with your company anymore. My friends want their full refund," Randolph said.
"We saw a ton of influencers on that had gone on the trip. It looked beautiful. They were super excited.
" Stephanie Rodgers says she drove from Wisconsin to Chicago for her tea experience, but she says it was a huge letdown. "We arrived at 11:15 and waited. We were supposed to be picked at noon. No pickup then, so we continue to stand in the cold.
Finally at 12:30, I got an email that due to unforeseen circumstances our bus had been canceled," Randolph said.
"We are standing in those clothes on a random street in Chicago. It was 42 degrees and extremely windy, so very unpleasant. What was most disheartening and upsetting is they only offered a 50% refund and offered us another date.
"Tea Around Town said unforeseen operational issues may occur. They say they work immediately to resolve the situation in an effort to avoid disruption.
"We are aware of the concerns raised regarding communication and refund timing, and we have taken steps to improve both. These include faster response times from our customer support team, clearer refund status updates, and more proactive communication with guests when disruptions occur," the company said in a statement. For Randolph's case, they said, "Due to multiple transactions associated with the reservation being merged into a single correspondence thread, only one transaction was initially refunded.
The remaining two transactions were identified and refunded on May 2, 2026.
" For Rodgers' issue, they said, "A response was sent on March 20, 2026 advising that a refund of $208.77 was being processed back to the original payment method; however, the charge had already been disputed by the guest with her card issuer on March 18, 2026. The dispute was accepted by the company. Both women now have their money back, but feel the company needs to revisit its operational and customer service practices.
Tea Around Town said they take feedback seriously and are continuously improving as they grow in new markets.
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