A company that promised people a beautiful way to immortalise their keepsakes has left customers distraught.
Safiyya and Adam Riyadh were the founders of Magenta Flowers, a UK company that preserved things such as wedding bouquets and funeral flowers in the form of resin candles and photo frames.
Since its inception in 2019, Magenta Flowers had fulfilled over 4,000 orders, more recently expanding into breast milk jewellery, and were projected to turnover £1.5million in 2023.
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But all has come crashing down as the company has since ceased trading – but customers are still waiting for their special items and refunds.
One such woman is Kerry Hinchcliffe a 47-year-old woman from Rotherham who contacted the company to preserve her wedding bouquet in resin.
She paid for the items in February 2020 which set her back £103.50.
“They were good to start as my wedding was postponed numerous times due to Covid but once I sent the flowers in October 2021 their communications were poor and I had to keep chasing them,” she told the Daily Star.
“I received the last email in October 2022 saying they were into the final stage of sanding and polishing and received photos of the items. I received no further communication or the goods.
“I have been heartbroken about this, these flowers meant a lot to me especially due to the postponements of our wedding so it really saddens me that these are now lost for good
“I think it’s disgraceful the way they have behaved. They are messing with people's emotions and memories. They sold the name of the business but not the goods so just left everything not caring about the customers. They should not be allowed to have any business and it all looks very dodgy to me.”
According to the Companies House website, the company status reads as “Active proposal to strike off”.
An active proposal to strike off means that Companies House has received or formed a petition to have the company's name and legal rights removed or “struck off” from the register, essentially dissolving the company in its entirety.
The company website says that they are no longer trading and have been taken over by Mad Deals Ltd, which Safiyya and her husband are also involved with.
The original PR company that was working with the company no longer has any sort of communication with them and the phone numbers people previously used to contact the business no longer work.
Unhappy customers have taken to Facebook to rally together to receive some kind of justice.
The group now has hundreds of members with previous employees of the company having joined the group to try and reunite people with their sentimental items.
Emma Hyett, 34, from Kent, is another person who hasn’t heard from Magenta Flowers in regard to the flowers and money she sent them.
She used to live in Bexley, where Magenta Flowers also used to be based, which is partly why she sent her flowers to them.
“I chose Magenta as they were in Bexley and I like to shop small and independent when I can,” she told us.
“It also meant I could drop my wedding bouquet off to them the day after my wedding by hand rather than post my flowers, which I thought would be better for the flowers.
“Magenta had good reviews and listed some really lovely products compared to other companies.
“I sent them my whole wedding bouquet, my husband's buttonhole and flowers from my hair all to be preserved into keepsakes for me and thank you gifts for bridesmaids, mother of the bride and a special keepsake for my Nan as she paid for my flowers. This was to feature a rose as I had these at my wedding to remember my Grandad.”
Emma gave the company £610, which she paid over the last year through Klarna instalments and is struggling to receive a refund.
She says it's particularly hurtful as she didn't have the spare money for this after the wedding but really wanted her flowers immortalised.
This is worlds away from her initial experience with the business, as initially, she got to meet the staff who Emma says were all helpful and took notes on what she wanted to be preserved.
However, she didn't receive any updates for months after dropping them off in October 2021 and at the start of 2022, she was emailed to say that the company had grown quite quickly and also due to Covid they had a big backlog of orders.
After that, Emma heard nothing until October this year via WhatsApp. She was sent one image of her largest piece and they said her orders were nearly ready.
“Stupidly, I asked if I had any flowers left over and I added a trinket dish to my order. This was the last I heard from them,” she explained.
“I sent a chasing email a few weeks after as I also needed to change my address to which I just had the automatic reply everyone has received saying the company had ceased trading.
“I'm currently due to give birth any day now and this is causing me so much upset. I feel so stupid for letting them fob me off for so long and for not chasing them more.
“I haven't got the spare money to buy replacement thank you gifts for my family and in my current state I could also really do with the £600 back, but what hurts the most is the fact they have been so heartless with my memories.”
She added: “My flowers meant so much to me and I wanted to be able to hand down my preserved flowers to my children. It seems I may never see them again now, or if I do I dread to think about what state they are in.”
On Trustpilot, the company now has a 1.4 rating after 48 reviews, with 98% of them being negative.
“We've lost my sister's funeral flowers, sent to them in May 2022. No updates since September when the order tracking service suggested they were 'in the drying process'. We're now informed that the company has now ceased trading,” one review reads.
“Awful company. We are sending a letter to Neville Taylor as suggested, so will update on here if we have had a response.”
Another person wrote: “Fuming to have found out that the company has ceased trading. My wedding flowers were sent off over a year ago. When I last chased my order back in October I was told it would be 4-6 weeks and here I am still waiting.
“It’s devastating to buy a keepsake and that's been taken away just like that. All the communications about hiring more people, what goes on behind the scenes. All utter b*llshit.”
Some upset customers have contacted Safiyya through her eBay account to ask about their orders. They received this message in response: “I would appreciate if you would not message or harass me. There is currently an ongoing investigation by the Metropolitan Police for harassment and abuse I have been receiving since selling my business.
“I will be forwarding this to the police and I have reported you to eBay.”
Daily Star approached the company for comment and are awaiting a response at the time of publication.
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