HOSUTON – In March, Marquita Pointer hired Monique Party Planning to help organize her friend’s 40th birthday bash.
“It was a shoe, sneaker theme. So we were very very excited to have a huge party like that,” said Pointer.
On June 20, Pointer met Monique in person. During that meeting, Pointer said she gave Monique a pair of her friend’s sneakers, which were worth hundreds of dollars, to use as decoration.
“It was very positive. I gave her the shoes. I didn’t feel any type of icky vibes or anything,” said Pointer.
At this point, she already sent Monique roughly $2,000 worth of payments via Square and Cash App. Two days before the party, Pointer became concerned.
“I got no response, and she is a very responsive business owner from my previous interactions with her,” said Pointer. “I knew that I would be able to see that she read the message, so I sent her a message on Instagram. About an hour later, I saw that she had read the message, but never responded.”
We spoke with Arielle Ball on Saturday. She said Monique also did not show up for her fiancé's surprise party. Both Ball and Pointer said Monique Party Planning was recommended to them by other people in the event industry.
At the time, Monique’s Facebook page was up, but now it appears to be taken down. Fortunately, Pointer was still able to throw her friend’s party. She also managed to get the money she sent via Square back.
“I reached out to my bank and by last week, Friday, I found out that they completed the investigation and they refunded my money,” said Pointer.
Pointer said her friend’s shoes are still missing.
“I trusted you. You violated me, you violated my friend, and you have his shoes. Give the shoes back,” said Pointer.
KPRC 2 is not using Monique’s full name, because she is currently not charged with a crime. KPRC 2 has reached out to her multiple times, but her phone appears to be disconnected and her social media pages no longer exist. Pointer filed a police report with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. HCSO officials encourage anyone who has had a similar run-in with Monique Party Planning to file a report because it is considered theft.