LOVE Island star Joshua Ritchie has come under fire for not paying a small business £400 to set up his birthday balloon display, which took ten hours of work.
The reality TV hunk enlisted a Yorkshire based company to make him something for his 30th birthday, which he celebrated alongside girlfriend Sophie Piper – and they charged him a minimal rate in exchange for a social media post.
But one month on from the bash and Bloomin’ Air Events are still waiting for their cash after numerous attempts to reach out.
The frustrated and upset business owner took to social media to share what had happened – and Josh has now responded, admitting he had failed to keep to his part of the agreement.
In a lengthy post, the company explained how they did a three hour round trip twice to assemble the stunning black balloons.
They explained how they didn’t mind because they were expecting content in return, which they thought would be good for business.
But she explained: “After leaving the venue, I had asked Josh to send me any photo’s he had taken infront of the display & I sent him some pictures I had taken of just the display itself. A
“After numerous attempts of trying to reach out to see when he would do the post or story, he finally read my messages & sent me a voice note stating he’d “been busy” & that he “wasn’t just not going to do you a story/post”. Which was understandable as it was his birthday week, so I backed off & left him to it…
“Josh then posted stories flying to Vegas, at which point I knew I wasn’t getting my social media advertisement from him.”
She added: “A month has now passed & I’ve not received as much as a Thank You from Josh never mind a social media post. I have lost out on over £400 with nothing in return.
“I want to spread this awareness as I know I’m not the first small business owner to be stung by false promises from ‘Influencers‘, but I’d like to make sure I’m going to be one of the last.”
The post not surprisingly received a large number of views and shares – including from Josh himself.
He replied: “As you aren’t replying to my messages and leaving this/facebook posts up to get a reaction I’ll also post on here.
“I completely hold my hands up and say it’s my fault I’ve missed the last message after telling you I was going to post after my trip to Vegas.
“I would never want to disrespect a small business and I’ve said I would pay the rest of the invoice and post for you.”
Josh, who came third on All Stars, added: “I don’t appreciate you using a picture of my girlfriend so people are now messaging her when she has nothing to do with it.”
