Bride’s nightmare after popular online registry fails to hand over $9,000 of wishing well gifts – forcing her to cancel their dream honeymoon
Sydney bride Sophie Howe never imagined her dream honeymoon would be derailed before it even began.
But months after her wedding, more than $9,000 gifted by loved ones remains locked away, leaving the newlywed desperately searching for answers.
Sophie, 33, had envisioned spending quality time relaxing in Bali with new husband, Martin Harkin after the pair tied the knot at the picturesque Mona Farm in regional New South Wales on February 6.
Like many modern couples, they opted against a traditional gift registry and instead used online honeymoon fund platform to allow guests from around the world to contribute towards their first holiday as husband and wife.
But more than four months later, the $9,144 contributed by their loved ones remains inaccessible.
The couple say they have been left in limbo after their chosen Australian registry company Hitchd after customer withdrawals were paused, citing a regulatory compliance review.
As a result, they have been unable to access the money they were relying on to pay for their honeymoon and were ultimately forced to postpone the trip altogether.
Despite months of correspondence, Sophie said she and Martin still do not have a clear timeline for when the money will be released, while the delays have already cost them more than $1,000 in additional expenses.
Sydney couple Sophie Howe, 33, and Martin Harkin (pictured) never imagined her dream honeymoon would be derailed before it even began. But months after their February nuptials, more than $9,000 gifted by loved ones remains locked away, leaving the newlyweds desperately searching for answers
‘We’ve been stonewalled,’ she told Daily Mail.
‘We know the funds are there, and we can see them sitting there, but we can’t access them.’
The situation stands in stark contrast to the image Hitchd projected little more than four years ago.
In a February 2022 interview, co-founder Ollie Rozdarz described the Sydney-based business as a thriving startup helping couples fund ‘the adventure of a lifetime’ and generating between $15,000 and $30,000 per month in net revenue.
Now, however, multiple Australian couples have surfaced online claiming they too have faced lengthy delays accessing money gifted to them through the platform.
Why they chose a honeymoon registry
Over their four years as a couple, Sophie and Martin’s relationship has taken them across the globe.
The pair first met in Sydney before life pulled them in different directions, with Martin relocating to New York and Sophie moving to London.
Despite months of correspondence with Australian registry company Hitchd, Sophie said she and Martin still do not have a clear timeline for when the money will be released, while the delays have already cost them more than $1,000 in additional expenses
‘Marty’s Irish originally, and he has a lot of friends in New York, I have friends from London, we had so many international guests,’ Sophie explained.
With nearly 100 guests attending the wedding, the couple felt a honeymoon registry would eliminate the hassle of transporting physical gifts and make it easier for friends and family to contribute, regardless of where they lived.
After researching different options, they settled on Hitchd because they liked the website, money deposits seemed easy, and according to Sophie, it looked ‘really legit.’
Using the platform, the couple created a personalised registry page outlining their plans for a romantic two-week holiday in Bali, allowing guests to see exactly what their contributions would help pay for.
With nearly 100 guests attending the wedding, the couple felt a honeymoon registry would eliminate the hassle of transporting physical gifts and make it easier for friends and family to contribute, regardless of where they lived
Assuming it was a temporary technical issue, she tried again in March and received the same response. But by April, with their departure date rapidly approaching, the problem remained unresolved, and when Sophie contacted Hitchd directly, she said she was blindsided by the response
The warning that never came
Like many newlyweds, Sophie and Martin wasted little time planning their first holiday as husband and wife, booking flights and beginning to organise accommodation for a two-week getaway scheduled to run from May 23 until June 7.
At that stage, Sophie said they had absolutely no reason to believe the money gifted to them by guests would not be readily available when they needed it.
However, when she first attempted to withdraw funds from the platform in late February, she was met with an error message informing her that transactions were unavailable.
In an email sent on April 6, Hitchd informed the couple it was currently enrolled in a regulatory compliance review being conducted under Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing laws
Assuming it was a temporary technical issue, she tried again in March and received the same response.
‘I thought, we’re not in a rush, I’ll just come back in a few weeks and it should all be fine,’ she said.
But by April, with their departure date rapidly approaching, the problem remained unresolved, and when Sophie contacted Hitchd directly, she said she was blindsided by the response.
‘No warning whatsoever,’ she said when asked whether the company had notified customers that withdrawals had been frozen.
‘Otherwise, we wouldn’t have booked non-refundable flights, we wouldn’t have put deposits down on hotels using our credit cards.’
In an email sent on April 6, Hitchd informed the couple it was currently enrolled in a regulatory compliance review being conducted under Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing laws.
The company told Sophie it was legally required to pause customer withdrawals until the review was complete and assured her that all guest contributions remained secure.
At the time, Hitchd said it expected the process would be completed during April and told the couple they would receive their funds in full once the review concluded.
That deadline passed without any resolution.
As the couple’s departure date drew closer, Sophie said it became increasingly clear that the issue was not going to be resolved before they were due to board their flight. For the newlywed, the realisation that their long-awaited honeymoon was beginning to unravel triggered what she describes as ‘pure panic’
The moment of ‘pure panic’
As April rolled into May and the couple’s departure date drew closer, Sophie said it became increasingly clear that the issue was not going to be resolved before they were due to board their flight.
For the newlywed, the realisation that their long-awaited honeymoon was beginning to unravel triggered what she describes as ‘pure panic’.
‘We’d booked our flights, we’d looked into accommodation,’ she said.
‘There were some hotels that we really wanted to stay in, but we’d have to pay completely upfront, and so we lost out on a lot of the places that we wanted.’
Adding to their frustration, Sophie said Hitchd’s only proposed solution was to reverse individual guest contributions and ask family and friends to transfer the money directly themselves. While the option was technically available, she felt it defeated the entire purpose of using the platform in the first place. Pictured: Martin and Sophie in happier times
‘We were worried about not getting our deposits back, not being able to change our flights, and also the compounding interest from our credit card balances being carried longer than anticipated,’ she added.
Adding to their frustration, Sophie said Hitchd’s only proposed solution was to reverse individual guest contributions and ask family and friends to transfer the money directly themselves.
While the option was technically available, she felt it defeated the entire purpose of using the platform in the first place.
‘Many of our guests are older family members or live overseas, and we didn’t think it was reasonable to ask them to fix a problem that they didn’t create.’
The honeymoon that never happened
While she had spent weeks hoping the issue would eventually be resolved, the couple ultimately found themselves unable to take the honeymoon at all, with the money earmarked to fund the trip still sitting beyond their reach.
‘We didn’t have the funds,’ she said.
‘We’ve had a huge wedding, we’re not in a position currently to just go and load up our credit cards to go on a vacation when we know the funds are there.’
Instead of sipping cocktails by the pool in Bali, Sophie found herself sitting at work watching reminders for their outbound and return flights pop up on her calendar.
The couple have since rebooked the trip for September and remain hopeful that they will finally get away, although the uncertainty surrounding the release of their funds continues to hang over those plans.
While she had spent weeks hoping the issue would eventually be resolved, the couple ultimately found themselves unable to take the honeymoon at all, with the money earmarked to fund the trip still sitting beyond their reach. ‘We didn’t have the funds,’ she said
Other couples report similar experiences
As her concerns grew, Sophie began searching online to see whether anybody else had experienced similar issues.
On forums and social media, multiple Australian couples reported waiting months to access money gifted to them by wedding guests, with some describing circumstances strikingly similar to her own.
One bride wrote that she had received more than $2,000 in honeymoon contributions after her February wedding but had also been waiting almost four months to receive the funds.
Another customer claimed they had also been waiting months for access to their money and criticised the company’s handling of the situation, while several comments left beneath Hitchd’s social media posts referenced lengthy delays.
On forums and social media, Sophie soon found multiple other Australian couples reporting waiting months to access money gifted to them by wedding guests, with some describing circumstances strikingly similar to her own
One fellow bride wrote that she had received more than $2,000 in honeymoon contributions after her February wedding but had also been waiting almost four months to receive the funds
Join the discussion
Should online gift funds be trusted for major life events, or is it too risky with stories like this?
Taking the matter further
Concerned by the lack of progress, Sophie and Martin decided to escalate the matter to a number of authorities.
The couple initially approached the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) before being directed to contact both the ACCC and NSW Fair Trading.
While the matter remains ongoing, Sophie said she hopes the outcome will not only help her and Martin recover their money, but also prevent other couples from finding themselves in a similar position.
‘We’re hoping that we get refunded and can move on and take our honeymoon that we wanted to go on,’ she said.
Looking back, she said the experience has fundamentally changed how she thinks about online honeymoon registries and digital payment platforms more broadly.
‘I felt at the time as though I had done some due diligence.
‘But I think from now on, I will be a lot more hesitant to use any kind of online platform where I’m having money transferred in and out of by a third party.’
Asked what she would say to Hitchd today, her answer was simple.
‘I hope that they do the right thing when they can, and return the money as soon as possible to us and any other couples that are affected.’
In a statement provided to the Daily Mail through its lawyers, Hitchd said customer withdrawals had been temporarily paused while the company completed compliance processes associated with operating in a regulated environment.
The company said all customer funds remained safeguarded, had not been used for operational purposes and would be returned to customers in full once the compliance process was complete.
‘Our client intends to release customer funds as soon as the current compliance process is completed,’ their legal representatives said.
For now, Sophie and Martin are left watching and waiting, hopeful that the money gifted will eventually be released so they can finally begin the honeymoon chapter of their marriage.
