We had a place in mind for our rehearsal dinner and then that fell through which totally ticked me off. I had called the guy and he asked me to check their website to make sure they had my date available and then send an email to ask to hold that date for 7 days. Super. Done. Then we met with the guy the following day, tasted some food and I told him that I had asked for the wrong date. He asked me if there was anything on the website calendar for the new date and I said that they didn't have anything on the books for all of March 2010. He then looked in his book and said the date was open. So, I get back to work, send another email requesting the new date. This was all on a Friday. Monday afternoon I open my email to find an email from him stating that the new date was already booked and that they had booked it on the 18th of August, but it wasn't on the website calendar yet. WTF! If you're going to tell people to book based off your website calendar then you damn well better update the f-ing thing! My initial email was sent to him on the 20th of August and we met with him on the 21st and then second email was sent on the 21st as well. Still on the 21st there were no bookings for the entire month of March 2010. That, is just a BS way to do business, in my opinion.
As it turns out it worked out for the best. I had apparently overlooked the fine print stating that we had to rent the barn for a minimum of 4 hours therefore we are going to have to have rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at the barn. I have already secured the caterer for the reception dinner. YUM! We could use the same people, but since Tim's parents are paying for the rehearsal dinner I thought I would let his mom have some say in the caterer. His mom did have an a opinion. I looked at their website and didn't see anything that I liked. It's all fru fru food that I'm quite certain most people won't eat. What the heck is Foie Gras anyway? I know now because I wikipedia'd (new word, you're welcome to try it out) it. It's basically pate. BLUCK! I emailed the caterer asking for a sample menu and if our date was available. This is the email I received:
Thank you for your inquiry regarding our catering services and event space for your rehearsal dinner on March 19, 2010. Currently, we do have this date available. Can you let me know how many guests you are anticipating for the rehearsal dinner? We have done a few rehearsal dinners at our space but they have been larger parties of between 75 and 125 guests. I think that our space is simply too big for anything smaller and since we are a private space and full service caterer, sometimes our pricing is beyond some planned budgets for a rehearsal dinner. I do not have sample menus that I can easily display as we customize all menus to fit each particular guests.There is also a notable difference in pricing between a buffet dinner and a plated dinner. Can you share with me any budget numbers that you would like to stay within and the type of food service you are looking for? I can then advise if I can put something together that would fit.
I had an opinion on the response and read it to Tim in my most monotoned voice and asked him his opinion of the email. We both have the same opinion. Let me know what your impression of the email is? Well, I emailed the dude back and gave him some details and am now waiting for his response. We'll see if this caterer works out. I personally don't give to sh!ts because there are plenty of caterers out there, but I really wanted to give it the ol' college try for Tim's mom. OOPS, did I just give away my opinion?
I really like the caterer I have chosen for the reception and they are SO easy to work with. Literally we had everything except a substitute second main dish done in our first meeting which took all of 60 minutes with a food tasting. Simple, easy, affordable, awesome people!
Of all the things that should have been done by the end of August, according to Emily Post, we still need to book our honeymoon, pick a DJ and photographer, work on the guest list, get a caterer for the rehearsal dinner and find rooms for out of town guests. I guess that's not too far behind. Some of the next steps we can't do until we finish the ones we haven't done, so I guess I'll be working pretty hard catching up.
2 comments:
I kind of love that you had to wiki foie gras. You're not missing much.
If a company isn't willing to show decent customer service skills, they aren't worthy of your business. Its their job to meet your needs, not vice versa.
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