Illinois

ugh total craziness

Warning: total venting post with positive conclusion.So, I haven't done a lot of planning because our wedding isn't until October of next year. But we did snatch up a reception place in June, just to make sure we would have our choice of places and not be met with, "Sorry, we're already booked."Well, in the past few months, my fiance had a job change and we moved. Even though we're in a little bit better financial shape, we decided we weren't willing to spend as much on our wedding and reception as we were a few months ago. We'd like to buy a house and all that grown up stuff so we're trying to be more budget conscious and not blow our wedding account just because we have the money.So we found another reception place that is equally wonderful and less pricey. We checked out our contract with our original reception place to see what our cancellation fees would be and found that because we were canceling more than a year in advance, we would lose only our deposit.Awesome. So fiance called to cancel our contract with them. And then a month of calling that place every day and getting no answer went by. Finally, a representative called us back and told us that we would have to pay the full amount of what the reception probably would have cost in order to get out of the contract.My hair almost fell out of my head I was in such a panic. We told her no, that isn't possible, this is what our contract says. She let us know that we were wrong, that isn't what our contract says, even though we were reading the contract to her over the phone. She said she would ask her boss to see what she could do, but we were definitely going to have to pay the minimum estimated cost of our reception.So a few days went by of fretting every time the phone rang. By that time we were so fed up, we got their corporate offices involved, letting them know that we thought the representative made a mistake because our contract's cancellation policy is X and she's saying Y. Even though the corporate offices told us they couldn't do anything because the contracts belong to the independent business, not to the company, we got a call the day after we sent an e-mail to their corporate offices.The representative informed us that because we got corporate involved, this simply wasn't going to go in our favor. She then said, "So we're keeping your deposit and your contract is canceled." My fiance and I stood, stunned. He asked, "So we're done with you guys?" And she answered, "Yes. Good bye." And we high-fived. I have no idea what happened, but I'm certain she probably thought our wedding date was this year and not next year. Either way, we seriously did not appreciate the scare or the mistake on their side no one ever admitted to.Now we're happily contracted with a local place that treats us like gold. Yay! Moral of this story: don't be trigger happy with reception places. You'll only end up dealing with crazy representatives in the end!
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It's a girl!
BabyFruit Ticker

Re: ugh total craziness

  • edited December 2011
    I can only imagine the stress you were feeling waiting for them to get back with you. I'm glad in the end it all worked out, do you mind who I ask this was?(company) I have a ton of friends and family getting married and I'm sure they would not want to do business with a company like this.
  • edited December 2011
    sorry===meant to say, do you mind if I ask who this was. Ugh, I'm tired.
  • edited December 2011
    Hm...I don't think I'm comfortable posting which reception venue this is here, just because I'm sure other people will have a marvelous time at this place if they don't try to cancel.I've posted here before about how happy we were with our decision when we were still going with this place, and I'm sure if we had stayed with this place we would have had a wonderful experience, albeit pricey. They were very professional up until the point of cancellation. After that, all bets were off. If you want me to email you I can, but I'm just uncomfortable posting it so publicly. Call me a bridezilla wuss!
    image
    It's a girl!
    BabyFruit Ticker
  • edited December 2011
    That's fine if you don't feel comfortable telling. However, I do not think I would be saying that they are professional. I'm a business owner and what they did was horrible. You can't be a good business owner when it works out in your favor. I'm glad you are happy with who you chose, but if it were me personally, I wouldn't say anything positive about the old place. It's clear that all they care about is getting your money. They don't even care about making a name for themselves, just getting your money. It's a shame.
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