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Disapointed with Coordinator

vitacosmopolitavitacosmopolita
First Comment
in Wedding Woes

Several months ago we hired a planner, it was a $1000 package and seemed ideal. It covered everything except the wedding shower.

My fiance does comedy on the side and one of his fellow comedians had done events with her. She also did weddings. I was impressed with her immediately. She was seeking out my crazy ideas within the first week and had leads.  Then she started getting bad at returning calls, was late to every appt. rescheduled at the last minute, etc

I hired her because my job is a 50-60 hour/week gig. I can escape sometimes for midday appts because I'm salary but I knew I wasn't going to be able to meet with vendors during their hours. The bm's live out of town or have jobs/kids that wipe out their time to help. My mom lives out of town as well...

BUT then she would name drop and tell us all of these great things she would include for free. She is an event coordinator for a local mansion and had lots of "hook-ups." 

But the shady behavior continued. She was great when she was sitting across from us, but in terms of calls or emails she was impossible to get ahold of.  Well she finally admitted she was pregnant ...
We didn't sign the contract (she never followed up to get the signed copy) but I'm pretty sure we lost our $200 deposit. She never really produced any results, but because of her time--I doubt I should push the issue.

So questions for the board:

Pursue the return of deposit?

Where to find a day of coordinator? (Now all trust is gone, would you even recommend trying a local college? Or just pick an aunt or relative? The whole reason for the WC was so that no one lifted a finger.)

Any words of assurance or advice that I can do this alone would be helpful too :-/

We are firing her tomorrow. Final straw: An appt we have had planned for weeks has now been canceled because she can't find a babysitter :(

Thank you all. I'm just sad... back to square 1.

http://www.cheapsally.com/profile/leah-kelly/
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Re: Disapointed with Coordinator

  • Wonderw1feWonderw1fe
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You gave someone $200 w/out signing a contract? You am smrt.
    ..
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  • LesaBearLesaBear member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Well I don't have much in way of advice....
    Just about the same thing just happened to us. I think we are going to have to cancel the whole wedding. So in terms of assurance this does happen.

    Even though friends and mom live out of town could they still help? My mom offered to go back to square one and replan everything for us even though she lives nowhere near our venue. Even if people could make phone calls for you it would be a start.

    I would fight for the $200. She's now given you more problems than work she's done.
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  • dianenjnjdianenjnj member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    good luck getting the $200 back.  but i think it's 200 well spent to get rid of her.

    you have plenty of time to get someone else...just be sure they are part of a company that has registered wedding planners on staff...yes, it will probably cost more but its just not worth the stress going with an unknown...and for pete's sake don't give deposits without signing an iron clad contract that outlines the services you expect and how and when they will be executed and how long they take to respond to your emails and phone calls.
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  • Theresa626Theresa626 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You can always ask for it back and see what happens.  Say something like "you know, it's difficult to be a new mom because you've got so much going on and it's a joyful time in your life but also stressful.  It seems like you need to spend more time taking care of your family than planning my wedding.  I appreciate all the efforts you've made so far in helping us with our wedding planning but I feel we need to hire someone else who can be more available to us.  Since we did not sign a contract, we would like our deposit refunded.  Thank you for your time"
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  • Theresa626Theresa626 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Also, almost every contract ever states that you don't get your deposit back no matter what.  Not signing a contract might actually work in your favor. 
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  • rainsfallsoftlyrainsfallsoftly member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_wedding-woes_disapointed-coordinator?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:47Discussion:362e7931-b39b-401f-9de1-55d8109c0876Post:bd0fdd21-bf0b-4b56-be8e-a724075f494c">Re: Disapointed with Coordinator</a>:
    [QUOTE]You gave someone $200 w/out signing a contract? You am smrt.
    Posted by Wonderw1fe[/QUOTE]

    So someone comes on here asking for help on a situation she is clearly upset about, and you make fun of her?  Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to give a deposit without a contract but you don't have to be so rude about expressing these ideas.  Reading posts like this makes me not want to come to theknot anymore because for every few helpful brides/future brides, there's someone who always has to be snarky!
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