Advice on getting compensation for errors made by venue.

Japaha

I (29F) got married on Sunday and feel like my venue let me down. Our ceremony and reception took place at a "resort and spa" on the water. There were two somewhat major mishaps that altered the events of our "special" day.

The first occurring at the spa. My MOH had a 9am hair appt (its also a salon) with the same stylist who was doing my hair and makeup. During my pretrial, the stylist convinced my MOH that she'd be able to do a beautiful up do despite the massive amount of hair MOH has. Well fast forward to Sunday and the stylist is 35 minutes late and tells MOH she won't be able to do an up due and so she had to settle with a 1\2 up 1\2 down. And then the hairstyle fell out within an hour! When she moved onto my hair and makeup, she let it be known I was her only client and got to go home when we were done. I felt she rushed and needed a lot of direction. And on top of that, she used the wrong curl on my hair and it fell out within an hour too. Due to her lack of skill and tardiness I missed out on having a first look and good daylight for my photos (a close friend ended redoing our hair).

The 2nd was simpler. We dropped off a top tier and 120 cupcakes on Saturday to our event coordinators office. She told us we could leave them in a corner and shed turn down the temp in the office to keep them cool. Never mentioned anything about liability if something happened. Well come Sunday, 48 cupcakes are missing. And these cupcakes are all diff colors to go along with the diff colors in my wedding. They attempted to make up for it by adding in some of their cakes. However, I'm never going to have a picture of my wedding cake as I intended it to be. Instead I have pics of a 1/2 full sad looking cupcake stand. The missing cupcakes have yet to be recovered.

What is a fair request to make concerning a refund? What would be the best way to express that the failure at the salon and of the event coordinator robbed me of pictures/memories I'd have had I chosen a different venue?

Any words of wisdom or similar experiences is appreciated!

**TL/DR: Two services offered at my venue messed up and ruined some experiences I should of had on my wedding day**

mrsconn23

I'm sorry this happened.  It sounds like you have a good attitude (didn't let it ruin your whole day), but I definitely think you should pursue a refund of some kind because these are two pretty big screw-ups. 

First and foremost, read your contract. See what it says about complaints and/or anything about what the venue is or is not responsible for. 

Secondly, do you have any e-mails/texts or voicemails specific to these two items (especially the cupcakes)?  Make sure that communication is saved somewhere safe. 

Third, you need to find a manager or owner of the venue/resort and go directly to them.  I recommend writing out your concerns.  If you get their voicemail, leave a message and immediately follow up with an e-mail.  Enclose any texts/e-mail communication about your issues to support your case for reimbursement.

Fourth, only stick to the items that you're asking to be looked into/reimbursed.  Don't pile on other issues that you don't expect to be compensated for in order to prove your case and don't make any threats about bad reviews.  It's a quick way for someone to become dismissive of your concerns. 

The biggest thing (as someone who works in customer service and answers complaint e-mails for a living) is being clear, concise, stick to the facts (thinking of the hairdresser here..."She was late.  She wasn't able to provide the agreed upon service to my bridesmaid due to her tardiness. She stated how I was her only client that day, but she seemed to be rushing to get my hair done as fast as possible.  My style, nor my bridesmaid's style lasted the whole day.") 

Good luck! 

*Barbie*

to echo conn - stick to asking for reimbursement/compensation only for the 2 things not according to plan - cupcakes lost and displeasure with services /quality of stylist. 

you're going to need to consult your contract - there may be a clause that the venue is not responsible for items provided by other sources (you/other vendors). 

Be polite and respectful, keep everything in writing, and address concerns directly to the owner/manager of the venue. 

I would agree with conn that you need to stay away from complaining about "memories lost" and overly dramatizing the situation. If I was the venue owner, I'd be rolling my eyes at that. Same with threats  - people generally will not respond well. 

I would write something like this, and follow up with a phone call to the manager/owner: 

"Dear Manager, 

I am writing to give you feedback on your venue, which we used for our wedding on [date]. Overall the day was very nice, and we really enjoyed ________, ____,&_________ about the venue/staff/food/etc. However, there were a few items that left us dissatisfied with the overall quality of the experience, and I wanted to let you know, so you could consider these items for future events. 

As planned/discussed with [planner], I dropped off cake/cupcakes/etc. on [date], the day before my event. {name of planner} said (s)he would hold these in their cool office overnight and display them the day of the wedding. On the wedding day 48/120 cupcakes were missing. These were not found before the wedding, or since. I understand that the venue provided several small cakes to try and make up the difference, but i was dissatisfied with this solution.

The other item that left me dissatisfied was the services provided by {stylist name} in your salon. {stylist} was scheduled to style hair for myself and MOH, and apply my makeup. Stylist arrived 30 minutes late and rushed through the appointment. The hairstyle received by my MOH was not what was agreed upon during the hair trial ( a full updo), and my hair and makeup were very rushed, as the stylist made it clear that she would be leaving for the day when complete.  Both hairstyles fell out within an hour, and needed to be fixed by a guest.  

I do not feel that the venue has met it's contractual obligations and has provided poor customer service in the areas of "cupcake storage" and styling. I am requesting that you compensate me for the cost of the 48 missing cupcakes ($$$) and the cost of styling services ($$$) for a total of ($$$). I have included a copy of both receipts and (additional communications) on these items. 

I would like to continue to do business with your venue/recommend you to friends, but I know that these negative experiences soured my day, and I would like to know that you are addressing them.

Thank you for your time and consideration

Best Regards, 
@Japaha"

MesmrEwe

What the PP have said - READ THE CONTRACT!  Next, keep emotion and "boo hoo's" out of it, this is a business transaction and deal, not emotional one - the more level you keep your head the better chance you have at minimum of being compensated for the lost cake and beginner updo's.  And also make it clear that you think you paid appropriately for the services unfortunately they didn't deliver on the services you hired them for and things like the stylist was gone so you couldn't go back and say "DO YOUR BLEEPING JOB!" to correct it.  Yea, it sucks, but damnit your staff ATE FOURTY-EIGHT of my freaking cupcakes!  At whatever they cost each.  BUT - you can only ask for a reimbursement IF you've got a paper trail and air-tight clause in your contract to use for negligence.  The same for the hair.  Chances are there may be some haggling because of the cakes they provided, however they likely charged you for those as well so at minimum you should get any difference back.

Yes, go up the chain to the top, and most of all, keep emotion OUT of it!  It's hard to do, we had a few vendors that we ha to deal with (it's one thing for the cake to be the wrong design, but when it's the wrong flavor and icing that's a different discussion...)..  The less emotion you show such that they aren't thinking eye roll and "they've got spender's remorse" overpaying for their day type complaints the better.  Price was fair - product wasn't delivered - I shouldn't be responsible for those things which I wasn't delivered.