catering price problem - opinions required

nrgserv

Airedale_Pete wrote: »

I hope this confusion over your names doesn't extend to real life!

hehe your the second person to notice and tell me!

its what happens at 1 in the morning when your knackered and try to sort headaches out!

cheers!

Enid75

Also attended the wedding and had a lovely day. Me n Hubby thought our meal was ok. His soup was a little cold though but our main of bangers and mash was pleasant enough. Veg completely overcooked though so our daughter wouldn't eat anything! Pudding was obviously bought in not made for the day. Ok but not fab. Was a real shame top table served last but when you have kids serving they don't always know procedure and were left to fend for themselves. As to being asked for more money - not a chance! I smelt the chilli and had to move away quickly! I too would ask for receipts and for everything itemising before handing over any money that may be outstanding (in her eyes). All in all shame not in writing as it would give you a bit more clout but if necessary seek advice from a solicitor. First half hour is (nearly) always free and tell her you have consulted one as that may put her off pursuing you.

Horace

Not wanting to doubt the OP but why have all these people started to post who claimed to be at the wedding...I smell a rat or should that be spam?

Moral of the tale - make sure you get a written contract, have a proper meeting with the supplier, get a written quote, discuss your budget from the outset and only pay for what has been quoted. Also ask how many weddings they have catered for and get references so that you can contact the customers directly to check (especially when it comes to your local caff).

Tigerlilley1980

Absolutely agree with everyone else, don't hand over another penny. If she can't admit to serving burned food and doing someething about it don't give her a thing. How many people was the meal for as the money she is asking for seems ridiculously overpriced, my buffet for 60 people is costing £700 and there is a lot of food including pudding in that price.

I certainly wouldn't pay if it was my wedding, Tiger x

Enid75

Just to let Horace know am good friend of bride and groom and had a phone conversation with him about this this morning and was asked to log on and see what people thought to help him formulate plan of action. Am not spam!

Horace

Enid75 wrote: »

Just to let Horace know am good friend of bride and groom and had a phone conversation with him about this this morning and was asked to log on and see what people thought to help him formulate plan of action. Am not spam!

I smelt a rat because so many guests were suddenly posting.

I wouldnt pay her any more money - let her prove to you how much she spent. As for having to close her caff for the day - surely she has staff that can run it in her absence? Don't pay for cold food nor for burnt food.

Did anyone have the slightest touch of a gippy tummy afterwards? If so, contact environmental health, mind you I would be inclined to contact them anyway - it can be done anonymously and they can inspect her premises. She obviously has a problem with food temperatures and this can be a killer - if she is slack on keeping food at the correct temperature then she is bound to be slack in other areas of hygiene too.

Belease

This is just a bad situation and it seems as though the cafe owner maybe spent a bit of time researching how much other wedding caterers charge or maybe being told by her mates 'oo, you should have asked for more if it's a wedding'. I wouldn't have paid any more and it's good to hear exactly what the cost of this was estimated to be in someone's professional opinion.

I'm glad to hear it didn't spoil the day, though - it sounds as though your guests were game and good sort!

*Louise*

I guess you guys will be frequenting a different cafe from now on!

It sounds like a complete shambles from the start, fom a basic price to suddenly charging for closing the cafe (perhaps she shouldn't have offered!) and loads extra for the food.

If it had been edible I would have said you should just pay up, learn from your mistake and get written quotes for things in future. However the fact that the meals were so bad and the caterer was so unapologetic is shocking!

I would ask for copies of receipts, work out the cost of the meals per head, then deduct accordingly for all the bad meals. I certainly wouldn't hand over the whole £500.

hazelbetney

i was't at the wedding but feel from reading all the posts that everyone is right, you shoud pay NO MORE! this woman is having a laugh, there seems to me to be no consideration on her part for the distress this whole affair has put you under and she seems very selfish in her attitude and willingness to do a good job. to have paid £800 already seems too much, alot of the food she will have bought from wholesale which is cheap and to keep on asking for mare money is ridiculous.

not to mention that the food was inedible, sure enough she may have not done any weddings before but i'm sure as a person who runs a cafe she should know how to cook and if she was unsure that she could do it then she should have said something sooner.

of course your gonna say that you'd pay, it was 2 days before the big day and it was a sort of emotional blackmail that if you didn't pay then was she or was'nt she gonna turn up, thats a mess you wouldn't have wanted im sure.

glad most of your day went well and i wish you all the best for the future

h xx

nrgserv

firstly there are no rats or spam!

due to the number of independant conversations with guests, i forwarded details of this forum so they could all read each others thoughts and post accordingly.

yes, we should know better, and had quotes and budgets to work to.

we did know that she had'nt done wedding catering before, but she convinced us there wasnt a problem as our menu was "piece of pi55 to cook"

she did know we were'nt flush with money and were on a fairly tight budget.

my referances have been 8 or so years eating breakfasts with her other customers and friends.

no one to my knowledge got deli belly and i have no intention of involving environmental health, i am not vindictive and accept no one is perfect.

my guests are "very game", and a "very good sort!", thanks!

we didnt expect the continued price rises, especially after she had "bought the goods"

it has happened, and as a consequense we have this situation. we said we would get and pay the £500, as a day before the wedding we didnt have time for alternative arrangements. we did discuss on the thursday night after our meeting with her the feasability of getting the food and receipts, paying this and finding someone else to cook and serve. we dismissed it as too late and crossed our fingers she would turn up and deliver.

normally i would pay, and write it off as a bad experience and bump in the learning curve, but having heard and experienced the problems with the goods delivered, i am not sure this is "normal"
too many people are saying dont!

i will keep watching and post accordingly.

thank you to all for taking the time to read and post. please feel free to continue.