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OMG ((((HUGS))))!
Seriously, it sounds like it's your caterer's time of the month. 20 minutes? Come on! They read you the riot act over NOTHING. Also, it's their job to accommodate YOU. It's not like it was some ferocious bridezilla situation or anything. I think that email the person sent to you was totally uncalled for and excessive and I'd totally be upset too. Part of being in the service industry is to suck it up and smile at your clients and do whatever makes them happy to get your $$$ - and you didn't even do anything truly offensive except, like, have a busy schedule and need to be accommodated on a saturday. If they were going to bitch to you about the saturday tasting after the fact, they shouldn't have agreed to it. Ugh. I'm getting upset FOR you!
(((More hugs)))
If you are 100% certain that all four of you were there, and you are 100% certain that you and FI were on time and offered to start without your mom and dad, then I would write a response similar to the following:
Dear so and so,
Thank you so much for getting back to me. However, I think you might possibly be confusing me with another client!? To refresh your memory, I had four people in my tasting (not three), and I arrived on-time with my fiance. My parents did arrive 20 minutes behind schedule, but my fiance and I offered to start without them in an effort to be more accommodating to you and your staff after you had been so kind as to accommodate us with a Saturday evening tasting. As you saw from my previous email, we loved the food! After being able to discuss the tasting privately with both my fiance and parents, we have just a few small changes we would like to make. If you'd like me to resend the email detailing those changes, I would be happy to do so.
I'm sorry to hear that your schedule is so demanding, so thank you again for agreeing to meet with us during what sounds like a busy time. With everything I have going on, I can certainly relate to a hectic schedule! I appreciate your time and look forward to a wonderful wedding with wonderful food!
I would do something like that because you're being the bigger person by being so kind, but you're also standing up for yourself in a way that they can't really get angry over or retaliate against. You're letting her know that she is not the only one who is busy, too! I think that their email was completely out of line and uncalled for, so I feel this is the best way to address that without getting into a war or words and while maintaining your class!
((((hugs))))
I love citywalk's email. I think something like that is the perfect solution to something like this. It corrects them without their level of snarkiness. Good luck!
(((HUGS HUGS HUGS!)))
Please definitely clarify this with them and keep us updated, you should not tolerate such undeserving criticism from them! there "motto" should be the service before snarkiness!
Good luck dear!
Hug! That was really uncalled for on their part, and a poor way to give customer service. You could always walk and find another caterer... but I like Citywalkr's email!
citywalkers email is definitely clear headed! If you want to try to smooth things over with them and make sure that everything goes smoothly in August, i'd recommend something like that.
Since your caterer is one of the few vendors you'll actually need to deal with at your wedding (your florist will drop and go, who cares if you're in a fight?), I'd recommend thinking about whether you are willing to work with them. If you're still that angry (and I would be), i'd recommend checking to see if another caterer is available. You can then contact the first caterer and say that since they are so busy and clearly do not want to work with you, you will be happy to work with someone else if they will refund all deposits. (But first make sure someone else is available!)
Good luck, and HUGS!!!
{{{HUGS!!!!!}}}
Yes, it sounds like she has you confused and citywalkers email is PERFECT. I'd send it and see her response. If she continues to be rude (sorry, but in my opinion she was very rude) I too would consider finding another caterer if at all possible, if they will refund deposits.
Good luck and please keep us posted. And MORE HUGS!!!!
We ended up changing our caterer 3 months before the wedding due to bad customer service. It was really the best decision for us. I hope it doesn't come to that for you, but I personally think that email is a terrible way to treat a client. Good luck!
Wow! Totally rude, and very condescending to be honest. I can't believe businesses treat brides like this... I mean, when it comes to a bride-to-be, she's liable to go bridezilla on your ass at any moment, and oh, imagine that, you just lost thousands of dollars! That woman is a b*tch!
I would be searching for a new caterer if I were you... HUGS!!
OMG!
I am here with my friend who used to manage a catering company and she says "Please do not use this caterer" lol There are PLENTY of caterering companies in and around worcester to use besides them. If you like i can compile a list for you if you like since i live only about 20-30mins from worcester
Thanks for your kind words, everyone. FI called to speak with the caterer, and it seemed like she was already a little bit embarrassed to have sent the email... she sent me some conciliatory words (although she didn't actually say "sorry,") and it seems like we can work it out.
I also sent her my apologies *again* that my parents were late, and thanks *again* for accommodating us on a Saturday night. I'm trying to get her on the phone and see where we stand.
The wedding is in 44 days and I really wish I weren't dealing with my vendor's personal issues. (A part of the email that I didn't excerpt describes how hurt and excluded she felt that I spent a good part of the evening speaking with my mom, who I hadn't seen in months, instead of talking to the caterer about food etc. Seriously? She's my caterer, not my best bud. Lady, I am just so sorry that you felt left out of my relationship with my mom.) However, at this point, probably the best course of action is to just go forward. Everything at the tasting was yummy, it just seems that this lady is sometimes batsh*t insane.
Oh, wow! (((HUGS)))
I hope everything works out for you! How stressful to receive an email like that on top of all the other stressful things that go along with wedding planning!
It is nice that they were accomodating for you, but it absolutely does not give them the right to lash out about it! You will definitely be the bigger person if you go forward with this caterer. I think you have every right to switch though.
You are a better person than me! I would have told her that her email was comletely out of line, inappropriate, and unprofessional. I then would have informed her that I would no longer be using her services and she should be glad that she now has a less busy schedule and can use it for some family time.
What happened to the customer is always right? Whether your parents were 20 minutes late or 2 hours late and whether you had 1 or 50 people with you, a vendor should never write that type of email or respond in any such manner no matter what the client has done. You grin and bear it. And upset you didn't give her more attention??? Hello crazy!
I'm still really upset about this... I had a long talk with her today, but I didn't want to demand an apology, and so I kept making little apologies to try and prompt her. I finally got an "I'm sorry that my tone made you upset," which is one of those "I'm sorry that you feel that way" kinds of apologies. Don't get me wrong, I'm the master of "I'm sorry you feel that way"... but it's for when the *apologizer* is sane, and the *apologizee* is crazy! Am I out of line to want an actual "That was unprofessional of me and won't happen again"?
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I sent my caterer an email yesterday with notes about our tasting... I know that I should have responded while I was there with tweaks, but FI and I tend to want to talk things over away from the vendor before responding. Because I work on Sundays in NY, and FI Monday-Friday, they agreed in advance to work around our schedules. We were available from 7pm on Friday to 11 am on Sunday, any weekend. They were difficult to schedule with, and kept saying "we have never done a Saturday night tasting before." FI and I sent a response to their proposal a week in advance, asking for some substitutions, which they did not read, or didn't read thoroughly. Anyway, I emailed yesterday saying that everything was great, asking for tweaks on a few dishes, and highlighting that there had been a miscommunication about the menu and I wanted to be clear going forward. Here is some of what I just received:
"<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thanks for the detailed analysis of the Tasting that we had on Saturday night May 9th for you, WorcesterGroom and your Mom.
The few comments I may make about this Private Tasting, is that when we finally found a date and time to accommodate you, WorcesterGroom and your Mom.... you called in that you were having 4 people which we were to prepare for,and ended up with a Saturday night Tasting which was for 9:00pm.
You came over 45 minutes late with one less person and with no apology!
I felt then, that we were not going to have great communication between us. I couldn't say anything that night, but how unfair to assume that we had all the time that night on a busy Mother's Day weekend to just wait for you all to finally show up and then to not let us know that one person will not be coming... What if people say that they are coming to your wedding, you put out the money to feed them, then they don't show up at all? How would this make you feel about the effort that you put forward to make them feel welcomed to your event?
I'm sorry to air this issue, but it was hard enough to pull the Chef away for 3 people on a Saturday in season. I'm sure that you would not want that to happen to you on your wedding in August for another Bride from New York who can only come up on that Saturday.... we have never done it before, nor would we do this again for anyone.
We try so hard to be accommodating, and in the winter it's much easier to schedule private tastings, but in season it is near impossible, especially on weekends. We are just thankful that we are so busy in a time where alot of caterers are closing shop.
Our concentration should be on that weekends events only, and I realized that you don't live nearby, but neither do 60% of our events, and they find time to meet up to work on their events.
We are not a big company, with lots of salespeople around just waiting to sell events. We work very hard on most all weekends and if by chance we have one off, we try to have a family life.
I just wanted to clarify this issue,and to let you know that we are very excited to work with you on this amazing day, but my personal motto is and has always been: "Treat people right and you will be treated right." </font>
At the tasting, FI and I arrived on time. My mother and father arrived 20 minutes late, and FI and I apologized profusely and offered to start without them. I am absolutely certain of this. I am so angry I am shaking. Hive hugs please?