Christmas lunch plans were, originally, myself, DH, DS hosting and joined by DMiL and DBiL (three households). Turkey on order from M&S, nice bottle of champagne, take the dog for a walk in the afternoon. No problems.
Before Christmas plans had been confirmed, we had mooted the idea of going to a really nice - albeit pricey - hotel for their set Christmas lunch. However, when I enquired (I think back in October) they were fully booked but automatically put us on the waiting list. I got an email on Tuesday saying space was available if we wanted it, we discussed and decided yes, it would be a nice treat after this year and we could have the turkey at another point over the festive period.
They asked for menu choices and full payment (circa £600) upfront. I was a bit 
about this on the basis that we are in an area that may well be going into tier 3 next week and I therefore requested to pay a (substantial) deposit with the full balance on the 16th so I wasn’t having to wait for a full refund just before Christmas. The main motivation for this was the fact that DMiL can be a bit difficult about money and I didn’t want the flak for any delay about the return of her share. They said no, full payment needed, we decided to take the risk.
I went to pay today and I am not exaggerating to say there were around 30 people crammed into a relatively small reception area. There were two queues - a restaurant/afternoon tea queue, and a check in queue. I joined the restaurant queue, waited 15 minutes with husband and DS sleeping in the car, only to be told in a rude and unapologetic manner that I had joined the wrong queue and to get to the back of the long and slower moving check in desk queue. I said something along the lines of “are you serious?” and the host just shrugged at me. So I contacted the events organiser and have cancelled and gone back to Plan A. DH agrees with me, DMiL is not bothered (and thought it was too pricey anyway), but DBiL is really annoyed.
My view is, it’s a lot of money, it should have been better organised, and they should have made some attempt to be more helpful. I think part of it is when I spend a lot of money I have high expectations and so if they were this disorganised beforehand, I worry that the meal itself would be disappointing. I suspect DBiL thinks I’m cutting off my nose to spite my face.
AIBU?