Dinner ruined

[Kaftanqween]

I’m away with large family to celebrate a parent’s significant birthday. I booked a meal through a recommended catering company. Chef was due at 3 with meal served at 4.

At 3.15 the chef messaged to say I’m lost. Sorry. He sent me a pin to his location. He was 3 hours from me. I rang the company in a panic. They said he’d gone to the wrong place and they were weird and defensive demanding did I want to go ahead or not. It was awful. We’re in the middle of nowhere in a rented property we’d had a few drinks. I didn’t know what to do. So I said go ahead.

the chef turned his phone off and I really didn’t know if he would even arrive. The company were useless presumably unable to track the chef either. By this time I’d spent nearly 3 hours away from the celebrations.

Anyway at 6 he did arrive and served lacklustre, rushed food at 7. Half the table were missing as they were putting small kids to bed.

This morning I messaged the company and got a random response saying they’d investigate and get back to me in 7 days! I was flabbergasted and wrote a review on trustpilot and insta. Since then it’s been hell. Long, defensive messages, questioning what I’m saying. Also suggesting they won’t consider any recompense until I take my reviews down. Finally a response to my review online calling me abusive and saying I threatened to slander (sic) them all over social media unless I was immediately refunded. Also claiming they contacted me to resolve it early this morning. None of this Is true.

What the hell is wrong with them? why wouldn’t they just offer me a 50% refund or something and we can all move on. Should I take my reviews down? What recourse do I have? Just small claims? Hoping someone can advise.

Yes. Thank you for the link @HotCrossBunplease

They have offered me 50% refund plus £150 on account (which I wouldn’t use in a million years). They’ve admitted it’s entirely their fault but called the offer a goodwill gesture.

I need to talk to the family but thanks to @HotCrossBunpleaseI let the company know they’re actually in breach of contract. I hate all this ‘technically you ate the food so you’re not really entitled but seeing as we’re so great, have a goodwill gesture’.

I appreciate I’m a stubborn person wanting to be right so we’ll see. I don’t have much fight left though as I’ve spent enough of my holiday week on this shit show.

Thanks for the tips and support everyone.

Trading standatds at the council for the area.

That's not the way you approach a claim through the small claims court. There are proper procedures to follow.

No wonder you were angry. Anyone would be. I'm so sick of people not giving a damn about their job (so ruining a 90th birthday party - that can not be replicated 😡) then trying to dilute accountability.
They bank on people backing down but I hope you will carry on otherwise they'll just carry on misguiding customers! All they care about is money. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Unwise to slate them before they've given you a decision on compensation.

I didn’t slate them @ByQuaintAzureWaspI left a review stating exactly what happened. They hadn’t been in touch with any kind of apology or explanation for 24 hours and surprise surprise the review prompted a reaction. Anyway thanks for your sparkling insight, we’ve moved on

I’d just get a refund via my credit card as the service was not as agreed, not the contract you had agreed. Gather your evidence and put the charge in dispute.

This what I would have done. I assume OP means they were all sh*t faced &, instead of cancelling, went all 'Waaaaaaaagh'. 😀

Sorry, no advice for you, OP, but wanted to say this sounds a nightmare. Also, I’ve had similar (albeit in a very different situation): emailing to explain the issue; hearing absolutely nothing back; leaving a negative review and hearing back IMMEDIATELY (in my case, being called spiteful and all sorts even though my review was scrupulously honest)… It’s very frustrating when you’ve given someone the chance to respond and they don’t bother — until you leave a review.
I hope you get it sorted.

I suspect that if OP had cancelled after learning that the chef was 2 hours away, she wouldn't have got a refund at all, on the grounds that she voluntarily cancelled at short notice.

Are you the chef?

Do people actually read threads any more or is piling on a distressed poster just so much more fun that you can ignore updates? OP says there were 18 people, a nut allergy and dairy sensitivity. You can't just call up a local restaurant in an unfamiliar rural area and expect that they'll be able to cater for you in the next hour. OP was given very poor service, the company doubled down on the poor service with unsubstantiated threats and she was somehow at fault for not having a backup??

Yep, the 90 year old parent was almost certainly “shit faced”.

This

I had this with an hotel and reposed my reviews afterwards to include screenshots and an update with the threatening message. It empowered others to come forward and the hotel went out of business soon after. He threatened to stalk me at work!

Thanks @Harleyband yes @Oldwmn I’ve answered all of these points. Do keep up!

Glad you are moving in the right direction.

I woukd take a view as to whether what they have now offered is enough for you to be able to put it behind you or whether saying 50% plus £150 but not by of credit or to negotiate aa higher amount. You may want to take what's offered just for it to be the end of a matter.

I would be fuming too if I had organised a daytime meal foe a 90th birthday and the caterer didn't show.

That's really disappointing and you definitely deserve some sort of a refund. However, never post reviews until you have come to a resolution!

You definitely should be given a minimum 100% refund and an apology. Put the reviews back up.

Get all the relatives to post reviews too!!
Think of the next family this will happen to.

I would say a full refund no credit on account because you have zero intention in using them again

And yes get the relatives to write reviews too

I think full refund plus £150 cash would probably be ok NOT on account but you don't say how much you spent per head.
Also mention that you were recommended by the accommodation owners and you have informed them - so don't expect any further recommendations unless they resolve the matter with at least a full refund.
This is why I always cater myself - if not just ready prepped meals from Waitrose/M&S etc.

As someone deep in the process of what should be a shut-and-dried claim at small claims court, it's cost me about £250 in fees and about twenty hours of admin time to get to the point where I have a court date (and two years after the initial incident). I wake up in the night worrying about submitting my paperwork by the next deadline.

I will have to travel four hours to the court nearest the defendant, involving an overnight stay I've had to also pay for.

If I had known how hugely stressful, expensive and time consuming it would be to get to this point I probably wouldn't have bothered. They probably won't even pay up when I win. (And of course there's a chance the judge is bonkers or something and I won't).

So when people toss out "just take them to small claims" it really isn't that simple.