Patricia C.

If I was able to choose zero stars I would. Last year, my mother contacted 'A Catered Affair' for my wedding in late June this year. My mother was ill, but she knew exactly what we needed being that the wedding was in my hometown just like my two other sisters had done before me. I was very gracious since I live out of town and appreciated all her help and guidance. My mother and father planned out the food (appetizers, dishes, and so forth) and the company created a contract. The contract was redone when the rentable items (chairs, tables, dinnerware, etc.) were added. Right before Christmas my parents paid the 50% needed to continue to secure the deal ($6,000). Tragically, eight days later my mother passed away unexpectantly. Naturally, to think of having one of the most celebrated days of your life to happen so shortly after the passing of your mother was just heartbreaking in me and my family's eyes. Therefore, my fiance and I decided to postpone the wedding for a later date. When I called 'A Catered Affair,' one of the co-owners, Connie, said that they would reimburse us full price, that they completely understood the circumstances, and that they were so sorry for our loss. Flash forward to the beginning of April, 'A Catered Affair' still hadn't sent the reimbursement and my father decided to call the owners. 'A Catered Affair' then passed on the contract issues with the owner of Second Street (the company thats name is just on the sign pretty much). John decided to meet with my father and I and the owners of 'A Catered Affair' did not attend. The owner said that he was there on the behalf of 'A Catered Affair' (Connie and Meredith) and that he was hoping to work something out. He continued looking over the contract and continued to say this was an unusual situation (nothing in the contract said anything about circumstances like these) and that Connie should have consulted her partner Meredith before telling me otherwise. He sized my dad and I up in terms of how much of a negative impact it would be to go back on the words of one of the real owners. Meaning, he asked us where we lived/grew up Kingsmill), who we knew in town, and if any other family members or friends still live here ... which would be all. John then told us he would think it over and talk with 'A Catered Affair' owners. He shared that the 5 1/2 month cancellation didn't give them any chance to find another event and that they would lose money. I am a college graduate with a masters degree and can see his point. Two days later, Meredith called me and said that they would have to either pay us back $3,000 or set another date within the year. She stressed that rescheduling would be the better choice. I wasn't sure when we would have the wedding, whether it be next summer (out of their 12 month requirement). Later, I called her back to tell her it was really my father's decision and he chose for us to not be pressured and to take the loss. Once again, flash forward to just 3 weeks before the would be wedding and they still had not mailed the $3,000. My father began to worry that we weren't even going to get the promised amount. Therefore, he sent a letter to the company saying that if they didn't send the check, that he would take them to small claims court. A week later, it arrived. I apologize for the lengthy review. I just didn't feel that the $6,000 charge on our day was worth just the contract development time of the owners (since we never even had a tasting, my mother just chose things from a price list). Additionally, I feel it was completely unreasonable to take advantage of a family who most likely would have done business with them in the future if they hadn't pushed for us to resettle and begin planning our new date. They clearly didn't have the empathy to notice that a family needed time to heal.