Complaints

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• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/08/2023

  Type:Product Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My husband and I paid $9200 to have our wedding reception on April 8th 2023 at Scars Farm in an air conditioned enclosed monitor barn. When it was just three weeks away we were informed that the barn would not be enclosed and there would not be doors. There were multiple issues the day of the event which I have listed below.
  Medical Emergency: My father-in-law passed out from being overheated since the west side of barn is all glass which magnified the sunset’s heat, scorching our guests. He was taken away by ambulance and Michael stood back and watched rather than approaching to offer any kind of assistance which at the least he could have done was at some point asked how he was doing.
  No A/C: When we signed with Scars, we were told that by the date of our wedding reception the barn would be enclosed with doors and A/C. A week before, this was still not done.
  DJs: Michael told me there were 3 different djs to choose from and then in February or March he reached out to me asking if I needed a dj or not. (Mind you I had already paid in full for an inclusive package of catering, dj, coordinator and photographer.) At that time, he said he wasn't sure if he had a dj available and would contact some of his contacts.
  ***** at ****** ***, preferred vendor. We set an appointment to meet her, and she is clueless as to what we were being offered and of course we have no detailed breakdown either of what all is included. This was requested and never provided. She determined the price point of $17 per person and it was agreed upon. She mentioned all the things that are not provided in the package such as utensils, plates and cups. This was not in the contract, so I asked about it and was told Michael would provide everything except cups for the bar drinks. We returned for our tasting with ***** and there was no cake for us to taste! I then had to make a separate trip to Bartow to get small samplings of cake in a box to bring home and taste. When her invoice was submitted, it was outrageously over what was discussed. Michael's back up plan was a food truck! After insisting we did not want a carnival but a WEDDING RECEPTION, another vendor was agreed upon. We asked several times for a breakdown as to what exactly is covered or not covered and how much was allotted per vendor. Many times, our requests were left unanswered until late at night, often after 9:00p.m.
  Crystal (the original coordinator), we spoke for TWO hours discussing every detail and creating a timeline that was supposed to be emailed to all vendors as well as myself which was never done. Only to find out during the week of the event there’s a new coordinator taking over. Michael assured me all notes were forwarded to her.
  Mandolin (the new coordinator) The day of finally arrives and Mandolin C**** had no idea what was going on. From the start of arrival, she was aloof at best.
  Bridal suite: Mandolin set out a charcuterie and a bottle of wine in the bridal suite with NO plates and NO cups. She tried to explain that there’s a lot of confusion due to the venue being so new to the wedding scene. This still doesn’t explain nor excuse the no cups and no plates. That should be standard common sense.
  Groom’s suite: He never received any cups or plates for his charcuterie and drinks. The windows have no coverings and no privacy. Nowhere to get dressed!
  Rude and insulting: Mandolin made it clear to both of us, in our respective suites, that she is used to $70-$80k weddings and she didn’t have much to work with at Scars. Which if she’s done weddings of that caliber, I’d think she’d know to apply attention to detail like making sure there’s plates and cups and may have learned not to be rude and condescending.
  Table decorations: When the groom and our friend went to look at the tables before the guests arrived, there was no burlap at all on the “rustic” tables. We were told by Mandolin that “it wouldn’t look good, there wasn’t enough, etc.” We informed her that I even went to the store and bought extra because the venue did not have enough, and I was adamant that I wanted it as part of the décor. After multiple excuses, she conceded and found the burlap and used it as decoration.
  Cocktail Hour: no plates and no serving utensils, however, there was a block of cheese that needed cut and dips needing spooned to be consumed. When asked for plates by a guest she was told cocktail hour didn’t come with plates. How can you expect 30 +/- people to stand around and eat right out of the serving trays and dishes? That is disgusting!
  Bride and Groom’s table: Michael promised the head table to look like one of his pictures on ******** and when it was set up it looked nothing similar. Mandolin did fix that before guests arrived. She also told me the head table would have a mason jar to sit my bouquet in which was not done. One of my guests had to rearrange the table to find a nice way to display my bouquet.
  Gluten Free Table: When we were in the bridal suite, I asked Mandolin if she needed extra sternos (because we brought some) for the gluten free food that my friend was bringing. She said “no” she had it covered. She, in fact, did not have it covered. When dinner was served, it was noticed by a guest that the gluten free food was not warmed by the sternos. When we found Mandolin, she stated that she only had one sterno so it wouldn’t be enough anyways. The one sterno that she had SAT UNDER THE FOOD WITH THE COVER STILL ON! The gluten free food was never warmed and was served cold.
  Disabled Guest Request: You ASSURED us that someone would make sure my mother would be able to park near the grooms room and then be picked up by golf cart so she didn’t have to walk far. When they were greeted by the parking attendant, they were told to park like everyone else that there was no handicap parking. I think per the ADA, you are REQUIRED to have handicap accessible parking.
  Dessert table: I made cupcake signs so that guests would know which flavors were which and the servers just scattered the cupcakes randomly around the table leaving guests to guess what flavor was what.
  Our first encounter: When I first met and spoke with Michael, he assured us that he had done many weddings and used these preferred vendors multiple times. When speaking with the vendors none of them had done services for a wedding at Scars before.
  Service: Mandolin was constantly aloof. She asked me what salad I would like and walked directly to the food table and returned with the wrong salad. She was not informed that I do not eat meat so when she made my plate, she put meat items on it. She was constantly asking what we would like to do next. Which the dj had also asked us multiple times what we would like to do next. We were under the impression that the timeline and flow of the event would be ran smoothly and directed by the day of coordinator which was not the case. We guided all the people around for things such as pictures and cocktails rather than Mandolin radioing to tell assistants to send grooms family or brides family over for pictures. For that matter she didn’t even help with informing the groom when it was time to meet for pictures. From my understanding it is the day of coordinators duties to help things flow and to stage people. Since there was never a timeline emailed to all of us we were all on different itineraries which caused mass confusion.
  Vendors: Again, but this time with ******* *******: The bottom tier of our cake was the wrong flavor. Again, I realize that was not your personal fault, but it does show the lack of quality in the vendors you have partnered with.
  Clean up: A friend was assigned by us to assist with packing all our decorations and any leftover food. She was told she wasn’t allowed to take food out of the venue. I was told prior to the event food would be wrapped in tinfoil and sent with my friend. I even packed extra tinfoil in my tote to accommodate for this.