Aunt Chilada's

Thank you for making this process professional and easy to respond.  I have been working in management and sales at our family owned restaurant 20 years.  We have hosted thousands of weddings, company parties, funerals, etc.. over the last 20 years and never had one complaint or dispute on...

payment.  I worked with the bride solely on planning her wedding.  The groom was not involved in the contract, nor our meetings throughout the year.  In fact he lived out of state all of 2013.  Every time [redacted] and I met to discuss her wedding I would update the attached event order according to her changes.  December 18th, 2013 was our last meeting finalizing details.  The updated event order was emailed to her that same day.  As you can see in the beverage section of the contract is states, "Hosted bar up to $3000.00 (please advise bride and groom at $2500.00), which was executed.  The contract also states "Based on consumption CALL BRANDS and under only - no premium".  All of the alcohol rung in that evening was call labels and below.  The groom is disputing the brands and said they were not suppose to be part of their offerings.  The bride did however want to make sure we had specific labels available for their guests, which we ordered in extra that week to make sure we did not run out.  These brands were in the category of "call labels" as well.  The night of the reception according to our banquet procedures our manager gave the groom the opportunity to close the bar once the dollar amount was reached.  He declined on FOUR separate occasions and continued to keep the bar open.  Days following his reception we received an email disputing the liquor tab.  We addressed his concerns right away and offered a $250.00 refund even though the alcohol was consumed and he signed his credit card at the end of the night.  We as a family owned restaurant and trying to keep the peace with our customers felt this would make him happy.  Which, initially he seemed good with the offer and would get back to us with the correct credit card to refund.  It was almost three months later when we finally heard back from him with a long email demanding more money.  After several emails back and forth we increased the refund amount to $358.00, which was not necessary but frankly we were tired of his continuous emails and felt for another $158.00 we could make him happy and move on.  The manager on duty that night felt like we shouldn't refund any money because his guests had a great time and consumed all the alcohol, but as the sales manager of the wedding I wanted to make them happy.  Guess it was a battle not worth fighting because [redacted] was never satisfied.  The funny part is he raved about how amazing his reception was at Aunt Chilada's and how his guests said it was the best wedding they had ever been to. Thank you for your time and consideration.  Feel free to call anytime for questions:  [redacted] Catering Director ###-###-#### cell or restaurant number ###-###-#### where you can reach [redacted] the banquet captain or [redacted] the manager on duty that evening.

Thank you for your email.  We would like to resolve this matter and settle the dust.  Our company is willing to pay the requested $629.00 to [redacted].  Let us know the best means to distribute the money. Warm regards, [redacted]

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I do not accept the response made by the business.  I don't argue the fact that I did verbally agree to extend the bar multiple times that night, nor is it disputed that I paid the bill in full that night.  I was in the midst of my own wedding, so when I was asked to "sign off" or comply with these things, I did so in good faith that our agreement was being carried out as we wished.  But they have refused to respond to specific details and concerns, and others they recall incorrectly.  Here's what they get wrong: I emailed the very next day (not “days later”), as the problems were immediately evident as soon as our guests began telling us of their experiences.  Guests were allowed to order shots during the night, though those should not have been served (and the catering manager admitted that, via email after the event).  Guests were also able to order premium-label liquor and beer brands, and these appear on our itemized bar bill. Guests were able to order wine and other specialty, frozen drinks; these too were outside the agreed-upon parameters.  The catering manager has admitted to this also in her emails (with the exception of one line-item that we are still disputing with them - it is laid out in our provided emails).We know our guests drank a lot, in total, at the reception, but we had said all along we wanted an extremely limited bar.  That didn’t happen, and we think it obviously contributed to some of the increased bill at the end of the night.  I am disappointed by the tone and attitude of the emailed response too; the impatience is clear, and the response states that they tried to pay me to go away.  I have been working to resolve this issue continuously since the event occurred, but the business’ communication with us, and their attempts at resolution, were done in piece-mail fashion.  They have plainly refused to respond to specific questions, or explain specific details of the itemized bill and its accounting.   What we have asked for is not unreasonable; in fact, it’s really no more than what they themselves have agreed to pay us, in various emails over the last 9 months (again, these emails have been provided to the Revdex.com representative mediating our complaint).  Why they ignore their earlier statements to us, and why they ignored our initial agreement during the service provided, is not clear.  But because these things have not been answered, we do not accept the response provided by the business. 

Regards,[redacted]