Bridal By The Sea

Complaint[redacted] violated and then voided the contract by quitting 40 days before my wedding. Refuses to refund full amount of payment made.[redacted] was hired to be the wedding coordinator at my [redacted] wedding. She stated that she had a sister company that could provide flowers and decorations. I agreed to meet with her to discuss options that her sister company could provide. We met one time and I drove over 2 hours to meet her at her office. We spoke about the wedding and my fiances design ideas. Ms. [redacted] then sent a proposed contract to me for decorations and flowers through her sister company. We were not happy with the price so we looked around and found better deals. Once we informed Ms. [redacted] that we would not be using her sister company for Flowers and decorations and instead would only be using her services as a wedding coordinator as the contract states. Once we decided to hire other professionals Ms. [redacted] was unavailable and the few products we wanted to rent from her were all of a sudden unavailable. I told her that I would consider parting ways with her if it wasn't for the amount of money involved. She responded by quitting and refunding less than half of the money I paid her. She states that the contract states that the deposit is non refundable but upon her quitting she made the contract null and void. Therefor I am owed the full $850. Not only that but now with just a month before my wedding I have to find a new wedding coordinator on short notice or just feel my way through a wedding by myself. I charge that Ms. [redacted] acted on emotion and ego and by doing such was unethical and immoral. By quitting Ms. [redacted] violated, voided and canceled our contract. She refuses to refund my full payment of $850 and she cites the contract that she herself has made null and void. Not only do I have severe issues with Ms. [redacted] violating/voiding our contract I am also disappointed that she chose to act so unprofessionally and let me and my fiance in a horrible situation.I have e-mails to prove my case and I can provide them if requested.Desired SettlementI am requesting that the full amount of $850 paid to Ms. [redacted] be refunded to me immediately. The contract that we once had was voided when she voluntarily quit. She has basically stolen my money and has provided no service at all. Business Response I have read the complaint submitted by Mr. [redacted], I am deeply troubled by his position. We entered into contract with Mr. [redacted] in May of 2014 I spoke with Mr. [redacted] on the phone as he was getting ready to leave the state for work for a brief time, he asked me if I could meet with him on the Saturday of his return, I told him upon our first conversation that during wedding season we do not take meeting on Friday's or Saturday's thus making ourselves completely available to the couple we are assisting that day. I also explained that the contract could be done via email and scanning if he would prefer, and that we have clients that are out of state and even out of country that we execute contracts with in this manor. He declined and stated that he wanted to meet in person, I then told him that during the wedding season we take Sunday and Monday as our weekend days off and I would be more than happy to meet with him in person. I did so on Tuesday May 27th at 11:00am in the [redacted] in [redacted] NC. I explained the nature of our services stating that we would provide a Timeline of the event, we would contact the vendors that he had contracted prior to the event, we would assist with set up the day of the event, we would distribute final payment to vendors the day of the event and we would assist with clean up the day of the event. Mr. [redacted] then asked me about vendor referrals, I stated that vendor referrals were an additional service and that would move his level of service to the next tier, he declined the vendor referral service. I did tell him at the time of our meeting that if he were to find a vendor and had a question as to their service I would be happy to provide my opinion on the vendor in terms of if I had worked with them in the past or if my clients had a good experience with the vendor that he contracted. Mr. [redacted] signed our contract and paid in full for our services the day of our meeting, 850.00. At the time the main vendor that he was having an issue securing was a DJ as he wanted a very club fell to the reception. He stated that both he and his wife to be were from up North and had [redacted] heritage, I did offer up a suggestion for a DJ and even called the Owner of DJ professionals during the meeting to inquire about a DJ on their staff that had lived in [redacted] and had [redacted] heritage as well. Mr. [redacted] seemed very pleased with this DJ until two weeks latter when he was attempting to execute a contract with the DJ company and they would not provide a price break for the extended reception that Mr. [redacted] wanted. Mr. [redacted] asked me to speak with the DJ company, and I did so but because of the specific DJ request and the elongated time frame Mr. [redacted] wanted they were not able to comedown any more on the price and Mr. [redacted] contacted a friend of his to do the reception. Mr. [redacted] repeated called our office after hours and on Fridays and Saturdays, I explained to him on the phone and in an email dated June 12th 2014 that we can not answer calls while on site at a wedding or rehearsal if it were an emergency to please send a text and we would break away to answer the text. I received several calls from Mr. [redacted] while out of state for a business trip in [redacted] NC from June 16th to June 19th, I had an extended absence greeting on my e mail and tried to explain to him that I would be more than happy to schedule a time to talk with him upon my return. I did speak with his fiancé on the 11th of June and schedule a meeting with her to discuss floral design, the meeting was to take place on the 13th of June. She lives in ** and does not get to visit often so I made the meeting with her after our normal business hours at our office in [redacted] Mr. [redacted] then called me multiple times after hours on the evening of the 11th and sent multiple e mails stating that he was not informed of this meeting (he lives in NC and she lives in [redacted] and that he expected me to come to [redacted] and he expected me to call him back imminently! I sent a short email from my phone explaining that I was in the middle of dinner and that I would email him back to make sure it was not to late to call. I did call him back the evening of the 11th of June at 8:47pm he was very unpleasant on the phone and stated that he expected me to do more for him and that he again was not aware of the details of the meeting with [redacted]. I explained our conversation and offed to meet them half way, he declined and stated that they would come to [redacted] to my office and that I better have a plan for the meeting, because he wanted to get things done. Once in the meeting on the 11th he was pleasant and we discussed floral design options as well as the timeline for the event. I e mailed Mr. [redacted] the timeline as well as the floral proposal for the event on the 27th of June, I never received a read reply on either e mail, however I did receive a very unpleasant e mail from Mr. [redacted] stating that he had not received the floral proposal, I resent the proposal and asked that he please send the read reply back, he made no mention of the timeline. The next communication that I received from Mr. [redacted] was on the 3rd of July in the form of an email sent after business hours. We were out of the office for the 4th of July holiday and preparing for the hurricane that was set to reach NC in a few days. The email stated that they were going to go with a different floral designer as they were able to do things cheaper and would still like to rent my candles that were in my proposal. I e mailed Mr. [redacted] on the 7th of July at 12:30am or so, as I was catching up with e mails from the Holiday weekend. I informed him that I would be more than happy to work with his new florist I just needed to be provided with their name as well as the other vendors that he had contracted with, so I could fill in the last few items on the timeline and make sure to contact vendors prior to the wedding. I asked if he had questions about the timeline, and I told him that some of my candles had been damaged by another couple that had rented them but I did sill have 20 candles left if he would like to rent them. He replied quickly that he had not received the timeline and that he was "soured" by the thought that my candles were not available, and that I only had 20 but they were melted! He also stated that we were hard to get a hold of and that if he had not paid in full he would sever our business relationship but he would continue forward because he had paid in full. I emailed refunding what would have been his balance had he not paid in full. Please see email below.I replied back that the 20 remaining candles we uncompromised and he was more than welcome to rent them, I also replied that we were out of the office for the National Holiday and I did reply to his email late the evening of the 7th of July as I was catching up on paperwork from the holiday. I told him via email at the time ~ Mr. [redacted] ~I have 20 candles in my inventory that can be rented by you if you please. You did not rent or purchase the candles up front, I am sorry that you are disappointed that they were ruined by another client believe me I am as well. We work in conjunction with the other vendors that you have contracted and supervise. That is our role, as we do not want to step on the toes of other vendors but are there to assist them as well as you and your family. I would be more than happy to consider your 450.00 as a deposit and refund your remaining 400.00, our contract states that all monies paid are non refundable however I will refund 400.00 as it would have been your remaining balance. You are more than welcome to keep the timeline, it is under copy write protection, so this e mail will serve as permission to use our material. I am sorry that you feel that it is not easy to get a hold of us in the office. The last email you sent prior to my reply was the Thursday prior to the 4th of July Holiday, we were out of the office as are many business for the National Holiday. As is our policy during wedding season we have our days off on Sunday and Monday. I returned your email late last night as I was catching up on paper work from the holiday weekend. I honestly think the best thing for us to do at this time would be to refund your 400.00 this will release your from our contract enabling your to hire another Planning Company. I want you and [redacted] to have the best wedding day possible, and for reasons that just seem to add up as personalities not being compatible, I am not sure that my staff could make you happy the day of the wedding. Please see below for the details of your refund. I truly wish you both the best for your wedding day.Original Transaction Date Type Status Details Gross Fee Net May 27, 2014 Payment From Partially RefundedYou issued a partial refund for this payment.You issued a partial refund for this payment. Details$850.00 USD -$20.70 USD $829.30 USD Related Transaction Date Type Status Details Gross Fee Net Jul 8, 2014 Refund Completed ... -$400.00 USD $9.60 USD -$390.40 USD ________________________________________Sent to: [redacted] Total amount: -$400.00 USDFee amount: $9.60 USDNet amount: -$390.40 USD________________________________________Date: Jul 8, 2014Time: 06:46:47 PDTStatus: CompletedMr. [redacted] replied to that he wished to make sure the refund was to the original funding source. I replied in kind that I only had one card on file and I did refund to that card. He replied back that he agreed that we were not a good fit. I wished him the best for his wedding day. If you have any further questions please contract us directly at [redacted] we do take these matters very seriously and thank you for alerting us to Mr. [redacted]' complaint. We feel it is unfounded and that he is just trying to get a bigger refund from us, we were not obligated to refund any of the money as it states in our contract that ALL monies paid to BBTS are non refundable, I issued the refund in good faith and I do not appreciate Mr. [redacted]' retaliatory complaint. Please see our attached contract for your review. Best, [redacted] Owner Bridal by the Sea ~ Tildy DesignsConsumer Response I have filed for legal action against this business. Her response was full of misguiding information and distortion of the facts. Business Response It was our understanding that Mr. [redacted] was requesting being dismissed from the contact that he had with us. He sighted money being an issue for not dessolving the contract with our company, we in good faith refunded Mr. [redacted] final payment as our retainer is non refundable. We have consulted our Attorney in this matter and have been counseled to the fact the we were not obligated to refund the portion of payment that we did refund as our contract states that all monies paid to our company are non refundable. The client made the request to terminate the contract and we honored that request. Consumer Response Stating that "I would CONSIDER walking away if it wasn't for the money involved" is nowhere near requesting out of a contract. I never requested out of any contract, the business owner decided to quit. Unfortunately she decided to continue to repeat her false narrative and act unethically after she broke our contract by quitting. There was no request to terminate so that is just another false statement. All I am requesting was the remaining balance that was paid prior to Ms. [redacted] quitting and voiding/violating her own contract. She was to coordinate the wedding and she has not done anything. We met once in the beginning because she was courting a client and I agreed to hire her. We then met again under her sister company, [redacted] to discuss them providing flowers and décor and it was decided that we would not use her sister company but just move forward with her as the planner. The wedding is two weeks away, that is when she was to provide her services and she quit. I have more than enough evidence to prove my case in small claims court and I plan to do so.