Gulf Beach Weddings Reviews (%countItem)
Gulf Beach Weddings Rating
Address: 6655 Gulf Blvd, St Pete Beach, Florida, United States, 33706-2127
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I had booked to have wedding 4/24/2020. The beach is closed due to Covid 19 and I do not wish to reschedule.
April 24,2020 7:00 pm beach wedding.
Paid deposit of $500. For a wedding
I paid $500. to reserve spot for wedding. I did not break the contract the beach is closed. Due to Covid 19 I should be refunded and not required to reschedule. As a nurse in Lexington Ky I contacted Gulf weddings when we had our first patient to cancel and was told the beach would be open. I have no plans of traveling for wedding as 6 of the 20 seats are in the medical field and we will not be able to be off work or travel for quite some time with this virus. I plan on a private ceremony of 8 in Ky.
We certainly want to exceed expectations with all of our couples. The COVID-19 is affecting us all, including the wedding business. Should you decide to cancel instead of Postpone, the deposit is non-refundable according to the Terms of Service upon initial booking.
Because the date is so close, the Officiate, Photographer, and Permit were all paid in full upon initial booking. You are however, not responsible for the $1,172.50 delinquent balance due March 24th, 2020.
We certainly wish you and your family well as we are doing the same during these trying times.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I feel I am entitled to my deposit. I could understand if it were myself who broke the contract, however it is the government & your company who done so. It is a misfortune for all involved. Have you reached out to any of the people you have paid to see what their feelings are in this matter, beings they got paid for services that are not even able to be provided? You said others were rescheduling. I do not wish to reschedule. I plan to only get married once and I am getting married in KY. You will see a copy of my marriage license.
Everyone has been affected and I know first hand as I am a nurse taking care of these patients who have the virus, therefore I desperately need my money beings I could be quarantined and off work at any time due to my recurrent exposure in the hospital. At a time like this when we are all struggling I think you need to take a step back and look at the big picture... I can not make it to get married on the beach as I had planned due to your beach shutting down at a time that is was possible for me and it is an even bigger misfortune that your company would keep someone's money for services that will not even be provided during a world pandemic. I assure you when I paid $500 we had every intention of getting married on the date we agreed to, however due to circumstances out of my control that is not possible.
We are so sorry to hear this.
Keep in mind there are costs associated with the wedding even though we have not yet conducted the actual ceremony (Emails / Phone Calls, Marketing, Permit, Deposits for Vendors - Officiate, Photographer, Setup Crew, etc.) months ago that were spent on your behalf to get everything reserved and on the books. Unfortunately, the deposit is non-refundable as these costs far exceed the $497.50 deposit.
Here is the link to the cancellation policy: ***
FAQ's: https://gulfbeachweddings.com/faq-common-questions/
*There is no refund on the deposit amount - if you decide to push the date, I can apply the deposit money forward for up to one year from the original date. Additional permit and/or deposits for vendors will be required.
You would however, not be responsible for the balance of your ceremony: $1,172.50
Please let us know what you ultimately decide and we will proceed accordingly!
While this is unfortunate for everyone involved. Our Terms of Service is in place for situations such as this.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I feel I am entitled to my deposit. I could understand if it were myself who broke the contract, however it is the government & your company who done so. It is a misfortune for all involved. Have you reached out to any of the people you have paid to see what their feelings are in this matter, beings they got paid for services that are not even able to be provided? You said others were rescheduling. I do not wish to reschedule. I plan to only get married once and I am getting married in KY. You will see a copy of my marriage license.
Everyone has been affected and I know first hand as I am a nurse taking care of these patients who have the virus, therefore I desperately need my money beings I could be quarantined and off work at any time due to my recurrent exposure in the hospital. At a time like this when we are all struggling I think you need to take a step back and look at the big picture... I can not make it to get married on the beach as I had planned due to your beach shutting down at a time that is was possible for me and it is an even bigger misfortune that your company would keep someone's money for services that will not even be provided during a world pandemic. I assure you when I paid $500 we had every intention of getting married on the date we agreed to, however due to circumstances out of my control that is not possible.
This was mentioned as something that was 'not an exception' to the Terms of Purchase or Terms of Agreement. Over the years, we have had several couples cancel last minute for a family member being sick and/or couldn't travel. The spirit of the wording was intended to be a catch all in these circumstances. With the Coronavirus, couples are using this to try to find an exception for their unwillingness to postpone or be flexible in this regard. We have since removed this sentence for couples moving forward, as it has proved to be more confusing than anything else.
We have worked with every couple, even extending their postponement dates into Summer of 2021 to try to accommodate the travel restrictions, economic situation, etc.
All this to say, the deposit is non-refundable in all cases as it has been since the founding of the company in 2011. Within 90-days of the date, we have typically deemed all payments as non-refundable, but are working with couples on an individual basis to try to find resolution. Keep in mind there are costs associated with the wedding even though we have not yet conducted the actual ceremony (Emails / Phone Calls, Marketing, Permit, Deposits for Vendors - Officiate, Photographer, Setup Crew, etc.) that are spent on behalf of the client to get everything reserved and on the books. Of the approximate 175 couples that have Cancelled or Postponed in the past few weeks, only a handful continue to be unreasonable - Negative Reviews, Attorney General Inquiries, and Revdex.com filings. While we do want to exceed expectations with all couples, there are a select few that will be unhappy no matter the result.
We are here to help should you have any additional questions accordingly.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
A world pandemic was not something that was not mentioned "as an exception" to the Terms & Policies. You have revised this since this has become an issue with many couples, just as it should. You even mentioned that it was revised after the fact because it was "confusing." I did not cancel because I or a relative am sick, so that example is irrelevant. I cancelled because I was forced to do so by the government! You are correct, I am unwilling to reschedule my wedding as it was 100% out of my control that this wedding was cancelled and I got married in Kentucky on April 25th and have no intentions of being married twice and losing even more money. I believe your company has good customer service, however each situation needs to be handled differently. Everyone and every business has been affected by this pandemic. However unlike myself, business/company's are getting government assistance. I do not believe it is fair AT ALL for you to keep my money beings it was not a decision made by myself, but one made by your company and the government. If your company believes that it is not a big deal to lose $500, then I see no reason as to why I cannot be refunded due to a world pandemic.
Services not provided due to COVID-19, vender refuses to refund
Our wedding was originally scheduled for 4/3/2020 with 20 guests. We paid a deposit of $497.50 (***) to Gulf Beach Weddings on 7/3/2019 to hold this date. On 2/3/2020, we paid $195 (PayPal) to Gulf Beach Weddings in exchange for filing our marriage license by mail. Lastly, we made a final payment to the venue on 3/3/2020 for $1847.50 (PayPal) to pay off our balance.
On 3/17/2020, we contacted Gulf Beach Weddings to inquire about cancelling our wedding due to the COVID-19 global pandemic, as we learned that the governor of Florida declared any event gathering of more than 10 people would be prohibited and beaches were starting to close. We were advised by GBW that per our contract, we were not entitled to a full refund, and that we would be forfeiting our deposit if we did not reschedule. Due to the uncertainty of the current worldly situation, we did not want to reschedule, as the CDC warned this pandemic could go on for 18+ months. GBW agreed to refund $2,000 in exchange for signing a refund release form (attached) stating we would be sued for any negative online reviews, filing any chargebacks, taking legal action, etc. There was also no mention of a date by which the funds would be returned. We were told that because we refused to sign this form, we wouldn't be receiving a refund at all.
At that time, we were left to file chargebacks with our financial institutions. Rather than process the refund via PayPal for $1847.50 mentioned above, GBW chose to contest this chargeback, stating the services were already provided. This is clearly not the case. This is simply an example of the vendor attempting to punish us for not complying to their refund form request which would silence us and not allow others to learn how we were treated.
Full refund of charges
In all circumstances, we always want to exceed expectations with all of our couples. Initially, *** & *** inquired about cancelling. After yelling at my staff on the phone, they were offered a $2,000 refund of the $2,345 total.
On March 19th, *** and *** filed chargebacks on each of the three transactions dating back to July 2019. These charges are currently in dispute with PayPal. The couple has also filed a claim with the Attorney General's Office.
We have received several 1-Star reviews from the couple accordingly. At this time, there is nothing further to discuss or negotiate.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
We were offered a $2,000 refund in exchange for signing a refund form that threatened to sue us if we shared our feedback about this company with anyone else, and also had no indication of a date by which the agreed refund would be provided (the form was attached to the original Revdex.com complaint for your review). We did not feel comfortable signing this form for the above reasons, and we are unhappy with the treatment received by this company. They have yet to provide the refund as promised. Rather than resolve this case with PayPal or the Attorney General, the vendor has chosen to retain our money. This case is not resolved.
At this time, there is nothing further to review or provide. Yelling at our staff on multiple conversations is simply unacceptable.
The couple proactively filed Chargeback cases on all charges on March 19th, prior to the Coronavirus restrictions. We are waiting to find resolution through PayPal, which can take up to 30-days under normal circumstances. Ultimately, their decision will be the final authority.
We wish the couple all the best in the futrue.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
There are many things about this company's actions and response that need to be addressed.
First, to withhold a refund based upon being "yelled at" is not acceptable. The only person we ever discussed cancellation with was the office manager, Taylor. All other employees were completely reasonable and respectful with regard to the setup of our wedding details. We understood and agreed to the dollar figure for the refund presented by Taylor ($2,000 + PayPal fees) with regard to the $2345 paid for the wedding. The part where this went awry was regarding the hold harmless agreement sent to us in exchange for said refund, as well as a discussion regarding a separate charge of $195 for the filing of our marriage license. The hold harmless agreement was very detailed in stating we would be sued for $10,000 if we left a review (good or bad) about this company, or if we attempted to obtain any further refunds in any way. The detail that was left off the form was any sort of date as to which the monies would be expected to be returned to us. This type of document should never be a substitute for good customer service, and really wasn't necessary. As for the $195 paid for the marriage license, we requested a refund of part of this fee as the actual marriage license itself costs $86. Gulf Beach Weddings charges an additional service fee to process and file the license on behalf of their customers, and since we no longer needed this service, we requested a portion of this fee to be returned. In attempting to discuss these items with Taylor, he became agitated and would not let us complete a sentence. He kept interrupting and refused to reasonably discuss the issues. This is likely where the refence to "yelling" came from. We asked if we could speak to the business owner at that time, and he stated, "He is not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business, so you can't speak to him. I'm the only person you can talk to." He then explained that based on our conversation, the company was just no longer going to provide a refund at all. It was at that time that we submitted chargeback requests to our financial institutions. If a business refuses to provide a refund for a service that wasn't performed due to a global pandemic, any prudent person would do the same. In fact, Gulf Beach Weddings contacted Manatee County and requested a refund of our beach permit, which was processed. If Gulf Beach Weddings is entitled to a refund for items related to this event cancellation, why aren't we?
The disputes sent to PayPal for the cost of the wedding are closed, with Gulf Beach Weddings still refusing a refund. The only dispute currently open is the one for the $497.50 deposit paid via ***. The response we received from PayPal specifically states that we need to work directly with the merchant to resolve this matter. As you can see from the correspondence regarding this complaint, this is what we are attempting to do. We are reasonable people who were rightfully upset about not being able to continue our wedding plans due to the unfortunate state of the world. We do apologize if Taylor felt disrespected on the phone, but respect does go both ways. We were attempting to resolve the issue amicably and did not expect this conduct from a company with an "A+" rating.
Lastly, the vendor stating that we requested this cancellation on our own accord prior to the corona virus restrictions is simply untrue. The World Health Organization declared this a global pandemic on 3/11/20, with the governor of Florida banning all events of more than 10 people on the beaches on 3/17/20. We cancelled the event upon hearing this news on 3/17/20. We attempted to work out the refund issue with Gulf Beach Weddings for a couple days before submitting the chargeback reviews.
We are at the mercy of PayPal's Chargeback Resolution Center at this time. Typically, these cases can take up to 30-60 days for resolution.
Whatever the conclusion, we will proceed accordingly.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
The PayPal disputes are already closed. The business is aware of this, as they referenced the closed PayPal cases in their response to our Facebook review. At this time, the right thing to do is refund our money. The business already agreed to this refund, but is now holding it from us. Holding the money we spent for a wedding that was cancelled due to a global pandemic isn't right. This is terrible customer service, and we expected better when we chose to do business with this company. These are not the actions of an "A+" business.
I don't know if there's anything to add to this complaint, we are being repetitive at this point. There's been three responses back and forth with no further evidence.
Whatever PayPal's Resolution Center decides with the complainant's credit card company is the final resolution.
This was mentioned as something that was 'not an exception' to the Terms of Purchase or Terms of Agreement. Over the years, we have had several couples cancel last minute for a family member being sick and/or couldn't travel. The spirit of the wording was intended to be a catch all in these circumstances. With the Coronavirus, couples are using this to try to find an exception for their unwillingness to postpone or be flexible in this regard. We have since removed this sentence for couples moving forward, as it has proved to be more confusing than anything else.
We have worked with every couple, even extending their postponement dates into Summer of 2021 to try to accommodate the travel restrictions, economic situation, etc.
All this to say, the deposit is non-refundable in all cases as it has been since the founding of the company in 2011. Within 90-days of the date, we have typically deemed all payments as non-refundable, but are working with couples on an individual basis to try to find resolution. Keep in mind there are costs associated with the wedding even though we have not yet conducted the actual ceremony (Emails / Phone Calls, Marketing, Permit, Deposits for Vendors - Officiate, Photographer, Setup Crew, etc.) that are spent on behalf of the client to get everything reserved and on the books. Of the approximate 175 couples that have Cancelled or Postponed in the past few weeks, only a handful continue to be unreasonable - Negative Reviews, Attorney General Inquiries, and Revdex.com filings. While we do want to exceed expectations with all couples, there are a select few that will be unhappy no matter the result.
We are here to help should you have any additional questions accordingly.
I'm not sure what was meant by GBW's response other than to deter from the facts.
There are two key facts:
1. Other couples received refunds from this company for their cancelled weddings. We did not, because we raised our voices with the office manager regarding their threatening hold harmless agreement and lack of consideration for a separate charge we asked about (marriage license) and he decided we were no longer entitled to a refund.
2. GBW provided copious amounts of documentation to our financial institution as well as the attorney general, trying to show proof that they paid our vendors in full (photography, beach permit, etc) for their services and this is why we wouldn't get a refund. The documentation they failed to provide, however, are the invoices and emails sent to these vendors immediately upon the cancellation of our wedding which reversed those payments IN FULL. These vendors were not paid ONE DIME for our wedding. GBW profited 2.5x for our cancelled wedding versus what they would have if our wedding would have been held. There are major integrity issues here.
04/11/2010 was are expected wedding on sand key beach and now that the beaches are closed. We were expected gulf beaches wedding to refund the amount.
My fiance and I have hired gulf beaches wedding to do our ceremony on sand key beach. And due to all the coronavirus issues they have decided to close down the beach,and no more then ten groups are aloud at the beach, we have decided to cancel the wedding, because these was not how we planned our wedding to be. I reached out to gulf beaches wedding to try to cancel the ceremony and they are refusing to refund the whole amount back. They first said that they had payed for the beach permit and that they weren't sure if the beach was going to refund them back, then they said that they had already waisted the money on the supplies for the wedding, But the wedding was not supposed to be until 4/11/2020. To get married on sand key beach you need to get a permit and we paid $300 for that permit. Sand key Beach is now closed do to the coronavirus and gulf beaches is refusing to refund the $300 back. They are trying to stay with our $500. And they didn't do nothing. The deposit was $50 and they are trying to just give us $350 back and stay with $500 for nothing. I have tried to reach out to them and they are just refusing to refund. These dosen't care about there customers they just want to take advantage of people.
My resolution is that they refund me the whole amount. My fiance and I were not planning for our wedding to turn out like these and now these people are taking advantage of the situation and they need to be stopped.
As a company we certainly want to exceed expectations with all of our couples. During these difficult times, that is no ones fault, we are working with couples individually to find a date in the future that works for everyone involved later in 2020 and into 2021.
Pinellas County beaches are set to reopen on April 7th, this includes Clearwater Beach just North of the original location. This was and certainly is an option to the couple.
On March 19th, we sent the paperwork attached
Our Terms of Service are very clear and represented on the website in several locations during reservation. Similarly, the COVID-19 is affecting everyone and we are doing our best to work with each couple into the future however, our cancellation policy stands. Here are some links and the wording provided:
***
CANCELLATION/RE-BOOKING The deposit plus plus any fees spent on your behalf for items and/or services associated with your wedding are non-refundable. The deposit is paid to individuals, municipalities and companies to reserve the date, time, permits and services at the time of booking. This includes but is not limited to permits, flowers, cakes, supplies, outside deposits to specialty vendors (Officiate, Setup Crew, City / County Permit, Photographer, Videographer, Live Musician) Marketing, and Office Work, etc. to reserve the date, time, permit and venue on your behalf. The deposit is forfeited as part of holding the date, time and location. We are able to postpone the wedding once, schedule permitting, moving the date/time/location out for up to 365 days without additional cost (except for permits & vendor deposits). Please consult us in this regard as we will need to move all vendors/bookings to the new date all at once and this is handled on a case-by-base basis. Within 90 days of the original booked date, the total amount is non-refundable - this includes all outside vendors. If cancellations are made within 90-days, couple agree to hold harmless and release all further financial, legal, reviews associated, Chargebacks, PayPal Disputes, Gulf Beach Weddings LLC and its associates and ancillary vendors/employees from all further obligation. Vendor payments outside of 90-days forfeit a $150 deposit, inside of 90-days all payments sent to booked vendors are non-refundable.
(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)
I do not accept their response because on January 7,2020 when I signed the contract with them and when I called them on March 19, 2020,their terms and conditions listed that air borne illnesses disease and medical emergencies were listed as exemptions forfeiture deposit. This was how you read when you signed your contract with them. Now all of a sudden, the coronavirus is affecting everyone and shutting down beaches and parks and they have removed that statement from their cancellation policy. It is irresponsible of them to remove a statement from their policy at this time when you entered into a contract with them when it was in place. I expect to receive my entire refund due to this clause in my original contract. If they wanted to change the refund policy, then it should have been done publicly and a new contract should have been entered into with all parties involved. In this time, where people are losing jobs, losing money,forgoing weddings,this company should honor the policy that was in place when I entered into contract agreement with them.
We strive to find resolution with all of our Couples and in this effort have extended the Postponement period of up to 15 months beyond the original ceremony date. These are truly unique times for all of us and are doing everything we can to work with couples in this regard. We do this as an act of goodwill and to try and make their dream beach wedding a reality.
Since the founding of the company, nearly a decade ago - the deposit is and always been non-refundable. We have offered to refund any amount above the original amount ($350 minus Transaction Fees) at this time, to postpone the date up to 15 months from the original date, even offered to move the beach location at no additional cost. Unfortunately, the deposit is non-refundable.
This was mentioned as something that was 'not an exception' to the Terms of Purchase or Terms of Agreement. Over the years, we have had several couples cancel last minute for a family member being sick and/or couldn't travel. The spirit of the wording was intended to be a catch all in these circumstances. With the Coronavirus, couples are using this to try to find an exception for their unwillingness to postpone or be flexible in this regard. We have since removed this sentence for couples moving forward, as it has proved to be more confusing than anything else.
We have worked with every couple, even extending their postponement dates into Summer of 2021 to try to accommodate the travel restrictions, economic situation, etc.
All this to say, the deposit is non-refundable in all cases as it has been since the founding of the company in 2011. Within 90-days of the date, we have typically deemed all payments as non-refundable, but are working with couples on an individual basis to try to find resolution. Keep in mind there are costs associated with the wedding even though we have not yet conducted the actual ceremony (Emails / Phone Calls, Marketing, Permit, Deposits for Vendors - Officiate, Photographer, Setup Crew, etc.) that are spent on behalf of the client to get everything reserved and on the books. Of the approximate 175 couples that have Cancelled or Postponed in the past few weeks, only a handful continue to be unreasonable - Negative Reviews, Attorney General Inquiries, and Revdex.com filings. While we do want to exceed expectations with all couples, there are a select few that will be unhappy no matter the result.
We are here to help should you have any additional questions accordingly.