Halligan's Pub Incorporated

February 21, Dear Revdex.com, We have received your notice regarding the complaint issued against our restaurant, Halligan's Pub After years of successfully running our business, we pride ourselves on the excellent reputation we have built We are a family of integrity, so we take this complaint very seriously One of the most difficult events to plan in our industry, for the family and the venue, is a funeral luncheonNot only is it highly sensitive for the family, but it is also very difficult to know exactly how many people will come to the luncheon Typically, the luncheon venue is announced at the burial and then guests decide whether or not to come at that timeFrom the venue's perspective, this is very hard because we do not want to make too much food and then have it go to waste and lose the revenue for those hard goods, but we also do not want to run out of food and then disappoint our clients and damaging our reputation In the hospitality industry, the standard operating process is to ask for a "guarantee" number hours before the eventThis is the number our client is "guaranteeing" and hence the amount of food we purchaseThe "guarantee" means that the client is obligated to pay for this number of people whether they show up or not since we are (1) taking the space off the market and thus making it unavailable to other client use (2) we are purchasing the goods based on the guarantee and (3) we are staffing the restaurant based on the guarantee(It should be noted that we turned away three other funeral luncheons since this client rented out our space.) It is also standard operating procedure that on the day of the event, the client pays their final bill based on the actual number or the guarantee number, whichever is higher All of this was clearly explained to the wife of the deceased who was our initial contactShe guaranteed The next day, the son of the deceased called and decreased that number to In good faith, we let him decrease it because we had not yet ordered the foodWe also extended a discounted rate to assure our client's satisfaction When the son of the deceased asked for a final total of the bill, we again explained the procedures and told him that until we had an accurate count, we could not give a final totalHowever, we agreed on a package price of $per person, plus 6% state tax and 20% gratuity, with a guarantee of people When the funeral party arrived, we counted approximately peopleWe count them as they come in the door, and then also by platesAlthough came, we again, showing our integrity, noticed that some guests just went to the bar and did not eatWe decided to only charge the client for peopleThis is not a standard in the industryTypically, you pay for how many people show up as it is not the venue's responsibility to police who is eating and who is notThis would be impossible Although we felt that we had exceeded expectations by discounting the menu, and allowing for a person reduction to the actual number, the client was not happy Although people (or more) ate, the client wanted to only pay for This client has since gone on line and used social media as a tool to essentially blackmail us into giving him his money backAt $per person, there was already a very low profit margin on this luncheon (about 60% cost when standard is 30% cost) As much as we would like to make this client happy, we are a family-owned business and simply are not in the position to end up having to pay out of pocket for goods and services that were consumedWe are fair people (again, hence the discount and allowable reduction), but we feel strongly that this request is not fair or ethical Thank for taking the time to understand our positionWe are happy to provide countless past funeral luncheon event hosts who will provide references to our outstanding reputation, specifically as it relates to service and integrity Regards,

February 21,
Dear Revdex.com,
We have received your notice regarding the complaint issued against our restaurant, Halligan's Pub
After years of successfully running our business, we pride ourselves on the excellent reputation we have built
We are a family of integrity, so we take this complaint very seriously
One of the most difficult events to plan in our industry, for the family and the venue, is a funeral luncheonNot only is it highly sensitive for the family, but it is also very difficult to know exactly how many people will come to the luncheon
Typically, the luncheon venue is announced at the burial and then guests decide whether or not to come at that timeFrom the venue's perspective, this is very hard because we do not want to make too much food and then have it go to waste and lose the revenue for those hard goods, but we also do not want to run out of food and then disappoint our clients and damaging our reputation
In the hospitality industry, the standard operating process is to ask for a "guarantee" number hours before the eventThis is the number our client is "guaranteeing" and hence the amount of food we purchaseThe "guarantee" means that the client is obligated to pay for this number of people whether they show up or not since we are (1) taking the space off the market and thus making it unavailable to other client use (2) we are purchasing the goods based on the guarantee and (3) we are staffing the restaurant based on the guarantee(It should be noted that we turned away three other funeral luncheons since this client rented out our space.)
It is also standard operating procedure that on the day of the event, the client pays their final bill based on the actual number or the guarantee number, whichever is higher
All of this was clearly explained to the wife of the deceased who was our initial contactShe guaranteed The next day, the son of the deceased called and decreased that number to In good faith, we let him decrease it because we had not yet ordered the foodWe also extended a discounted rate to assure our client's satisfaction
When the son of the deceased asked for a final total of the bill, we again explained the procedures and told him that until we had an accurate count, we could not give a final totalHowever, we agreed on a package price of $per person, plus 6% state tax and 20% gratuity, with a guarantee of people
When the funeral party arrived, we counted approximately peopleWe count them as they come in the door, and then also by platesAlthough came, we again, showing our integrity, noticed that some guests just went to the bar and did not eatWe decided to only charge the client for peopleThis is not a standard in the industryTypically, you pay for how many people show up as it is not the venue's responsibility to police who is eating and who is notThis would be impossible
Although we felt that we had exceeded expectations by discounting the menu, and allowing for a person reduction to the actual number, the client was not happy
Although people (or more) ate, the client wanted to only pay for
This client has since gone on line and used social media as a tool to essentially blackmail us into giving him his money backAt $per person, there was already a very low profit margin on this luncheon (about 60% cost when standard is 30% cost)
As much as we would like to make this client happy, we are a family-owned business and simply are not in the position to end up having to pay out of pocket for goods and services that were consumedWe are fair people (again, hence the discount and allowable reduction), but we feel strongly that this request is not fair or ethical
Thank for taking the time to understand our positionWe are happy to provide countless past funeral luncheon event hosts who will provide references to our outstanding reputation, specifically as it relates to service and integrity
Regards,