Sparks Ranch Resort

Review: Owner refuses to give cleaning deposit back due to bad review on yelp

We got married at this facility on August 24th, 2013. To date we have not received our $500 cleaning deposit. We took pictures of the entire grounds to show how clean we left the premises. I called her today, November 13th, to remind her that we still had not received our deposit. She explained that she had previously sent it and it had been returned and the envelope was now sitting on her desk. I asked her to please send it to our current address and she informed me that after much deliberation she has decided that we don't deserve the deposit because of the bad review we gave on yelp. She had our review and two other negative reviews removed and only two positive reviews remain on yelp. A bad review is not grounds to keep a $500 cleaning deposit. Desired Settlement: Send us our $500 cleaning deposit

Business

Response:

Initial Business Response

Thank you for the opportunity to 'set the records straight'. Raquel mentioned that I had her review removed from Yelp....... I CANNOT influence Yelp in any way. I responded to the exaggerated and eroneous review and they chose to remove it. Sparks Ranch is a VENUE, and does everything that represents a venue, spelled out in our contract. We are not responsible for anything to do with 'food' nor 'food service/staffing'. This is the bride and groom's choice. I e-mailed [redacted] and [redacted] an extensive account of what they will want and need from their chosen caterer. Even offering to supply the 'servers', if need be. They REFUSED MY OFFER. Having witnessed over one hundred weddings here, I know what is needed in order to have a smooth flowing reception............an experienced FOOD SERVICE STAFF. Since I give the bride the liberty to choose her own caterer, I am not aware of what services they paid for. This couple paid for MINIMAL food and service, (the caterer even ran out of food!). At the time that the bride wanted to have a 'toast', the caterer was packed up and leaving. I asked who was taking care of placing the glasses on the guest tables and pouring? They replied "not us, they did not pay us for this". I could not sit back and witness this 'huge bump in the road'! Even though my staff was 'off duty' and the bartender was busy doing 'bartending', we all jumped in to help. The caterer did 'NOTHING, but arrive, serve BBQ on paper plates, (controlled portions, vs. buffet, and they still ran out of food!) There was ZERO staff for: set-up, (my staff set-up the tables and chairs, at my expense for payroll), no staff for table decorating, (very few friends helped, complaining to me, as though it was 'venue's' responsibility, I wish they knew the facts). There was no clean-up crew, clearing the tables, (the tables were left a mess by the caterer, so the guests had to clear their own spaces, (my bartender and I, were clearing tables at 1 a.m.!). Then there was the 'food' related, garbage that we bagged up and removed, as well as the take down and putting away of the tables and chairs, (all related to catering, not part of the venue contract...all paid for by me.....this was done after [redacted] and [redacted] rudely expressed their opnion of the 'lack of servers' throughout the reception. I preceded to read to them my e-mail pointing out exactly what would be THEIR RESPONSIBILITY, (OR CATERERS, NOT OURS). As I read this,...Raquel stood there plugging her ears!!!............. I was 'so done'! I was met with 'deaf ears' and 'childishness! They had only anger', towards myself and my staff.y staff do a lot with respect to the venue....such as: putting all of [redacted] Ranch's poolside furniture back onto the patio, re-establishing the electrical lighting on the umbrellas, power washing the Cabana area, cleaning up the bar and the bathroom and emptying, filling, and putting new chemicals in the 18 foot Swim/spa (all included in my contract). Their deposit was sent back to them, then returned, with no forwarding address. It gave me a chance to compare other weddings to [redacted] and [redacted]'s. A chance to talk to my staff and hear their responses, witnessing how all of us were treated so disrespectfully. The rude, exaggerated, 'Yelp' review really brought light to who these people were. I have decided to keep the 'deposit', paying my staff for all of their efforts that they were asked to contribute, as well as the garbage fee, (at the dump), gas to and from, and the labor of loading and unloading at the dump. These 'extra costs' were spelled out in an e-mail dated April 22, 2013 (months before their August 24th wedding), of which they declined the proposal, only to take advantage the day of their wedding. To quote their e-mail: "We will not be needing to utilize your staff for anything beyond what was agreed upon in the original contract". Do you know, that had they not treated us with so much 'disrespect', we would gladly have 'donated' our time and absorbed the extra costs. Their lack of 'maturity' and 'gratitude', along with trying to 'deface' Sparks Ranch's reputation on Yelp, does not motivate me to 'gift' them. The costs incurred far exceed the $500 deposit (caterers charge $26.00, per person, for food, (with lots left over for midnight snack), and plenty of 'staff'........they paid $18.00, or less, per person (ran out of food and did not have staff and garbage covered). You really do get what you pay for.

Final Consumer Response

(The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)

First, my name is not [redacted] Second, my husband and I did not ask for a single thing from Ms. Sparks. She decided to come to our reception and start telling our caterer what to do. There was enough food to feed our wedding guests, just no extra for her to eat. Nowhere in the contract does it say we need to provide her dinner. She was behind the bar that night "tasting" our wine without our permission. We asked the bartender to pour 60 glasses of beer for our toast and our guests were going to walk up to the bar and pick them up. Ms Sparks decided she didn't like our decision and OFFERED to go around with her bartender to fill drinks at the tables. This is never something we asked her to do. I honestly didn't want to see her at all during my reception, especially how unprofessionally she was dressed (we have pictures). The only 'extra' thing that she provided was taking down the tables the following morning and we have in writing as well as two witnesses that she would not charge us for this. She states in writing that the only thing she will take out of the deposit is the garbage fee, which we agreed to. According to california law, we are owed our deposit within 21 days or an itemized list of what was taken out of the deposit along with receipts to prove the expenses. It has been well beyond 21 days and we have not received either. Ms Sparks and her bartender did absolutely nothing extra for us to warrant keeping our cleaning deposit. We cleaned the premises and have photos to show the state in which we left it. There is nothing in writing stating that the cleaning deposit will be used to cover anything other than cleaning services or that Ms Sparks can withhold the cleaning deposit because she doesn't "feel" like it's deserved. Bottom line, regardless of anything else that did or did not happen that weekend, we paid a $500 cleaning deposit that was to be repaid as long as the premises were cleaned. The premises were cleaned and so the cleaning deposit needs to be returned.

Review: my daughter Amber Flowers signed a contract and gave Mrs [redacted] $2000.00 while under the legal age of 18.

Mr. [redacted] was requested to return the $2000.00 in March which gave her ample time to reschedule, however she refused to return the money. We offered to pay her $500.00 for the inconvenience but she still refuses to return the moneyDesired Settlement: 1500.00

Business

Response:

Consumer's Final Response

I spoke with Mrs. [redacted] who still refuses to return the money and informed me that all the judges and attorneys in her area go to all her parties and that he is well repected and that I would not stand a chance if I were to file small claims against her. again offwered her $500.00 for her trouble but she refused to entertain the idea.