Tekoa Country Club

Tekoa Country Club cancelled our contract without our consent and kept our [redacted] deposit.Hello, my fiance and I booked Tekoa with [redacted] as out wedding coordinator (we had been referred to her through friends and family) for our wedding (9/26/14) on 7/16/13. At that time we signed a contract with all of the provisions and paid [redacted] deposit (which we hadnt received so I called to get it mailed to us). At the beginning of this month (January 2014) we received a call from a [redacted] stating [redacted] was no longer with them and that she would be taking over our wedding. When I had received this call I had advised I was a little disheartened as we were excited to work with [redacted] and we had two friends that had gotten married at Tekoa and their coordinator changed mid-term and stuff was messed up on their day and I did not want that to happen to us. The wedding coordinator simply replied with "ok, ok, ok" there were no empathetic replies or anything so I requested the number for the owner, at this time I also requested a copy of our check and contract be sent out. When I called the owner [redacted] he responded that it was "the nature of the business for wedding coordinators to leave and be changed, yada, yada" and was not very pleasant speaking with, again no empathetic replies so at the end of the call I had stated I had some thinking to do because it didn't sound like they were too thrilled about having our event at their venue. A week later, I had not received our contract or copy of our check so I called back and [redacted] stated [redacted] asked her to hold off on it.. I advised, it was our contract and we wanted a copy of it, she then emailed it to me. About January 17 we received a letter stating Tekoa had voided out contract and refunded the payment made because we could not come to an understanding. The refund received was only for [redacted] and we paid [redacted] I understand if we cancelled they would keep the money, but they cancelled on us, no we had to find a new venue and change event info with our photographer, dj, and photobooth. A few days later, about January 18 I called [redacted] the owner and asked when we would receive the remaining [redacted] since they voided our contract without consent and he advised he would not be sending it. I am hoping this can be settled through Revdex.com as noone wants to deal with the hassle of courts and all 8 months before their wedding. especially not on top of finding a new venue and changing things. This is what we were trying to avoid with booking over a year in advance.Desired SettlementI am seeking the balance of my payment made which would be [redacted]Business Response When [redacted] our former Event Coordinator left her employment with Tekoa, we hired a very experienced wedding coordinator to replace her. Our first step, was to have our new Event Coordinator reach out to all of our existing clients and meet with them in person to discuss the changes and also move forward with the planning. We were able to do this successfully with all of our clients besides one, which means out of the 92 events that we have booked for the calendar year, only one was not successful which equals to a 99% success rate. This 1% is due to the case of Ms. [redacted]. When [redacted] and [redacted] signed the contract with our previous wedding coordinator [redacted] they would have received a copy of their contract. The terms and conditions clearly stated that with the signature of the contract we require a [redacted] non-refundable deposit. Six months prior to the wedding we require an additional [redacted] deposit. Instead of the [redacted] they paid [redacted] When [redacted] was approached by [redacted] our new Event Coordinator her reaction was not pleasant. She immediately resorted to say that this was unacceptable that we had replaced the old Event Coordinator and that she had no interest in speaking with [redacted] and wanted to speak with the owner directly. Ms. [redacted] did not allow the situation to develop in a normal manner in which case a meeting would have been set up between [redacted] (the new Event Coordinator) and [redacted] and [redacted] her fiancé, to speak on the matter further. [redacted]'s response was that she was busy with school and work and didn't have time. At this point [redacted] did not give our new Event Coordinator a chance and an opportunity to work together and resolve the issue. When [redacted] contacted me, I was not in the office when she called but she left me a voicemail. When I called [redacted] she was very unhappy that [redacted] was no longer at Tekoa and told me that the only reason they booked their wedding at Tekoa was because of [redacted] and that 75% of the success of a wedding was the wedding coordinator and without [redacted] she wanted her money back so they could go elsewhere. I explained that after winning "the Best of Weddings" by The Knot, a highly regarded award in the industry, two years in a row with two different coordinators that I was confident that Tekoa had the facility, staff and quality of food to make their wedding everything they had hoped for. I advised her that Tekoa was able and ready to fulfill our contract and provide her with an exceptional wedding and reception. She insisted she wanted her contract and money back. I once again explained that the [redacted] deposit was non-refundable as was clearly stated in the contract. She insisted that she wanted her deposit back and canceled the contract so she could go elsewhere. We have a very liberal refund policy on everything except for the first deposit. As she asked, I sent the contract and a check for [redacted] along with a note stating that by refunding her deposit it canceled the contract. As a business person why would I cancel a signed contract worth approximately [redacted]We returned their [redacted] deposit at [redacted]'s request. Again, we were very successful in working with the other 99% of events and they have all resulted in a pleasant relationship between the new coordinator and our clients. It was [redacted]'s unwillingness to understand and cooperate with the situation of Tekoa Country Club's personnel change that forced us to cancel her contract and return the refundable portion of her deposit. [redacted]Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)[redacted], we did not cancel this contract. We have the letter stating you voided it. Why would we want to cancel our venue at the drop of a hat so we then have to go through the stress of signing all new contracts with our dj and photographer etc and find a new venue if we didnt have to? I was hoping this could be settled the easy way but now not only do I have to deal with the stress of a wedding im now dealing with you cancelling our contract and having to go to small claims court. All we want is our deposit back which is non refundable in the event that WE cancel our contract. Instead we get a letter in the mail stating YOU cancelled our contract because we could not come do an "understanding". I spoke to you one time be for this and what was stated was that I had a lot to think about because it didnt sound like you wanted our almost [redacted] wedding at your facility. At NO POINT did I ask you to cancel our contract. How is this just? All we ask is that you send our deposit back since you cancelled our contract. Now we will need to go to small claims court. You also clearly state "why would I cancel a [redacted] contract" but then say you cancelled it. I did not speak harshly to you or make any threats I simply called to express my concern on my wedding the most important day of my life. You spoke to me but one time for about 10 minutes if that and there was no attempt to save the business. All you kept saying was.. "its the nature of the business" had you or [redacted] said something like "I understand your concern and can assure you it will be just how you planned it" I wouldn't have even been is this situation and I wouldn't have told you I had a lot to think about in which I did. However as you cancelled our contract without a very just reason.. our deposit is now deemed refundable. Legally. I NEVER stated I wanted my contract and money back. I ASKED for a copy of my contract that I NEVER got mailed to me. You are sadly mistaken. And you clearly state that above where you said YOU cancelled our contract.