The Ranch House Reviews (%countItem)
The Ranch House Rating
Address: 24041 306 Ave W Box 916, Okotoks, Alberta, Canada, T1S 1A2
Phone: |
Show more...
|
Web: |
|
E-mails: |
Sign in to see
|
Add contact information for The Ranch House
Add new contacts
We are part of a committee who were tasked with planning a large family reunion. We booked The Rach House at the Calagry Polo Club for our event. Initially when we were discussing the food requirements for our event we were told, by ***, that we would be able to bring in our own caterer to the facility due to him not having a preferred caterer and because we had some kosher food requirements. We signed the contract and placed a required deposit on April 17, 2019. We then began contacting and planning our catering service while keeping in constant contact with ***. On April 16, 2019 we received an email from *** about a caterer that he had just worked with and wanted to recommend to us, *** with *** but that we were under “no obligation” to use this chef *** just wanted to inform us of the chef that he was impressed with. We had not found a specific caterer. We contacted the *** that *** wanted to see what he had to offer but the *** prices far exceeded our budget. We told *** that we were not going to use The ***. On June 14, 2019 we received an email from *** stating that the Ranch House had now made *** from the *** their exclusive chef. He went on to say that we no longer had a choice but to use *** as our caterer and if we are unable to use *** then The Ranch House “would be unable to move forward with the venue booking” for our event. At this point we had a signed contract so we were very un-clear as to what *** meant when he stated “they couldn’t go through with our booking the venue”. We had already booked the facility and paid the required deposit. We then had a phone conversation with *** and reminded him of the terms of our contract and he stated that our contract was before he had an exclusive chef for The Ranch House and we were now obligated to use *** with the ***. There were not any additional amendments made of our contract that was signed by both parties and we did not agree to these new terms. We then had another issue with *** and the signed contract when we were told we needed a separate deposit for the caterer after we had already placed a deposit with the venue. When we have planned these events in the past, if a venue has an exclusive chef that they use as the caterer, a deposit for the venue was to reserve both the venue and the caterer. We asked *** about this arrangement because we have never had to place two deposits for a venue that specifies in the contract that their own catering chef must be used. We were told that “*** does not work for The Ranch House and he is not our exclusive chef. He owns the catering company *** and we partner up with his company for all of our events at The Ranch House”. If *** is not the exclusive chef for The Ranch House, but simply had a partnering agreement with the Ranch House then we were unsure as to why we were being forced to use the ***. When we were reviewing our contract with *** we received an email from *** in July of 2019 *** that if we didn’t use *** that he was going to cancel our event because he had someone else who was wanting to book a day on our weekend for 250 people. We then had a phone conversation with *** and he was very *** on the call and we were told that he was bending over backwards to accommodate us and that if we weren’t able to work with *** he was canceling our contract and giving us our deposit back. When we told him that he couldn’t do that because we have fulfilled our end of the contract and that if he cancelled our contract he was in breach of the contract. He then became upset and stated “I am uncomfortable with the direction of our conversation because you are turning our conversation into a legal one”. I told him that I was turning the conversation into a legal one because he cannot change the terms of our contract without an amendment to the contract and with all parties’ agreement and signatures. You have not done that and you are threating to cancel our contract if we do not do what you want us to. At this point *** had obviously not talked to his caterer because we had a contract with *** that we were just reviewing and were working out some of the finer points. When we told *** we were in the process of hiring ***, *** then began apologizing and told us that he was going through ***. This is very unprofessional as you shouldn’t be bringing in your own personal issues into your business dealings to the point where you are threating your clients. We have now sent an email to cancel our contracts with both *** at *** and *** with the Ranch House. The contract that we signed and agreed on with *** did not have a cancellation policy or clause documented in it and therefore we requested a refund of our 25% deposit. We received an email response from *** with a statement that was never agreed upon within the signed contract. He stated the following: “The absence of a cancellation policy does not mean the automatic refund of a deposit” he goes on to copy a line from some other document in his possession which we have never seen before or agreed upon during any of our dealings with ***. The copied line states “days in high season, to the exclusion of all other potential clients, for almost a year. The 25% deposit is forfeit. We are now booking 2021 and are highly unlikely to sell the dates you reserved”. We would be glad to show you all correspondence between ourselves and *** along with a copy of the signed contract but not at any time was this “policy” ever mentioned, documented, agreed upon or signed off on. This is particularly troubling when per our previous concern above, *** threatened to cancel our contract due to us not signing with ***. *** himself stated he would cancel our event and refund us our
Servicestream Ltd. and its directors take the accusations in this complaint exceedingly seriously. The complaint accuses our company of ***, *** behaviour and coercion. The client selected our venue, read our contract, signed it and paid 25% of the final fee as deposit. We typically ask for a 50% deposit. In this case we wanted to help their family endeavour and offered staged payments. The clients catering needs were complex, meals spanned three days, included kosher requirements and it took time to come to an agreement.There followed two months of difficulties agreeing catering costs.The client turned down an offer of a FULL, UNCONDITIONAL REFUND.Subsequently, catering was agreed upon. Catering was priced almost at cost and would result in little if any profit.The client was seeking custom catering at fast-food pricing. Between July 2019 and February 2020 we had no communication from the client. During this time their high season dates were off-market for other clients. In February 2020, the client abruptly cancelled the agreement via email, loosing their 25% deposit. Had the client called us, at any point, and explained their difficulties we would have been open to compromise on the refund. For example, if we were able to rebook those dates, then we would have been able to offer a 100% refund! This path is now closed.Once the client realised their event had to be cancelled, they sought any way to blame the venue that they could. Given the misrepresentation in this complaint by the client, we reject it as groundless and inaccurate.
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
Our issue is that *** kept changing the terms without any amendments made and agreed upon and signed by both parties. We were ***, threatened and coerced into contract changes and services that we did not agree upon when the initial contract was signed. At the time we signed our contract we were told we could choose any caterer, there was no stipulation in our contract that we had to use a specific caterer. *** us into using a caterer who he decided to partner with after we signed our contract and who was over our budget. The Ranch House was not involved in negotiations with the Caterer, we aren’t sure why he is even bringing up budgeting costs for the menu when they were separate businesses from the start. While reviewing our contract with the caterer we got an email from *** that if we didn’t use his chef he was going to cancel our event. We didn’t turn down a full, unconditional refund. *** said we had to use his chef or he would cancel our event and return our deposit so that he could book another event on our weekend. We did cancel our event in February but there is no cancellation policy in the contract that we signed and so we requested a refund of our deposit. We received an email from *** stating that “The absence of a cancellation policy does not mean the automatic refund of a deposit” he goes on to copy a line from some other document in his possession which we have never seen before or agreed upon during any of our meetings - “days in high season, to the exclusion of all other potential clients, for almost a year. The 25% deposit is forfeit. We are now booking 2021 and are highly unlikely to sell the dates you reserved”. We are not stating anything that we can’t prove. The contract and emails have been attached.
Sincerely
ServiceStream recognise the complainant requests a full refund of their 25% deposit. We will not be refunding the client for the following reasons.
1. The complainant reserved the venue for 5 days in high season, kept the reservation for 10 months, then broke the contract, without even calling us.
2. The complainant made NO complaints in the ten months prior. They are only complaining because their arrangements fell through.
3. The complainant broke the terms of the contract. ServiceStream did not break the contract.
4. As the complainant broke the contract, we can legitimately claim the client is ALSO liable for the contract balance - approximately $7,500.
5. Had the complainant simply called us, we would have come to an amicable compromise! This is how we habitually work.
6. The complainant is unfairly accusing us of VERY *** behaviour indeed, ( ***, coercion and threats ), all of which have no basis.
7. ServiceStream will not be responding to further responses to this complaint and consider it closed.
We would like to thank the Revdex.com for providing this platform for businesses to respond to customer complaints. Sincerely
Complaint: ***
I am rejecting this response because:
. No we did not break the contract. There is no clause of a cancellation period or requiring a call to cancel again *** is trying to change the terms our contract.2. No that is not right as well we made numerous complaints to *** about our contract and our issues with him forcing us to use his caterer when it wasn’t stipulated in our contract plus other issues we had.3. Please show us, in our contract, where we broke our contract. We have fulfilled our agreements in the contract. Please provide specific examples of how we have broken our contract and the contract we signed and not this contract that *** keeps quoting that we did not sign. 4. Again we would like to have specific examples of how we broke our contract because we did not. Also where in our contract is it stated that if we cancel our event are we liable for the total amount? *** is making up clauses that we did not agree to or sign in our contract. 5. Not in our experience. When we have called to discuss an issue we have been *** and threatened into doing what *** wanted and not what we agreed upon. 6. We have emails of the *** behavior that we have stated and the threats that *** has made to us. 7. We do not consider it closed because Servicestream has not shown us how we have broken our contract and they are not honoring the contract that we signed. It comes down to what was agreed upon and signed in our contract. Servicestream has no cancellation clause or any length of time that we had to cancel our contract. They have no clause stating that there is no return of refund policy therefore we are owed our deposit.
Sincerely