Caterer has questions regarding wedding reception etiquette?

Question

Upset bride has called venue location to tell them NOT to recommend our catering business to anyone. Is this wise and is she letting herself in for trouble.

Answer 1

who's gonna know. Its up to the venue to ignore it or tell everyone not to use them. It wouldn't be wise of the venue to say anything. the bride can do whatever so wants and so can anyone else who didn't like the job they did.

Answer 2

Hi.  With everything, there are two sides of the story.  Obviously, for some reason this bride is/was unhappy with your catering services.  She has every right to call the venue and tell them not to recommend you.  

The venue can choose to do what they want with this information.

If you want your good name restored with the venue, I would suggest calling them up and speaking with the banquet manager and telling them your side of the story.

Answer 3

Is it wise? Well, it depends on what her complaints are. Does she have reason to be upset with your services?

You could consult an attorney.

Answer 4

I don't know how she would be in for trouble here. If she is still going to be receiving catering services, it is kind of dumb to make the complaint before receiving her service. You could offer to release her from the contract and return any deposit she may have put down. She has every right to complain though. I am sorry if it is unfounded, but that is just the way things work sometimes. It may have just been a threat to try and get her way.  

Answer 5

I would call the venue location and talk to them.  Make sure they know your side of the story.  You don't want someone who is upset to ruin future business for you.  

She is really overstepping her bounds to call someone and tell them what to tell their customers.  I don't know why she "would be letting herself in for trouble".  You certainly aren't going to do anything to her, except try to secure payment.  The venue location shouldn't do anything with her comments except dismiss them.  They can decide for themselves if you are acceptable or not.  

Answer 6

What is her reason for doing so? I used a caterer that brought different food than was in the contract, had a very unprofessional staff, etc.

The owner was not there, and when I asked why I was not getting the food in the contract the servers that were sent said I would have to ask the owner later.

The venue has a standard policy of giving a questionnaire to people after they use the venue, asking them to rate the caterer. In my case I just told the venue in detail what happened. They said "wow there has never been a menu change before".

The only way she is letting herself in for trouble is that if what she is saying about the catering service is not true and you can prove it. In my case I have a copy of the menu I paid for and a photo of the food that was served. In other words, if the customer is lying about you and has no proof of any wrongdoing on your part, you could sue her for slander. If what she is saying about you is true then you need to apologize, give her a full or partial refund, and clean up your act in the future.

Answer 7

I'm guessing you are the caterer? As the client, she has every right to voice her complaints based on the service she received and what her perception of it was. It would be in your best interest to make amends by refunding her money and/or asking her what, if anything, she would like to receive as compensation.

Edit: It's perfectly valid that a bride could be upset with a vendor during the planning stages, whether due to miscommunication, bad customer service on the vendor's part, or a number of other reasons. I don't understand how anyone would think that would be odd or unacceptable because it will happen to most people at some point. There will be at least one vendor (hopefully none but life doesn't always work out that way) who doesn't see eye to eye with what the bride is looking for and gets an attitude because of it. Why should the bride be solely to blame when she is the one paying for the service, not performing it? She requested something and paid for it and it didn't meet her expectations so she has every right and reason to be upset. And in any industry, word of mouth is how businesses either get clients or lose them.