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Quality of service
0.5 out of 5 rating
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Average response time
0.5 out of 5 rating
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Professionalism
1.0 out of 5 rating
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Value
2.0 out of 5 rating
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Flexibility
1.0 out of 5 rating
The only thing actually positive about this catering company is their food, which is very yummy. You would think that this would be the Only thing you really need to worry about with a caterer, but unfortunately that's not really the case.
This company was so unbelievably frustrating to work with I would never recommend them to anyone. From the start, they offered to act as our coordinators as we originally had a venue that needed a lot of TLC, decor and coordinating help. They also offered this at no extra charge. The former bride that they referred me to raved about them, but unfortunately we had the complete opposite experience. Our only conclusion from our experience is that they received bids for bigger, more expensive parties after they accepted our wedding, and we were put as bottom shelf priority. Word of advice- don't just ask a caterer how many events they do in a day, but whether their busy season will affect how your event is treated (Laura told us how busy they were with another corporate event when explaining why she hadn't contacted us for awhile).
After receiving our deposit the owner promptly went on vacation without touching base with us; this didn't really worry us at first as we had a small wedding and they'd initially assured us that 3 months was plenty of time. From there, it went downhill. They were so busy they did not have time to meet with us for a couple weeks after they returned (Nov. 5th for a Dec. 31st wedding). To be fair, we had crazy school schedules ourselves and it was pretty impossible to meet with them during their limited availability.
The meeting went well and we thought things were under control, until the owner/ coordinator failed to deliver any of the info she promised- a write up of our meeting, pics of her candy bar and crudite set-up- until my fiance contacted her to ask for it two weeks later.
She then made a phone appointment with us, which she completely forgot about- we called her to find out what happened and wound up rescheduling for a few hours later. During that phone convo she asked many of the same questions that we'd covered during the previous first meeting. Really? It was very obvious that Laura had not spent any time on our event since that meeting- she still had not even sent us the photos mentioned above until we asked while on the phone.
The best part came one week later, on Nov 29th, when she EMAILED my fiance to tell us she was too busy to work on our wedding, that she needed to hand us off to her assistant coordinator, and that this new coordinator got paid by the hour, though her hourly rate was less. Talk about making us feel like crap- she couldn't even be bothered with a phone call until we told her we would not agree to anything until speaking with her.
During this conversation, she explained that now that they were going corporate they were so busy, that they usually hand pick the brides they work with, that we got a discount on the charge for the servers, and there was plenty of time to do everything that hadn't yet been done. She finally agreed that we would not be charged more than what we'd contracted for, even though we'd be working with someone who got paid hourly (how was that ever our fault?). She offered no apology, no culpability, no empathy - just basically made it sound like we should be grateful that they took us on to begin with and should just believe that they'd get it all done.
Because we really had no choice and were honestly afraid that Serendipity might do even less work if we protested, we agreed to work with the new coordinator, who wound up being very nice and friendly and completely incapable of handling the job.
I don't know if she was overworked or under-experienced, but the new coordinator always forgot things we discussed in previous meetings (like that we needed to rent chairs!!) and could not keep a deadline for her life. Twice she missed her own deadline for a final layout for the tables and chairs, and guess what ? She NEVER finalized one for us or the venue. We felt like we were doing her job for her, and it was the most stressful last month you could imagine before a wedding.
Finally - three days before the wedding- we decided to let go and let be. How much could they screw up that late in the game, right? The night itself went alright, if we ignore the fact that she completely left out a dance floor and we had to move tables and chairs around as guests arrived, and the servers tossed the cake so fast after cutting/serving that half the guests (and the bride and groom) didn't get any. But, I digress. We had a great time b/c it was our special night, and that was what mattered.
The serving staff were very nice and accommodating, and the food was very good. So five stars for the servers, bartenders and chef.
Laura never checked in with us to see how things were going after she pawned us off on her assistant or how the event went, and the entire time treated us with an air that stank of pridefulness and dismissiveness. She truly treated us as if we were acting like the stereotypical bride and groom-zillas, which for former Peace Corps volunteers who got married in a courtyard at midnight, seems like a bit of an exaggeration. I don't think it's too much to ask someone to live up to the contract that THEY created, and to the services that were AGREED upon and PAID for.
These guys might get great reviews from their corporate events, but I'd steer clear of them unless you've got a very expensive event to cater that's worth their time.
The only thing actually positive about this catering company is their food, which is very yummy. You would think that this would be the Only thing you really need to worry about with a caterer, but unfortunately that's not really the case.
This company was so unbelievably frustrating to work with I would never recommend them to anyone. From the start, they offered to act as our coordinators as we originally had a venue that needed a lot of TLC, decor and coordinating help. They also offered this at no extra charge. The former bride that they referred me to raved about them, but unfortunately we had the complete opposite experience. Our only conclusion from our experience is that they received bids for bigger, more expensive parties after they accepted our wedding, and we were put as bottom shelf priority. Word of advice- don't just ask a caterer how many events they do in a day, but whether their busy season will affect how your event is treated (Laura told us how busy they were with another corporate event when explaining why she hadn't contacted us for awhile).
After receiving our deposit the owner promptly went on vacation without touching base with us; this didn't really worry us at first as we had a small wedding and they'd initially assured us that 3 months was plenty of time. From there, it went downhill. They were so busy they did not have time to meet with us for a couple weeks after they returned (Nov. 5th for a Dec. 31st wedding). To be fair, we had crazy school schedules ourselves and it was pretty impossible to meet with them during their limited availability.
The meeting went well and we thought things were under control, until the owner/ coordinator failed to deliver any of the info she promised- a write up of our meeting, pics of her candy bar and crudite set-up- until my fiance contacted her to ask for it two weeks later.
She then made a phone appointment with us, which she completely forgot about- we called her to find out what happened and wound up rescheduling for a few hours later. During that phone convo she asked many of the same questions that we'd covered during the previous first meeting. Really? It was very obvious that Laura had not spent any time on our event since that meeting- she still had not even sent us the photos mentioned above until we asked while on the phone.
The best part came one week later, on Nov 29th, when she EMAILED my fiance to tell us she was too busy to work on our wedding, that she needed to hand us off to her assistant coordinator, and that this new coordinator got paid by the hour, though her hourly rate was less. Talk about making us feel like crap- she couldn't even be bothered with a phone call until we told her we would not agree to anything until speaking with her.
During this conversation, she explained that now that they were going corporate they were so busy, that they usually hand pick the brides they work with, that we got a discount on the charge for the servers, and there was plenty of time to do everything that hadn't yet been done. She finally agreed that we would not be charged more than what we'd contracted for, even though we'd be working with someone who got paid hourly (how was that ever our fault?). She offered no apology, no culpability, no empathy - just basically made it sound like we should be grateful that they took us on to begin with and should just believe that they'd get it all done.
Because we really had no choice and were honestly afraid that Serendipity might do even less work if we protested, we agreed to work with the new coordinator, who wound up being very nice and friendly and completely incapable of handling the job.
I don't know if she was overworked or under-experienced, but the new coordinator always forgot things we discussed in previous meetings (like that we needed to rent chairs!!) and could not keep a deadline for her life. Twice she missed her own deadline for a final layout for the tables and chairs, and guess what ? She NEVER finalized one for us or the venue. We felt like we were doing her job for her, and it was the most stressful last month you could imagine before a wedding.
Finally - three days before the wedding- we decided to let go and let be. How much could they screw up that late in the game, right? The night itself went alright, if we ignore the fact that she completely left out a dance floor and we had to move tables and chairs around as guests arrived, and the servers tossed the cake so fast after cutting/serving that half the guests (and the bride and groom) didn't get any. But, I digress. We had a great time b/c it was our special night, and that was what mattered.
The serving staff were very nice and accommodating, and the food was very good. So five stars for the servers, bartenders and chef.
Laura never checked in with us to see how things were going after she pawned us off on her assistant or how the event went, and the entire time treated us with an air that stank of pridefulness and dismissiveness. She truly treated us as if we were acting like the stereotypical bride and groom-zillas, which for former Peace Corps volunteers who got married in a courtyard at midnight, seems like a bit of an exaggeration. I don't think it's too much to ask someone to live up to the contract that THEY created, and to the services that were AGREED upon and PAID for.
These guys might get great reviews from their corporate events, but I'd steer clear of them unless you've got a very expensive event to cater that's worth their time.
User2484306 Sent on 12/29/2015We loved working with Serendipity! the Food was amazing, all of our guests raged about how good it was, you have got to check these guys out!
