INDIANA BRIDES BEWARE: BAIT AND SWITCH, NAY, FRAUD ALIVE AND WELL AT JUGS CATERING

I am saddened that there are still businesses around that try to take advantage of those who are most vulnerable. A bride and groom would be a good example of the latter. Floating around in their own cloud of love, they may find it difficult to see those who are trying to snare them. Jugs Catering of Indianapolis would be a specific example of the former. With a published menu with prices that seem too good to be true in these hard economic times, they draw you in to then shamelessly change the terms of the offer that brought you there.

Late last year I offered to help one of my daughter's friends with the planning of parts of her upcoming summer wedding. Food being such a big part of a wedding, I started by focusing on that. In the process, I discovered all kinds of styles of running a catering business, most of which left a lot to be desired. You know the type: they either don't call back, don't write back, don't keep promises, etc. I also ran into very professional ones that were a pleasure to deal with, even though they were out of our budget.

In the constant daily search, one day I came upon Jugs Catering. They had a website where you could see the pricing. They had a minimum number of guests for weddings of 200 (this presented a small problem, but not enough to offset the pricing). They seem very bare bones, but I figured they should be halfway decent if they already do weddings. When I called and confirmed everything, I felt they were within the bride's budget and very excitedly gave her the information. Once she picked the buffet she wanted, I called back and confirmed everything again, and then we set up an appointment to book the event at the same time we would have a cake tasting, so the bride could decide whether she was also going to order the cake there. I made sure to remind the girl who was helping us to contact me if there were any changes because my bride was driving over 1.5 hours to get there and I certainly did not want to waste my time either.

On the day of the appointment, I called in the morning to confirm everything for our 4:00 p.m. meeting. Nothing had changed. I showed up a little earlier than the appointed time and it is then that I am told that they just booked another event with 1400 people and she had to ask the owner for permission to do ours. SAY WHAAAAAT?? I was totally floored and could not believe what I was hearing. The end result was that the owner supposedly said that he could still do it but with 250 people as a guarantee, instead of the 200 they require on their website. Oh, really??

Shortly thereafter the bride showed up while I was already at the parking lot. After hearing what I had to say, she decided to go in and also inquire about this turn of events. She came out looking crushed. She had been given the "take it or leave it" look, the shrugged shoulders, you know, the "we couldn't care less" attitude. She was sad and disappointed and felt like she was not given any consideration by these people. The only thing they kept repeating was: "we can STILL do it, it just needs to be a different minimum."

Trying to salvage the situation, I called from my car and asked to leave a message for the owner. After some reluctance, a message was taken. I then followed up with a couple of e-mails and faxes that have been set forth below, with not a phone call or e-mail back in the over six weeks that have transpired. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Well, I had to get back to work trying to find another caterer and I am happy to report that we found one in Kokomo. They don't have pricing on their website, and I was almost afraid that we would not be able to afford them, but they sent me the information promptly. They have a range of packages so that anyone, whether with a small or large budget, can utilize their services. They are very professional and personable. They try to accommodate the bride as much as possible. At the tasting this past weekend, the final test was passed with flying colors! The food was very yummy!! Our wedding is at least 2 hours from their facilities, which pretty much tells me they can probably go anywhere in Indiana. They are Rozzi's Catering, www.rozziscatering.com, and I highly recommend them. Actually, Kokomo turned out to be a great town for some of my bride's greatest needs. There she also found the most reasonable rental place, American Party Time, www.americanparty-time.com.

So to all of you brides out there who may be in the midst of planning your weddings, first of all, Congratulations!, and second, be very, very careful with all the vendors with whom you may need to interact. Better to walk away and take your time to think about things so that you are not taken advantage of.


-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 8 Feb 2010 00:08:50 EST
Subject: Fwd: PLEASE FORWARD TO OWNER ASAP. THANKS.
To: [email protected]

If I don't hear by end of business tomorrow, Monday, February 8, I'm going public with this. By the way, I addressed the original e-mail to "Mr. Eckert" because that is the name I saw on the website. I have since learned he died in 2008. Obviously, I want the new owner, whoever that may be, to respond. I had also left a telephone message on the very day we were there, and I'm going to fax this over as well, so there's not failure to communicate claiming a lack of communication, if you will.

Thanks.

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 1 Feb 2010 20:27:13 EST
Subject: PLEASE FORWARD TO OWNER ASAP. THANKS.
To: [email protected]

Dear Mr. Eckart:

I realize you are on vacation and I am sorry to have to bother you, but I thought I would give you the opportunity to make this right before I start spreading around my experience with your company.

I started communicating with Ashley on January 14. I told her I was helping a friend of my daughter's with her wedding. I clarified things on the menu. We spoke about the mileage charges. She checked the date and told me you were available. On 1/15 I asked if anything could be done about the mileage because it was going to cost around $400. She told me there could not. On 1/19 I again spoke with her, clarified more things, and she gave me a quote of $2272, including the approximate mileage charge. When I inquired about tasting the food, she told me we could not taste the food, but could taste the cake. I attempted to make an appointment to do that and to book the event, and the bride would decide about the cake at that point, but she told me she had to coordinate with the cake lady and get back to me. I didn't hear back from her and I called her again, I believe on the 19th. She told me she had been very busy. When I asked when the cake lady could meet with us, she then told me she was able to set up an appointment pretty much anytime because the cake lady was going to be there all the time. I set up the appointment for the bride the following week, but the bride wanted me there and I was having dental surgery the following Monday and knew I would be out of commission that week, so I called Ashley right back and we changed the appointment for today at 4:00 p.m. I told her to please call me if there were any changes because I didn't want to make a trip to your office, and I certainly didn't want the bride to drive down from Ambia, Indiana, for nothing. During the course of this time, I had also asked what the Irish potatoes were and Ashley couId not answer that question, even though I kept reminding her. I finally got my answer today when I arrived. At no time, was I told that there was any danger of your company not being able to cover our event for ANY reason.

This morning, at about 11, I called Ashley again to confirm the appointment. I confirmed that the cake lady would be there. I confirmed we would be able to taste the cake. I showed up 15 minutes early and walked in to use the bathroom and wait for the bride. Ashley asked me to go into another room and at that moment she asked me if we were booking today. I assured her we were. Then, for the first time, she tells me that she had to get your authorization because she just booked a party of 1400 for the same date. I almost fell out of my chair. I asked her why she hadn't already done that instead of making us waste our time. She didn't even know what time our wedding was. In any event, she left to call you and came back saying that you could do it with 250 guarantee. The bride barely has 200 guests, and that includes children, and I had discussed this with Ashley because I was wondering if children were charged differently. Your website says that you have a "fleet" of your kitchen trucks. It also says that you will do the wedding buffet for 200 guests minimum. So, to come back and say that you can do it with 250 guarantee simply adds insult to injury. The "take it or leave it" attitude is also offensive, as is being told that you "booked such a large party" as we were. If you have a fleet of trucks, what's the problem? You can only do one event at a time? No, that can't be it, because you are offering to do it as long as you can get more money out of us, at least that's what we were told. Is it that you don't like doing small groups? Then, why do them?

I have never been treated so shabbily in my whole life. Honestly. The bride is crushed. She drove down thinking that if she liked the cake then she had two more things to scratch off her list. Instead, she has made no progress and was not even apologized to.

I hope you have more business acumen and care more about customer goodwill than the people who work for you.

I await your reply anxiously.

Sincerely,

Margie Esteban-Gonzalez
(317) 450-0310