ComplaintsforTJ's Grazing

• Initial Complaint

  13/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Date of event: June 10th, 2023 Service being provided to me: Catering Amount paid: $1345.00 The business did not follow through with providing the full service that was paid for. Issues with the service provided include:- 3 missing appetizers from order - Food safe issues with meat products (ie. beef and chicken) being served at room temperature. I have no idea when the food was actually made, then it was transported to the event, then it sat out for 2 hours while they set everything up, and the food was not held at a safe temperature in warmers.- Desserts delivered were inaccurate to what was ordered, appeared old, dry, and inedible. Tarts were stacked together and inedible.- Multiple items were missing from the grazing board we ordered, including the following items: ******, jam, variety of pickled things, variety of bread, caprese bites, seasonal crostini, decor, and table florals. - The appies which were provided were not only unsafe for consumption, but they also forgot to put dressing on the salad boats, and the taco shells were so dry they were crumbling apart, the burgers also appeared old and dry. They shorted us on the quantities of each appetizer as well - their menu states that each person will receive 1-2 portions of the selected appetizers, which we were significantly underserved.- I requested extra plates which they agreed upon, and not only did we not receive extra plates, but we did not even have enough plates for each guest to have 1 round of food. - The table should have been decorated with fresh flowers as advertised, and and seen in their images on their website and social media.- The staff were unprofessional, did not wear gloves, and failed to line the entire surface provided with parchment paper - leaving food on the bare, unsanitized, outdoor wooden surface.I have requested a 50% refund and they refused. They are only offering a $345 refund which I feel is not adequate for the amount of errors made.

  Business response

  13/06/2023

  June 10th- This customer had reached out stating their concerns with the product they were giving, during those complaints we addressed the following 
  1. We offered a $70 dollar refund for all of the desserts and had agreed with said customer that there was a error with the desserts(this was to be issued in full) 
  2. We had offered a $275 refund for the minor errors throughout the table such as missing pickles, floral that is placed on the board, bread, and turkey. The customer has stated in their complaint that is was missing a variety of jams but this was provided throughout the table. Decor was on the table as we had stated to the customer decor changes due to budget, & location. Grazing tables are built to all be different and are all built according to their budget. 
  3. The customer has stated the missing appetizer were not replaced but we have stated via email to the customer that we increased the volume of the grazing table to replace the missing appetizers. We had included a small portion in the $275 as an apology for not being able to provide all the chosen appetizers. We have stated that you receive 1-2 per person within the 8 varieties. We do not provide a single piece per person as that is not what is in the price that is given(this has never been an issue with other bridal parties that have ordered). We have provided the customer the knowledge that our appetizers come cold, hot or at room temperature depending on the appetizers selected, the appetizers selected we not to be provided hot, this was never stated to the customer. 
  4. As stated in concerns the appies provided were more that safe for consumption as they were transported directly from our fridge into Commercialized coolers to the event and was kept in the coolers until placed on the table. The staff were 100% were gloves throughout the entire build of the table(this is something that has not been brought up once throughout our emails nor has anything about the cooler). The prep/making of all the food happened through June 9th and the morning of June 10th, we do not use old stale food to provide to our consumers. 
  5. Our staff we not at the event for 2 hour so the food never sat out for 2 hours, as well as they set up it remained in coolers. The customer had stated everything was cold this is due to the fact everything was kept in coolers.  My staff arrived at 4pm and were off scene by 4:56(screenshot provided) We had provided 40 plates total(30 for guest leaving 10 extra for extras) 
  6. The staff lined the entire surface minus one small area that should have been lined, this was addressed and was included in the refund portion. We should never be provided a space to work on that is unsafe. The customer is aware that food is being placed on-top of the table so providing an unsafe food surface is out of our control and was never mentioned via email nor to our staff that were there setting up. 
  7. The amount of food that was provided on the table exceeds $1345 worth of food, labour, overhead and so forth. We have explained to the customer that the table they were given would have an original charge of $1600 plus, due to the fact of the appetizers being replaced we tried to provide as much as possible while going out of pocket. 
  We are sticking to a refund of $345 as a 50% does not make any sense for the product and service that was received. 

  Customer response

  14/06/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  1. This is correct; the business has agreed to refund $70 for the desserts that were inedible, which is appreciated.

  2. I reject the offered amount of $275 for what the business quotes as minor errors. There were many errors, and this was for my wedding day. Im not the type of person to complain, and my guests would back me up on this as a large portion of the food, especially 75% the appetizers ended up in the garbage because they were, unappetizing and inedible. The low quality of food ended up being a large topic of conversation amongst my guests throughout the evening. Allow me to lay out, yet again, the issues I had with the service provided.

  - The business emailed me at 11:24am as I was heading to my wedding ceremony, and noted that there was a shortage of food for 2 of my selected appetizers (it was actually 3 of my selected appetizers), and that they would replace those items with more charcuterie supplies instead. As per our previous conversations prior to me placing my order, I had decided to go with appetizers AND grazing in order to provide my guests with more of a meal. I ordered appetizers because thats what I wanted. Had I not been on my way to my own ceremony and able to respond, I would have declined the extra grazing supplies and rather suggested other appies or a refund accordingly. The business owner continues to use this against me stating that what she provided me was of higher value than what I had originally paid - however I did not ask for this, nor did I approve this change. I had also provided the business with a contact number for my friend who would be at my wedding and would be able to answer her phone should there be any questions or concerns. The company should have phoned my contact prior to making this decision on their own accord.

  - Additionally, there were multiple items missing from the grazing board as advertised on her menu. The missing items include the following: Turkey, variety of pickled things, variety of bread, caprese bites, seasonal crostinis, decor, and table floral. 
  

  The business argues that they provided decor in the form of a broken crate, and plastic serving trays for the appetizers. This to me is not considered decor, and certainly not up to the standard of what I would expect from a company for a wedding. Their website and Instagram page showcase beautiful displays adorned with fresh flowers, greenery, and decor. The business continues to argue my claims by referring to some if these items as being available to those with a larger budget. I never gave them a budget for anything, nor did they offer any type of option for decor upgrades. Their menu simply states that floral and decor is included, which she also repeated in our email communications (see attached image), so that is what I expected.

   

  - The businesses appetizer menu states each person gets 1-2 portions of the chosen appies To me, this says that if I ordered 8 appetizers for 30 guests, that each guest should receive at least **** small portions, depending on the size of the appetizer. This is what I based my order on, and the quantities of the appetizers I did receive, did not match that of what was ordered. The business claims that it actually means that each guest will only get 1-2 portions of all appetizers combined; however this does not make sense. For example: If I order 8 appetizers for 30 guests, at $20 per person, each person will only get 1-2 portions, so essentially Im paying $20 for someone to eat a single slider, or 2 bite sized food items. Additionally, if I had ordered 12 appetizers for 30 people at $30 per person, then I would be essentially paying $30 for each guest to eat 1 single slider, or 2 bite sized food portions. How does this seem reasonable? The wording on the menu is extremely misleading if this is truly the case. 
  

  - The caprese salad boats that we were served were missing balsamic glaze, and therefore we had to use our own to dress the salad.

  - As per our email conversation (see attached image) the business claimed that they would provide table cloths. Rather, they provided parchment paper that did not spam the entire table as seen in the images provided. The business claims it was one small area, however it was about a foot on either end of the table. The business is turning blame to the customer for providing an unsafe food surface, however this is not the case. We were aware food was to set up on that table, and it was cleaned by us accordingly. Fact is, that is an outdoor surface, and we were gone from the home all day, and therefore that surface can no longer be considered clean as dust can fall, animals can walk along surfaces etc. With that being said, having any amount of food placed directly onto an outdoor surface is inappropriate. 
  

  - I asked the business if they provide enough plates for 1 per guest, or if they provide extras to which they responded that they would provide me with extras. We ran out of plates before 50% of my guests had even grabbed any food, however the business blamed my guests for potentially grabbing multiple plates at once. If you see the photo provided, you will see that the there is a very thin stack of plates - certainly not the 40 they claimed to have left. 
  

  3. When inquiring about their appetizers, the business informed me that select appetizers that are required to be served warm would come in hot trays. I ordered select appetizers accordingly. It was my assumption that burgers and tacos would be served warmed, just as they would be when ordered at a restaurant. I do not know anyone who likes to eat a cold burger right out of the fridge, or a taco for that matter. This is something that should be made clear to the customer when ordering. Instead, my guests were left with what looked and tasted like old, dry product. The shells of the tacos were so dry they were crumbling a part in peoples hands.

  4. Additionally, the businesses staff quickly and quietly left the premises without checking in with anyone to make sure that everything looked okay or if we had any questions. This was very unprofessional. The reason I quoted her staff being on site for 2 hours is because that is what the business had stated to me via email (see attachment), as they were set to arrive around 3pm and be complete by 5pm. I do not know the exact time of staffs arrival as I was not at the property at the time. 

  I understand and appreciate that theyre running a business with overhead expenses, however this was an utter embarrassment and failure on my wedding day. I believe that asking for a 50% refund is more than reasonable considering the amount of errors made, and the lack of food that was even considered edible by my guests. Unfortunately, $245 for all that went wrong is a bit insulting. 

  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

  Business response

  26/06/2023

  To follow up : we are declining the 50% refund due to the following reasons- 
  
  
  
  Desserts have been address $70 of the refund will go to the dessert portion
  The appetizers : during the complaint, the consumer states that 75% of the appetizers or thrown away in the trash, we are requesting to see photos time stamped from the date of the food that went to the garbage. The recipes that are used for appetizers are exactly the same for each and every event that has those selected appetizers, we always use the freshest produce we can get and prep & make the food the night before/day of to ensure the freshest quality. During the complaint, the consumer brings up the heating plates for the appetizers unfortunately prior to the event, the consumer and myself connected via email(see attached image) that different appetizers either come out hot, cold or at room temperature. The appetizers that the consumer had selected were both cold/room temperature appetizers. Throughout our socials you can find numerous photos with some of the selected appetizers on board just as they were on the table for this Event. We understand that the consumer may have assumed that certain product were to be hot as that is how they have received them in restaurants as stated but this was never a mislead of information as we provided the consumer with knowledge. The morning of our supplier was unable to provide the supplies needed for three of the given appetizers, with the product we received we fully replaced one of the missing appetizers with another appetizer. With the two given appetizers we increased the volume of the table, we did not want to just show up with a decrease of food and have some guest left without. The two remaining we were issuing $75 per appetizer that was missing(two missing) this is the cost of them in full. I have attached the invoice so that the cost can be broken down. During conversation with the customer, it was brought to my attention that the understanding was each person was to receive 1 to 2 pieces of each appetizer. Unfortunately, this is not the case on our side as we have 1 to 2 pieces of the eight different varieties, this hasnt come across as a issue with our other clientele so we have never addressed it as an issue, but I had stated via email(see attached) that we would be more than happy to make sure to add clarity in the future so that we dont come across this misunderstanding in the future. The appetizer portion we are right refunding would be $150. 
  The customer brings up the matter of being contacted the morning of, this is something that was out of our control, we did our best to adjust to not having all of the supplies necessary. In doing so we fully replaced a missing appetizer and increased the grazingtable size substantially  to make sure that we were providing more than enough food for the entire party. I had attached my phone number if there were any concerns about the changes. We did not contact the bridal guest as we were in the understanding that her contact number was if we had any issues in getting access to the property. 
  The customer has stated that decor was missing from the table but unfortunately, this is not the case we provided the decor that fit to the space and that was able to fit within the consumers budget. We unfortunately do not provide an excessive amount of Decor as we are there for the food, rather than decor. The table floral and few other things that we have agreed and offered that within the refund cost totalling in $125(the items that were missing are at a lower cost) 
  The customer states the photos throughout our Instagram and social being her expectation, but unfortunately, we have stated every table is different is subject to location and budget. The customer states they did not provide a budget but were given price sheets, and this was the selection that they had made so this was their given budget. Table floral is usually provided by the consumer whereas we add a couple throughout on top. This is a very very low cost. We are not there to provide floral for the wedding. We are there to provide the food. The broken crate that is being talked about is something that is used on many of our tables(see attached images) and has never been an issue or has been some thing that has been visible(This was not something that was visible on the table) 
  The customer talks about the appetizer portions to costs, unfortunately, food comes out an extremely high cost, and we are able to provide what we can given that cost, when you go to restaurant near, averaging an appetizer that is between $16-$20 for a single portion. This is no different for us.
  As a customer states per email regarding tablecloth this was before the customer had decided they wanted the table on a wooden board between two wine barrels, the reason the tablecloth would be provided is because when working with folding tables, not having something lay down it looks unfinished, with the table the gas provided, laying down a tablecloth would take away from the essential image, that was the example. When our staff arrived, they are required to wipe down the table completely with a food, safe, sanitization spray, and then to lay down the parchment. If the consumer states the table was wiped as well as our staff wiping it, then there should be no reason the table was unsanitary, we understand there is a very small corner that is missing parchment, which we have apologize to the consumer for, this is not on food, safe as this is no different than the food that comes on our own wooden boards. 
  We provided 40 plates. 
  With Staff leaving the premises after being finished this is their job to do so as our goal is to get out of the way as soon as we are done, we are not contracted out to be serving or anything of the sort, so whats the job is complete we head out. My stuff out of updated me that numerous gas came to them throughout the entire table, built to complement the table and the build. We believe if there was issues as it was being built, that something wouldve been stated to either one of my stuff that were on premise.
  We truly want to rectify this situation as best we can, but it is increasingly difficult to come up with a solution due to the constant inconsistencies in stories by the customer. 
  Our final offer is $345 total for the refund, we believe this is morning than fair for the error that we have agreed with. 
  
  Attached in the next email is images of the table, email threads, and examples. 
  
  
  Kind regards 
  Tasha 

  Customer response

  29/06/2023

  Thank you for your response. At this point it is clear that TJs Grazing refuses to take full responsibility for all their inconsistencies, poor communication, ***** advertising, extremely poor quality of the food they prepared and poor event planning. 
  
  
  
  She continues to lay blame on me, the customer, by insinuating I should have known how she was presenting her business in regards to decor, quantities, and the overall quality and service of the food.
  
  
  
  Great customer service means meeting a clients expectations, based on communication, truth, ***************, effort and empathy. Unfortunately very few of these were demonstrated or experienced.
  
  
  
  Although I do not agree with the outcome of this unfortunate experience, I will accept the $375 and move forward. Please arrange to have the $375 e transferred to *********************** I shall confirm receipt, at which time the file may be closed.
  
  
  
  Kind regards,
  
  ****** 

  Business response

  24/07/2023

  The consumer has filed a dispute with their credit card for ******, the consumer agreed to the refund of $345 dollars as stated in her email below so we will be proceeding with a *****ulent dispute charge. The refund was sent to the email provided but cancelled as of Saturday this weekend due to the dispute. The refund will be issued once the dispute charge is sorted as we are not giving her a refund of 1282.5
  The credit has now refunded her ***** due to the ***** dispute claim. 
  Im currently in the process with a lawyer and my payment company to proceed with a dispute back under *****ulent terms. I will update you once the dispute file is closed to determine what refund she got. 
  Kind regards 
  Tasha 

  Customer response

  24/07/2023

  
  Complaint: ********
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  There were two payments made to the business totalling $1345. A dispute was filed to my bank back on June 19th for the second payment in the amount of $937.50, ten days prior to me accepting the $345 offered from the business. I received a temporary credit on July 13th from my bank in the amount of $937.50, pending their investigation. I have therefore not received any official refund from my bank.
  
  
  As per my last response, I did not agree with the final amount of $345 offered from the business, however I was advised that they were not willing to compromise on their original offer. In accepting their refund, I was fully prepared to advise my bank upon receipt of the $345 which I agreed to on June 29th, and would then adjust my dispute with the bank accordingly. 
  
  
  I received no email notification of a refund from my bank and no confirmation from her advising that it was sent. My banking is setup for auto deposited e-transfers, so had it been sent, it would have gone straight into my account without the option to cancel. Due to a lack of acknowledgment from the business over the past 3 1/2 weeks, or receipt of refund, my claim request with my bank has remained active pending a final outcome.
  
  
  This business has recently been found to be operating ********* since 2021 without the appropriate licenses, health permits or inspections as per our local health authority and city officials, thus resulting in the business having to cease all operations. This further validates my concerns about the service and safety of the food products provided.
  
  
  Lastly, seeking fair compensation for lack of business conduct does not represent *****.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***************************

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