Thursday, December 31, 2009

No Show of Bridal Car


I've been busy the past quarter preparing for my wedding and that's the reason why I haven't been able to post in the last few weeks. I am married now but would like to share this major blooper first before I share about the magical day that was my wedding day.

MY BRIDAL CAR DID NOT SHOW UP!

Yup, you read it right. I was expected to be at the church by 8:30 a.m., so we were hurrying around the hotel room finishing up so I could make it on time. Sweetie left for the church before 8 in the morning and asked me to call the bridal car service since when he went out he didn't see one. I immediately tried to call the numbers that Jack & Jenn Catering (we only got the bridal car from them not the catering service, thank God!) gave us when we re-confirmed details for the wedding day. No one was answering.

I was already at the carport of the Crowne Plaza Hotel and tried to call the numbers again. No one was answering. I frantically called Sweetie and asked if he could help. He asked my brother, our friend who stood in as our day coordinator and the best man tried to contact the uber phail Jack & Jenn Catering to follow-up. No one answered any of our calls.

Then my Dad started to panic since it was already 8:40 in the morning. Our church stressed several times that we should start on time. I was already late. So I called my day coordinator Jap. I rented a private taxi service for him so he could shuttle around all the materials we needed for the wedding without any hassle. I asked him to pick me up from the hotel because I had no transpo to the wedding.

He arrived ten minutes later and I luckily arrived at the church on the dot and we immediately started the service. The private taxi driver was shocked to see me in my wedding gown board his taxi and I had a good chat with him which helped me calm down before I went down the car to walk down the aisle.

The private taxi waited for us and brought us to the reception, but we had to let him go when we got there because we both didn't have enough cash (I still owe Jap PhP100 pala!) on us to have him stay till the end of the celebration. The uber phail Jack & Jenn Catering promised unlimited time for use of the car and that was exactly the reason we got them for the bridal car service.

Anyway, so we had another problem. How to get back to the hotel. Both our parents' cars were filled up and the guests who were still around during clean-up time were our blogger friends. Our good friend, Juned, saved us and we rode his Ford Fiera delivery van back to the hotel which our friends coined as "Bridal One" since it became our official bridal car for the day.

We were a sight to behold when we got off the Fiera at Crowne Plaza Hotel. There were 2 other bridal cars waiting outside and the lobby was very busy. Oh well, gee thanks Jack & Jenn Catering for the stress, the aggravation and the embarrassment for such GROSS NEGLIGENCE on your part.

This is the letter that we sent Jennifer Rabe-Alleva -


Dear Jenn,



Last November 21, 2009 we reserved and paid for bridal car service during the "Before I Do" bridal fair at the Megatrade Hall for December 26,2009. We also paid downpayment of PhP2,000, representing half of the total cost of PhP4,050 (discounted by 10% from the original PhP4,500 cost). On November 23, 2009 we received acknowledgement and contract for the service which we acknowledged. We confirmed the order at this number 872-7820 twice.

On December 26, 2009 we were surprised that the bridal car did not arrive at all. Repeated calls to the driver, Ferdinand Gomez at 0910-5264011, was unanswered. Such GROSS NEGLIGENCE from your company constrained us to frantically find another means on transportation which incurred us additional cost of PhP2,450. Your company's NEGLIGENCE embarrassed us and almost ruined our wedding.
We would like to demand the following:
1. Full return of our deposit of PhP2,000.
2. Reimbursement of PhP2,450 for the private taxi service.
3. Apology for such gross negligence.
Please respond within the next 3 days.
Thank you.
Jay & Aileen de Jesus


Some friends are saying we should demand more because of the aggravation and embarrassment that this awful wedding supplier caused us, what do you guys think they should do to appease our disappointment? My goodness, the bridal car service must be one of the easiest services to provide for a wedding. Good thing it was just the bridal car that we got from Jack & Jenn Catering and NOT the whole she-bang. Que horror!




Photo by Blogie Robillo.

31 comments:

  1. :( that is sad to hear. but I'm not exactly sure what you should ask for, one thing is for sure, you're being too kind to them (just my opinion)

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  2. Omg. The first thing I actually thought was "They picked the wrong group to mess with." lol
    Congratulations on your wedding. They should meet your demands.

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  3. what a shame.. these people should not be part of wedding faires..

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  4. I only have three words for you, dear: SUE! SUE! SUE!

    Seriously, you could sue these people! Report them to DTI even since they are a registered company!

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  5. oh noes.. this is my fault. di kasi me nakapunta. waah! hehehe

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  6. They don't deserve operate their business (monkey) another minute more with what they have done to you.

    You deserve more than a refund. This is service(s) offered in the worst form imaginable.

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  7. @cheftonio that's true but they can never make up even by just paying me. It would make me happy though if they host a reception for charity in my name.

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  8. suing will do no good. get your refund & additional expense back. currently when you google jack & jane their website is #1 but your sweetest satisfaction will be the day when the blogging community's reactions to this incident will be occupy the first page. congrats to both of you & happy new year!

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  9. How did they responded so far? Did they bothered apologizing to the inconvenience they have caused you?

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  10. OMG, kahit ako na-stressed while reading the post. I've read bloopers such as walking down the isle without flowers, etc but this is first one about bridal car not showing up. But at least you still have beautiful smiles :) Congrats!

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  11. Nakaka galit ito ah. rawr! They must pay for this! rawr!

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  12. Wow, major fail talaga! Have you heard from them?

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  13. i almost had my catering done by jack & Jenn but my instincts told me to scout for other suppliers. buti nalang i trusted my instincts. if this is the kind of service Jack & Jenn offer, i wish....

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  14. hala ... kung ako yan tanggal lisensya nila at milyon ang gusto kong ibayad nila sa akin :P

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  15. OMG! im about to deposit my DP sa BDO account nila this march 15, 2010 xe they reside in Las Pinas, malayo samin since QC pa kme. our DP they said was 2500 and the rest of the payment was OTD. i also got their brochure from wedding expo sa megatrade hall too last feb 13-15... buti nalang i read your blog, or else they could have mess my wedding as well! i texted them just now asking them to explain this blog and they admitted it naman (si grace po ang nakausap ko, this is her number: 09059367135),dapat po mag demanda kayo... btw po, ur such a pretty bride and i love your gown! =)

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  16. OMG! i was about to give my DP thru bank this march 15, 2010. i got their brochure from weddings, debuts and birthdays at megatrade hall last feb 13-15. my groom told me to search the net first before i pay for it and came across your blog. i texted jack and jen to explain this blog and they admit it naman and told me that was the 1st time they failed and yet im in doubt right now. hay... thanks to this blog or else i dont know what could have happened to me also on my upcoming wedding this december 2010. anyways, you're such a pretty bride and i love your gown, more than enough to cover up everything that happened... =)

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  17. this is so sad. i hope jen got to make amends.

    i hope they learned their lesson.

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  18. @Summer they offered something, but I have not heard from them since the time I demanded her to see us. Just goes to show how sorry they were.

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  19. i am really sorry that this happened to you. i know you're up to the ends of your patience during and after your wedding and i thank you for still being nice to jen and the company.

    i will remind them about this incident and get their side of the story as well.

    many blessings, aileen!

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  20. huhuhu i was a victim already of this catering, it's just now that i read your post. The wedding last july 17, 2010 was also a mess. we ordered 3 layered cake with 6 pcs mini cakes as per our agreement cake must be all edible and minicakes will be in 6inches diameter we dont care if it is sugar or boiled icing, we dont need fondant cake, what we need is all edibled cake and a chocolate fountain. cake was alsmot a full styro and only half of the first layer is edible and the chocolate fountain doesnt work...

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  21. Oh my gosh! Thanks for this. I was about to book them for an event. Good thing, I researched first Jack and Jenn Catering Reviews and your blog came up. This makes a good review.

    If they couldn't even make up for 1 simple but very important bridal car, they could never deliver any good thing at all.

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  22. my fiance and I are starting to plan things for our wedding on August, thanks for the info. I appreciate this.. At least, I know now who to trust and not.. :D

    Hope this won't happen to my wedding.. :(

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  23. this couple are so kind that they just requested for a refund on the said expenses, the gross negligence of the contractor would mean loss of confidence and trust to their future clients. this blog or story can reach thousand of possible clients, and sad to say, they will get nothing or they will not be hired. karma, bad karma for the contractor and GOOD karma for these couple. congratulations and multiply!

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  24. thanks for this post.. I'm about to call jack & jenn's catering tomorrow to inquire and ask about the portofino clubhouse and their catering package, because they're the only site that promotes the clubhouse @ portofino. So I include them in my caterer's list. I thinkk am gonna cross out their name. It's a good thing that I decided to read reviews first,.. This is such a big help! thanks!

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  25. Yikes! Kaya siguro meron silang deal sa Ensogo ngayon

    http://www.ensogo.com.ph/manila/j-and-j-catering-03242012.html?utm_source=fanpage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=fbwall&utm_campaign=jandjca-03262012

    Muntik na akong kumagat for my dad's bday. Buti na lang a friend shared this blog site.

    BTW, ano daw reason why the car didn't show up? The only acceptable reason for me is that the car fell off a cliff. But then again, even if that did happen they should have sent a back-up car even if it has to be the owner's personal car!

    - Maricar Santillan (sam_maricar@yahoo.com)

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  26. @Maricar they had no good reason. They just said it was overlooked. I've been waiting for their promised apology for more than 2 years now, wala pa rin.

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  27. I'm about to purchase a deal with them via Ensogo. I thought I should check blogs about them and this came up first. Thanks for sharing your story. So sorry this happened to you.

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  28. I also would like to share my “not so good” experience with Jack and Jenn Catering.

    I booked them through a deal last March 27, 2012 for my April 28 event at 2:30PM (My son's baptism and first birthday party). The sales personnel I talked to were Grace and Mavel. They promised that their service would be as good as their regular/direct customers. I didn’t even know what kind of service they have for their direct customers.

    On the day of the event at around 11:00am, my balloon artist called to tell that the caterer hasn’t arrived in the venue yet (the baptism and reception was held in one place). I dialed Mavel’s number and learned from her that the team has left already. At 1pm, no signs of the caterer reported by the balloon artist. Grace gave Sheryl’s (the person-in-charge) number so I can contact the catering delivery directly. Sheryl’s reason was they were stuck in traffic jam at Coastal Road. Still she promised that they will arrive and will be able to finish set-up at 2:30pm. I arrived in my venue at 2:00pm and they arrived at the same time. It was really alarming because some of my guests were already arriving. I helped them set up the tables and chairs, and while helping them out I was surprised to see table cloth crumpled and edges were not sewed.

    They weren’t able to finish their set up (the ribbon for the adult chairs and the kids tables and chairs) as expected result of their tardiness.

    Food:
    Fish In Lemon Butter Sauce - Ok

    Fettuccine Pasta with Carbonara Sauce – Tasted like stale. Their explanation for this was they put a lot of vinegar to prevent from getting stale.
    My view: They could have prevented this by not mixing the sauce until it was time to serve food. Besides, I didn’t know that vinegar is an ingredient of carbonara sauce!

    Beef in Brown Sauce – Bitter dahil parang nasunog or overcooked. Also, with my experience to other caterers, beef slices are arranged in rows in the food warmer. With Jack and Jenn, gulo-gulo at parang minadali.

    This was reported to them following week after my son's party and they sent me this letter:

    Mr and Mrs,

    This is with references to our conversation today regarding your
    complaints about our catering services to your son’s baptismal and
    birthday party. Rest assured that all your complaints are taken
    constructively and we thank you for putting it to our attention.

    I know that an apology for this cannot take out your feelings of
    discontent. However, I wish to assuage your sad feelings by sponsoring
    an event to one of your friend’s child birthday, as what I have
    previously offered to you. As discussed, I will give a service of clown
    magician and a 30 guest children’s party. Hereinbelow described, as
    follows:

    1. Clown / Magician ( 2 person’s )
    2. Food ( Spaghetti, hotdog on stick and chicken lollipop )
    3. Complete Catering set-up ( Utensils, tables ,chairs, waiters )

    Very truly yours,

    Mrs. Julie R. Rabe
    President

    I would have accepted their offer kung kinaya sana ng conscience ko, kaya lang I would be happier if I could prevent others from experiencing the same. Moreover, ayoko na rin maulit sa friend ko ito!

    This experience was very humiliating and depressing on my part. I learned my lesson well and I will make sure I will be extra careful in choosing the caterer on my next event.

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    Replies
    1. It's been more than 2 years. They have promised me the same thing. I had told them that if they were really keen on it they can just cater a party for kids in our Parish (those who attend catechism classes), but sadly they did not do any follow-up. Sorry to hear about what happened to your friend, that's why it's important to check the background of your caterer. My caterer (Jon's Catering) from Marikina has been really efficient and I have used them a couple of times both for personal and work requirements.

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    2. Hi Aileen,

      I feel like they are not sincere with their apology, especially if they are not eager to deliver their promise.

      Thanks for your site, I was able to share my thoughts.

      God bless!

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    3. First of all, I am in no way connected to the said caterer. My boyfriend actually found your blog and decided to do some research on the siad caterer. He found this:

      http://jackandjenn.multiply.com/guestbook?&page=6

      That's actually the sixth hit on the Google search for Jack and Jenn. It is their form of "public apology" which was posted a month after The Twisted Wedding Planner's wedding on Dec 2009. It is tiny entry almost lost in their GuestBook page.

      I honestly think that some one ought to put Jack and Jenn's unprofessional behavior to Ensogo's attention. Just my two cents.

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