Complaint Review: Castle McCulloch - Jamestown Nc

 Outside vendors are allowed, and have to be approved prior to coming. Which we did. The caterer we hired was amazing. The one thing that did go great was the food vendor!!! The bartender, again, was being paid $25/hour and it was for only 3 hours!!! He was an employee of the venue, as was the alcohol provided. Our wedding started an hour late, not 30 minutes, and that was because we had to wait for the other wedding to finish. The main thing that started everything was the bartender and warm beer, and then the way the manager handled it.. and it only added fuel to the fire with them calling within 48 hours after they said they wouldn’t. The manager that evening just accepted her employee was rude and slow, and, "

Oh well, deal with it.” was her attitude towards it. The only thing I rented outside of the venue/bar was the caterer. The catering had nothing to do with the bar issue. The catering we hired went perfect. Also, there were not 50 guests over. The manager "claimed” there were, but yet we had 100 chairs set up at the ceremony and everyone was seated perfectly- no one standing. So how were there 150? So with the manger from the castle that night counting 150, that means 50 people showed up after to the reception, on top of those that that had already left and didn’t stay for the dinner?? No. Maybe I didn’t write my review CLEARLY enough, but by now if you don’t understand it I don’t think you will.

I wasn't defending them over their treatment of your wedding reception.  I was slamming you for wasting your time writing a ridiculous review.

You failed to cite one thing they did wrong, other than warm beer.  The reason things went wrong from your perspective had nothing to do with your venue; it had to do with your planning and your expectations, which the other gentlemen who responded alluded to.  If you think you really planned this event so well, then go ahead and explain how you ended up having 50 more people than your count?  Seriously, how many THOUSANDS of people showed up that you missed by 50 people?

You wanted to bring in another caterer.  Fine, but unless it's an approved caterer for the venue, you're not going to be happy.  So you ended up not happy, which is what you should have expected.

You got a bartender that seemed rude to your guests because he seemed like he didn't want to be there.  Yeah, I wouldn't want to be your bartender at $15 per hour for an 8 hour gig when bartenders generally go for more than double that rate, plus you gave the guy no tip at the end.  He probably knew going into the event he was going to be stiffed by you.  Perhaps you should find the bartender, apologize for not tipping him, and providing him a tip.  That would be the right thing to do.

Your wedding started a little more than 30 minutes after the invitation said it should.  Geez, I can't even remember the last wedding I went to that ran on time.  But you should have expected that as well because the place is a wedding mill; you probably knew that going in though - you just failed to plan.

If this is what you're going to focus in on, marriage is not something you will be very good at...

 Jesus you have some time on your hands... for you to have 0 connection to this, you sure are going hard defending them. They didn’t handle the issues that arose very well, which in turn made all the little stuff that wasn’t so great about the venue, seem even worse. I could literally spend all month explaining this to you, when in the end, they didn’t provide good customer service. Even with everything that went wrong, they could have handled it with an apology even, and I probably wouldn’t be so angry right now- but they didn’t. And it’s not just me who feels this way. Almost all of the wedding guests witnessed the rude bartender situation (who was making $25 and hour plus tips) as well as the other wedding next to us that we had to wait on. If it were you, or your daughter/sister/wife, I’m sure you’d feel differently. I am a very understanding and easy going person. I know we’re human and we make mistakes, I get it- but the events that took place could have been easily avoided on our wedding night, or rectified. In the end it isn’t about money, it’s how they handled the bad experience we had.

Man are you some kind of Bridezilla?  I mean WOW.  So $4,000 is a rip off for 100 people.  That's $40 per person.  Pretty cheap.  Actually very cheap.  Many venues I know of charge more than $70 per person on a Saturday evening.  So let's go over your post as to why this is not a rip off.

We decided to out source a caterer, because the one they like for you to use is more money than the venue is, and that's for the most basic food you could get!!  You're lucky.  Most places don't allow you to bring in any caterer you wish because most caterers have to provide a surety bond to the venue in case of breakage in order to get permission to be an approved caterer.  If you found a venue who was willing to provide you a choice to bring in someone of your own choosing...you should be praising your venue - not criticizing it.

Once we started making plans with our outside caterer, we found out that the Castle likes to make having anyone cater but them, impossible. You aren't allowed to use anything in their building, except for one little house size stove.  Duh!!  I think I just explained why.

The bartender was paid to serve alcohol ($25/hour) that WE PAID FOR through the castle. THOUSANDS of dollars.  Was your wedding reception seriously 40 hours that you paid $1,000 to the bartender?  I don't think so.  It then cracks me up that you decided to use the bartender they provided to you, for which he only received $15/hour...maybe less.  I'm guessing you decided not to tip the bartender as well?  Perhaps you can explain why you decided not to outsource the bartending services as well?  Probably for the same reason as the caterer...

After this, the manager ended up telling us we had 50 guests more than we planned for, which I highly doubt, it was MAYBE 15-20 more (but they want to get as much money from you as possible).  You're still going to pay for 15-20 more people (closer to 50 is more likely); you didn't really expect you were not going to pay for the additional people?  Perhaps you wanted to pay less than you actually should?

Other things that really suck about this venue are, you only have from 430-11pm at the venue (you have to be completely cleaned up and out by your end time), unless you add an hour on at the end (another few hundred $$$) which we did. You can't add on at the beginning easily, since they normally schedule rehearsals, or whatever else that day, which is super nice of them!! You can't arrive any earlier or drop things off the day/night before, because again, they have scheduled people there on your wedding day. So you have to have an entire wedding set up in less than 2 hours.  You just quoted just about every busy venue in the United States.  All of the things you wanted to do, you could not do in a busy venue.

At our final meeting before the wedding, after invites and RSVP's were out and received, they decided to tell us we had to start our ceremony at either 6 or 7, because another wedding would be going on across the bridge at 630. This was after I had made our invites for 630(: We ended up starting way later than 7, because we had to wait on the other wedding to finish. So also be prepared to have another wedding/festivities going on right next to yours while you're walking down the isle and saying your vows.  You just quoted what happens at every busy venue in the US.

They made sure to call at 9am the morning after our wedding weekend, to collect the balance for our "50 guests over” that were served hot beer at the bar.  The balance of additional guests is always due the next day, whether you pay, or someone you designate pays.  In every catering contract, that clause appears.  Whatever someone tells you - is irrelevant.  The only thing that matters is what's in the contract.

The only thing that made our wedding day so special was the friends and family in attendance...  Seriously, that's all that matters.  If they think it was special to be there on your special day, the venue matters little.

BTW - I do not work for this venue.  I have planned many events at many venues.  Other than warm beer....you probably had a nice evening.

First of all, there wasn’t any breach of contract. We signed 2 separate contracts. One with the venue and one with the bar. We paid more than enough for the venue, so yes we could afford it, and even extra to hire our own caterer. I hired my own caterer because there I did do research thank god, and knew $4,000 for a buffet style dinner was ridiculous. The venue is a scam, and I’m not the only one who has had this issue. Sadly, I found out after the wedding. They claim to provide services and then they do not deliver.

I’m not a spoiled rich kid by any means. I work hard for every dime I make and I don’t like to get ripped off, which is exactly what happened. Them claiming that we had 50 guests over is near impossible, because we didn’t even invite over 120 max. It was not a breach of contract. We give them a close estimate of how many will be coming, and they base the chairs put out and drinks being served from that. If it’s over, then we pay for the extra drinks (completely understandable), but somehow they ran into an issue serving 100 (which is what I said would be there) after the bar was open for an hour or less.

The 100 chairs that were put out for the ceremony were more than enough, but somehow we had 50 over?? No. I’m assuming you either work for the castle and are trying to defend them or have a miserable life and sit and troll people’s bad experiences on rip off. You do not know the contract I signed (unless you work at the castle- then you know well what I signed and paid for) which was a lot. I paid thousands of dollars for a venue to provide a decent space for my guests which they somewhat did, and paid another few thousand for an open bar- and the bartender was rude, and the provided alcohol was hot. Point blank.

People/businesses want all of this money, and then they don’t want to provide the service equivalent to what they’re asking to be paid. So I don’t think you have any room to even speak on the matter.. but it sure does seem like this is hitting close to home for you.. I don’t plan on stopping with some rip off report, I just want to warn other brides to beware of issues that could arise before they book. I didn’t do my research before and this is the price I’m paying. If I can save one bride from going through this, it’ll be worth it. Thank you for you input, but you’re wrong.

You've made it clear for what appears to be your breaching contract you yell rip off. 

You went over your allowed guests, it doesn't matter if it was 50 or one. At this point the venue has every right to do what they did. You wanted your own catering, that doesn't work just the same as you cant order Burger King at Taco bell. Breach 1. You claim normal fees as a rip off. It seems as though you knew this place was bad but did it anyway. You ignored their contract and/or policy which you appear knowledgeable on. You forced your problems and a company who clearly told you their policy.

All dream of a huge wedding, tons of people, and all you demanded because you must have your way. Congradulations on being married. The base of this story is the same as a parent who tells a child not to touch a hot a stove, the child may touch the stove anyway but can't blame you for the damages. Simmilar to a venue that outlines what's expected of you and you blatentley ignored and got mad that you weren't accomodated. 

Sorry; you appear to be a spoiled rich kid who had a temper tantrum. You trash the bartender who didn't work to your standards is nonsense. Your yelling "THAT'S WHAT YOUR PAID TO DO!!!!! is simmilar to a child who has a tantrum over not getting what they wanted. 

Life has responsibilities. Please grow up. 

I'll close this with more of your tantrum "(but they want to get as much money from you as possible)." That's actually called supply and demand. Yes, places charge for a service, usually better costs more. That's because someone has to pay for it. You made a few possible rip off claims but it appears your tantrums set the tone of how you were treated, breaching the contract or policy over rides the very little and common problem we all deal with. You couldn't afford this from the start, or so you've mentioned and should have went elsewhere but you had to get your way, much like a child does.

If you didn't learn you can't always get your way as a child, you're in for a world of dissapointment to learn this as an adult.

Case dismissed.