Wedding vendor goes ballistic.

Don't know if any of you have seen this yet.

A bride asks a question on a "closed group" wedding page on FB. The venue has a policy of full payment 90 days in advance and no concessions for child meals. The bride is querying if this is standard practice and what others paid. She is asked to name venue but she declines.

Anyhow, the daughter in law of the owner of the venue is also a member of the group. She sees the post and lays into the woman threatening solicitors and the works!!!

https://www.facebook.com/lauren.m.hammond/posts/10154158896440407

taco.cat

That's nuts! The bride didn't even name the venue. No-one would have known where it was if the owner didn't announce it.

Also, full amount 3 months in advance? Ridiculous!

the_syco

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/raging-couples-boycott-venue-after-7708131
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3528088/Wedding-venue-boss-claims-group-bridezillas-waged-hate-campaign-called-boycott-against-700-year-old-castle-dispute-meal-prices.html
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/i-ve-been-in-tears-fife-bride-to-be-endures-sleepless-nights-after-dispute-with-balgonie-castle-1.932824

After the honeymoon, I'd say the bride will be back for blood!

Choc Chip

OMG. Well, it's hit the tabloids now: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/raging-couples-boycott-venue-after-7708131 and http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/scottishnews/7058112/Wedding-planner-branded-client-BRIDEZILLA-in-foul-mouthed-online-rant.html

I can't believe she put the bride's contract details on facebook!

edit: the_syco beat me to it!

uck51js9zml2yt

This won't end well for the castle. Slander, data breaches, threats.
Anyone got popcorn?

Toots

Jesus. I really think the likes of FB and twitter can be a double edged sword for small businesses like that. I mean on one hand, it can make them more accessible to a wider customer base, but then when you have a case like this it can also destroy them.

That woman must have no cop on at all, and it's not even her business; her father in law owns the place. So she's basically wrecked someone else's business! I'm sure Christmas dinner will be an awkward affair this year!

tinpib

That's gas, really is. Top notch suff.

Feel sorry for the bride. But will be following this thread and elsewhere for the fallout.

fatherted1969

That's just incredible. Way to sabotage your own business

Keane2baMused

Sounds like the woman is about to have a nervous breakdown No excuse for that behaviour though jeez!! I'm sure hubby will have a few choice words for her after that display.

Arbiter of Good Taste

Keane2baMused wrote: »

Sounds like the woman is about to have a nervous breakdown No excuse for that behaviour though jeez!! I'm sure hubby will have a few choice words for her after that display.

That's exactly what I was thinking. There's no excuse for how she handled it, but she doesn't sound particularly stable to me.

Gatica

Maybe she really was sick of having to look after brides? This way they won't get anymore in future, problem solved

Word is the bride has been offered a free wedding from some other venue now, great advertisement for them.

Who in their right minds would sign a contract stating payment in full 90 days before the event? I'm getting married in just under 3 months, requested replies by 1st of Jun and already have 2 "will not be attending ".

Not a hope would I agree to pay for my final numbers right now!

Keane2baMused

Yeah and her FIL will be down thousands upon thousands of revenue per year lol :-O

I would imagine she has realised by now she seriously messed up but wants to save face so is sticking to her (slightly insane) guns.

Gatica

the_syco wrote: »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3528088/Wedding-venue-boss-claims-group-bridezillas-waged-hate-campaign-called-boycott-against-700-year-old-castle-dispute-meal-prices.html

This article is completely dishonest in its phrasing. There was no hate campaign against the castle, its name didn't come up even in other brides' comments. Balgonie Castle harassed and bullied the bride on the FB group in question, threatening legal action. Their attack was completely unprovoked as there's nothing to indicate either that bride or others on the thread would not pay their bills as agreed on their contracts. It was a completely normal bride-to-be discussion about prices and T&Cs (which by the way are completely unreasonable by normal standards, at least in Ireland).

Gatica

Seems this isn't their first fiasco:

http://www.thecourier.co.uk/news/local/fife/why-does-santa-not-want-her-at-his-party-girl-s-tears-after-castle-mix-up-1.62188

uck51js9zml2yt

The castle website http://www.balgoniecastle.co.uk/

Situation is getting worse.

Keane2baMused

Raymond Salty Pavement wrote: »

The castle website http://www.balgoniecastle.co.uk/

Situation is getting worse.

Absolutely ridiculous. She is ignoring the fact that the bride never once mentioned or slandered the venue!!

Raymond Salty Pavement

Raymond Salty Pavement wrote: »

The castle website http://www.balgoniecastle.co.uk/

Situation is getting worse.

She should have just stated she couldn't take it anymore hence the meltdown and then apologised. I'd have felt sorry for her then.

Wonder why someone hit her?

hefferboi

Even that statement on the website is ridiculous. That woman clearly shouldn't be in charge of anything important. I'm actually cringing here

Loughc

That statement on the website seems to completely omit the fact the bride never mentioned the business name. Had the daughter in law not opened her mouth on a public site none of this would have happened.

HeidiHeidi

:eek:

That girl needs to stop digging fairly lively.

And is her much-touted solicitor approving (or God forbid, encouraging) this madness? A new brief would be next on the list.

ted1

Gatica wrote: »

This article is completely dishonest in its phrasing. There was no hate campaign against the castle, its name didn't come up even in other brides' comments. Balgonie Castle harassed and bullied the bride on the FB group in question, threatening legal action. Their attack was completely unprovoked as there's nothing to indicate either that bride or others on the thread would not pay their bills as agreed on their contracts. It was a completely normal bride-to-be discussion about prices and T&Cs (which by the way are completely unreasonable by normal standards, at least in Ireland).

The hate campaign followed all those posts , people shared them and said don't hold your wedding there.

fullstop

Raymond Salty Pavement wrote: »

The castle website http://www.balgoniecastle.co.uk/

Situation is getting worse.

What a crock of ****. How on earth was the Castle being 'slandered'?!

madalig12

She really has gone full looper. Id say she sacked her first solicitor when he told her she was away with the birds.

uck51js9zml2yt

Only solution is for the laird to come out , apologise for her behaviour and sack her. Otherwise the business is gone.

Loughc

Raymond Salty Pavement wrote: »

Only solution is for the laird to come out , apologise for her behaviour and sack her. Otherwise the business is gone.

I doubt they're going to sack the daughter in law. They'll have to claim she's stepped down from her role and give her a background role where she doesn't interact with the public.

the_syco

Gatica wrote: »

This article is completely dishonest in its phrasing. There was no hate campaign against the castle

I think the phrase was taken from the Twitter account of the Castle.

Raymond Salty Pavement wrote: »

Only solution is for the laird to come out , apologise for her behaviour and sack her. Otherwise the business is gone.

I thought the business stated that they won't host weddings anymore?

Sunny Dayz

Not sticking up for the hotel (OMG the post they have up on their website?! :O )
But while the bride didn't mention the hotel, anyone who knew her and seen her post would have been able to figure what hotel/venue she was talking about. There really isn't much privacy in facebook, compared to other wedding forums or even boards. I'm not in any way familiar with the group she posted on but even in a private group there must have been people in it who could have been friends of friends, local to her area etc and word of mouth can spread these things offline quite quickly.


BUT this does not in any way excuse the posts which the hotel owner-relation made both on the group and on the website.

uck51js9zml2yt

the_syco wrote: »

I think the phrase was taken from the Twitter account of the Castle.


I thought the business stated that they won't host weddings anymore?

That was her having a melt down. From my reading they are what keeps the lights on in the castle.

Gatica

ted1 wrote: »

The hate campaign followed all those posts , people shared them and said don't hold your wedding there.

Dailymail wrote:

One of Scotland's most breath-taking wedding venues has said it has been forced to pull out of hosting marriage ceremonies after being targeted by a bridezilla 'hate campaign'.
Kelly Morris, manager at 700-year-old Balgonie Castle in Fife, last night announced that the ancient medieval property will no longer welcome couples tying the knot after being harangued by a group of brides who 'bullied' and 'abused' her over the venue's dinner prices.

"Bridezilla hate campaign" is hardly the right word for something that was shared on FB by normal people (not brides to be or bridezillas) over shock at the horrendous out of nowhere response by Kelly.
Dailymail also states this as fact: "after being harangued by a group of brides who 'bullied' and 'abused' her over the venue's dinner prices". No one bullied and abused her on the original forum, it just got reshared by disbelieving people on FB. The comments as expected were ones of disbelief and similar to what's been said on this thread. I also don't think anyone took issue with the venue's prices or dinner prices, mostly people were rightly shocked at her attack of the bride and disclosure of personal info in the bride and her financial circumstances. So the article seems to give it a twist it didn't have.

Dailymail wrote:

An argument then broke out, with several brides-to-be and married women slamming her as being 'unprofessional' and 'nasty'.
As Ms Morris then went on to break down all the money the first complaining bride had committed to her big day, the women plotted to share screengrabs of the conversation on social media to deter couples from booking Balgonie for their weddings.

"Slamming" is a flaming (? inciting?) word, but I guess to be expected of a tabloid. She was being unprofessional and nasty, I don't think there can be much debate on that, so it's not wrong to call it out. Also, saying the women plotted so as to deter castle bookings is also overstating it. It was 1 person that stated do not book here, the lady that first shared the shots of the conversation. I'm sure there were people who reshared with statements of "do not book here", but hardly surprising considering the nature of Kelly's rants, so not really unmerited and out of nowhere. Mainly though people who came across it were rightly incensed at her attitude and reshared, especially after Kelly threatened to sue for defamation. Many also started taking screen grabs after that point, to prove that no one had named the castle, except Kelly herself and of course also to show the personal nature of the info that she divulged about the bride, her finances and contract, should she choose to sue them back for breach of her rights.

The other articles compared to the Dailymail mainly stuck to facts and statements rather than using inflammatory language.

Anyway, originally wasn't trying to post to end up dissecting the tabloid in-your-face article.

Come back, Basil Fawlty. All is forgiven.

meeeeh

This is a mess that tabloids love. I get the feeling they are under some financial pressure however her reaction was completely out of order. If I was the bride I would contact solicitor (and I wouldn't be a fan of lawsuits for nothing).

That being said it always amazes me how quick are social media vigilante mob to jump on a band wagon and start campaign against someone without knowing the story and even start sending hate mail and making abusive phone calls. I guess mob found new outlet since stoning isn't allowed anymore.

salmocab

She should get a job in PR

Gatica

meeeeh wrote: »

This is a mess that tabloids love. I get the feeling they are under some financial pressure however her reaction was completely out of order. If I was the bride I would contact solicitor (and I wouldn't be a fan of lawsuits for nothing).

That being said it always amazes me how quick are social media vigilante mob to jump on a band wagon and start campaign against someone without knowing the story and even start sending hate mail and making abusive phone calls. I guess mob found new outlet since stoning isn't allowed anymore.

Yeah, had a look at their website. It's sad people have resorted to phoning them over this. She sounds like she's quick to involve police or justice system of some kind over the smallest thing though, so it's not necessarily an indication of its seriousness. Guess maybe that's what she meant about being harassed. Hardly would pin it on brides again though, especially since there's no proof as to who's harassing her.

SteM

salmocab wrote: »

She should get a job in PR

According to her post on their website she's a 'trouble-shooting manager'. Sure a job in PR would be a step down!

Gatica

trouble caused by herself?

baby and crumble

"We cannot afford to hire anyone on a contract. Balgonie Castle has never received grant funding. I have tried for the past 3 years to get our local authority to help us out here."

WTF why is this even relevant? WHy on earth should a local authority anywhere give money to a business "just because"? Bizarre. Terribly worded statement on the website. Jesus at least get it proofread. I'd be staying a million miles away from anywhere whose website and public facing material is that bad- shows they don't look after details etc.

But yeah. Mad.

Loughc

baby and crumble wrote: »

"We cannot afford to hire anyone on a contract. Balgonie Castle has never received grant funding. I have tried for the past 3 years to get our local authority to help us out here."

WTF why is this even relevant? WHy on earth should a local authority anywhere give money to a business "just because"? Bizarre. Terribly worded statement on the website. Jesus at least get it proofread. I'd be staying a million miles away from anywhere whose website and public facing material is that bad- shows they don't look after details etc.

But yeah. Mad.

Usually local councils will give historical building a grant for upkeep and whatnot. I imagine as it's a castle it's listed as a historical building.

Regardless of that, that issue had nothing to do with any wedding or her encounter with the bride. It was an awful statement and if anything it's made a bad situation worse.

salmocab

baby and crumble wrote: »

"We cannot afford to hire anyone on a contract. Balgonie Castle has never received grant funding. I have tried for the past 3 years to get our local authority to help us out here."

WTF why is this even relevant? WHy on earth should a local authority anywhere give money to a business "just because"? Bizarre. Terribly worded statement on the website. Jesus at least get it proofread. I'd be staying a million miles away from anywhere whose website and public facing material is that bad- shows they don't look after details etc.

But yeah. Mad.

She's just happy to blame anyone that isn't herself

flutered

Gatica wrote: »

Maybe she really was sick of having to look after brides? This way they won't get anymore in future, problem solved

i knew a lass a while back who worked as a wedding promoter or arranger or whatever you like to call her at a popular wedding venue, so after working eight days on the trot she took a day off, that morning a bride to be asked for her third viewing of what the hotel had to offer, they reply she got was i am on a day off i will be at work from 7:00 am tomorrow, the bride to be replied, but it is my wedding, you have to come in today, to go over the details me

baby and crumble

flutered wrote: »

i knew a lass a while back who worked as a wedding promoter or arranger or whatever you like to call her at a popular wedding venue, so after working eight days on the trot she took a day off, that morning a bride to be asked for her third viewing of what the hotel had to offer, they reply she got was i am on a day off i will be at work from 7:00 am tomorrow, the bride to be replied, but it is my wedding, you have to come in today, to go over the details me

Not going to deny some folks loose the run of themselves but I'd wager 99% are totally grand and normal.

flutered

Loughc wrote: »

Usually local councils will give historical building a grant for upkeep and whatnot. I imagine as it's a castle it's listed as a historical building.

Regardless of that, that issue had nothing to do with any wedding or her encounter with the bride. It was an awful statement and if anything it's made a bad situation worse.

it sounds as if a 14 year old is doing the work

meeeeh

baby and crumble wrote: »

"We cannot afford to hire anyone on a contract. Balgonie Castle has never received grant funding. I have tried for the past 3 years to get our local authority to help us out here."

WTF why is this even relevant? WHy on earth should a local authority anywhere give money to a business "just because"? Bizarre. Terribly worded statement on the website. Jesus at least get it proofread. I'd be staying a million miles away from anywhere whose website and public facing material is that bad- shows they don't look after details etc.

But yeah. Mad.

It's completely irrelevant for this thread but it depends what historical buildings you consider to be in national, local interest to be kept in decent condition.

I come from a town with quite a few historical residential and commercial buildings. Local council pays for outside renovation materials and expert advice and owners pay for labour. It means most of the buildings are in top condition at least on the outside and town more attractive for the visitors.

As I said nothing to do with the subject but it is not unreasonable to expect state and local help if your own a listed building.

Frynge

As someone who has worked in hotels selling wedding packages to brides to be I can somewhat sympathise with her. On any given day in a hotel 1 in 1000 customers might be unreasonable with their requests or expectations, but throw some brides into the mix and it can be 1 in 3.

The girl from the castle obviously reached the end of her tether. She mentions something about a blog post that I have not seen but my understanding is the the customer was effectively giving out about the terms of the package that she signed up for, if those terms included payment 3 months in advance and full price for children then I'm not sure why there is any sympathy for her.

Sinister Kid

Loughc wrote: »

I doubt they're going to sack the daughter in law. They'll have to claim she's stepped down from her role and give her a background role where she doesn't interact with the public.

Her poor husband having to put up with her!

the_syco

meeeeh wrote: »

As I said nothing to do with the subject but it is not unreasonable to expect state and local help if your own a listed building.

Usually this is because it's more expensive doing anything to a listed building. Example; not being able to drill through a wall. But if this is how she reacts, I'm wondering if she's altered the building to the point that the council don't consider it worthy of funding?

tinpib

Frynge wrote: »

As someone who has worked in hotels selling wedding packages to brides to be I can somewhat sympathise with her. On any given day in a hotel 1 in 1000 customers might be unreasonable with their requests or expectations, but throw some brides into the mix and it can be 1 in 3.

The girl from the castle obviously reached the end of her tether. She mentions something about a blog post that I have not seen but my understanding is the the customer was effectively giving out about the terms of the package that she signed up for, if those terms included payment 3 months in advance and full price for children then I'm not sure why there is any sympathy for her.

Hi Frynge.


Take a look through this thread, especially the the first link to see what happened, to the best of our knowledge.

Main point: bride queries prices at venue, asks for advice, flat out refuses to name venue.

Venue manager sees it has meltdown, and posts brides private contract details.

Bride did nothing wrong. Manager did.

the_syco

Frynge wrote: »

The girl from the castle obviously reached the end of her tether. She mentions something about a blog post that I have not seen but my understanding is the the customer was effectively giving out about the terms of the package that she signed up for, if those terms included payment 3 months in advance and full price for children then I'm not sure why there is any sympathy for her.

Client asks random people if this is the norm.
Client doesn't mention Castle.
Castle person comes on, lists clients contract for all to see, and says that client has to pay.

From what I've read, client never said they wouldn't pay.

Castle goes meltdown, and threatens solicitor.

hullaballoo

Can I ask you something?

Had anyone ever heard of Balgonie Castle before?

WELL!??




.

Icaras

hullaballoo wrote: »

Can I ask you something?

Had anyone ever heard of Balgonie Castle before?

WELL!??

I don't think too many will forget it after this sh1t storm.

mahamageehad

Icaras wrote: »

I don't think too many will forget it after this sh1t storm.

I'd say they'll have quite a few interested parties contacting them now hoping for cutthroat prices!!!