ComplaintsforDoko Manner

• Initial Complaint

  10/11/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Customer Service Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  First, for the amount I paid for the building, $3500, for twelve hours, I was told the warmers were working, and the food was taken out of one warmer and placed on the table because the warmer was not working correctly. The warmers that the kitchen was able to be used, and come to find out, none of the warmer were ever fixed, as the woman told us. Warmers were not working correctly, and my food was discarded because it could not be used, and I still have not gotten my deposit back.

  Business response

  10/20/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/10/11) */ Dear Sir/Madam, It is with regret that our customer has filed this complaint to your Bureau. We take great pride in providing services, as outlined to our clients and this customer is no exception. To address all of the accusations made, we will start at the beginning. This client originally scheduled our venue for her wedding on a date that was also reserved for an Octoberfest in the public park that is directly across from our Wedding Platform, literally the stage is 200 feet away. In our effort to provide a peaceful wedding environment for our client, we SUGGESTED she move her date, which she agreed with, and moved to the week prior. She states that she paid her deposit with a Money Order, when in fact it was paid with a Visa, the only reason for this clarification is establishing true facts, as that is the only way we operate. The Balance for the Event was paid in full on May 9, 2022 for the original contracted flat rate. The deposit was processed for refund on Oct. 7, 2022, two weeks after the event, as outlined in her contract. As we move forward to the Wedding day of September 23, 2022 our Warming Ovens are working fine and as a side note, none of our employees recall multiple conversations with this client about the working order of our Warming Ovens. During the afternoon, an employee smelled a plastic burning smell coming from the ovens. They were turned off for safety reasons and inspection. We stand behind that decision. It turns out, the ovens were in fine working order, but plastic was found on the rack. No way to know if that came from this caterer, but the ovens are cleaned after each use. The caterer then used an air fryer which is not approved for use in our Catering Kitchen, but an exception was made in an effort to accommodate. Contrary to the complaint, the Microwave was working as well. To put a frame on the day overall, The final guest count given us was 100 not 65 as stated. Per her contract, the Wedding was scheduled to begin at 11:30 and as recent as 5/9/2022 had not been changed. We were ultimately told the wedding would be at 3pm. At 4:20, after one of the wedding leaders arrived late, the ceremony began and was beautiful. At a little after 6pm, a Manor employee asked for a plate of food and was offered to go thru the Full Buffet that was set up. When she noticed how much food was left...The caterers shared that the Wedding guests had not yet eaten. The employee found the food good. This complaint makes it sound like our staff was directing the handling of the food. The only thing required by our director to our employees was to turn the ovens off because of the plastic smell and safety for all involved. We genuinely apologize that this decision had to be made on this or any other brides day, but again, we stand behind it. As an industry standard, the responsibility for the handling and preparation of individual caterers food lies solely with the client. We are confident that we provided the Venue and Product contracted for this client. We Truly apologize once again that in this case, Safety had to come First. Respect to All and thank you for your time. Consumer Response /* (3000, 7, 2022/10/14) */ I ( the Bride) would like to start by saying" that if I had known that the first date I chose was at the beginning of the Octerberfeast in public. My husband and I would have loved it because we wanted to have a Halloween wedding and because his birthday was in October. However, I accepted the date and changed everything, including the honeymoon vacation, which also ended us with Hurricane "Ian." Doko Manner decided to make the change. And back to the statement that Doko Manner was so concerned about making clear, I, ****** ******, gave my Wedding Planner "the Cash," which the Planner paid with the Visa Card. As of October 14, neither my wedding planner received any returned deposit from Doko Manner. The second statement that I would like to present is My Wedding Planner, which arrived at 10 am that morning and assisted the event coordinators. To Whom it may concern, My name is LaGasha Perry, and I was the Wedding Coordinator for the Haskett Wedding on September 23, 2022, at the Doko Manor located at 100 Alvina Hagood Circle, Blythewood, SC. I am writing in response to the rebuttal made by Doko Manner staff regarding the Haskett Wedding at this Venue. When Ms. ****** ****** hired me to be a wedding coordinator for her wedding, she initially chose a date that the Venue deemed unavailable due to Oktoberfest, which was going to be held that same weekend. The Venue let us know of the dates that would be available. Ms. ****** chose September 23, 2022. The Venue was to be leased from 8:30 am until 10 pm. The Doko Manner contract was created, and we moved forward with them. At that time, the employee advised me that we would fully use the kitchen, that the ovens inside were not cooking ovens, and that they should only be used to warm the food. We understood that. So we moved forward with reserving the Venue with a $500 deposit debited from my visa account. The contract was then forwarded to Ms. ****** for signature and then returned. At the time of booking, we did have an estimate of when the ceremony would start, which was 11 am; however, that time was later changed to 3 pm due to gaps in time between the wedding and the reception that was going to begin at 6 pm. There has never been any communication that we had to confirm the time of the ceremony considering we booked the Venue for the entire day. Fast forward to the day of the ceremony. I arrived at the Venue at 10:30 am to meet the decorator. The baker came at about 11 am, and I was told that the caterers would arrive at 12:30 pm with the food. When the caterers arrived with the food, the food came in all aluminum pans straight out of the warmers that it was transported in. At this time, I attempted to turn the ovens on so they could begin warming. I put three pans in the top oven and two pans inside the bottom oven. About an hour later, the kitchen attendants that were serving the food advised me that the ovens were not getting warm. So I reached out to one of the staff that works for the Venue to ask if they knew what setting to set the oven too so it would begin to warm. The young lady said she didn't know and went to get her boss. The same lady that told me previously that the ovens would not cook, but only warm the food, came into the kitchen, changed the oven settings, and repeated,'' Remember, these ovens will not cook the food, but only warm it SOMETIMES". This time she stated that the ovens would warm sometimes. However, the ovens never got warm, and all the food was served cold. There was never any incident with plastic burning inside the ovens because all the food was delivered in aluminum pans with aluminum foil and already cooked. Had plastic burning been an issue, why wasn't ANYONE notified about it? The ovens never got warm enough to burn anything. There were no safety issues, as previously stated by the Venue. Additionally, the Venue made a statement about an air fryer. We have not seen or used any air fryers. Some of the guests were complaining about the cold food, so they were asked to heat their plates inside the kitchen's commercial microwave. The Venue has stated that they stand behind its response; however, there are many discrepancies in the story they tell. Overall, the Venue was beautiful, and the staff was accessible and friendly. The Venue should ensure that all kitchen equipment is operable and in good standing before an event to prevent further issues. Serving cold food at a significant event such as a wedding is embarrassing for the Bride and Groom and something the guests will never forget. I believe that Ms. ****** is entitled to some compensation for the embarrassment and that the Venue is covering for their mistake in not having operable equipment. Thank you, Mrs. *****.

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