We booked the hunting lodge for my Sten do for 15 people for June 20th and paid £250 upfront to secure the booking. Today i received an email (not a phonecall as you would expect) cancelling my booking due to some exciting new changes happening at the Crazy Bear, encouraging me to book at the Stadhampton Crazy Bear instead! My guests have all paid me upfront, at £65 pp and 6 out of the 15 guests,including us have paid and booked for our room at the hotel so we can stay overnight. The other guests have already paid and secured their accommodation at a local hotel near by.
When i phone Saayna (the events manager at Beaconsfield), within minutes of receiving her email, she did not answer. My partner phoned the hotel (they actually answered for once, when previously, they have been literally impossible to contact via phone and email) We spoke to a very rude mannered lady, who had an awful attitude and was extremely abrupt. Her answer to everything was 'i can not help you, this is out of my hands' When i asked for a manager to contact me, she told me everyone was busy and that Saayna was in a meeting and she would ask her to ring me. I made it clear i was extremely upset and annoyed and that all my guests between them had spent over £1000 on food and accomodation prior to coming and that Stadhampton was not an option for us.
As parents of 5 children and our first night away in 8 years, our wedding fast approaching & the Crazy Bear that has been something on our bucket list, we are just absolutely mortified and horrified by the fact that they can do this to us.
Its now been 5 hours since Saayna emailed me and she hasn't even bothered to ring me. Must be a very long meeting!!!!
When i spoke to the receptionist who was far from sympathetic, i asked her what the maximum number they can accomodate at a table in the restaurant was? She told me 10. Why they couldn't offer us a table of 10 and a table next to that of 5 & my refund of £250 for the private function room, is beyond me!
Why she felt that she could break the news via email is also totally unprofessional, considering the money we have all put into this.