It was a number of small areas unfortunately:

Table cloths not cornered correctly - I agree
Buffet food not presented as well as it could have been, although no complaint about quality. - I agree
Top table dressing was poor - the client picked out the material, but I have to say it could have been better.
One vegetarian at the event and apparently his meal was poor. - we have a good chef so unlikely but not saying mistakes don't happen
Buffet was taken in late, that is one area where you can't win, sometimes they complain if you take it in too early !
DJ was asked about insurance certificate on arrival although he had already supplied it - poor organisation on our part.

Like I said nothing major but lots of little mistakes which I have now taken action against happening again..

I know we all want our special day to be perfect, but a refund because the tablecloths were inadequately cornered is wkiness of a massive order.

Agree completely.

OP, your client is a chancer. An honest review would say "things x, y, z happened, was offered x% refund, I was or was not satisfied with this."

Threatening a negative review in order to extract more money? fk off. If she wants more she should have the decency and honesty to say so, clearly and politely.

Reading through this thread, I was about to express my surprise at the number of people immediately taking the OP's side without further information including, critically, whether the customers' email came straight after the first offer or after extended negotiations not delivering what she thought was reasonable.

Now, having seen the list of grievances, I agree with McHaggis. I reckon 30% is insanely OTT as a refund, and the customer thinks the same, clearly thinks the OP is scared of what she might say or do about him, and is therefore trying to ratchet up the claim.

Personally, I'd be thanking the customer for her input, reassuring her that we take all complaints seriously, so as she rejected my first offer out of hand, I had asked some other restauranteurs/hoteliers for their opinions as to what was reasonable to make sure I wasn't offering unreasonably low compensation.

Then I'd say that on the back of the said consultations prompted by her response, that I was now dropping my offer of compensation to 10%, as everyone I'd spoken to reckoned I was being foolishly over-generous.

I'm not a hotelier or restauranteur, but I'm sure you must know plenty with whom you could go through this exercise?

I'm another that thinks 30% is far too generous!

What a load of bks! 30% then raised to 40% for that?
I stick by my first comments, they are just out to get something for nothing and if someone read this on a review they would feel the same as most of us.
It's a buffet, how do they want it presenting? I know attention to detail but there's only so much you can do with a buffet. Was it in a great big vat like gruel? 'one scoop or two Madame?'
It is all nit picking that can and does happen in everyday life.
In an ideal world the price quoted is for perfection, for every service we are provided with, but if every time a tiny detail wasn't just quite right we complained every one of us would be complaining everyday.

• had to queue at tesco cos it was busy - 10% off my shopping bill.
• no v power, 20% off next fill up.
• 25 minutes between starters and mains but I expected 15 minutes - 50% off the bill.
• took me 20 minutes longer than normal to get the 13 miles to work - sucked off by David Cameron and free RFL for life.

Tell her to get stuffed - in a professional and courteous reply.

Respond back and tell her you're glad she is not going to post a detrimental review as otherwise her email would read as a threat of extortion and you know fulwell she is not the sort of person to make such threats, particularly in writing.

Politely restate your offer with the reasons behind it. Do not increase it. It's more than generous enough!

Totally agree, after hearing more of the story, it sounds like they're a bully and think that they have you on your back foot (or whatever the expression is?)

They gambled, they lost. Spend the money on some nice new tablecloths

If she's that mad that she thinks she can get more than 30% off for a few minor faults, I'd suggest she isn't going to be married for long. Therefore, I'd be inclined to retract the 30% refund and just offer her 30% off her next booking with hubby #2.

40% for that is waaaaaaaay too much. So is 30% IMHO.

Withdraw the offer. If 30% isn't acceptable to your client (won't make her happy), then there is no point in paying it. You pay nothing, she's pissed off. You pay 30% she's pissed off. Why pay 30%? It gets you nothing.

Let her post her review, it'll be trip advisor. Go to trip advisor with your email from her threatening a bad review if you don't increase your already overly generous offer and ask for the review to be removed. It will be removed.



I always check tripadvisor before booking a hotel. I always read the bad reviews. I look for two things, multiple complaints about the same issue and the reasonableness (is that a word) of the reviewer. Even the very best places get the occasional bad review, that's life. It's easy to spot the hacked off nutter who's trying to harm a business by leaving a bad review.