Hello,
I recently got married this past December in Maryland and while the day itself went as planned, the months leading up to the date were an absolute nightmare. When we initially met with the catering manager he explained what our total cost would be with tax if we had the max number of people attending. He also indicated that the tax was calculated based on the amount of people actually attending, i.e. 130 attending out of 150, only 130 would be taxed. We also agreed to a lower amount which we had negotiated and I have proof of in emails. We were also suppose to have our tasting scheduled and I had not heard from the catering manager so I contacted him again and after a week still did not receive a response. I finally received an email from a woman indicating that she would be working with us for the remainder of the wedding planning process. She then listed the contract terms in the email to confirm she had the correct I nformation and I noticed that the amount she listed was not the agreed upon amount as stated in our contract. She responded again indicating that I was correct and she did confirm with the catering manager. I then asked her when we would be scheduling our tasting and once again, did not receive a response. We were not a few weeks behind schedule which was making me stress out I called and was told I would receive a call back, but did not. During this time, I noticed some discrepancies in the deposit and payment amounts. The amount withdrawn from our account was more than what was listed in the contract so, I sent yet another email indicating this needed to be addressed. A new person contacted me indicating that the catering manager and the other woman who I had been previously dealing with were no longer with the venue and that she would be taking over. She asked me to send over my contract so she could look at it and try and figure out the billing discrepancy. After sending it to her she indicating the contract she had was not the same as the one I had and sent me the contract she was in possession of. When I looked at the contract it was completely different to the one I originally signed--I had never seen this contract before. Of course I had a fit because it was clear the catering manager took the signature page from the contract I had originally signed and attached it to a different contract hoping we would not realize. At that point I demanded a telephone call and would not discuss this matter via email further. When we finally spoke I told her what they did was fraudulent in that they altered the contract without my consent and that this needed to be resolved or I would be seeking legal counsel. We were only 2 months away from our wedding date and both my husband and I had a ton of family who had booked hotel and travel accommodations as most of them were coming from out of town so cancelling my wedding would have effected everyone. When we spoke she agreed that she would honor our original contract and indicated that we would not be paying any more than what was stated in this contract laying out all taxes and other fees. We were so behind schedule in planning--we had not even had our tasting or anything else that needed to be done and did not have alot of time left to do so. Because of this delay our wedding invitations also went out late which added to the stress and upsetment which also caused alot tension between my husband and I. A few days prior to finalizing our headcount the catering manager indicated that since we had not met our capacity in headcount we had 122 people and our max was 150 we had some room for add-ons. So, we elected to upgrade our alcohol package. When I Was sent our remaining balance owed to the venue it was once again higher than the agreed-upon amount. When I questioned the manager she stated that they were charging us for vendor meals as they are extra even though they charge is half the price of a regular guest. This made no sense as they could have been factored in before the add-ons so naturally I was furious but did not have the energy to fight with her again and cause myself any additional anguish. I understand that nothing is perfect and there is always going to be something that goes wrong but never anticipated something like this. I know my actual wedding day was not ruined but it still doesn't make what they did right.
Based on this information, do I have any grounds for legal recourse? I have saved proof of all emails supporting my claims as well as the contracts showing the discrepancy and the fact that my signature was illegally placed on a different contract.
I recently got married this past December in Maryland and while the day itself went as planned, the months leading up to the date were an absolute nightmare. When we initially met with the catering manager he explained what our total cost would be with tax if we had the max number of people attending. He also indicated that the tax was calculated based on the amount of people actually attending, i.e. 130 attending out of 150, only 130 would be taxed. We also agreed to a lower amount which we had negotiated and I have proof of in emails. We were also suppose to have our tasting scheduled and I had not heard from the catering manager so I contacted him again and after a week still did not receive a response. I finally received an email from a woman indicating that she would be working with us for the remainder of the wedding planning process. She then listed the contract terms in the email to confirm she had the correct I nformation and I noticed that the amount she listed was not the agreed upon amount as stated in our contract. She responded again indicating that I was correct and she did confirm with the catering manager. I then asked her when we would be scheduling our tasting and once again, did not receive a response. We were not a few weeks behind schedule which was making me stress out I called and was told I would receive a call back, but did not. During this time, I noticed some discrepancies in the deposit and payment amounts. The amount withdrawn from our account was more than what was listed in the contract so, I sent yet another email indicating this needed to be addressed. A new person contacted me indicating that the catering manager and the other woman who I had been previously dealing with were no longer with the venue and that she would be taking over. She asked me to send over my contract so she could look at it and try and figure out the billing discrepancy. After sending it to her she indicating the contract she had was not the same as the one I had and sent me the contract she was in possession of. When I looked at the contract it was completely different to the one I originally signed--I had never seen this contract before. Of course I had a fit because it was clear the catering manager took the signature page from the contract I had originally signed and attached it to a different contract hoping we would not realize. At that point I demanded a telephone call and would not discuss this matter via email further. When we finally spoke I told her what they did was fraudulent in that they altered the contract without my consent and that this needed to be resolved or I would be seeking legal counsel. We were only 2 months away from our wedding date and both my husband and I had a ton of family who had booked hotel and travel accommodations as most of them were coming from out of town so cancelling my wedding would have effected everyone. When we spoke she agreed that she would honor our original contract and indicated that we would not be paying any more than what was stated in this contract laying out all taxes and other fees. We were so behind schedule in planning--we had not even had our tasting or anything else that needed to be done and did not have alot of time left to do so. Because of this delay our wedding invitations also went out late which added to the stress and upsetment which also caused alot tension between my husband and I. A few days prior to finalizing our headcount the catering manager indicated that since we had not met our capacity in headcount we had 122 people and our max was 150 we had some room for add-ons. So, we elected to upgrade our alcohol package. When I Was sent our remaining balance owed to the venue it was once again higher than the agreed-upon amount. When I questioned the manager she stated that they were charging us for vendor meals as they are extra even though they charge is half the price of a regular guest. This made no sense as they could have been factored in before the add-ons so naturally I was furious but did not have the energy to fight with her again and cause myself any additional anguish. I understand that nothing is perfect and there is always going to be something that goes wrong but never anticipated something like this. I know my actual wedding day was not ruined but it still doesn't make what they did right.
Based on this information, do I have any grounds for legal recourse? I have saved proof of all emails supporting my claims as well as the contracts showing the discrepancy and the fact that my signature was illegally placed on a different contract.
