Big Easy Event Rentals

Just wanted to share with @everyone that we had a terrible experience with Big Easy Events for linen rentals for our wedding, and hope to save others from the same misery! At our wedding there were candles, and after they picked up all the linens they emailed us saying we had to pay for every single one due to wax splatter making it unrecoverable. We were available during pickup and no one contacted us to discuss at that time. Never in many discussions regarding our order, or in person on site visits or drop off, or in our contract did it discuss use of candles or requirements in doing so, and they have pictures on their website and Instagram with candles on tables. They expected us to know that we needed plates under the candles, even votives or candle sticks in case of wind, but this being our first wedding we were not aware and were never told! Before even starting discussions with us regarding any damage, they added a $500 charge to our account to pay to purchase every linen we rented. When we pushed back via email they removed one table cloth they said was ok. When we asked for pictures we were sent pictures that raised alarm as they seemed well within what one would expect to return from a wedding rental (some examples attached). When we went there in person, after lots of heated discussion and changing stories from their representative Melanie, we removed another 10 linens from discussion that had very little wax on them, and some they were trying to charge us for just had food on them! There was also a table cloth in the pile they were trying to charge us for that had wax that was blue on it, a color we did not have at our event. So if we had not come to investigate we would have been charged for food spills as well as drops of wax from maybe wind blowing on a candle, and a table cloth that was not even at our event. I understand being asked to discuss a pile of wax from a candle, even if we had not been told before and it didn’t mention it in the contract, but that was not what was brought up as an issue and getting to the point that we were just discussing those items was extremely painful. We were yelled at while keeping our voices at a normal level, and the accusations and standards of what they asked us to pay for changed throughout the discussion, making it very difficult to have a rational discussion. The price they deemed per item was way above what I found for similar table cloths brand new online, up to $38 per item. When we finally settled on what I still believe to be an unfair payment just to have this be over, they charged my card for $40 more than we agreed and did not respond to my three emails discussing the overcharge. After I finally got ahold of the owner on the phone, he said they added sales tax to our agreed upon charge. When I said that we had agreed that my card would have a charge for the exact amount and it was over that amount he said that he would credit me the whole thing and get his attorney involved instead. We genuinely would have been better off buying linens ourself than going through them. Truly the most sour experience that I have ever had with any contractor or vendor.