Revised from 2 to 1 star after this from GHI who did not like my review “…I can think of few things that would give me greater satisfaction than going as far as it takes …”
Read their responses to the other negative reviews and you will see a ...clear picture.
My daughter liked that GHI provided a good selection of tapas, they worked with her as plans developed, and they did seem to be a full-service provider.
Now, onto the many issues. My daughter signed the contract. I got to work with GHI when it came to paying the second installment. It was then that I was introduced to their “contracted Revenue Minimum”. Our guests dropped from 130+ to 100 due to Covid and a travel ban from the UK. In order not to waste money I ordered extra services, but the minimum is not a straight $ for $ affair but rather calculated as a % of total, and labor is not included. I was leaving lots of money on the table. Vince did cut me a small discount, but when I finally said I wanted to return to the original 130 guests and donate the food to a women’s shelter, I was told quite angrily that that would eat into his profits and he would not allow it. While Vince did say he tried to explain to my daughter to reduce the initial headcount, she did not understand how it worked, and neither did I until I saw it in action. It is clearly a way to make more money, for no value, and only protects GHI, not you. Did they really forgo a more profitable deal that weekend?
They couldn't find a bartender. I gave them a recommendation and Vince told me all was taken care of and he would take care of the additional $70 fee. But then came the revised invoice with the increased fee, and when I questioned him he said he needed to leave it on to appease his accountants, and he had deducted it from elsewhere in the contract. I couldn’t find it removed, told him so, and because I questioned him the next email I got was one of the rudest I have ever seen, a diatribe of erroneous statements,
insults, accusations of breach of contract, ending with a “pay up or else”! With less than two weeks to the wedding I had no choice but to pay the extra fee and waste money on the minimum guarantee for which GHI provided me no value. I would not have put it past GHI to cancel the deal or just not show up. Talk about caught between a rock and hard place!
Next, I paid extra for an Event Manager. Never saw one. Don’t know what they did. Could have been the DJ (the co-owner) for all I know. More questionable money.
And while I have no complaints about the DJ himself, ask if he has purchased new speakers. They were terrible, and the DJ even admitted as such - “EDM bass kills the speakers”.
When one of the guests asked for a soft drink, the bartender told me one of the GHI staff took them away because she said the bartender did not have them displayed. Great! Oh, and I paid for those also.
The food was not bad and, and the desserts were quite good. The servers were pleasant and efficient, although Vince had assured me that at the peak time the “event manager” would step in to keep the lines short. Result. Long lines.
I normally make the effort to post a lot of only good reviews, but this has bothered me for several weeks, and I just have to share my experience so that should things turn sour for you, you can be warned and potentially avoid what I went through.
I wish you as good a wedding celebration as we did, only without the distress that I had of dealing with GHI.