I’d like to start off by saying that our event went off without a hitch. Mary Beth was not afraid to step in when there was miscommunication with other vendors. The venue was beautiful and affordable for its size. We are very pleased with the e...nd result of our wedding reception at Rafters.
That being said, during the planning of the wedding my experience with Rafters was nothing short of frustrating. On numerous accounts, Rafters failed to respond to correspondence (phone calls, emails, text messages) within a reasonable time frame. Every time this happened, we were met with apologies and excuses as to why there was a lack of response. However, when one is conducting a business where communication is so important, there must be procedures put in place so that clients are not waiting for days and weeks to receive responses. Things happen and we are very forgiving people but our experience with Rafters showed us that this lack of communication was not a fluke once or twice. It was a theme throughout.
In one (and the most frustrating) instance, my fiancé and I sent an email on 12/3 seeking information about COVID guidelines at the time and payment information. I waited until 12/15, and received no response so I sent another email following up. I finally received a response on 12/20. We were given details for our next payment, details about COVID guidelines and a new payment deadline. The day we received the email detailing COVID conditions at the time and the payment deadline we responded by asking for a phone call to ask our questions that required answers in order to make an informed decision by the deadline given.
At this point it was 12/20 so we were approaching Christmas. Normal delays were expected (no answer on Christmas Eve/Christmas day/New Year’s Day).
After waiting two days for a response, we finally scheduled a phone call for 12/23 and never received that phone call. By that time the deadline was a week away. By 12/27 we were frustrated and flustered as we were given a deadline of 12/30 and were left in the dark with no correspondence that answered our questions. I reached out again. Finally, on 12/28 we received a response apologizing for missing the scheduled phone call, citing many different events as the reason for the lack of responses. Thankfully, and rightfully so, our deadline was now moved to 1/15. However, we still needed answers to our questions. That being said, I tried to set up a time to connect and it was not until 1/7 that I received a response. Finally, we were able to connect and gather all of the necessary information to make a decision. At that point, it was too late to find another venue within our budget and timeframe.
This is just one example of the many communication difficulties we had with Rafters. I hate to be the person to drag a business, especially with the trying last year we all had, but again, when you are conducting business that requires correspondence with clients, procedures should be set in place so that we are not grasping for straws and waiting for responses for weeks. The last thing a bride needs is unresponsive vendors during a stressful time.
Was our event spectacular? Yes. Would I book with Rafters again? I don’t think so.