Pretty Woman

Okay so here's a funny little story. Well, more fascinating then funny. By now you all know that we are planning a party in Miami next week. I've never been one who is paranoid, but some very odd things have been going on in the last couple weeks. Like we said from the beginning, don't judge a book by its cover. I've always believed that when you are on the clock, you leave your personal business at the door. This is strictly a business transaction, nothing more. But, I guess some places pick and choose which customers they will serve.
I am reminded of the scene in Pretty Woman, where Julia Roberts goes into the clothing store on Rodeo Drive wearing a barely there outfit and based solely on her appearance the sales associate refuses to help her. When she walks back in a few days later, all done up in designer clothes the same sales person is more than happy to help her, but it's too late. She is gone, "You work on commission right? Big mistake, huge. I have more shopping to do." This pretty much sums up the horrible customer service experience I've been having.
It is Kate's father's birthday next week and being that he along with a handful of close family and friends will be joining the festivities next week in Miami, I thought it would be fun to plan a little surprise birthday bash for him (Surprise!). In the past he had frequented this establishment and always praised the food and service. So, I figured what the hell and called to inquire about hosting a small dinner in the Lion's Den (yes, really). Then I thought why not host the Love Bites party there too, but
Kate quickly talked me out of that. If you read my post "LOL for the Inner Circle" last week maybe it makes more sense now.
Initially the coordinator seemed very professional and attentive. She emailed me sample menus and I responded with my preferences and a number of questions. I never heard back, this was almost two weeks ago. A couple days ago she left me a voicemail explaining that she had been trying to email me, but the address was bouncing back (which it isn't) and that she had tried to call me a number of times (there were no missed calls or voicemails). I immediately responded with another email from my other account, again expressing our interest and could she please confirm receipt of my email and if the space was still available could she follow up with menu pricing. This was three days ago now. I did receive a missed call from her number yesterday, but no message. So again, I emailed her and this time I got an out of office for the next week auto reply. I realized that there was a chance given my name, cell phone number (It use to be Kate's, we swapped phones.), email address and the date and time of the event that certain people might automatically assume we were trying to have a confrontation, but really grow up people.
So, now not only am I frustrated and shocked by the lack of professionalism and miserable customer service. When from the start all she had to say was, "I'm sorry Ms. Peterson, but the room is booked that night." The circle of business friends who spend the majority of their lives in airplanes and fancy hotels are so appalled that they no longer want to do business with this company. (It's an international brand) Here's the really funny part, six out of the ten people are professional writers. A couple work for national papers, one owns a handful of business magazines and the majority has all published multiple books related to business practices. The other guests are all lawyers. Perhaps an article in the HBJ or the newest yuppie magazine is in the works now - Secondhand Ex Effect Discrimination Against the AARP Generation. Oh well, guess some companies are so flush with green they don't need more business. The silver lining to this story is that JSR might be going to print before we thought. The world really does work in mysterious ways.
Big mistake, huge. I've got a party to plan and money to spend.
SP