I suppose it was only a matter of time until a wedding vendor tried to ruin my life.
If you've been reading for a while you might remember
this post about how I scored a super sweet groupon for a photobooth for the wedding reception. And of course, I did my homework and made sure the company is legit and reputable, and contacted them to make sure they had my date available. They passed inspection and I got an email confirmation that my date was on hold. Sold!
Well last week I was much like a 8 month pregnant
nesting mom-to-be, and school was my baby. So I was trying to get any and all wedding loose ends tied up before the semester starts, including getting this photobooth set in stone and finalized.
So I called up the place on Thursday and an automated voice answers and there was a specific option for groupon people, so I left a message about how I have a groupon and I wanted to get my booth set up, etc.
Now it is Monday and I haven't gotten a call back, so I email Ryan, whom I emailed back in February when I bought this groupon to secure my date, and tell him how I called and no one has gotten back to me but I wanted to get this booth set up.
Now it is Tuesday and no phone call or email, and my annoyance level is at about a 7. I cannot stand it when I have to wait on people for things. It is a character flaw I need to work on, I know, but I just want to get things done and handled and it not have to take a week to get one simple answer or whatever.
I call again Tuesday afternoon and the menu options have changed, and there is no option for groupon people, so I hit the rent a photobooth option, and FINALLY I get someone on the phone. I tell them about my groupon and how I want to set up my booth. Here is a transcript of our conversation:
Employee: Um...who did you get this confirmed with?
Me: I confirmed with Ryan over email before I bought the groupon
E: Did you sign a contract yet?
M: No, this is why I am calling... I have the email he sent me saying my date was held
E: Well I got hired on after the groupon promotion, and I show this date as booked, did you have another day you wanted to book
M: No, I bought it specifically for that day for my wedding reception, which is why I checked with you guys first.
E: Well people have been calling in and we only have 2 booths, what time is your event, we can maybe try to squeeze you in?
M: um, ok, I need it from 6-11pm
E: Well we can do this brand new thing we are doing, it's like a white screen with an actual photographer, and they project the pictures onto the wall of your reception
M: Well... That isn't going to work because the photobooth is going to be in a seperate room from the main room, and I wanted the people to have the printouts, and then make a scrapbook with the second copy...
E: Well did you have a scrap book, because people usually walk off with the second copies, and noone really keeps those printouts, and this projection thing is much more expensive...
M: Eh...I think I need to call you back
E: I think you should call back and talk to Ryan.
Right now I am a cross between wanting to burst into tears and wanting to rip this dude's head off of his body.
I was mad, you guys. I won't go into details, but it was not the sweet Natalie we all know and love...there were far too many cuss words for that. And I got to that level of mad because for once I feel like this is not even a little bit my fault. I mean, the only thing I wanted to hear is that they acknowledge that they messed up and they are going to handle it, and a photobooth will be at my reception. I'm not entirely ridiculous, I don't need things to be perfect or even expect that they can be. But I do expect someone I am paying money to, to deliver and not jerk me around.
So I called and left a voicemail for Ryan and read him the email he sent me back in February and asked what he is going to do to fix this.
I am still waiting for a reply back.
Now I know that a photobooth doesn't make or break a wedding, but I was so looking forward to having one, and I feel like at this point I am probably just going to get a refund from groupon and that be that. I could get a photobooth from a different company, but it'll cost double. There is a popular example in all the UNT Economics classes that they use to illustrate sunk costs - If you go to the ATM and take out $20 to buy a Hootie and the Blowfish CD and the $20 gets blown away by a gust of wind and is gone forever, is it more rational to get another $20 out of the ATM and buy your CD, or just go home? Answer: they are exactly equal. The $20 is a sunk cost, it is gone, so forget about it. And having a Hootie CD and $20 gives you the exact same amount of 'utility'/happiness. Nerd Alert. But this is like a real life living example of what is happening.
So I know I can 100% get my money back right now, but it isn't going to make a photobooth appear at my wedding, which totally stinks.
And I get more and more livid with every hour that passes that I don't get some sort of response.
But I am patiently waiting to hear back from these fools to see how they intend to make it right...and resisting the urge to throw a molotov cocktail into their office. (jk, I would never really do such a thing, it is just the mad talking)
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