I've been an event/wedding planner for over 10 years; I have planned weddings in many different cities (Nashville, Chicago, Memphis, Milwaukee, etc.) And I lead the planning committee for my company's annual corporate events (for 500 employees). I have never once encountered a caterer like Chef Jeff of CJ's Catering. My clients booked CJ's after a tasting but had a few concerns they asked me to follow up on. 1- They were told the salads would be plated upon guest arrival (Chef denied telling them this). 2- How the chicken would be presented on their buffet (it was in chunks during the tasting but the couple preferred whole chicken breasts on the buffet). 3- What did their disposable plates look like...paper or plastic (they were shown scratchy/cloudy glass plates so wanted a description of the disposables). My first conversation with Chef went well for the most part; he was rushed but made time for the introductory call. But my follow up call with him was a disaster! After asking about the aforementioned THREE concerns, Chef went on a tangent! He became extremely irate, speaking to me as if I were a child and as if I insulted him in some way. He made comments about my skills and whether or not I was advising my clients to question these items. Chef went on to yell at me for well over 5 minutes, not letting me get a word in at all. If I wasn't representing a client I would've hung up the phone. He felt their requests were out of the question and unnecessary. He said if whole chicken breast is served it would be dry and flavorless (I've never been told this; in fact, this is the first time I've known a caterer to serve chicken chunks on a wedding buffet). And that the salads would be wilted because they would be set out 2.5 hours before the reception started (not sure why that wouldn't be something that would be done 30 minutes before). And he said the disposables were "plain old paper plates" that would be soggy with whole chicken breasts on them. He told me he's never had anyone ask "this many questions" about his catering services. In all of the time I've been planning weddings I've never met a caterer who couldn't handle simple requests such as these. My clients were not asking him to do the impossible. Nor were they asking for any massive changes. After he was done with his blow up he pulled out of the contract....4 weeks before the wedding! We are still searching for someone to provide food, which is very hard due how close the wedding is. Once he allowed me to speak I told him it seems as if he had a bad day or was under stress and was taking it out on me and my clients. Which was very unprofessional & extremely unfair. We are both vendors and we should work TOGETHER to ensure the paying client is happy with both of our services. I explained that I was simply doing my due diligence in asking him about the salad, chicken, and plates and aimed to find the "happy medium" for all. And that I planned to suggest that my clients actually pay for their real plates and forgo disposables at all. It wasn't until then that he calmed down and apologized saying he had a long day the day before and was up late making sandwiches or something. He agreed he overreacted before hearing me out. While I appreciate him owning up to this, it doesn't excuse that it happened. I looked CJ's up on Thumbtack and after reading many good reviews on him, I was excited to refer my clients to him. His prices were within budget & he offered services that would save my client's a lot of stress. The bride had some iniital reservations about CJ's Catering but I looked up and sent her even more positive reviews from to ease her concerns. It put me in a very bad light when I told them about his blow up and him pulling out of the contract. I think of myself as a very easy going person who pays attention to detail and strives to remain professional in every situation. I'm glad he showed his true colors before the day of my client's wedding. I will never recommend this person to any future clients. And I have passed on my experience to every wedding planner & corporate event planning team I know. I even passed this on to the reception location as well; this guy shouldn't be on anyone's preferred vendor's list. When I'm asked for caterer referrals I will always make sure to tell them who NOT contact. No one should have to endure the disrespectful, unprofessional, and overall negative experience I had. read more
