I notice that Wayne has only responded to a good review on here. It doesn't surprise me that bad reviews are not acknowledged, since nobody from Ovation responded to a direct email about a disappointing experience we had with them during the winter holidays before the pandemic started. I was recently thinking about the upcoming holidays and possibly throwing a party again, so was searching here. When I saw that Wayne responded only to a good review here, it reminded me of how I felt when nobody responded to that email, even though it was a while ago. I want others to beware now that people may be starting to have bigger home parties again.
We booked 2 servers and a bartender with Ovation for our home holiday party, which we had thrown for many years using a different staffing company that went out of business due to the owner retiring away from the area. We never even remotely had a bad experience with that company in over 10 years of using them.
Ovation was a different story. Three very nice people in appropriate server attire showed up, but it quickly became clear they were not experienced with working a home party. Also, none of them was a bartender. They were surprised that we expected them to serve drinks! They also couldn't seem to get the food prepped and set out on the buffet in a timely manner, despite arriving early, with the same amount of prep time servers had always had in the past, everything being laid out for them, and my helping with things I'd not had to help with in all the other years. They also didn't keep the buffet table replenished or straightened up once the guests arrived. The one server jumped in to help as bartender, but had no experience. I was very embarrassed, given how well our party had always gone in the past. We still tipped the staff well because it's not their fault that Ovation didn't send a bartender as requested, and sent servers to a home party who really didn't know how to work one properly. The day after the event, I emailed Wayne about how poorly the evening had gone (pretty much what I've said in this review with more detail) and never received a response. Not even a simple "I'm sorry," which would have gone a long way. I had already paid and didn't ask for a refund or any compensation. I just wanted Ovation to know that the service wasn't in line with all the glowing reviews I had seen, and for them to acknowledge that things had been screwed up on their end. This party is a tradition that is very important to us, and Ovation embarrassed us, but clearly, they didn't care.
Now that the pandemic is easing up, we will book staff for our party with another company. If I had received ANY response to my email, I might have given Ovation a second chance (obviously once COVID allowed) to get it right and probably wouldn't have posted this bad review after all this time. Based on the service we received and lack of follow up, I do not recommend Ovation to anyone who wants to have a smoothly-run elegant event in their home. read more