Rachael H.
Yelp
I've spent a lot of time thinking about writing this review. I don't typically write negative reviews because I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt. However, after my fiancé and I had such a negative experience, I feel it's important to share our story so others can be aware before considering this venue.
We booked this venue nearly a year prior to our wedding during an expo. At the expo, the staff seemed disorganized and frazzled. No one could give us clear answers, and they kept asking each other questions. At the time, they were offering a deal on decor, and since I'm a full-time ER nurse and my fiancé is a firefighter/paramedic, neither of us had the time or desire to manage decor or greenery ourselves. So, we decided to go ahead with the venue and paid our deposit.
After that, we never heard from anyone again--no follow-up or communication whatsoever. Several months later, my fiancé and I had some financial changes and decided to elope instead of having a big wedding. This was still eight months before the wedding date. We immediately reached out to the owner, who explained that while the deposit was non-refundable, she would refund it if the date was rebooked by the end of January. Since the date was the first Saturday in June, we had no doubt it would be booked by then.
On February 2, my fiancé followed up, only to be told that the date had been booked, but the deposit could not be refunded. We feel this was unreasonable, given the ample notice we had provided and the fact that June is a prime wedding date. She strung us along for weeks, and then two days after the deadline, her tone completely changed. She became rude in emails and refused to compromise or work with us.
We had mentioned multiple times that if we weren't getting our deposit back, we would need to reconsider our situation and keep our original date. But instead, she rebooked the date, took the new deposit, and informed us that our date was no longer available, meaning we would not receive any refund.
My fiancé, being the kind-hearted person he is, tried to reason with her, explaining how upset and ripped off we felt. Her response was to send long, argumentative emails claiming she was in the right. The entire situation was handled very poorly and unprofessionally.
In hindsight, I should have read the reviews on Google before booking. This entire experience has been incredibly stressful, especially during an emotional time when we wanted to celebrate our love the way we had hoped. All of our other vendors were understanding and happily refunded our deposits, wishing us the best. Unfortunately, the owner of The Fifth Floor did not demonstrate the same professionalism or tact.
I hope this review helps others avoid the same frustration we went through.
