Taelor M.
Yelp
Neon New Years Madness was right.
First of all, I would like to mention that I messaged the Yard MULTIPLE times since a week before the event (before I bought tickets) asking about the difference between the premium and regular open bar, and about a refund after we got tickets when we nearly got snowed in in New Mexico 2 days before NYE. To this day I have not receive so much as a "sorry we didn't get back to you". (Not to mention tickets literally went on sale less than 24 hours after we bought them- no fault, just adds fuel after no response back...)
The only thing I can conclude from the lack of communication and vague event description after being able to make it to the event is that they knew it was going to be a rip off and were trying to sell as many tickets as possible regardless.
Just the tip of the iceberg of ridiculous with this event:
-They were understaffed in the bars all night
-They ran out of mini bottles of champagne that were supposed to only be for "Ultra VIP" ticket holders (almost laughable considering they were expecting 2000 people and there were less than half of that in attendance)
-Due to the running out of champagne bottles they got the crappiest full size champagne bottles available (literally tasted like super sweet/bitter sparkling apple juice) and lined up cups and dumped the champagne in the cups yelling for everyone to "just take them" (so much for Ultra VIP only for the free champagne)
-There was no differentiation between the Ultra VIP ticket holders and the regular (the difference on the description was an included taco bar and PREMIUM open bar), thus anyone could go up to the bar and get the "PREMIUM" options... At this point I'm thinking The Yard should refund every Ultra VIP ticket holder since it was obviously a scam
-The bartenders were going as fast as they could, but didnt seem used to the big crowd. There were a ton of people upset that the Male bartender outside in the garage area seemed to be ignoring them, but I don't think he was set up/prepared by management for this situation
-Considering the "Premium" options offered, there is no way anyone in our group drank $75 worth of alcohol individually and the taco bar was empty before 10 PM, so didnt get that "perk" either.
-I doubt they were charging people $75 at the door, and as mentioned before there was no differentiation between the ticket holders, so I'm sure people got exactly what I did for a fraction of the cost
-Lastly the staff was extremely rude and dismissive to the cops that were outside of the establishment and shut the door in a Texas Rangers face.
-Next year I'll pay the extra for an uber and go to the Truck Yard for the environment. At least they know how to run a bar without it turning into a nightmare and don't scam you.
Overall the whole event was extremely poorly put together. I kind of assumed that when they don't even require their social media person to respond to messages. (I'm a digital media marketer and run several social media accounts for clients, so I am aware of how quick it is to follow up on messages and communicate. Facebook even notifies you multiple times if you forget to respond to messages as a business page.)
It was basically a frat house shit show that was no where near worth the money. I would be happy to change my review for a partial refund. Considering I MAYBE would have spent $30 per person for this event. That's a big maybe.
This place needs a serious customer service and decency overhaul.