What are the Most Common Complaints Against Caterers?

Online reviews can tell you an awful lot about professional caterers in your area. Why? Because in many ways, this is one of the most sensitive types of business out there. People put a lot of effort into planning special events — and the catering, although a very important aspect, is certainly not the only element in play. In order for the event to come off as a success, the catering (along with all of the other pieces of the puzzle) has to be in top form. If it’s not — or even worse, if there are major mistakes — customers can be anything from frustrated to livid. Very often, they’ll take to social media and popular online review platforms to tell others about their experience.

Given these facts, it’s amazing that so many catering companies continue to drop the ball and leave their customers out to dry. Ultimately, dissatisfied clients are very bad for a caterer’s reputation — and thus very bad for business. And yet, too many caterers don’t put as much effort as they should into getting things exactly right. Here are some of the common complaints leveled against catering companies today.

The food simply wasn’t on point

This is, of course, a terrible customer complaint to have. The one thing a caterer should always get right is the quality, taste, consistency, temperature, and cleanliness of the food. Has the same dish of potato salad been sitting in the sun with no protection and no cooling element? Are the hot dishes going lukewarm? Do the ingredients look and taste cheap?

The presentation was lacking

Presentation is an important element of catering. Even of the food is delicious and perfectly prepared, the experience won’t be great if the caterer’s attitude toward presentation is haphazard in any way.

The service was apathetic

What happens if the food is good, the presentation is good, but the catering staff look like they’d rather be elsewhere? This has a definite effect on the atmosphere of the event, and no reputable caterer will let this happen.

The quantities were wrong

A huge surplus of food is no good if the client is paying for it, but insufficient food or drink is much, much worse. Experienced caterers know how to determine the right quantities so that the client isn’t paying for what they don’t need, and isn’t at risk of leaving people hungry and frustrated at the event.

The bill was too high

Planning a catered event involves careful budgeting in the vast majority of cases — so why do many caterers think it’s alright to charge hidden fees and tack on extras that weren’t discussed in either the verbal agreement or the written contract? Getting slapped with a bill that’s higher than expected is never a nice surprise for event planners who have already invested a lot of time and energy into an event.

Hire the real deal!

The lesson here is simple — when you hire a catering company, make a wise choice. Only put your event in the hands of a company who has the experience, equipment, staff, and service-oriented approach to get the job done right!