Lauren E, Married on 08/09/2018

Made our Wedding Perfect!!

We had our September 2018 wedding here and couldn't of been happier with choosing Brock House as our venue. Everyone you will work with here is a real professional - we had a great experience all the way from booking to planning to the day itself and the follow-up billing afterward.

Brock House had thought of tiny details I would never have thought of. The food was excellent and filling. There is a reason why this venue is one of the most popular in the City - and they live up to their reputation. We really appreciated how much Brock House 'comes with' - you don't have to worry about any rentals whatsoever. We brought in our own decor but beyond that had very little 'clean-up' to do at the end of the night. This was really important to us and I was surprised when venue shopping how difficult it was to find a venue with everything but still in an intimate setting (beyond hotel ballrooms etc.).

What really made the day was the on-site service manager, Leslie, without him I am sure our day would not have gone as smoothly as it did. Thank you Leslie, thank you Brock House!!

Kathryn Willms, Married on 23/06/2018

Our wedding was more than perfect

The Brock House was perfect, the location is amazing! Right off Jericho beach with a view of the ocean and mountains in the background. Everything was set up for us and required minimal set up on our end! The food was very delicious, and table service was fast and efficient! With the Brock House you're able to customize the menu and they have options for all dietary requirements, I am vegan and my husband is gluten free and we were able to customize our menu to fit us perfectly! Everyone said it was the best food they've ever had! Very impressed! Our day was so perfect! The only thing I would say is that it can be expensive, the little things added up we had to change a few things last minute but it was worth it!

Brock House Restaurant's reply:

Hi Katy and Nicholas,

Thank you so much for your kind works and review. We are so happy to hear that you and your guests had a wonderful experience here with us at Brock House Restaurant. It was such a pleasure working with you both on your wedding plans - we wish you both all the best in this next adventure of life together!

Natalie Gartland, Married on 27/05/2017

A heartfelt thank you to all of the Brock House catering team. From the multiple planning conversations with Kaitlyn and Hikari, through to the efficient and professional service and kitchen staff on our wedding day, we felt very well taken care of at this charming venue.

Our guests had a lovely time, were delighted with the space (and gorgeous view!) available to us, and everyone complimented the food - everyone loved how fresh the food both looked and tasted. 

We couldn’t have been happier with our wedding at Brock House and highly recommend this venue for your wedding.

Tim Cheung, Married on 08/10/2018

Dining is fine, but the worst accounting management.

To all couples,

My wife and I had a wedding done at Brock House. The dining service was fine with a decent ocean view; it was a pleasant experience so far. However, please be prepared to read a long story about its catering management team. For your reference, credit card A was used for venue booking deposit, while card B was for the final bill - you will see them later.

At first, all the paperwork was done with a booking deposit and prepayment done. The payments went through and all seemed fine on the wedding day (October 8, 2018). Right after the event, I spoke to the banquet manager to see if I could make the final payment here, and he replied someone from Catering department would provide me the final bill.

Two days later, October 10, I sent another email asking if I made the payment. The person replied that the bill was not ready yet. On October 16, this was my third attempt to settle the final bill within two weeks (as stated on the contract), but I received the same response (bill not ready).

Here was the worse part came: 9 days after my event, October 17, Brock House reported to me that the alarm sensor at the front door was missing and disconnected at 11:08 am on October 8, where the host was responsible for the damage. Catering management attached the damage fee (300 CAD) to the final bill. I refused to pay for the following reasons:

1. The incident happened on October 8, but no one from Brock House informed me about the damage. Since I had requested to pay the final bill for three times (October 8,10, and 16), there was enough time for them to inform me; however, there was none. They claimed they had to manage other bookings as well, but I did not see the connection to this incident -- wasn't the alarm sensor important to keep the place safe? They could have shown me where the damage was on the day of incident, providing evidence such as security camera footage and witnesses. However, they did not provide such evidence. Brock House then assumed photobooth company (which I hired for the event) be the most likely one damaging the sensor because of its big photo frame. In fact, the accused was very cooperative in terms of communication with me and Brock house; they provided evidence that it was impossible for their staff to hold such heavy equipment and lift it up high to hit the sensor. Please also consider the gap between the exact time of incident (October 8) and the time I was notified on October 17.

2. Dishonesty: I was first told the damage fee was 300 CAD (without proof of repair) included in the final bill. Then, I asked them to provide me the invoice of repair. Few days later, the amount of damage fee was reduced to about 196 CAD. The intention to charge me 300 CAD was suspicious. Then where did the difference go (300 CAD --> 196CAD)?

The final payment was made on October 22, along with (Card B) credit card authorization only for Food and Beverage fee and others, EXCLUDING the damage fee because it lacks evidence.
According to the contract, Brock house may charge the outstanding amount only on the card A which I put down for initial deposit.
Just yesterday, without calling, I received an email along with a receipt for the damage fee charged on card B which I never agreed them to charge for the outstanding amount. There was no phone call and no signature on the credit card authorization form for damage fee.

3. Lastly, according to the contract, the actual time we booked/rented was from 11:30 am to 4 pm. It is clearly shown on the top of the contract. It mentions the host is responsible for any damage DURING the event, but the incident happened at 11:08 am according to its alarm company.

To summarize, I tried my very best to proactively ask to clear the bill and communicate with Photobooth campany. In contrast, Brock house has made the following mistakes: accusing someone of property damage without substantial evidence, giving the host a quote of damage repair cost without invoice then lowering the amount when asked for it, charging the damage fee on card B without cardholder's authorization + signature, and violating the rule on the contract regarding the outstanding payment. I have to contact credit card center to dispute the payment for me.

Not only did the way Brock House's accounting team deals with this problem disappoint me, but the act to charge someone's credit card without notice also shows dishonesty, lacks professionalism, and disrespects the long history of reputation that Brock house has built.

If you were to host an event there, please make sure to check every corner of Brock House and be aware of what payment method you put down. I have been dealing with this issue since more than a month. I thought I could have dealt with Brock House internally, but the way they handle my complaint remains questionable and unreliable.

Again, thanks for your time reading it. Aside from that, the servers were professional, the food was great, and the view was always worth every moment. Wish you all the best.

Brock House Restaurant's reply:

Dear Tim and Sasha,

Thank you for your review and feedback.

On the front page of the contract that you previously attached in your email it states the following under PREPAYMENTS AND FINAL PAYMENTS- “The final bill must be settled within two weeks following the event. In the event of an overpayment, the amount will be refunded back to the person who paid the prepayment cheque. If there is an outstanding balance, the charge will go on the credit card below”.

I am aware that you had emailed on October 10th 2018 asking for your final bill to which we responded the following day congratulating you both on your recent wedding and mentioned that it was currently being processed by our Accountant. Brock House Restaurant hosts multiple events each weekend and we have a policy regarding the process that final bills must go through before being emailed to each of our couples. Your final bill was then sent to you on October 17th 2018 to which we required payment for the balance owing.

I understand that you feel the delay between the incident and being informed of the incident is too far away, however Brock House Restaurant does not own the property or the venue that our restaurant operates out of. Brock House Restaurant leases the property and the venue from Brock House Society – because of this, it is Brock House Society who is listed as the emergency contact with the alarm company and would be immediately informed of any issues with the alarm at any time. Brock House Society received the call from the alarm company at 11:08am on Monday, October 8th 2018 and because both their office and our office are not open on statutory holidays, we were not informed until the following business day.

In order to do our due diligence regarding this incident, we spoke with Brock House Society as well as our Banquet Manager to find out more information about when the call was made, where the sensor was located and what could have been responsible for knocking off the sensor before deeming your event responsible for the damage. Once we received all of the applicable information we provided you with a formal letter from the Administrator of Brock House Society citing the incident and the time of the incident. Brock House Society informed us that the cost to replace the sensor would be $300.00. If you had paid this amount and we received the invoice of the official amount being less that expected, you would have been refunded for the funds that did not apply. Once we received the official invoice, we emailed it to you and corrected the amount owing.

It is stated in the ‘Policies and Procedures’ section 23. FACILITY DAMAGE that “the host shall be held responsible for any damage to the Brock House Restaurant’s property during their event and is responsible for the actions and/or conducts of their guests. Any damage to Brock House Restaurant will be billed to the host”. You are correct that your contracted event time is “11:30am-4:00pm”, however the line in its entirety states “TIME: 11:30AM – 4:00PM (9:30AM Access for Vendors & Decorators, 11:00AM Guest Arrival)”. If a vendor or decorator hired by the host is responsible for the damage, it is the hosts responsibility to seek compensation from that vendor on their own. It is not the responsibility of Brock House Restaurant to help you do so as our contract is with you, not your vendors.

It is disheartening that as the host, you are not willing to take responsibility for the damage done to our heritage venue during your event. Our team at Brock House Restaurant is happy to speak with you to ensure understanding of the situation, answer any questions and to help resolve the issue, however our last email was sent to you on October 24th 2018 and we did not receive a response in 34 days. As final bills are required to be settled within two weeks of the event, we feel that we allowed ample time to have this matter resolved before charging the card as stated in the contract. We did not try to hide that this payment was taken - your receipt was emailed to you directly and immediately.

Sincerely,
Melissa

Cece Zhou, Married on 30/09/2018

I won't recommend you to have wedding here!!!!

I won't recommend you to have wedding here!!!!
Firstly, timeline is not flexible. They provided a recommended timeline for the wedding which is nice when we required information about the fee from them. However, we want to change the schedule, we have been told they can’t coordinate our timeline, and we have to follow the timeline that they provided at the first time.
Secondly, we can’t pick our own DJ. We have been told we to hire their inhouse DJ after we paid the deposit (non-refundable) and only a few months left to our wedding date.
Thirdly, they charged the amount more that what we actually had. We picked buffet instead of set courses since we want our guests to have more choices for the food. We counted the # of guests on our wedding date, but they told us they have never had any problems with the count of guests on the day not matching with the number of guests that attended the wedding. Be honest, we don’t believe that. No one perfects. It’s not about the money because it’s just two persons more than what we had. We go back and asked our friends the actual # on their tables. This proved we are right, but they don’t admit that.
In the conclusion, nice venue and nice food, but I won’t recommend to my friend to have wedding. If everything can be started all over again, I wouldn’t pick Brock house for my wedding. Lots of place are more reasonable pricing and beautiful venue than Brock house.

Brock House Restaurant's reply:

Hi Cece and Nelson,

Thank you for your review and feedback. Firstly, I would like to congratulate you both on your recent wedding here with us at Brock House Restaurant! It has been a pleasure working with you both on your wedding plans.

When couples initially inquire at Brock House Restaurant, we provide a tentative sample timeline that is most commonly used for our events. Since Brock House Restaurant hosts two events a day (11:00am – 4:00pm and 6:30pm – 1:00am) the vendor set up time, start time and end time of your event are always firm – these are located on your contract for transparency. However we are very flexible with how you wish to arrange your events (ceremony, lunch, speeches, cake cutting) during your event. We are happy to provide guidance based on our experience and your vision for your day but in the end, this is completely up to you.

As timelines and DJ vendors for a wedding can be a huge priority to some people, our Catering Team always ensures that these are mentioned from the time a couple inquires with our restaurant all the way through to the end of the event. To ensure that we are transparent about these policies, we provide the information in multiple ways: You are informed of this in our initial email detailing our rates and event information, we are sure to mention both our timeline and DJ policies when touring each couple through our event space, our timeline and DJ restrictions are listed in our policies and procedures in our catering package, as well as on the contract that is required to be signed prior to booking and they are also mentioned in our “next steps” document that is email to you along with your receipt from your deposit. I apologize if there was any miscommunication regarding either of these at any point prior to your event as we have procedures in place by our team to ensure this does not happen and that everyone is aware of our rules at Brock House Restaurant.

In regards to your final bill and guest count – we did receive your email indicating that our guest count on your final bill was incorrect as the two additional guests did not match your guestbook signatures. At Brock House Restaurant, our staff take multiple counts of the guests on the day of the event to ensure accuracy. This is super important as we require a correct number to provide you with your final bill after your event. Prior to your event you mentioned that a few extra guests on the day may show up to which we made a note for our Banquet Manager so that he could be prepared with table settings if required – we also provided him with your final guaranteed guest count numbers. When we received our files back from the Banquet Manager, he indicated two additional guests were there on the day and that he had to prepare two additional place settings for them. You are absolutely right that no one is perfect and that it is possible our count could be incorrect compared to your guestbook signatures which is why when you email us yesterday (October 11th 2018) to say that you were going to check with each individual guest, we were waiting to hear back from you before processing your bill. We would be more than happy to reduce the number of guests for you on your bill should they have not shown up, however basing the guest count on a guestbook is not accurate as it is our experience that guest books are not always signed and have been missed by guests.

I am very sorry to hear that you would choose another venue should you be able to re-do your wedding planning process – that is definitely not easy to hear. But it's feedback such as yours that help us a grow as a business and improve our service for future events to ensure that this does not happen again. I sincerely thank you for sharing your experience with us.

Our team at Brock House Restaurant wishes you both all the best in your future together!

Sincerely,
Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn Smith
Catering & Events Coordinator
Brock House Restaurant