Avoid at all costs

Looking for a good function hire company? avoid ABC Function Hire AT ALL COSTS. Completely untrustworthy.

I was happy to find a company that could help me with an almost last minute booking (2 weeks) at an affordable price. I compared prices - they were around R700 cheaper than anyone else.

They said they would deliver on the Friday (our function was Saturday). I waited the entire day at the venue. I phoned every 20-30 min from 4:00pm asking where they were and was told they were “still packing”. I was assured each time that they would be there “definitely” before 5:30pm. I waited. 5:30pm came and went. I struggled to get anyone on the line. At around 6:15 I was told they would be there by 6:45pm. That came and went. They finally arrived at 7:15pm. The venue was in a very dodgy area for a woman alone so I just asked them to offload and we left. I did not have time to check what was delivered as I needed to leave the premises and get home as it was pitch dark by then. I was told that they were short of s****s which would be delivered in the morning. I explained they would have to leave it with the caterers as I had lots of things to do in the morning. And bearing in mind they were short of s****s - what else might they have been short of? I was incredibly stressed at the dangerous situation I was in given the remote location and I was beside myself with worry when I still didn’t have my stuff after 7pm - I had over 300 guests the next day and I was panicking I would not get it. So I had no choice but to sit and wait for them.

After the event I personally cleaned the kitchen and packed everything into crates. It was then collected on the Monday morning. I waited for quite some time before receiving communication from them saying that we had “shortages” in the amount of about R750 which would come off my deposit. I was stunned. We did not have a single breakage and I personally packed everything so I knew nothing had been left behind. So unless my guests left with dinner plates in their handbags it was impossible that we were short of what they claimed.

I called immediately and said I was not disputing what was returned but that they could not guarantee what they had originally delivered as it was not checked because they came so late. In light of the fact that they were only packing my order at almost 6:30pm who knows how well it was checked when they packed? I could not put myself in danger to stay and count 300 items of everything at 7:15pm at night in a remote area with no security.

I never heard from them and I never received the R250 deposit they said they would pay (my original deposit was R1000). I called. I emailed. I called. I emailed. I got nowhere. I was told repeatedly that they were “looking in to it”. By now it was the end of October. Our function was mid August! I finally got hold of yet ANOTHER person and I got really mad. She assured me it was sorted and I would get the refund. I did the next week. But only the R250. I immediately started calling again and asked to speak to the owner or manager. I was told repeatedly that he was “unavailable”. But someone did give me his name. Sean. Next time I called I asked for him - and was told - again - that he was unavailable but they gave me a cell number.

I got hold of him almost two weeks ago on a Thursday. He assured me he would get back to me the following Monday. He didn’t. I called the Tuesday after that (10 days later). He informed me that they were correct and I was wrong. I said I did not dispute what was returned but had no proof of what was delivered. Or should I say I tried to say that. He would not let me speak. He said as I did not do my “due diligence” and check what was delivered it was my fault. I tried ask to how I was expected to check so late at night under those circumstances but he just put the phone down on me. Typical of the level of professionalism you can expect from this company.

Find someone else to hire from. They happily take your money then string you along. Then when you try to communicate suddenly no one can or is prepared to help. If and when they answer a phone that is .

“Management” are even less than professional than their staff. So in a nutshell - avoid at all costs

#abcfunctionhire #abchire