Cook N Go Limited Reviews 3

Sunday 4th September 2022 they set up outside our Hotel in the car park, as we had an event the next day so it was a kind gesture of our Hotel to allow that to happen.

Gaynor and John the reviews and the websites claimed they had many years in the industry so I was expecting a really good service.

I am still waiting for a reply from this email I sent them in September 2022 as they did reply to say "they would get back to me and thanks for the feedback..."

Hope you are good.

Just wanted to give you some honest feedback from your mobile food van service we experienced at holiday inn Braintree hotel on Sunday 4th September 2022.

Firstly, overall, we enjoyed the quality of the food and that was the general feedback from our guests.

However, we felt upset for several reasons:


When we messaged, we agreed when that you would provide kids meals (you even mentioned them to be chicken nuggets) which you never provided so that was disappointing that you never honoured your side of the deal.

You also seemed surprised with the amount of vegan and vegetarian guests we had which again are two different things because I know you said that vegan would cover vegetarian but there is a big difference between them too the biggest being cheese and whether it is dairy of dairy free.

It's disappointing because when messaging you said that the vegan option was available upon request.

I would think being in the food industry you would recognise that vegan and vegetarian are different instead of categorising them as the same thing when they are indeed not at all the same. Things in common both don't eat meat but dairy (milk, cheese and butter) is a key difference that one can have it (vegetarian) and one can't (vegan)

Also, for £100 extra we paid for we asked for soft drinks and tea or coffee and water to be available which also seemed to run out and not everyone got a drink. There is no way we were served 80 drinks.

We followed your advice of using raffle tickets as a way to know that the correct guests went and got their food. Having checked the number of tickets I gave out and the number of people who received a meal I was deeply embarrassed and disappointed when you said we have gone through 80 meals when we only had 62 guests at our hotel. We had guests arrive at the hotel and come down to then be told the food ran out. When I asked you about it you just said sorry and bye and closed your shutter.

It was almost laughable at the way you showed your care towards this.

Therefore, we would appreciate some refund for the inconvenience caused.

Kind regards

Adrian

We have been regular customers over the lock down period.
They have been offering a take away service locally and it has been great.
They do a nice selection and you definitely get great value for money.
Lovely people
We will continue to use this service!
Thank you very much

We had a fish and chip van booked with this company for our wedding at the end of May 2020, and had paid them a deposit. However, earlier this year it looked likely that Wedding may be cancelled due to the Coronavirus pandemic so my partner emailed Cook N Go:

"Thank you for your e mail, I have not been cancelled for my weeding in May yet, I am very anxious, about everything not happening, but I also work for the NHS so I know how quick things can change. If things do get cancelled I will of course try to re arrange, so I can support your business as you are supporting me.

Thanks again"

They replied:

 "Dear,

We have not had any contracts cancel and are still going ahead with venues. 

Latest UK Government advice 6 pm 16th March: Mass gatherings of events will have police and other first responders made unavailable, the term ‘mass gatherings’ does not refer to Weddings, parties and company events, our catered events can and will go ahead as planned just as schools & workplaces remain open. Vulnerable guests or those over the age of 70 should not attend any public events taking place between 21st March and 13th June 2020 (12 weeks)

To our valued customers,

As Coronavirus/COVID-19 continues to spread throughout, many are concerned about their health and that of their loved ones. We at Cook n Go share that concern and want to assure you we are taking every step we can to safeguard our employees and customers, their families and the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a safe and enjoyable catering experience to you and we are strictly adhering to the recommended policies and procedures of the government and local health officials to ensure that our commitment is fulfilled.

We are confident that you will have a safe and enjoyable catering experience throughout this time; however, we appreciate this remains fluid and as such there may be changes in government advice in regard to public and private events.

It is our passion and drive to ensure that your event catering is a success and that remains the case now during these testing times.  We are confident that you will have a safe and enjoyable catering experience throughout this time, however, we appreciate this remains fluid and as such there may be changes in the government advice in regard to private events.  The government are advising people to be careful, keep up with hand wash, etc. and if you show symptoms then self isolate.  As of today's date they have advised that PUBLIC mass gatherings (500 people or more) should not go ahead.  Private functions are still able to happen.

We have decided to continue with the events pre-booked with us (and are still receiving enquiries for catering in April, May June, July and onwards).  If the country were to go into lock down then obviously we wouldn't have a choice but to cancel your venue catering.  With this in mind rest assured your deposit and balance is secure and should you need to postpone your event then any monies paid will be transferred to a future booking.  

Should you need to claim on wedding/event insurance we will be happy to help you in complete the required paperwork."

We did indeed then go into lockdown, which clearly meant the catering would be cancelled."

In view of this, my partner emailed them again:

Morning,

As you have already guessed our wedding is not going ahead due to the Covid 19, I did receive an e mail from you at the beginning of all this madness saying you would try and transfer the date for any future dates.

However I work for the NHS and A/L is not easy to get as you can imagine, we have decided not to proceed because we can not afford to get married next year due to the money we have currently lost.

Our wedding was at a Room in the Rodings on May the 29th 2020.

Im not sure if we can get our deposit back of £132.00, but it is worth a ask.

Thanks again for your patience and look forward to employing you in the future, keep safe and I hope your business survives this situation.

Their reply:

Hi,

This is such a shame.  We are more than happy to transfer the date for any future dates available but with regards to refunds due to you cancelling your wedding altogether I am afraid this is not within our policy.

We are so sorry you have decided not to go ahead with your special day.

Kind regards"

They claim we cancelled, but they already said the catering would be cancelled by them in the event of lockdown, which is precisely what happened.

The reason the wedding could not take place is clearly due to reasons beyond either party's control, and I don't believe "not in our policy" is a good enough reason not to refund our deposit in such unprecedented circumstances.

Legally they may, (or may not?) have the right to keep our money, but morally, I think they have fallen short here.

Edit: The wedding didn't take place due to Covid 19, that's clearly stated in the email.