Forceful venues and upset clients

[Shaun]

Over the last month I've had two events finish early. In both cases the event was due to finish at 1am, but the venue staff has approached me around midnight and told me to finish by midnight, in both cases the clients had paid the venue upfront and hadn't been informed that they wouldn't get the hall up to the time they had paid for.

Last night the party was in full swing and the venue manager approached me at 11.45 to announce last orders. He told me to finish at midnight as everyone had to be out by 12.20. I informed him that I was contracted and paid till 1am, but I'd be happy to finish earlier if stipulated by the client (bride). Despite me being polite and courteous with him, he couldn't quite grasp the concept that the bride was my client and I couldn't just finish early without the 'say-so' from her. To cut a long story short I found the bride and explained the situation to her and she was absolutely furious with the venue as she had paid a small fortune for the location, and she had indeed booked it till 1am. The venue wouldn't budge, and told her the party had to end at midnight, so I complied at the request of the client and finished at midnight.

Started to pack up and the venue manager approaches me and says
"You better be out of here in 20 minutes or else".
I replied - "Excuse me Sir?, What do you mean or else?".
"Just :Censored: move it" he replied.
Now, I'm usually very accommodating with venues and their staff, but I don't take too kindly to people giving me attitude when it's uncalled for. I calmly and politely explained to him that I require an hour to pack up and vacate the building, he looked at his watch and said "you now have 15 minutes."

Needless to say I took my time packing away. I could have been out of the venue in around 20 minutes if he had been a little more polite and professional, instead I took the full hour.

Like I said this has happened twice in the last month, on both occasions the venues have been very up-market venues, and in both cases the clients paid for the venue till 1am but been told to finish at midnight. It seems that once they have the money from the them they just don't care.

Anyone else ever encountered this?.

[UltraBeat Entertainment]

I've had this a few times in the last year.

most of the time the client just goes with it and finishes the party early but i have been involved in at least one argument over this (i should add even after the argument they didn't budge either:mad: ).

I must admit i do the same thing if someone gives me a time to be out by i suddenly feel all slow and old and take my time ensuring every cable is packed away neatly and every cable tie is together nicely. after all it takes as long as it takes;).

It makes me laugh when it goes like this:

Manager: You have 30mins to pack up and get out of the building.
Me: I'm sorry sir it usually takes about 45mins for us to pack up.
Manager: While are usual disco only takes 10mins to pack away!

And there's probably a reason why the client booked me not "your" disco then:p

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

To be honest, if it's a venue that we don't normally work in, I always check at the beginning of the night, what time the venue has the finish as, just to be on the safe side.

[Penfold42]

Sorry to hear that Shaun.

One thing that really get's my goat is people swearing at me for no reason......and i have to bit my lip and count to ten as i've got a real tendency to bite back.....HARD!

One time was asked how long to pack up and i replied "Did you not read the T&C's....about 1hr"...so he asked "Would you like a hand?"...yes please......

Never saw him again....started to pack down...looked around, no one there....:eek: ....packed all the stuff away, still no one....drove off...village hall still open.......:D

[yourdj]

Started to pack up and the venue manager approaches me and says
"You better be out of here in 20 minutes or else".
I replied - "Excuse me Sir?, What do you mean or else?".
"Just :Censored: move it" he replied.
Now, I'm usually very accommodating with venues and their staff, but I don't take too kindly to people giving me attitude when it's uncalled for. I calmly and politely explained to him that I require an hour to pack up and vacate the building, he looked at his watch and said "you now have 15 minutes."

Anyone else ever encountered this?.

That would really annoy me :mad:

Ring his boss and complain! He blatantly wanted to go out somewhere after :beer1:

Im always courteous to the venue managers and set the bride/best man on them! The venues i normally play are quite posh hotels so they always back down.

[rob1963]

I've never had this, but the finishing time is something I ALWAYS check with venue staff at the beginning of the evening.

I find that maybe 10% of the time it's earlier than the time on my booking form, usually because the client has booked the disco until a certain time, but that time is actually when everyone must leave by, so the disco actually has to finish about 30 minutes earlier.

When this happens, I always speak to the client & let them know the venue officials have told me the music needs to end 30 minutes (or whenever) before the finish time on the booking form.

It has never caused a problem yet.

[Vectis]

I always always always check with both the client and the venue management (together if possible) at the START of the evening and also confirm times for any other events such as buffet.

I used to chance it until one day I was doing a wedding supposedly finishing at midnight. At 11:15 the house lights came on just as we were in the swing of things (as you can imagine) so I sent the roadie over to the bar to find out what was going on. "You were supposed to finish at 11" :eek:

So the conversation ensued about being booked 'til 12 etc. but they had a strict entertainments licence being in a residential area and there was no leeway. I asked for 10 minutes to play the B+G's "exit sequence" and they reluctantly agreed but wouldn't shut the lights off.

B was upset, G was about to glass someone but we had to go with it. :bang:

So ever since then.... :o

[rob1963]

I always always always check with both the client and the venue management (together if possible) at the START of the evening and also confirm times for any other events such as buffet.

I don't check with the client on the night, as THEY are one who has written the finish time on my booking form...which I always have with me.


I used to chance it until one day I was doing a wedding supposedly finishing at midnight. At 11:15 the house lights came on just as we were in the swing of things (as you can imagine) so I sent the roadie over to the bar to find out what was going on. "You were supposed to finish at 11"

Many years ago, I never used to check finish times with the venue either, and once had a similar problem.

I was booked until midnight, and was half way through the requests at 11pm when an official came up to me & told me that had to be the last record. Not only didn't I have the chance to play all their requests, but I couldn't even slow it down at the end.

We all learn from our mistakes, so ever since then, on arrival at the venue the most important thing I ask is what time the music must finish.

[CRAZY K]

Over the last month I've had two events finish early. In both cases the event was due to finish at 1am, but the venue staff has approached me around midnight and told me to finish by midnight, in both cases the clients had paid the venue upfront and hadn't been informed that they wouldn't get the hall up to the time they had paid for.

Last night the party was in full swing and the venue manager approached me at 11.45 to announce last orders. He told me to finish at midnight as everyone had to be out by 12.20. I informed him that I was contracted and paid till 1am, but I'd be happy to finish earlier if stipulated by the client (bride). Despite me being polite and courteous with him, he couldn't quite grasp the concept that the bride was my client and I couldn't just finish early without the 'say-so' from her. To cut a long story short I found the bride and explained the situation to her and she was absolutely furious with the venue as she had paid a small fortune for the location, and she had indeed booked it till 1am. The venue wouldn't budge, and told her the party had to end at midnight, so I complied at the request of the client and finished at midnight.

Started to pack up and the venue manager approaches me and says
"You better be out of here in 20 minutes or else".
I replied - "Excuse me Sir?, What do you mean or else?".
"Just :Censored: move it" he replied.
Now, I'm usually very accommodating with venues and their staff, but I don't take too kindly to people giving me attitude when it's uncalled for. I calmly and politely explained to him that I require an hour to pack up and vacate the building, he looked at his watch and said "you now have 15 minutes."

Needless to say I took my time packing away. I could have been out of the venue in around 20 minutes if he had been a little more polite and professional, instead I took the full hour.

Like I said this has happened twice in the last month, on both occasions the venues have been very up-market venues, and in both cases the clients paid for the venue till 1am but been told to finish at midnight. It seems that once they have the money from the them they just don't care.

Anyone else ever encountered this?.

Just read that again Shaun, surely the customer has a written quote and signed Contract with the venue confirming the finishing time enforceable in law ?

If it was me I would sue for compensation ---breach of Contract etc.

I have had verbal fisticuffs with a couple of Wedding venues recently over getting out with all the kit:eek: :eek: :eek:

CRAZY K

[Shaun]

Just read that again Shaun, surely the customer has a written quote and signed Contract with the venue confirming the finishing time enforceable in law ?

If it was me I would sue for compensation ---breach of Contract etc.



Funny you should mention that, the groom said pretty much the same thing. He said "He'll see them in court!"

Good on him.

[Vectis]

I don't check with the client on the night, as THEY are one who has written the finish time on my booking form...which I always have with me.

It does pay to check Rob. Quite often I'll prefill my booking form with information gleaned over the phone or from email exchanges and ask the punter to check it and correct as appropriate, but every now and then when revisited at the event there's a discrepancy because they didn't check it properly :bang:

Anyway, more than once it's opened the conversation about paying for an extra half hour or whatever, as it did last Friday for instance.

Booking form said midnight, barman said 1am, checked with client - "Oh, well the bar's open 'til 1", "Well I can certainly play on beyond 12 but I'll have to charge you a little extra <cheesy grin>..." job done, extra £50 in hand, smashin' :p

[Paul James Promotions]

Don't get annoying venue owners very often, but one thing that does annoy me is staff that switch the house lights on before you've finished, even at a regular venue! Just recently was doing the usual NY NY, on come the lights, bye bye atmosphere.

[Shakermaker Promotions]

It all boils down to staff not respecting the occasion etc. How would they feel on their big day if their party was in full swing and it was ended early?

Remember the other week? I had almost that scenario at a village hall out of town with a venue owner and caretaker...both jobsworths. The owner will take the money from the booking and the caretaker will get paid for doing what he or she does but they don't seem to care at the end of the day. It's just looks like they want the money but don't want the hassle....when you can't really call us hassle if we are doing what we are paid for.

A long time ago I was in a venue that wasn't one of the friendliest venues around. I had been booked via my mates company to go and DJ at someone's 30th birthday if I remember correctly. From the start it was great and everyone was enjoying themselves. I was booked until 11.30pm. When I announced the last song at 11.25pm I had a group of guys come up to me (safety in numbers I expect) and moan...they said "It's only just starting to get going mate..!" I was like piggy in the middle at the time because the landlord was adamant that the night finish on time yet the mutants were adamant that I continue. It was pretty scary at the time as I was in a venue that I didn't know that was out of town. In the end the landlord caved in and said I could finish at midnight. They still weren't happy at midnight and it got a bit scary again but the landlord must have seen a potential ruck on the cards because at midnight there were two police cars outside waiting.

Now, this may be slightly off topic but on some occasions, and on this particular occasion, the landlord actually helped me out of a potential sticky situation.

[theoloyla]

To be honest, if it's a venue that we don't normally work in, I always check at the beginning of the night, what time the venue has the finish as, just to be on the safe side.
Agree with you entirely. It has happened to me a few times over the years; so I always check now at the start of the night and that way if it is different I can let the promoter know straight away and then they have all evening to sort it out with the management.

[PB Entertainments]

I did a wedding in a village hall once, obviously no-one was really in charge at the end (there was no caretaker or anything around) so as we were packing up the guy who was running the bar came over to me and said '...that's us away, I'm guessing you're locking up mate?'

To which, my reply was '...errrr. no!'

Turns out one of the bridesmaids was outside in a car waiting to lock up and getting impatient! She was even peeping the horn at me when I went out to the van. This was, obviously ignored by me, and to be honest quite inconsiderate at just after 1am in the middle of a sleepy village!!

Barman goes to give her the keys, then shouts at me '...she's wondering how long you're going to be' - to which I replied 'I'm allowed an hour after finishing time to pack up'. Funny how it took us EXACTLY an hour to pack up... :D :D

[CRAZY K]

It all boils down to staff not respecting the occasion etc. How would they feel on their big day if their party was in full swing and it was ended early?

Remember the other week? I had almost that scenario at a village hall out of town with a venue owner and caretaker...both jobsworths. The owner will take the money from the booking and the caretaker will get paid for doing what he or she does but they don't seem to care at the end of the day. It's just looks like they want the money but don't want the hassle....when you can't really call us hassle if we are doing what we are paid for.

A long time ago I was in a venue that wasn't one of the friendliest venues around. I had been booked via my mates company to go and DJ at someone's 30th birthday if I remember correctly. From the start it was great and everyone was enjoying themselves. I was booked until 11.30pm. When I announced the last song at 11.25pm I had a group of guys come up to me (safety in numbers I expect) and moan...they said "It's only just starting to get going mate..!" I was like piggy in the middle at the time because the landlord was adamant that the night finish on time yet the mutants were adamant that I continue. It was pretty scary at the time as I was in a venue that I didn't know that was out of town. In the end the landlord caved in and said I could finish at midnight. They still weren't happy at midnight and it got a bit scary again but the landlord must have seen a potential ruck on the cards because at midnight there were two police cars outside waiting.

Now, this may be slightly off topic but on some occasions, and on this particular occasion, the landlord actually helped me out of a potential sticky situation.

I had this at a Wedding the other week after full time---- just one more :bang:

I said go and see the Lady over there who owns the hall, its nothing to do with me--if she agrees then thats fine--otherwise I cant help you.

We did one more:D

CRAZY K

[CRAZY K]

Funny you should mention that, the groom said pretty much the same thing. He said "He'll see them in court!"

Good on him.

:thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up: :thumbs_up:

Not the ideal end to a Wedding Reception though--bad bad taste in the mouth:eek:

CRAZY K

[leighinstoke]

Never had much trouble over the years - once had a member of staff kill the power on me 2 minutes before the end as he told me "you finish at 12" and it was bang on and his watch said 12 but mine said 11:58pm.....and I was about to say 'goodnight' - just left the room in darkness and silence. I made my announcement without the mike - and asked the crowd to give the guy a large round of applause - and to please turn the power back on so I could retrieve my CDs from the players.

Played there again and all changed - staff can't do enough to help....you need a table, they get one....you want a jug of juice, one appears....etc.

[Richard Veal]

As Already said, It pays to check.
We have a local venue which includes setup and pack away in the hire times.
For example if you hire the venue until midnight and the entertainment needs an hour to pack down then you must finish at 11.

Its very clear in the terms of hire for the venue but time & time again you will face this problem. Its seems few people read through the T&C's - But then again how many times have you bought something on line and just ticked the I Agree box rather than read through...

[djsteve10]

To be honest i have not had this much, tends to happen more in the church halls and social clubs, Alot of my work is hotel work so tere isn't a rush to get me out of the venue as they have staff in cleaning the room for a good few hours into the night.

Its always good to check though and make sure you alert the client that has booked you.

[PropellerHeadCase]

After too many occasions where client told me one time and venue had stipulated another to them but not advised me I always check with both parties (venue and our mutual client)...

It seems to me that venues should advise any and all DJs at the start of the night as to their house rules to be sure they are abided by... I've lost count of the number of times I've encountered the 'function finishing at 12'/'guests out by 12' "misunderstanding".

[soundmaster mobile disco]

At the hotel that i get a lot of work from it is always open untill 1 am 7 days a week.When i do weddings in there i do not charge the client (mostly the bride & Groom) untill 1am.the reason for this is that most weddings that i do in there rarely go on untill 1am.

If its a good night both for me and the takings at the bar we will carry on untill 1am.I see the point from the hotels point of view that if the bars quiet and takings are down they will not want to pay bar staff untill 1am if they can avoid it.

From my point of view i would rather that the bride and groom have many guests left for the final song of the night (loch lomond) than just the odd dozen.

So yes i do get early finishes in this venue but when the bride & groom book me i explain to them that its the same price whether or not its a midnight or 1 am finish,this way they are more understanding when you approach them at around 11.40ish and tell them its better if we finnish at 12.

Out with this venue i am happy to accept bookings for a 1am finish and quote them for a 1am finish and i have no quibbles about working later if i have to.

[nigelwright7557]

Like I said this has happened twice in the last month, on both occasions the venues have been very up-market venues, and in both cases the clients paid for the venue till 1am but been told to finish at midnight. It seems that once they have the money from the them they just don't care.

Anyone else ever encountered this?.

At the end of the day while you are at the venue it is the venue owners decisions that count. They could have been awkward and got the police to remove you from the building as a trespasser and made you leave the gear until the next day.

You clearly want to be loyal to your customer but your customer doesnt own the venue. You did what you should have by telling the bride.

It could be the venue is not allowed by law to have music noise after midnight. If the venue is close to housing that could be the problem.

Maybe a chat with the bride and the venue owner might have been in order so everyone knew where they stood time wise ?

[videoguy]

I had something a bit different the other week. I was booked in at a wedding doo at a venue in Hull (1:00 finish). At around 12:15 most of the guests had left and at around 12:35 the bride and groom came up to me and said thanks for a great evening etc. etc. said their goodbyes and left. At this point (as no one else was left in the function suite) I said my goodnights and finished, at which point the duty manager marched in and asked what the hell do i think i was doing, the room is booked till 1:00 and that's the time I will finish if I wanted to get paid. At this point I decided to play my "Tribute to Metalica" for the last 20 mins (much to the enjoyment of the mainly student bar staff).

NOTE TO SELF: Must remember to put ************ on the the "not going back list". ;)

Chris.

[Corabar Steve]

Who was paying you?

Seems odd to do a wedding & get paid by the venue

[mldiscos]

all you can do is go along with what the contract says if it says 1am you play until 1am if the staff dont like it then generally it's tough [content removed, read the rules], aint your problem it's theres.

if they wish to argue with anyone let them argue with bride or groom or best man etc

[soundtracker]

When I get bookings coming in now for places where I know there may be an issue, I explain to the hirer what has happened in the past and get them to go back to the venue to check the finish time. I think a lot of the venues just go along with what they're asked for just to secure the booking, and then try to adjust things later. As has already been said - its all in the paperwork!

[soundtracker]

all you can do is go along with what the contract says if it says 1am you play until 1am if the staff dont like it then generally it's tough [content removed, read the rules], aint your problem it's theres.

if they wish to argue with anyone let them argue with bride or groom or best man etc

Not the right attitude my friend - you may want to go back to this venue in the future. Always best to comply with the owners requests - they hold the power (quite literally)

[videoguy]

Who was paying you?

Seems odd to do a wedding & get paid by the venue

The venue was paying me, so had to do as they say. If I was being paid direct i would have told the jobsworth to shuv it!!

Chris.

[Shaun]

all you can do is go along with what the contract says if it says 1am you play until 1am if the staff dont like it then generally it's tough [content removed, read the rules], aint your problem it's theres.

if they wish to argue with anyone let them argue with bride or groom or best man etc

Not too sure that's the best solution for me. The last thing I want is anyone arguing. I like to try and make their wedding day as trouble free as possible, part of that is liaising with venue staff and hopefully overcoming any problems if they arise without having to trouble the clients. Unfortunately when a situation like this pops up it has to be brought to the clients attention.

In future I'll be taking the advice of the posters who have suggested confirming finishing times with the venue upon arrival.

Thanks everyone for your comments. :beer1:

[rob1963]

In future I'll be taking the advice of the posters who have suggested confirming finishing times with the venue upon arrival.


:thumbsup:

[CRAZY K]

Who was paying you?

Seems odd to do a wedding & get paid by the venue

Ahem--surely its the CREAMING OFF MONEY from DJs scenario?

CRAZY K

[theoloyla]

You are so suspicious. Lots of hotels book entertainments for weddings in my experience.

[DJ INDIE]

still hard to believe that we have to be mediators between two adult parties, but we do! - what i usually do first is find the best man at weddings - invaluable - they know everyone there usually (more than me anyway!) and can be a good link between you the venue and your client (especially if the venue manager isnt around when you first turn up) - they can usually have a quiet word with the groom first to see what he thinks if a problem arises, or sort with the venue direct - maybe even involving the relevant person or the brides father etc (if hes booked the venue?) i only ever confront the bride and groom direct with tricky situations if theres absolutely no other way the situation can be resolved.

again though, this situation should be sorted before the day and set in stone .....................but rarely is!!

[theoloyla]

still hard to believe that we have to be mediators between two adult parties, but we do! - what i usually do first is find the best man at weddings - invaluable - they know everyone there usually (more than me anyway!) and can be a good link between you the venue and your client (especially if the venue manager isnt around when you first turn up) - they can usually have a quiet word with the groom first to see what he thinks if a problem arises, or sort with the venue direct - maybe even involving the relevant person or the brides father etc (if hes booked the venue?) i only ever confront the bride and groom direct with tricky situations if theres absolutely no other way the situation can be resolved.

again though, this situation should be sorted before the day and set in stone .....................but rarely is!!
I used to do that too but so often these days I find that the best man is useless. Better to deal with the people who booked the function which is usually either the b & g or else her family.

[Excalibur]

Ahem--surely its the CREAMING OFF MONEY from DJs scenario?

CRAZY K


You are so suspicious. Lots of hotels book entertainments for weddings in my experience.

Theo, your innocence and trust is charming but misplaced, in my humble opinion. I'm with the sceptical and hardbitten Alan on this one. ;)

[djgordyp]

Not the right attitude my friend - you may want to go back to this venue in the future. Always best to comply with the owners requests - they hold the power (quite literally)

That is always the way I looked at the situation in the past. Even though the client may be paying, it is the venue (usually hotel) that holds the licence and has to abide by the law. In the end, what I used to do was announce the last track about ten minutes before finishing time. That way when the call came for "one more" you had time to 'milk it' so to speak and then tell them I've been given permission to play just one more. As for packing up and vacating the premises. It quite often took us twice as long or maybe longer than it should have done. After all it's not good manners to ignore anyone that happens to come up for a chat, including staff.

[theoloyla]

That is always the way I looked at the situation in the past. Even though the client may be paying, it is the venue (usually hotel) that holds the licence and has to abide by the law. In the end, what I used to do was announce the last track about ten minutes before finishing time. That way when the call came for "one more" you had time to 'milk it' so to speak and then tell them I've been given permission to play just one more.
That is good advice and I must admit I do similar. If the party is going hammer and tongs and I know I have got a curfew to abide by I too announce that "we are getting towards the end of the evening and can only play a couple more songs; so no more requests and we'll finish the evening off with..." I also tend to make the last couple slowies so that the message really gets through that the evening is over.