The prepandemic goldilocks era is over and we ar...

The prepandemic goldilocks era is over and we are in a new period filled with uncertainties that will have lasting impact for a long time. Planning a wedding/reception is filled with anxiety. Having a vendor that you feel you can trust from the business aspects of the event helps tremendously. Unfortunately I did not have a good feeling of trust with Rock The House.

Our wedding ceremony with reception to follow with an expected guest count of 120 was scheduled for early June 2020. We booked Rock The House for DJ/MC services and also added sound amplification for the ceremony. Both the ceremony and reception were to be at the same venue.

Unfortunately, through no fault of anyone, the June dated was decimated by the pandemic and subsequent restrictions. Regardless our June date was going to be the marriage day, but due to the restrictions we were forced to find alternative arrangements (location), drastically reduce the guest list, and do this in a very short period of time. As a result of the scale down, the ceremony no longer required sound amplification. We were told by Jeff that the fees for the ceremony sound amplification would not be returned but we be allowed to pick an alternative service/product of equal or less value. Given the circumstances I felt this was a poor remedy as we are now picking something we did not want in the first place.

For the reception we still wanted to give it a go, but a date would not be determined until the government mandated restrictions were eased. Rock The House (Jeff) was agreeable of moving the DJ/MC services to an unspecified future date. However, Jeff demanded that we deposit more money (on May 13th) despite the contract stating remaining balance is due 14 days prior to the entertainment date. Nowhere in the contract did it state we would need to be at a 50% deposit/balance ratio as Jeff explained when I questioned him.

While the above might seem petty you need to realize on April 10, 2020 Rock The House Entertainment Group, Inc was approved for a SBA PPP loan in the range of $350,000 to $1,000,000 from the US Federal government Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. This is tax payer money that has loop holes allowing the borrower to default on repayment.

In contrast our venue, which was also approved for a SBA PPP loan at a much lower dollar amount and was protecting more jobs than Rock The House, told me without asking we will refund all of your monies including deposit if you decide that you cannot proceed with your event .

Even though the DJ/MC services we received from Rock The House was very good and 5 star worthy their business practices rubbed me the wrong way.