Bobby Wrobleski

Review of FultonMarketKitchen

Where to begin? First let me make a few things cl...

Where to begin? First let me make a few things clear. We had no choice but to cancel our wedding. The venue at which the ceremony was going to be held canceled due to safety concerns over Covid-19. That same day Chicago officials announced that anyone traveling to the city from hotspots such as South Carolina would have to quarantine for 14 days. We cannot afford to spend 14 days in a Chicago hotel nor would we want to, plus how is a 14 day quarantine supposed to mesh with a wedding? This was all on July 6th, the same day we notified you of the circumstances. Your customer service throughout the planning of this event has been abysmal. Every time we've had to contact you it takes 3-4 emails before we get any sort of response and when we do it's only to find out that the coordinator we had been dealing with has been replaced without any notification to us. Yet you, as one of the owners sees fit to cite a "Thank you" in an email as unwavering proof of how pleased we are with your services, rather than what it is, which is just basic human courtesy on our behalf. Now, on the issue of contracts. Yes, the hold the date amount agreed to was $750, which has been paid and is not being disputed whatsoever. What is being disputed is thee amount past that which you see fit to keep without providing any service other than saving the date. I will also kindly point out, again, that you advertise your peak wedding season hold the date fee as being only $500 on several different platforms. If your policy has changed you should correct that on said platforms to reflect your new position on the matter. At no point during continuing to pay towards the event did we realize the contract was being amended to keep that money as well regardless of not providing any extra services beyond holding the date. I will ALSO point out that you are only one of eight separate businesses involved in this wedding. Every one of those eight businesses has contracts with us as well stipulating that refunds would not be given upon a cancellation of the event. However, every one of those contracts were also missing a policy or clause pertaining to a GLOBAL PANDEMIC. Therefore, because of that, and because those seven other businesses are owned and operated by understanding and reasonable individuals, every one of those contracts were amended and refunds were given. Fulton Market kitchen is the only one out of EIGHT to refuse to work with us on this situation. Now, to the point of you being just "a small business trying to get by"... You're the largest entity involved in this event out of the eight businesses. The salon, baker, photographer, and florist are all extremely small businesses and were still gracious and willing to work with us on this matter. You are a hospitality group in Chicago with at least 9 locations.
On the matter of safety and precaution; you encouraged us to go through with the reception despite travel restrictions and having no place to have the ceremony. You even encouraged us to have even more people attend while shattering Covid-19 records on a daily basis. This being a wedding, many of the guests in attendance are seniors and people who are immunocompromised. Now, while you as a business might be willing to move forward and put these people at risk, I am not. Just a few days ago the United States Center for Disease Control recommended against gatherings of over 10 people, but you're comfortable with more than 50 people in one place including your own staff. As of this very morning, the Mayor of Chicago has announced that bars will not be able to serve alcohol indoors as of Friday, also indicating that further restrictions may come in the future. Does that sound like a fun wedding reception to you at all?
I will now end on this note... I have given the most honest and accurate review of my experience with Fulton Market Kitchen. For you, as one of the owners, to now turn around and accuse me publicly of it being nothing more than slander is both shameful and irresponsible to the highest degree.