Bonchie's 1st Bday: Supplier Review

i've been meaning to blog about supplier ratings ever since our wedding in 2011. unfortunately, things got so hectic back then that i somehow have forgotten the experience and have not been able to write any feedback up.

with my little boss' 1st bday party just a couple days past, i've resolved to share our experience with our suppliers. i find supplier reviews to be very helpful as i for one relied on them when i was doing my research.

just to share, i work in an industry providing customer service. i work with a team who specialize in the analysis of excellent customer experience. in line with the job, i have come to expect acceptable if not exceptional customer service from providers whenever i am the customer.

disclaimer: this review does not mean to demean and disrespect any individual or business. i'm merely stating facts based on my point of view and experience. rating is based on a scale of 1-5 with the following definitions:

1 - very dissatisfied / very bad
2 - dissatisfied / bad
3 - average / normal
4 - satisfied / good
5 - very satisfied / very good

so here goes:



Mobile Photobooth: Bennmonyo Photography
Price: 5000
Rating: 5

owned and operated by a former officemate. benn had always been the designated photographer in our team events. the package includes coverage of the entire event plus 100 printouts with customized layout. guests need not go around as he (the photographer) is mobile. he roams around, takes pictures of groups/families and prints them out as souvenir. he was always around whenever we needed a quick pic and is very proactive. given that we already know him personally, working with him was easy. after the party, he gave me the soft copy of all the pics taken during the event. here are some sample of pics taken during the party.

custom layout

printout with custom layout

snapshots from the party

snapshots from the party

snapshots from the party

Sounds: Videoke Express
Price: 1200 = 1000 rental + 200 delivery fee
Rating: 5

price is based on 12 hours rental of equipment with 24" TV. they also offer 42" TV for a higher price. they were the first to deliver at the venue at 1PM. i only rented for 12 hours but they no longer do pick ups after 12MN hence the machine was left with us for more than 12 hours. i only contacted them via email then text and dealing with the owner was also easy. no fuss yet pleasant. the songs in the machine were all up to date. it was also easy to plug in a tablet or a mobile phone to play music from there. they're TV can also function as an extended projector to a laptop if you have an AVP that you'd want to play. the equipment also came with 2 microphones so if intended to be used for hard core videoke-ing there wouldn't be any problems sharing 1 mic.

videoke machine in the background

Food Carts: Yan-Ple's Party Shop
Price: 5500 for 3 carts (mixed balls - fish, squid & kikiam: 2100, popcorn - 1700; kropeck - 1700)
Rating: 3

As with most of my suppliers, i found Yan-ple's online. amongst all other food cart vendors i found that their package are the most inexpensive and has the most value for money - or so i thought.

i initially sent them a message via fb. i inquired about availability on my event date, the carts that i liked and if the carts are customized to suit the party's theme. i was answered with a mere, yes - my date was available. next message was to text the details to the owner's number. ok, i am not a chatty person and i like no fuss transactions but dealing with this vendor was just plain cold. no customer service, no personalization, no courtesy, nothing. and this impression that i got went on even throughout our text exchange. i think the only thank you i remembered was when i texted that i already deposited my down payment. ididn't   mind as her business was providing food carts and not customer service so i dint make a big deal out of it.

came the event. the crew were there 2 hours before the party to set up. amongst all suppliers, they are the only ones who didn't  text me to ask directions nor give heads up that they were on their way. again - no customer service. but they came on time so again i didn't mind. 3 staff for 3 carts, they were pleasant yet still lacking even the least bit of rapport that i was expecting.

i didn't get to eat much during the day as i was so busy with everything else but i got to taste the popcorn and it was no longer crunchy. it lacks the pop that a popcorn should have. i tasted a piece of the kropeck and it was normal, a piece of the fish ball and it was also normal. i didnt see any kikiam or squid balls though but i may have been just too busy to notice. nobody mentioned the lack of the balls to me either.

basketball themed carts

Cake: Sugar Mom

Price: 2000 for custom cake

Rating: 5

i also found Sugar Mom online. all our transactions were done through FB and dealing with her was also a breeze. i sent pegs of how i'd like the cake to look like and she was able to deliver. everyone found bonchie's basketball cake cute though a little on the small side. the cake was delivered early and we were surprised to be given a free caramel cake. aside from the presentation of the cakes, they were also very very yummy. the basketball cake was made of chocolate cake and is moist with just the right amount of sweetness. the caramel cake was very addictive. von, bonchie and i were the only ones who ate the cake and all of us were very satisfied with it.

basketball cake by sugar mom

free caramel cake from sugar mom

Entertainment: Cherubs - The Kerubins Balloons and Party Needs

Price: 3500

Rating: 4

Inclusions:

2Clowns/Magician

1-UNLI FACE PAINTING

50Birthday balloons (shades of orange, black and white)

20Long Balloon Twist

1Mother Balloon

2Pabitin w/Free Prizes

1Palayok w/ Free Candies

Free Use & Freebies:

1BUBBLE MACHINE W/FREE BUBBLE SOLUTION

it took me the longest time to find the clowns for the party. after some thorough googling, i found cherubs and felt that their package was the most worth it amongst all the other providers i found. 

i think everybody enjoyed them except for me. to start with, i was a little annoyed at the onset when i was still coordinating the details of the party. i was annoyed not because they lacked customer service but because of the opposite. they were overly courteous and polite that every message i received from them ends with "happy to serve your event po". i know theres nothing wrong with it but it annoyed me because i felt they were trying too hard to the point that its already "plastic". this is just me though, for all i know they could just really be extremely nice people - which i dont think is possible. aside from this, communicating the details to them was also a struggle. i felt like they had a hard time understanding simple instructions and requests.

then came the day of the party, i met the staff/clowns. again, communicating with them was difficult. i dont know, we spoke the same language naman. i just really felt that i was not understood. before the start of the party, they installed the palayok and it crashed almost hitting my head. good thing though no one was hurt. at the start of the program, i left them to dress my baby up. i was gone for like 15 mins and when i came back my prizes were almost finished. i was so surprised as i had more than 25 prizes, how could they have finished them all in a short period of time? i also requested for taglish speaking clowns as some of the kids in the party were english speaking and doesnt fully understand tagalog, but given the way we've communicated, i need not ask because i know it would just be hard. it was an all tagalog program. :(

however, when they started the magic show all the kids enjoyed. aside from the magic, the clowns did some stunts and acrobats that i did not expect. both kids and adults were in awe. due to this, i was satisfied. they provided entertainment as promised. i would have given them a 5 if they did not give me such a hard time in understanding my instructions and if they'd spoken a tiny bit of english.

Catering: Kubiertos Catering

Price: 225/pax, 130/kid

Rating: 2

inclusions:

the normal catering setup

shower ballons

balloon arch entrance

chocolate fountain

4 jars for candy buffet

ok so how do i start. i've got a long list of caterers that i was choosing from. i chose kubiertos mainly because they have the lowest per head rate and freebies. i've read good and bad feedback about them which i took into consideration but later on decided that the negative feedback were mostly circumstantial.

ms.imelda/head or owner of kubiertos was pleasant. she had good customer service skills and offered assistance whenever she could. she was also keen and easily understands and followed instructions. i liked working with her. prior to booking, von and i went far south for food tasting and food was acceptable so we decided to book them.

came the day of the party. the staff were also polite and easy to talk to. they were 30 mins late but i didnt mind knowing the terrible traffic in manila. all my requests to the staff were accommodated and prioritized. everything was flowing smoothly until... we started eating.

before i give my review of the food, one minor setback that i let pass was the promised 4 jars for the candy buffet. ms.imelda proactively offered that she'll just lend me jars for my DIY candy buffet. i was so happy about it and kept reminding her by text not to forget as i wouldnt have any jars to put my candies to in case they dont bring them. haaay, they brought only 2 jars. luckily though, our house had jars we can use. case we didnt have any, all my efforts in setting up the candy buffet would have just been wasted.

then came the food. it was bad. my guests were too polite to tell me that they didnt enjoy the food but after a while the comments came.

viand 1: roast beef - the roast beef was so hard it gave one of my guests a toothache. i also tried eating the beef but it was as chewy as the bazooka gum it was very hard to swallow

viand 2: chicken flambe - they said this was their best seller. i dont understand how because it to me tasted like lechon manok with little sauce and ham. andoks and the other lechon manok stores sells an even tastier chicken that their flambe

viand 3: mixed vegetables - this i didnt eat but some of my guests told me that it was almost spoiled. which is soooooo not acceptable and embarrassing

pasta: cheesy lasagna - the lasagna was so bland it felt like i was eating just noodles and cheese

dessert: fruit salad - i again didnt eat this but heard that the fruits werent fresh

rice: even the rice had a hard texture to it

it was that bad. good thing we ordered lechon which somehow saved the day for us. everyone raved about the lechon which i think is because theres nothing else to rave about.

as i've said earlier this may just be circumstantial. what happened to us may not happen to others but i'd just like to make sure i speak up and share my experience. despite the good customer service that i experience from ms.imelda, it doesnt make up for the fact that they served bad food given that that is their primary business. the only reason i gave a 2 instead of a 1 is because of the somehow good service from the owner and the staff. oh the staff, i learned later on that the good service i was given by the staff was given only to me. they werent as nice and proactive to my relatives and my guests. my relatives also heard some bickering from the staff members which may have caused the mood swings towards the end of the party.

PS: even the utensils and glasses werent as clean as they should be :(

buffet setup

balloon arch entrance by kubiertos

tables and chairs setup