I will make this short because I am sick of talking about it to everyone. First off, Chad is great, responsive, etc. The bartender who worked our wedding, James, sucked. He was rude to many of our guests, tons of people complained about him, and I really wish we had hired someone else. He carded everyone, timed people on how fast they were drinking, and wouldnt even give my MOH bottled waters while we were taking our photos, without telling her to get in line first! I did email Chad and complain, and he addressed my concerns, thoroughly, but, I felt that he really just dismissed my complaints, and was just satisfied with the fact that I was well taken care of the whole night. Unfortunately, I was one out of about 150 people at our wedding. My husband hated our bartender, who wouldnt serve him until I had to verbally tell him that he was the one who paid them, that he was the groom and was over 21. It was ridiculous. If you use their services, make sure you dont get stuck with James. Not worth the money. The bartender was the ONLY thing my guests complained about.
Hey Bartender! Bartending Services responded with the following comments:
I cant make any apologies for any of our staff carding anyone. Believe me, the Bartenders don't want to look at 100 IDs. It slows them down and its an inconvenience to the guests, but it is part of their job. They take liquor classes thru-out the year and the #1 point that is drilled into their heads repeatedly is to card everyone. If you have been to the airport recently you will see that even an 80 yr old cant get a glass of wine without being carded. Unfortunately its the world we live in where everything is about liability. Weddings in particular are notorious for underage drinking. The Bartenders themselves are personally liable and can even go to jail for unknowingly serving a minor. We get undercover liquor agents at events. We get secret shopped when we work at the sports venues. In Arizona its actually illegal to serve someone if you have asked for ID and they cannot produce a valid form of ID. Its very serious business and although it can be a hassle for both sides it is part of doing business. The number one reason why venues contract us to do their Bar Service is for liability purposes and we get compliments from venue owners all the time thanking us for taking this part of the job so seriously. Again, sorry if it was an inconvenience but we hear "I'm the one paying the bill", "I'm in the wedding party and don't have my ID" or "Its OK he's my son". We simply cant compromise when it comes to age verification or any other AZ Liquor Laws that would jeopardize our Liquor Liability Insurance or get ourselves or the venues fined.
It seems that, unfortunatly for this client, checking the ID's of certain guests and monitoring alcohol consumption were considered unforgivable offenses and that it set the tone (negatively) for the way the rest of the evenings bar service was judged. Yes we ID. Yes we monitor guests consumption. Venues hire us to take on these responsibilities and we take these duties seriously. The venue manager would leave us a great review on this event - as every other client has done to date! Please read the rest of our reviews!
Cheers, Chad Zaneis
Owner - Hey Bartender!
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