From the start of this transaction there were RED flags. I hired AJ Carriages on 3/23/26 for an event on 5/31/26. We agreed of $1000 for 2 hours of ride time and 1 hour for set up and break down. We spoke early afternoon on 3/23 and I informed AJ that I was out running errands and I would submit the $500 deposit via my credit card when I got home. He informed me that after I submitted the deposit he would send my contract. On 3/25 I reached out to him because the contract had not been received. He responded to tell me that he had caught a busy spell and I should have my receipt for the deposit. So my receipt is my contract. RED FLAG number one. I asked when the remaining balance would be due and he informed me that final payment would be due 3 weeks before the event date. On 3/26 he sent the final invoice which stated that the due date was on 4/02/26 which is not what he originally told me. So I of course reached out to inform that the invoice was contradicting our conversation. He advised that the system he uses automatically generated the date but 3 weeks before the event would be fine. Also at this time is when he sent me his company's policies and procedures, which stated that if his horse was to get sick or have an issue on my event date that he would only issue a 25% refund and reschedule for another day. Well after reading this I had questions because I wanted to be sure that I was reading and understanding correctly. His response was that the job was booked and they do not go back and forth with bookings and all bookings were final at the time the deposit was received. The policy and procedures cover everything and they do not just alter the event just because. At this point he had a phone conversation to further discuss. RED FLAG number two. I was very leery and uncomfortable but he already had my deposit and I knew it would not get it back if I canceled the service. So I just hoped it would all work out.
Then on 4/20 he called me to ask if I could submit final payment that day because he needed to work out the logistics for my event. RED FLAG number 3! I informed him that I was a bit confused because we had discussed the due date of 3 weeks prior to the event date but he was contacting me six weeks prior to. He got an attitude with me at this point and said that he never said 3 weeks (which is a lie because I have that in an actual text message from him) he said that he told me 4 weeks prior. I informed him that even if he said 4 weeks he was still calling me 6 weeks prior to. He told me that if I didn't have the money I could have just said that. I advised him that its not about me having or not having, its about what he said and this is not what we originally discussed. I told him that I could pay him half of the remaining $500 if he needed something but I would need a new invoice. He told me that he could not or would not create a new invoice as he does not have time to do so because he runs his business by himself and he should be out feeding his horses and not spending time on the phone with me. And for me to send the money through Zelle (RED FLAG number four). I was out that day running errands as well and would send when I got home. This was around 2pm on 4/20. At 6:57pm he texted me to say he had not yet received the money and I advised him that I was not home yet. I sent the $250 at 9:13pm on 4/20. On 5/4 which is now 4 weeks prior to the event I reached out to get a new invoice to pay the final payment of $250 because I did not want any problems such as him keeping my money and not showing up to my event because I waited until 3 weeks before as we had originally agreed on since he was so adamant that he never said that. I just wanted to adhere to his policies and procedures. He never responded to my text. So on Tuesday 5/5 I called him. He advised that he would send a new invoice which he did at 7:30pm. I was at work so I did not check for it during my working hours. So he called me and said he did not receive payment as of yet and I informed him that I was at work and would check for the new invoice when I got off and home. I did at 10:30pm that evening but the new invoice still reflected $500 and did not indicate that I had paid $250 on 4/20. So I texted him to inform. The next morning at 6:50AM he called me with an attitude and said that he knew I paid the $250 and I should just send the remaining balance of $250 through Zelle as well. I advised that I was uncomfortable with doing that and he told me that this was a lot of trouble for one hour of service. (RED FLAG number five!) I told him that one hour was not what we discussed and that I wanted to pay him with my credit card as I originally did. He agreed with me saying that I needed to pay him the original way I made the deposit which was through Zelle which was not correct. I only used Zelle to accommodate his request for sending the final payment early. He told me I was wrong and he needed to go back through his paperwork to check and he would call me back. He went and checked saw that I was right but because I was being difficult he was removing all discounts and charging me $1500 for the service instead of $1000. And if I didn't send remaining balance of now $750 he would cancel my service and keep all money that I had already paid. So I sent $750 through Zelle because at this time I did have a back up plan. He sent the final paperwork which was still not what we had discussed but I didn't want any more problems with him and didn't want to give him more reason not to show as I was not confident that he would. I found and contacted another carriage company and hired them for only $700. This other company NOT AJ Carriages showed up and had the carriage decorated in blue flowers to match my event and came dressed in tuxedos and top hats. Where as AJ did arrive in jeans and a t-shirt, cornrows in his hair and gold teeth in his mouth. He told me I would get a carriage large enough to transport 4 to 5 people at a time but his carriage looked old and ragged and could only hold 2 people at a time. If I would not have hired the other company half my guests would not have been able to ride. When AJ arrived and saw that I had hired another company as well he was upset and still tried to give me a hard time by saying I should have informed him that I had another company coming as well. The nerve and audacity. I told AJ that the reason the other company is even here is because of him and how he chose to conduct business with me and therefore this was his fault. This was the most horrible ordeal I've ever had to deal with!!! This man does not know how to conduct a professional business!!! DO NOT waste your time. There are other company that are more professional and CHEAPER out there!!! DO your research before hand. I wish I had!!!!