Ridgeway Volunteer Fire Co #1

Marie Fria

I wish I could give this place negative stars. I booked a party for my son's 1st birthday at the fire hall after attending a friends birthday party a few months prior. The price was perfect, but that's all I can say on the positive side of things. From the very beginning it was difficult to say the least. I left numerous messages, called multiple times a day with no answer and no returned calls. It took over a week to get someone on the phone to make sure the date I was looking for was even available. From there, it took a while to get in and sign the contract. I had to leave a $100 deposit to secure my date and time and cover any possible damages or cleanup which is SUPPOSED to be refunded 30 days from the date of the party. The party was quickly approaching and I needed to pay off the balance. Still couldn't get a hold of anyone to make a time to meet and pay my bill. Finally I got a call back and was able to just pay off the rest on the day of the party. I asked if we could meet about 30 mins before the party to go over any last minute things and to not eat into the time i had reserved for my party. The woman was 45 mins late meeting me. So 30 days come and go, no refunded deposit. Now my husband and I cleaned everything and put everything back exactly as it was. It looked better when we left than when we got there before the party. So I call, leave messages asking whats going on with the deposit, call some more. Nothing. No one answers the phone, no one returns my calls or messages. So the following week I call and leave more messages. Finally the woman handling the hall rentals calls me back. I get the run around that she doesn't handle the money, I would have to wait for her to call the treasurer and see whats going on. Fine. Weeks go by and no news. So I call again and leave some more messages. Get a call back a week later. I'm told that the treasurer has to go to the bank and see if it was cashed, and if not (which it wasn't) place a stop payment and issue me a new check. I asked to have the treasurers phone number so I can just speak with her myself but I wasn't allowed to have it for some reason. I'm very familiar with this process as I work in banking. It's not that hard and can even be handled over the phone. Well, more time passes and I hear nothing. So I call again, no response. Finally get a call saying that the check wasn't cashed and I would be getting a new one in the mail. Great. more time passes and were 4 months out from the date of the party, 3 months since I should have received my deposit. Nothing has come in the mail, more messages have been left, no answers. I'm getting more and more irritated with these people but I have been cordial and tried to stay calm, but at this point I'm losing my cool. I'm finally given the treasurers phone number so I give her a call. Surprise surprise, no answer. So I leave her a message now asking whats going on. I get a not so nice message back asking what I'm implying she did wrong. What did she do wrong? She's withheld my deposit for 3 months. She's also giving me the runaround saying that she would have the check in the mail on Monday as she was going away for the weekend. Well we live in the same state and I know that it doesn't take a week for something like a check to come in the mail if it's sent when its supposed to be sent. But Wednesday afternoon rolls around and my mail is delivered. No check. So I give the treasurer a call and surprisingly she answers. She tells me that no she didn't actually send the check out on Monday because her computer wasn't working. Unless this woman doesn't have hands that's an unacceptable excuse as to why you can't write a check and stick it in the mail. She told me she put it in the mail that morning (Wednesday). So Friday comes and still no check. At this point I'm livid. We are at 3 months since I should have gotten my money back, and nothing. I had to get to the point of telling them that I was going to bring my signed contract to an attorney because my contract says I will be issued the deposit 30 days after the party.