Viridiana B.

My wedding was first scheduled for June of 2019. Due to family reasons, we had to postpone until April of 2020. I hired this service in January of 2020, but due to the pandemic closures and gathering limitations designated by the state, my wedding, unfortunately, had to be indefinitely postponed and potentially canceled because of the uncertainly of when the pandemic would end and wanting to make sure we could celebrate safely. The following August (2020) we finally felt comfortable rescheduling the wedding for April of this year (2021).
Planning a wedding is one of the most stressful things any adult goes through during a normal year, let alone during a pandemic. With every rescheduling, I've had to make and send out new invitations, re-purchase any perishable goods like Jordan almonds, go in for fittings to make sure my dress still fit, re-schedule every other service hired such as the florist, etc. Throughout all of this, I was forced to reduce my hours to work part-time and I had best friends that passed away from the virus. I don't have to remind anyone what an awful time this been for so many of us.
In February Texas experienced a catastrophic winter storm. Like millions in the state, my family and I are now dealing with thousands of dollars worth of damage to our home on top of the stress we experienced during that week. At the end of it, I received a call from my wedding planner letting us know that the venue was completely flooded and would need extensive repairs to the damage caused by the storm. They gave us their sincerest apologies and offered a complete refund, not knowing how long the repairs would take or when we could reschedule the wedding too.
At this point, I decided I couldn't keep doing this and we needed to officially cancel the wedding. I've spent the last 3 weeks calling all of the vendors and services we had hired who stuck with us through the whole thing and explained to them the news and our decision not to move forward with the wedding. They all expressed their sympathy and understanding and were able to return most deposits I had put down.
When I contacted the vendor to let her know that I was canceling the service booked through GigSalad, I was shocked to be met with insensitivity and complete disinterest in our situation, and what I'm sure is the situation of so many other people. The vendor refused to return my deposit and repeatedly stated that the details were in the contract that was signed prior to this natural disaster that we had no warning of. She refused to budge and stated, "None of us want this to happen so I hope you will share your understanding with us." I don't know what to do with a message like that, since I received no understanding myself. Also, she said she could have book someone else for that day, even when we all know gathering was prohibited and also I sent my notice in February and the booked day was for June 26, so she has plenty of time to get a client for that day.
Almost no one has made it through the last year unscathed and the only way for us to get through it is to treat each other with kindness, humanity, and a helping hand. I can say for certain that they don't agree with that sentiment, and even if the most horrible thing you can think of happens to you that would cause you to postpone or cancel your event, they will not care. Read your contracts carefully and make sure you're okay with losing your deposit even if the worst happens.
"I wrote a review for everyone to know this but GigSalad canceled my review and then I contacted them the answer was that my review would not be posted because I didn't use the service."