Certain questions cause problems for everyone involved. Here's what to ask instead when ordering catering hire.
Certain questions cause problems for everyone involved. Here's what to ask instead when ordering catering hire.
Although we are primarily an online company, we do take some queries by phone. We are happy to answer questions about how hiring works, how to order, and delivery and collection. Some questions, however, raise concerns about how an order will go.
Here is a guide to the red flags we see with certain questions, and what to do instead.
During the summer we get at least one call per week from someone needing a large amount of crockery and cutlery for almost immediate delivery. It is a call that is always difficult. At peak times, large last-minute orders are incredibly hard to fulfil.
From our experience, it is hard to believe so many people genuinely get let down by suppliers for such large orders. While weddings can be difficult and expensive to organise, this kind of call almost always indicates a hirer who is disorganised, struggling financially, or both.
When we are able to fulfil these orders, a lack of organisation on the hirer's part almost always creates problems with deliveries and collections, leading to missing or broken items and more headaches afterwards.
Our advice is always the same: plan ahead, book early, and leave some financial room for the unexpected.
There are no standard chairs and tables for all events. We have a large selection available online and the decision on which items are needed has to come from the hirer.
What we have tried to do with our website is give as much information about products, pricing and how we work as possible, so that customers can complete their order online without needing to call us.
The solution is to be specific about what the furniture is for. "Standard banqueting tables" narrows things down. If "standard" means cheapest, just say cheapest. We are not going to judge you.
There is no such thing as a "set of crockery" on our website. Like "standard" furniture, some decision needs to be made about what you actually need.
We can advise on plate sizes: 12" or 10" for mains, 8" for starters or desserts, 6" as a side plate. For cutlery, there are two types of knife, fork and spoon as well as teaspoons. Working from your menu is the quickest way to determine what you need. Numbers can be adjusted more easily than the type of items ordered.
By this point, making changes to delivery routes is difficult at best and physically impossible at worst. We do not want to let anyone down, but our drivers have already left with their schedules for the day.
When placing an order, time-slot deliveries are available: morning (8am to 1pm) or afternoon (12pm to 6pm). We do not offer narrower slots because they are almost impossible to fulfil reliably without dedicating a driver solely to that order, which makes them prohibitively expensive.
We also send automated texts on the morning of delivery with a tracking link, so you can follow your driver without needing to call us. Alternatively, visit our order tracking page and enter your postcode and order number.
Choose from our vast range of catering hire, furniture hire and exhibition hire products. Select from the categories listed below or use our great search function above.
