Help: Restaurant Scammed Me Over $4,500!

Location: Delaware/Pennsylvania

I had an event planned for over 350 people. I placed a catering order through the restaurant’s manager. We agreed on a menu of 45 trays of lamb shank tajine, 45 trays of chicken tajine, and 45 trays of rice, with each tray feeding 8 people. The total bill was for $4,500, and I paid the full amount the day before the event (per their requirements) via wire transfer.

On the morning of the event, the owner contacted me saying that the order was worth $20,000 and that the manager made a mistake with the order. He said that they could cut the quantity of lamb and chicken in half, but that I would still owe an additional $1,500 on top of the original $4,500, otherwise they would cancel the order. When I explained that I had already finalized everything with the manager and had already paid, the owner told me, “Oh, that guy doesn’t really work for us, he just helps us out sometimes.” I then tried contacting the manager to figure out what was going on, only to find out he blocked my number.

After a lot of back and forth, the owner and I agreed to keep the total at $4,500 by removing the chicken tajine. We also specifically agreed that each tray would feed 8 people, which I have screenshots of (check my other post).

Later that day, the food arrived over 30 minutes after the event started, so we rushed to get it out to guests as soon as possible. However, when we opened up the trays, we were shocked by how little food there was in each tray. It was supposed to feed 8 people, but it could feed only 1 or 2 people max. The photos (can be found on my other post) were taken immediately after opening the trays, before anyone ate anything. Every tray looked like that, and they didn’t even provide all 45 trays. It was incredibly embarrassing not being able to feed our attendees, and many left early to get food elsewhere.I called the owner to confront him, and he acted like there was nothing wrong with the amount of food provided. I asked for a partial refund, and he refused.

I have since filed a police report, and they said that it could fall under “theft of service”, but since the restaurant delivered the food and, given the fact we had no choice at that moment, we fed the food to the guests, then it wouldn’t qualify. I’ve also filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I haven’t received a response yet, but I’m concerned that nothing will come of it because the restaurant isn’t required to respond. My plan B is to take it to small claims court.

If anyone has any advice on what I can do moving forward, please let me know.