Catering company abruptly closes, keeps couple's wedding deposit
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PORTLAND, Ore. – Sarah Mayer and her fiancé Michael booked their wedding caterer a year in advance.
“We did a lot of research before we hired them,” Mayer said.
The couple put down a $4,600 deposit for catering and other services for their 150 invited guests. “Tables, chairs, linens, the bar, dance floor, DJ table, cake table,” she said.
That’s money the couple will likely never get back.
Late last month, when Mayer contacted Phresh Organic Catering to finalize plans, she never heard back.
“I didn’t hear anything. No email. I started calling, and about a week ago I called and their mailbox was full, which was concerning.”
She went to the business in Southeast Portland to find an empty building and a locked door.
The company’s website posted a statement from the owner, saying “it is with deep regret that I am writing to inform you that unfortunately after seven years of business, and due to circumstances beyond my control, Phresh Organic Catering had to close unexpectedly. It has been a joy and privilege to know and work with such wonderful individuals.”
Mayer is not alone. None of Phresh Organic’s clients can get any answers, let alone their money back.
KATU tried to contact the owner, Robert Leon, but there was no answer at his home Sunday.
However, we did hear from the former director of catering who was laid off out of the blue on Jan. 23.
“I wish I had known. I wish he had given me an indicator because I was actively selling up until the morning he let me go,” said Shelley Lomax. “I processed $8,000 in deposits in the two days leading up to me being laid off.”
Lomax said the company booked two to four weddings every weekend this summer, including Sarah Mayer’s.
Now, Mayer is out more than $4,600 in cash, and starting over on her wedding.
"I really just want our deposit back. What we've paid them," Mayer said. “I have a wedding to plan. Again.”
KATU News found out about this story from a KATU news tip. If you have a news tip, send an email to newstips@katu.com
Always put deposits on a credit card and you will be much more likely to get it back if something like this happens.
You would think that she would be able to win her case, as it would be seen as paying for services that weren't rendered.
Unless he declares bankruptcy. Then she'll only get a fraction, if anything. But doesn't sound like he's declared anything, just up and run.
In this economy i wouldn't upt a penny down towards anything i wasn't given on the SPOT. Especially not in Portland. I feel like the whole city is slowly becoming one big ghetto. Look at the thriving China town. HA! I need to move to S.F.
 @JohnPDX With events you're going to have to put down money, as they have to spend quite a bit of money on your behalf. That deposit helps to cover their butt if you don't pay the rest. Most of the time things work out. Occasionally you get a company like this one that closes without notice.
 @JohnPDX S.F.? From the pot into the fire?
If you're looking for someone to make the cake, I think there's a place in Gresham that's looking for some business. Might have to fight through a picket line to get in there though.
$4600 isn't that much. I mean, isn't that less than a week's work for most people?
lol ok Romney! :D
@Oregon7812 So,,,,, you are volunteeeing to compesate Sara Meyer the $4600?
Um, where do you work, and are they hiring?
Shelley - I am not sure if there is a way of getting your named removed from the website, but I would pursue that. Since the owner has shut down the catering "unexpectedly", it's not fair that your name is still associated with it.Â
At least the money went to a green fraud.
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 @TheUglyTruth If you're not the one who handles the books, you wouldn't necessarily know. If could be that the company was spending more than it was taking in and needed to raise prices (but didn't). If you weren't looking at the books, you wouldn't know something was up if there was a steady number of clients coming in (which it appears there were).
Come on Robert, don't be a tool. Â Paying off your creditors (booky?) isn't as important as giving people, whom haven't received goods and services rendered, back their deposits. Â Or did you just "retire" and lease some land in Cabo? Â You jerk.
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$4600.00 a year in advance, the way the economy is today. I wouldn't pay anyone for a service a year in advance, I don't care who or what it's for.
Hopefully the Attorney General will get involved. It appears that the total money lost on deposits will go much higher than the $4600 this girl lost. The grand total could be in the 6 figure range.
@RalphCramden What? Are you suggesting government action? You mean a government service may actually be helpful?Â
 @I812 Â
It's because government makes the rules we have to live by. If someone wanted to do what should be done that someone would end up in jail.
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Government passes laws to make themselves relevant and prohibits us from taking action. Until government goes away those that have a lot to lose will have to live by the rules.
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My guess is that government will do nothing about this and if they do it will just be a lot of chest thumping to make it look like they are doing something.
For those that think $4600 is too much to spend on a wedding, keep in mind that was just the deposit. The actual cost would have been much more. Most weddings are a LOT more, after everything.Â
It IS a lot of money. And I can't imagine spending that much on a wedding. But you know, that's the choice of the people getting married, no one else really has much to say about it. They still paid their money in good faith, expecting a service, and were ripped off. And I think that really sucks.
I hate it when corporate names such as this one are misspelled for the sake of cuteness, especially PH for F. Just stop it. This issue alone would make me think twice about buying from them.
@Len Karpinski Quit bein such a H8R!
Like the business in Gresham - Phonics Phactory - a school. Who spells factory as far from phonetically as possible.Â
 @Somonecaresaboutsomething Yep, our language could be so much easier if all words were spelled the way they sound.
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@Dr. Rawdog Â
 """"""""If you think $4600 for a wedding is expensive, wait until you have to pay for the divorce.""""""""
You know why divorces are so expensive?...... because they're worth it LOL
 @Dr. Rawdog But then again, maybe not. You're assuming something here and we all know what happens when you assume.
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People said the same thing about my marriage because I proposed two week after our first date. Well, 21 years later, she and I are still going strong.......
 @scoreboard Wow! I thought my wife and I were fast; it took us 3 months to get married. Only cost $60 @ the courthouse in 1989.
 @iamtroglodite@yahoo.com We didn't get married 2 weeks later though. It was about a year after I proposed that we got married but even still, after two weeks I knew she was the one.Â
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We too got married at the courthouse in Seattle and I think it cost us about the same.
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 @Dr. Rawdog Thanks! I can understand why you'd think this as many marriages end in divorce but you shouldn't assume this. They may grow old together.
Time to contact the BBB.
 @Manda J Who does absolutely NOTHING! Â
 @Manda J Why in the world would you call Bed Bath and Beyond? 8-}
 @Manda J If you want action, then the BBB isn't the one. They are useless. You go to the FTC and then watch them squirm...
Yeah, this is EXACTLY why you should never waste all of your hard-earned cash on a wedding. It's ONE day, people, in what hopefully will be very long and prosperous lives together. I think eloping is the way to go if you're keen on spending several thousand dollars just on food. I don't care if you're straight, gay, bi-, whatever, think twice and three times before spending ridiculous amounts of money on one day....
 @bighen why ever do anything, it all just costs money. better to just stay indoors with the lights off and never enjoy yourself as it is much cheaper that way.
I agree with big hen. Our wedding cost $60 twenty nine years ago and we have been very happily married; I doubt wasting thousands of dollars and putting ourselves in debt would have made us happier.
 @iamtroglodite@yahoo.com Â
I strongly suspect there is an inverse relationship between the length of a marriage and the amount of money spent on the wedding. At least it's true among many of my aquaintances.
@SR Consider a few facts, though:
 1) We both were so poor that we had our honeymoon for our 1st anniversery (no joke) to this day we laugh about our anniversaries being a year behind.
2) We have been married 23 years (almost 24) which is a hell of a lot longer than a lot of people that put themselves into mass debt
It is possible to have a good time either way, but just because you want to be miserly, doesn't mean that everyone does. To me going to the courthouse and not having a celebration sounds boring. Now maybe if money is very tight and you have no options then that is the right choice for you. But for other people there is nothing wrong with spending a few grand on a celebration.
I can visualize that! Hahaha.Â
mikey, I'm sorry to hear that you needed a beach, fire dancers and tequila shots to make your marriage memorable. Just the "I Will" or "I Do" should have made you the happiest person on earth. When your internal needs are not satisified, external sources are sought.
 @iamtroglodite@yahoo.com Except my pictures on the beach in Mexico with fire dancers and tequila shots bring back much better memories than your silent drive home from the courthouse in your Ford Pinto.
Well, at least this was just ordinary fraud and not another case of god-loving Oregonians treating their fellow man badly due to sexual orientation. This company doesn't discriminate and will happily rip off anyone.
She needs to file a complaint with the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Oregon. That frequently gets people to sit up and take notice. Especially if the owner has any assets in Oregon, or intends to remain here.
 @buster I seem to recall a recent case of someone contacting the State regarding alleged illegal activity by a business owner,  It didn't involve catering though.  Hmmm----wedding related, people sat up and took notice.....yeah, I think your suggestion is a good one.
 @buster There may also be bankruptcy or other such proceedings where you can be listed as a creditor and at least get some of your money back.
Phraud.
"Phresh"?  That was the first clue; run away, run away!
 @Scotty9 Phresh is the new Urban lingo for fresh. It's says "I'm a hipster doofus" when you use it. Now if they can just get phantastic in there....
 @TimBurrÂ
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Indeed, stay away from anything trendy. Here today gone tomorrow.
@Scotty9 That was my first thought also. A company that can't spell fresh would not be the first place I would drop thousands of dollars on a promis a year later.
 @iamtroglodite@yahoo.com  @Scotty9 Maybe the spelling was like -  "phishing" for money?
 @washcomom  @iamtroglodite@yahoo.comÂ
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He evidently caught his limit and skipped town with his catch.