FAQ
Here’s a few frequently asked questions that might
help you. We’ll be adding to these, but if the answer to your question
isn’t here, don’t hesitate to contact us by telephone, or by email.
Details can be found on our “Contacts” page.
1) I’ve heard about caterers that give
prices, then it turns out that they’ve given you a “base price” and there are
additonal costs involved.
A: Ritz Caterers don’t work like that.
We give you an all inclusive price, that also includes GST. You know
exactly what your costs will be before your function or wedding even
arrives!
Our prices include all cutlery, crockery,
tablecloths, serviettes, staffing, clean up and GST. Naturally, if
you wish to add some special touches and they involve us in some way, there may
be additional charges, but you will be well aware of exact costs well in
advance.
2) Aunty Harriet and Uncle Mick are coming,
and they are bringing their twins who are both under 5, so they don’t eat
much. Will you be charging for the twins?
A. Yes, we do charge a token amount for the
twins. Most people only see the upfront costs involved, things like the
food. However, I’m sure you understand that, even if the twins “don’t eat
much”, there is still things such as cutlery and crockery to provide, space and
seating at the table, staff to serve and a multitude of other
requirements.
To explain further, imagine if you had 10 guests,
who all brought 2 children, all who “don’t eat much”. That works out to
another 20 guests!
At Ritz Caterers, we charge $1.00 per age of the
child. This means a 5 year old is $5.00, a 2 year old is $2.00, etc. This
pricing applies up until the age of 12 years, and then it the normal
price. We have found that over the past 18 years, most people have found
this quite fair.
3) When do we need to give final
numbers?
A. Generally speaking, we ask for a
confirmation of numbers 1 week before the actual day. We naturally
appreciate confirmation earlier if the time of the year suggests inclusion of
Public Holidays.
4) Is the price you quote us a firm price,
or can it change?
A. Once we have an arrangement with you,
your price will stay firm. We generally absorb any costs that we possibly
can should prices increase between the time of quotation and the time of the
function, but bear in mind if your quote is for an extended time into the
future, prices may rise due to increasing cost of
foodstuffs.
5) Ok, we’ve decided to use Ritz Caterers, what
happens now?
A. At the time of booking, we are more than
happy to give you a “pencil booking”. This means that you will be booked
for a particular date, and should another party wish to book the same date, you
have first option.
Confirmation of booking can be done through either
email or telephone call and can be done at any time. Once your booking is
confirmed, the date is yours.
6) We’ve booked you for our wedding, but now
the wedding is off. How am I affected?
A. If our many years of experience
tell us nothing else, it is that things happen, and situations change. We
do not penalise you in any way if this is the case, but obviously the more
notice you can give us, the better.
There is one slight exception to this. If
you are cancelling your booking within 1 week of the proposed date, we may need
to pass on a token charge which covers anything that has been already purchased
for your function.
This would simply be a straight charge and would
only be for any costs that we have already incurred. Please bear in mind,
in 18 years although there have been cancellations, we have never yet passed on
any charges.
7) When do we pay you?
A. Once your booking is finalised and your
guest numbers are established, we are then in a position to give you an all
inclusive price. We request that 2/3 of this amount is paid a week prior
to your function or wedding.
As the last thing you want to deal with on the day
is money, we will invoice you for the remaining 1/3 after the event.
Payment is then expected within 7 days of this invoice, although we’re not
ogres, and if you want to come to some sort of arrangement, feel free to discuss
this with us.
8) I’m getting really flustered. I
don’t know what to do, where to start and I’ve got so many people giving me
advice that I feel completely lost, can you help me?
A. Our extensive experience puts us in the
perfect position to give you help and advice, and we’re only too happy to do so
without charge. Anything from “What do I do now?” to asking for
recommendations of other reputable suppliers (like photographers, cake
decorators, entertainment), we’re here to help!
You can rest assured that we have an enviable
reputation to uphold, so any recommendations that we give you are backed by our
personal experience with that provider.
9) What about leftovers?
Technically speaking, we don’t have
leftovers. Let me explain. In our 18 years in the hospitality
industry, both in catering and in restaurants, one of the things that has NEVER
happened is that absolute dread……running out of
food.
With Ritz Caterers, we can guarantee you that you
will never run out of food.
But because of this, naturally we supply a
considerable amount more than what would normally be required, in order for us
to guarantee that you don’t run out.
However, we also know that, especially when you’re
planning a wedding, the planning ends at the end of the wedding night.
Generally speaking though, people tend to forget that there are a lot of people
around the next day, and you tend to get into a situation where they all arrive
on your doorstep to continue with the socialising.
We are more than happy to package up the leftover
salads, desserts and things of that nature for you to take home, provided you
can supply some clean, lidded icecream containers of something similar to put
the food into. We also need to be sure that there are some refrigeration
facilities at your venue.
We’ll happily package it up for you, but you will
need to supply the containers.
Unfortunately, we will not apply the same service
to meat dishes. This is one area in which we totally overextend with our
supply, so there really aren’t leftovers at all.
We pride ourselves on our adherance to the Food
& Hygiene Regulations, and prefer to be confident that any foodstuffs,
primarily in the meat or seafood line, are handled meticulously and in
accordance with Food Handling requirements. We can’t guarantee “food safety” if
it is out of our control.
Keep checking back here as we add more FAQ’s, or
if you have a specific question, don’t hesitate to contact us via the “Contacts”
link at the top of this page.
