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Dear Preston:

I recently did a wedding at a beautiful hotel in my town.  This particular hotel has a number of elaborate chandeliers  hanging in their ballroom under which we placed  tall centerpieces with beautiful fall branches. A week after the event, I received a disturbing call from the hotel manager. He claimed that that my crew damaged and broke some of the crystals from on of the chandeliers. Worse, he threatened that, if I did not return to fix the  chandelier, I would never work there again.

I was stunned. I had personally managed the installation and breakdown and am sure that we did not damage any items. We are a small company, and can not afford the expenditure in fixing this item. What do you suggest I do?

Wrongly accused

Dear WA:

Years ago, I was wrongly accused of damaging a carpet in a ballroom in New York City. There was no way to prove that I didn’t, so I had to fix it.

This is clearly a case of he said/she said. Even if the damage was done by someone else, the fact that you did tall branches leads them to assume that it was your team.

If I were you, I would speak to the manager and find out if they have insurance for these kinds of damages, and also purchase insurance for your company to help cover yourself should you find yourself in situations like this in the future. Personally, I would bite the bullet and pay up.

Between us, you might consider the idea that one of your staff members damaged the chandelier and is too scared to tell you. One never knows.

Dear Readers: Do you think that WA should pay for these damages, though she insists that she and her staff are not responsible?  If you are a florist, please tell us your thoughts.  What has been your experience with tall branch instillation’s?

Lastly, have you ever been wrongly accused? How did you deal with the situation?

Preston

(Photo Courtesy of Flickr)