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Steve Silverman (@SteveChaff100) says
I never realised that opera singers needed professional indemnity cover. http://t.co/QMdeAPOH
Suzanne says
Seriously? THIS sort of drivel doesn’t deserve even a nod in passing. Sounds like a woman who just decided not to pay the tab for people she contracted to perform. Perhaps her sister-in-law and her “German guest” should have stepped up and performed a duet!
gramilano says
Well Suzanne, it looks as though the courts thought otherwise: here’s today’s Guardian.
“When lifelong opera fans Virginia and Alan Lynch complained to the Guardian’s consumer champions last year about an entertainment company that had ruined their wedding reception, we suggested they go to the small claims court to get back the £2,500 they had paid for the 30-minute performance…
… She asked Guardian Money whether we thought they had reasonable grounds for a complaint. After taking our advice, this week they won £1,500 compensation plus £285 in legal costs at a hearing at Hertford county court.
Their success is a victory for consumers who are prepared to take a stand in the face of poor treatment from a company that refuses to listen.
Soprano Bella treated their complaint, and the Guardian’s subsequent inquiries, with disdain. Its owners tried to paint the Lynches as difficult customers, saying the couple wouldn’t have been happy had it sent “Pavarotti himself”. They threatened Guardian Money with legal action if we ran the story.
This week District Judge David Enyon agreed the couple had a reasonable claim. Papers submitted for the hearing described how guest Volkhardt Freitag, a music professor who had travelled from Germany, had been forced to protect his ears “by shutting them with my hands”. Another guest John Auckland, who runs an electronics company, said he went to the mixing desk to turn the sound down when he saw the effect it was having on the guests – but the sound man promptly turned it up again…
… This week Mrs Lynch said: “This was not about the money, it was about how rude they were after we complained. They said I was an impossible customer. It’s really because of that we brought the case. We couldn’t get away with letting them treat other customers like this.”…
… This week Soprano Bella was unrepentant. Katrina Murphy, co-owner of Soprano Bella, said she still felt her company had done nothing wrong. “We have performed at thousands of weddings in the past seven years, and this was the first complaint we have had. There are breaks and dialogue between each song, which would have given [Mrs Lynch] an easy opportunity to stop the act, but she didn’t.” She also sent a number of testimonials from happy customers.
The Guardian