Eatible Delights David Simms Deceptive Caterer Does NOT Deliver as Promised. Switched out menu items, served RAW meat, came understaffed, ruined party! Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I hired Eatible Delights owned by David Simms for a party we were having in October 2011.  The party was to be high end for 100 adults and 75 children.  Although Eatible Delights had not done this type of affair before, they assured me they would do an amazing job.  As part of their sales process, they came to our home and served the meal we planned to have at the party.  It was absolutely incredible. 

We were still hesitant as the presentation at the affair was a key issue for us.  David Simms assured us over and over again, that he would create an incredible display.  We opted to have stations where his staff would prepare the food for our guests in front of them.   We were very specific that we did NOT want a buffet, that people needed to be served and the presentation and plating was of utmost concern.  Again David said his staff would create beautiful stations, prepare the dishes and plate them as our guests went to the station. 

We paid a LOT of money in advance as that is the normal practice when hiring a caterer.  Up until the day of the event, David was very attentive and appeared to be on top of things.  He interfaced with our decorator and assured her his flower arrangements and decor would match our theme.  We contracted for a very specific menu of high end food which we hand selected.  Each item was to be served in a specific manner. 

Day of the event Eatible Delights showed up with less staff than contracted.  It appears they did not bring professional servers, or even kitchen staff.  During the cocktail hour, the butlered items were few and far between.  Several of the contracted items were not served.  Instead they substituted items like Peking Duck wraps with Deviled Eggs!  The bar set up was not as agreed.  They even forgot to bring important mixes and ingredients which were listed.    When it came time for dinner, the stations were opened over 30 minutes late. 

The filet mignon was RAW.  There was only one person serving, but there were two stations set for the filet.  The other stations were set up as buffets.  They did not prepare the food as agreed.  In fact half the time, they didn't even have staff serving, our guests had to serve themselves.   The fish was inedible, fishy!  I was told later that they burned the original dish and had to buy more and prepare it on the spot. 

Instead of creamy and delicious monk fish thermador, we had a watered down bland tasting, overcooked fish dish.  Since this was the second main entree, many people did not eat as the option was raw meat or bad fish.  For the kids, we had a wok station with oodon noodles.  They actually ran out of noodles less than halfway through serving the kids.  Kids appetizers such as pastry wrapped hotdogs were undercooked with raw dough.  All in all, the food was a TOTAL DISASTER!

On top of that, the caterer took some of our property with them, and although they said they would return it, they have not.

I spoke with owner David Simms after the event, he agreed that he bombed the affair and agreed to give me a fair discount.  I was SHOCKED when I received their offer of just over a 20% discount.  They failed to serve as agreed, ruined the food, served late, made our people wait in looooooong lines for food they couldn't eat, cut corners on MANY of the contracted and agreed items. Then felt they should earn a profit. 

I gave them every opportunity to do the right thing, now they won't return messages and are ducking me.  I WILL file legal action against them, but wanted to let anyone who is considering hiring them to know they need to beware!  This company can certainly cook a great meal in your home, but they did not show they had ANY ability to cater an event.

Avoid them at ALL COST.