Garden Room: No Refund, Date Change For Couple After Groom Gets Brain Tumor

No refund or date change was allowed for a couple after the groom was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and that has caused a fierce backlash against the Garden Room in Garden Grove, California.

Nicholas and Destiny Brzuska had made reservations to get married at the location on January 4, but three weeks before the wedding, Nicholas found out he would need urgent surgery for a brain tumor two days after the wedding.

Fearing the worst and not wanting to wait, the couple went ahead with the ceremony at a 24-hour wedding chapel. Their friends and family were more than willing to work with them on the abrupt date change, but the Garden Room was not.

The wedding venue would not let them reschedule the event in spite of their being no specific restrictions to reschedule in the contract, and it would not refund the $3,600 deposit.

Naturally, when the story broke on local news, it didn’t take long for the outrage to begin.

Almost overnight, the website’s Yelp! rating has taken a tumble to one out of five stars based on 252 reviews. Here are just some of the reviews following their decision not to issue a refund.

“do the right thing, garden room! find the win/win for the business and the client and make it happen! disgusting… ”

“If I could give this Place negative 5 stars I would! I’m furious after reading about the couple who asked to postpone due to the grooms brain tumor!!! I HOPE YOUR VENUE BURNS TO THE M*****F****** GROUND! You heartless pieces of S***! How dare you treat these people so carelessly! WE ARE LIVING IN A SOCIETY PEOPLE! How bout a little humanity? Not even a lot just a little — a little common courtesy for each other, a little empathy /something to separate us from the animals!”

“One Star. Karma. Refund their money and I’ll delete the review.”

“This establishment should be ashamed of themselves… very disappointing. I sincerely hope people think twice before giving them their business. They clearly don’t have their customers best interests at heart. I wouldn’t trust them with my wedding.”

ABC 13 EyeWitness News tried to get a comment from the Garden Room owner, Lisa Waddell, but she said she “had no comment on the matter.”

As for the Brzuskas, they plan on having a dream ceremony December 13, 2015. Thankfully, Nicholas’ operation was a success.

What do you think about this story, readers? Should the Garden Room issue a refund, and do you think the Yelp! reviewers are right to launch a negative reviews campaign?