Stupid prom coordinators! They ruined it!

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DD has been planning this prom for months. It was very important to her and she fixed up for it all day long. She spent a lot of money too on it. The tickets said prom was from 7-11 pm. Most people weren't going until after 8pm. She and her fiance and another couple were riding together and they went to the Cheesecake Factory for a quick dinner first and left there about 8:30 - 8:45 to go to the prom. It was raining hard and it was all the way out in Bessemer so it took them longer to get there than they planned. They got there about ten after 10. Plenty of time to have a dance or two, have photo's taken, and see people, and just be at prom.

The man at the door told her it was over. The lights were on, they were cleaning up, and there were still people there who they had told to leave. They closed it an hour early! For no reason at all, and there were probably still more kids coming. This was important to her! She cried her eyes out about it! I don't blame her. I'm calling that school Monday and getting the $50 she spent on tickets back! I could see if they got there at 10:45 or later, but 10:10? And it was raining, so people would be late? They sent a bunch of kids home too. The weather wasn't getting worse or anything, so that wasn't the reason. It was ruined for her.

I'm posting prom pics in a thread on members only, but I wanted to post one of her here for you just to show how pretty she was, since her whole special, once in a lifetime night was just a bunch of appetizers and dessert at the Cheesecake Factory

[img][img]http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5235/7186524246_2ab607707f.jpg[/img][/img]

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It always pisses me off when they have the false times listed. It makes me also want to be somewhere when something actually starts because of misleading times. I think you are right to ask for your money back because they did not follow their time they had listed.

Very disappointing for her, and she looks so gorgeous in her dress. You are right to kick up a fuss about it, these are not 4 year olds where are expected to arrive bang on time. Who arrives at 7 for a prom anyway? I imagine a lot of people are not happy about it.

Thanks! I wish that pic showed her shoes, they are awesome. There's a few more pics in a thread on Members Only, and also a thread that I started with pics of three of my kids on that subforum too if you want to go look. When she puts up the other pics they made before they left I'll add them to that thread.

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Someone gave the establishment the okay to end the event early. That person was the ADULT prom coordinator (party planner-whoever). Find out who signed the contract for the event. If there is a clause that the establishment can wrap up the party early when the attendance drops below a certain number, you are hosed money wise.

Now, the establishment might have asked, "Hey we got 10 kids in a room that seats 100, and there is only an hour left (yeah, I know), can we call it a night?" Someone said okay, or with a passive okay (not saying no).

Now, in my area, all high school proms have a 1 hour leeway to get to the prom. If the doors open at 7 pm, the latest you can roll in is 8 pm. That is regardless if you bought a ticket or that the prom will wind up by 11:30 pm. This is discourage underage partying and rolling into the establishment trashed.

The high school is VERY up front, and when the kids buy those $250 per couple tickets (your daughter's prom is the least expensive I have heard of this year), they MUST intial a "contract" that they have that 1 hour leeway. And the establishment hires professional bouncers to handle hysterical moms and kids who want to come in at late. It is a hard core, no excuse rule.

Your daughter learned a hard lesson. Many events wrap up early. I've come in "late" to weddings receptions at where scheduled to last until 10 pm, and showing up at 8:30 to see just about everyone rolling out the door. That included having a live band for dancing.

I do many events as a performer and work many art fairs. This nonsense happens ALL THE TIME. Charity events too.

My only advice is to show up no more than an hour late, and check out the situation.

Do you know if many of the other parents are up in arms over this? Did you have inclimate weather warnings (tornado/flooding) during the prom? That might have given the establishement the "reason" to wrap it up early. (in their favor, close early, make more money)

Congrats on the upcoming wedding, and your daughter looked lovely.

Tawaki (who's prom in 1982 was $100/couple)

She is beautiful and regardless of what practices these venues find common, I'd be pissed. If they had that option, it should have been specified. Someone owes your daughter an apology.

That's so sad. I'm so sorry for both of you. My daughter has her graduation ball coming up soon. I'd be heartbroken for her if this were to happen.

She looks lovely.

I guess it's like a lot of other school events-- The people hosting and chaperoning and such regard it as an extra duty, a pain in the ass, something taking up time they'd rather be spending on something else and something they honestly resent doing.

They just want to get it over with-- as one of my HS teachers said, "I'm not here for my health, and I'm not getting paid"-- and get back to what they think of as their "real" life.

And if that's their attitude...

...why in the hell are they there in the first place????

Because once they were young and shiny and idealistic, and leaped into something without knowing what they were getting into. Or they were going to be great writers, mathematicians, physicists, chemists; if that didn't work out, they could always TEACH.

And now they're too old and have too much invested in it to change careers.

Puke.

Or the attitude of parent volunteers-- THEIR kids had already showed up and had their fun and they wanted to go home.

Double puke. Teachers have to pull a rotation. But that attitude in parent volunteers was why I quit the PTO PDQ. I thought it was fun. Like most "ret*ds," it made me happy to be able to contribute, and really happy if my contributions turned out to be appreciated. The good Christian mothers rolled their eyes and made cracks about Little Mary Sunshine.

Makes me wonder why they were there in the first place. If that's how you feel about it, DON'T VOLUNTEER.

Let me begin by saying your daughter looked lovely and I am so sorry she did not have the opportunity to fully enjoy the evening she had planned. Now let me tell you how I REALLY feel. Why would anyone close the doors to a prom early? I have heard sometimes they don't lets kids come and go because of an attempt to provide safety. ( ie: coming to prom then going outside to do things...like drinking and coming back in, etc). But to disallow someone to enter as long as they had paid for tickets...insane! I agree with previous posters that people who serve as volunteers or chaperones should have a genuine interest in being there. Sour pusses need not apply. Prom is special. I know how much time and money I spent on my daughters proms. The preparation alone is an event. The right dress, hair, nails, etc. I feel badly for your daughter. Certainly, I hope the powers that be at her high school refund her ticket price and vow to make hours of attendance at any future proms clear cut.

I''m about to call the school now and talk to the lady in charge of it. Lead out was at 9:30 and my daughter wanted to be there for that but they were late because of the rain. She was ok with missing that and figured that 45 minutes or so would be enough time for a dance or two and to see people and get her picture made. They should have stayed until 11 even if no one came.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
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They are refunding her money. She will get a check in one to thee months, in the mail. That's exactly what we wanted and we are happy with that.

The lady said that the assistant principal had made the call to go ahead and end it because he didnt think anybody else would show up. Also, the lady was rude on the phone to me about my daughter coming at 10:10 when it started at 7. I told her it didn't matter, the tickets said it would be going on until 11, and if I had to take her to small claims court I would, and I would be asking for much more than the ticket price.

We got the money. Yay.

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I'm giving it another shot. We will see.
My forum is still there and everyone is welcome to come join as well. There is a private women only subforum there if anyone is interested. Also, there is no CAPTCHA.

The link to the forum is http://www.rightplanet.proboards.com

same here in my neck of the woods, you have an hour to get there or you dont get it! But the kids all know that beofrehand. Sounds like her school doesnt have that policy, so why would she care to go there late?

GLAD that you got the money back!

I think if they are going to close the doors at a certain time before the prom actually ends, they should say so on the fliers and on the tickets.