Wednesday 28 September 2022 11:23 AM Battle of the Buffet: Town House Durham shames newlyweds over bill dispute trends now
A newlywed couple say they have been dragged into a bitter war of words after hotel bosses who hosted their big day accused them of running up a £1,550 bill for their wedding reception - and running off without paying.
Clare Nattrass and Joanne Robinson say they will pay their bill, but they want £200 taken off because their miserable wedding breakfast buffet didn't include ribs or mini burgers - and it was whipped away by over zealous hotel staff after just half an hour, before some of their 31 guests had the chance to tuck in.
The couple say the row escalated to such an extent that they had to call police to mediate after they felt threatened by hotel staff at their home.
A spokesman for the Town House hotel in Durham described their buffet claims as 'nonsense'.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline Clare said: 'We've been made out to be acting like criminals, it's ruined our big day.'
The dispute began when the hotel resorted to shaming the couple in a Facebook post which went viral.
Clare Nattrass and Joanne Robinson say they have been dragged into a bitter war of words after hotel bosses who hosted their big day accused them running off without paying the bill
The post included a picture of Clare, 57, and Joanne, 49, with the message: 'Never in a million years did we think we would have to do this, but this is Joanne and Claire.
'Joanne and Claire think it's ok not to pay, in times as tough as they are for businesses, they've took the decision to rob our business.
'They requested to our staff time and time again if they could pay on checkout for their wedding as they don't get paid until this date.
'So we gave them the benefit of the doubt because we know times are hard.
'So they've held a wedding at our hotel let us rack up huge food costs and then leave without paying.. I'm so disappointed that someone would do this, they haven't requested to pay in instalments when we've called them and asked them to pay they've just outright REFUSED.'
The post attracted thousands of comments criticising the couple.
However they are outraged by the claims, saying they always had a payment plan in place which will be settled as arranged by the end of this week.
This post was shared by the hotel on Facebook and received thousands of comments
As well as £200 for the buffet, they are also refusing to pay the £10 per bottle corkage charge for the 16 bottles of Jam Shed red wine they brought with them, claiming the charge was never agreed.
At their home just half a mile from the Town House, Joanne said: 'This post by the hotel has completely ruined our wedding day, we are devastated to be
