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Bridal brouhaha goes global

TENILLE BONOGUORE

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 11:07 PM EST 20/11/06

New Zealand couple told their wedding plans were ‘cheap, nasty and tacky' and they should stick to their own class ...Read the full article

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  1. Joe Liberali from Calgary, Canada writes: Ahh... sweet sweet schadenfreude. Ms. Jorgensen, your employer-husband has made my day.
  2. Claude Savard from Montreal, Canada writes: How could such a subject make the 'front page' of your E edition? Don't you have anything else to cover and talk about that would have a little bit more subtance?
  3. Harvey Mushman from cambridge, Canada writes: Right on!...now how do we fire some of the irrational ranters that post out here?
  4. gord winters from transcanadawanderer, Canada writes: i don't know about 'tacky' or 'nasty' but i've lived in new zealnd.. you won't meet cheaper people on this planet...
  5. Bob Rollheiser from Canada writes: The security of the distant anonymous email. Judging by the many 'handles' in use, and a few of the statements made, some people are too timid to use their names and wouldn't peep a word they fearlessly write. For a business to do this, it's either looking for cheap sensational advertising or is a bit dim. Like a wise man said 'It doesn't take all kinds, we just have them'.
  6. Randal Oulton from Toronto, Canada writes: This is hysterical! More like this, please!
  7. Have Pun, Will Travel from Christmas Island writes: Hey Claude Savard, I've got a copy of 'Trainspotting' going spare...that's got substance....well, substance abuse, but it's got substance. Pick it up any time, I'll be looking for the tall, distinguished 'academic' chap. And until you pick up the book, how about schlepping your 'who cares' comments somewhere else (like Business for instance, as I rarely go there).
  8. Puntal Puntal from Calgary, Canada writes: Very reminiscient of an 'internal' e-mail sent by the president of a calgary home builder (CedarGlen) to some of his co-workers, which president managed to cc: the customer himself (it appeared to be the capper of a string of communication which exemplified terrible customer service). The customer rightly forwarded the e-mail such that it made its way around the city, and onto a 'consumerwatch' segment on the news. It's wonderful to see idiots called out as such.
  9. chris duench from New Zealand, Canada writes: As a Canadian who has been in New Zealand for the past 2 months, its very surprising to me the topic of 'stay with in your own class' was said. New Zealand is a very egalitarian country. Auckland though has 1/4 of the population and gets quite the bad rep from the rest of the country. Maybe this lady was your typical JAFAR - just another Flipen aucklander.
  10. benny ben from Montreal, writes: I just wrote the company to advise them this story is getting national coverage here in Canada. And if I ever go to NZ, I'll stop by to take a picture in front of the store. This example only demonstrate the power of the internet and online communications. An isolate incident is no longer considered isolate once it's online.
  11. Henry Allen from Toronto, Canada writes: I never realized New Zealand is such a class structured place. New Zealand has 4.1 million people. This raises so many questions. How many class levels are there in a population that small? In which class do Hobbits belong? Do New Zealanders allow legal intermarriage among the classes? Is New Zealand's prime minister selected only from the uppermost class? Is the lowest class of New Zealander considered unclean?
  12. Murray Braithwaite from Canada writes: A cautionary tale to all.
  13. Peter Smith from Vancouver, Canada writes: The power of the internet. always think three times before you hit send.
  14. hilary m from castlegar, Canada writes: This is less of a story of NewZealand and more of a look at extreamly bad service which can, and does, happen anywhere and everywhere. This story may be from NZ but I know this happends right here in our own segregated society.
  15. Terri Grannary from Ottawa, Canada writes: It is beyond belief that a tent provider would be so critical of a wedding event, regardless of the couples socio-economic background. They are there to provide a service, as any retailer, and not to judge the consumer. Bravo to the hubby who realized his wife was out of line.

    Terri Grannary
  16. Silver Fern from Canada writes: @ # 4. As a NZ'er (now living in Canada) I take offense at your post. NZ'ers are by no means cheap. We are a decent, hardworking, multi-racial, (usually) tolerant (usually) law-abiding people who for the most part enjoy a decent standard of living. If you met any of the 'cheap' ones I can only say that people are judged by the company they keep.
    As to class distinction in NZ....it simply doesn't exist. Sure there are wealthy, and there are those not so wealthy, but as another poster pointed out, NZ is totally egalitarian. The return email from the wife of the marquee business owner was just sour grapes; her prospective client had told her in a polite but direct way that he didn't like her marquee, and without giving her reply much thought, she replied to him and told him what she thought of him and his plans. Not a wise move; not when such emails can come back and bite you in the backside as did this one. Her husband has fired her (deservedly so), and she is beside herself with remorse. Incidentally, the couple getting married are planning to spend $35,000 on their wedding (not cheap by my reckoning), so not only have the marquee business lost that event, I suspect they will lose many more besides. The company may also be removed off the Event Planner registery in NZ. Amazing what the e-written word can do....eh
  17. Matt P. from Springfield, MO., United States writes: Wow. Well, the Universe hit back with blazing justice rather quickly on this one! The owner was right to fire his wife and post the public apology. I imagine that in that household, the bed in the master bedroom has one occupant and the couch has another. As for New Zealand...it's not good to characterize any nationality. I will say however that my parents built their own sailboat and traveled from California down to Mexico for a few years, then to the Marquesa Island where they got tribal tatoos, then onward to Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, the Solomons and eventually to Australia where they spent three years in Queensland. Before reaching Australia, they landed with high curiosity in New Zealand. My mother said it was absolutely stunning physically, but that the New Zealanders were officious, rude, snobby, and rather impoverished. My parents impression of Australia was the complete opposite. They LOVED it. They wanted to stay. If you mention the words "New Zealand" to my mother now, her nose crinkles, if you mention the word "Australia", her eyes light up and she gets a dreamy look.
  18. Peter Smith from Vancouver, Canada writes: NZ sounds like a fascinating place. It is a place where a person who loans out a wedding tent is of higher social status than a lawyer and a builder. Kind of like the aging valet sniffing at your car, or the wine clerk disapproving of your purchase of moderately priced wine.

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