ROCK HILL, S.C. — A Charlotte couple has been left waiting for a $5,100 refund after a caterer canceled on them the day before their wedding.
Jeppe Hoegh said his wedding day on July 5 was amazing.
“From seeing my wife, Danielle, walking down the aisle to having all our friends and family cheer on, and having the greatest party of our lives,” he said.
But Hoegh told Channel 9’s Erika Jackson that the hours leading up to the Rock Hill wedding were complicated after the couple received an email from their caterer.
The day before the wedding, Lake Norman Catering’s Alexander Cruz informed the couple that he was dealing with complications from having a stroke in June. And he could not cater the event.
Hoegh said this didn’t only impact the menu. Their contract showed that the couple paid Cruz to provide staff, furniture, and linens.
Deana Martinez with Wait Staff Solutions said Cruz never paid her, so she couldn’t follow through.
“Seven days before the event, deposit time is over,” Martinez said. “I need full amount, or we’re not showing up. And no, he did not. We did not receive any payment.”
And an employee with the party rental company told Jackson that Cruz had hired him for the wedding the day before, but never paid him or offered him a contract.
Hoegh said that he and his wife had to dish out thousands of dollars on their wedding day to hire more vendors. And that was on top of the money they had paid Cruz months prior.
Cruz told Jackson that he encouraged the couple to file disputes with their credit card companies.
“I went in and approved immediately before even the clients asked to refund,” Cruz said. “And there’s a process through that. And I also told them to go ahead and dispute it as well, just to protect themselves.”
Hoegh said the couple got more than half their money back. But they are still waiting for thousands of dollars.
Those charges can’t be disputed, Hoegh said, because they were made on a closed, international credit card.
He told Jackson that he is hoping Lake Norman Catering will make things right.
“We’re just asking him to refund us the last $5,100 that we paid him,” he said. “And then we would also like some compensation for additional costs we incurred.”
Jackson asked Cruz about the remaining money multiple times, but he did not answer directly.
Action 9 Attorney Jason Stoogenke recommends that anytime you sign a contract:
- Make sure it spells out what happens if the business bails or there’s an act of God
- Don’t pay the full amount up front
- Use a credit card, so it’s easier to dispute
If a vendor does back out and doesn’t make things right, file a complaint with the State Attorney General, the Better Business Bureau, and Action 9 or talk to a lawyer.
WATCH: Action 9 warns of online puppy scam after woman is tricked out of $1,000
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
