We are writing to express our profound disappointment with the event coordination for our 20-year reunion scheduled to be held at Live Wire. The experience was incredibly unprofessional, and the Class of '04 Reunion Committee felt disrespected after having paid for your services.Initially, we selected Live Wire based on the positive reviews on your social media platforms. However, after checking other review sites like Yelp, it became clear that our negative experience was not unique. We encountered significant issues with conflicting information about the services provided by your staff. Despite multiple attempts to contact our event coordinator, Erika, we did not receive clear or consistent answers to our questions. During my visit on June 25th, I was given conflicting information yet again, but your general manager, Algy, and other staff were the most pleasant and spoke with us with the level of customer service a paying client expects.Attempts to visit the venue during stated hours of operation were fruitless, as the venue was closed each time. Given the high cost of renting this venue, we expected a much higher level of service and professionalism. After speaking with the owner, Erin, we were told that we were wasting her time because she and other members of management had to be involved when our event coordinator, Erika, went unresponsive and we weren't getting our questions answered. Erin also mentioned that she shouldn't be communicating with one of the committee members because they wasn't the point of contact, yet she was willing to take an additional $350 from our classmate for an extra hour to set up. This inconsistency was unacceptable. This business is in the hospitality and customer service industry, and Live Wire's conduct was severely lacking.We have never heard of an event coordinator not assisting with coordination. When our class representative was told Erika was not an event planner, we were already aware. However, when we expressed our concerns to Erin and Algy, their responses were contradictory. Live Wire can certainly learn from Algy, who communicated professionally while being informative and addressing our issues. If your event coordinator was unable to fulfill the responsibilities of the role, then it raises questions about the standard of service provided. If this venue could not handle event coordination, it should not have taken on the responsibility. Here’s the link to UGA’s Event Planning and Meeting Management Certificate. Given that this is a college town, as Erin pointed out, perhaps Live Wire could benefit from this training to better reflect professionalism in its operations.On July 4th, we received an email stating changes to our contract and confirmation that the $350 was received for the additional setup hour. Yet, they weren't the point of contact, but the money was taken. As of July 7th, Erin responded to a message indicating that yet again, misinformation was provided. Erin, you stated in your email that you said the same thing as Erika to our class representative, which you certainly did not do. Our class representative even confirmed with you multiple times prior to leaving regarding the timeline for dropping off tablecloths at 2 pm. It's a good thing that in the state of Georgia, you have the right to record conversations as long as one person is aware, and when they spoke with you, the committee was also on the phone and heard the entire conversation. You also forgot to mention that you said if your staff shared the information regarding tablecloths or any items being dropped off and set up before our arrival, you would have to speak with your team. Sounds like a lack of communication amongst your staff that had nothing to do with the client. The fact that you blatantly lied about your conversation in an email truly shows this venue for what it is. Neither you nor Erika owned up to any customer service lapses, which was mind-blowing.On July 8th, Erika finally reached out to our point of contact by phone and provided direct contact information, less than four days before our event. The simple fact that there was a thread going back and forth between your event coordinator and our point of contact prior to July 8th and your event coordinator went unresponsive is what warranted the call for clarity yet again. And it seems that both you and your event coordinator are on the same page when it comes to telling the customer to make sure we have a great time at the event and not to worry about logistics leading up to it. So, you wanted us to put trust in the fact that everything would work itself out, but your business has made that impossibly hard to do.We also want to address your comment about giving our event a discount. No, you did not. One of our committee members had our initial conversation with you regarding our budget, and you shared your off-peak season prices. You even kept reaching out to our committee member, urging us to book before your prices increased. So let's be clear: the price we got was your off-season price. We just happened to book before your price increase. Please stop trying to paint the narrative that you helped us. You certainly told us that there was no military discount because of the off-peak season price. We would have respected it if you had just said sometimes things happen, and on behalf of my staff, we apologize for any confusion caused. But instead, you placed the blame squarely on us.Furthermore, Erin, it seems that we were originally supposed to work with you since you were our initial point of contact. The day our class representative arrived to bring $350 (again, they weren't the point of contact, and you said you shouldn't be discussing anything with them), you were getting ready to meet with a potential client for a wedding. It appears that you pushed us off to be handled by the event coordinator, who not only didn't show us around the venue when we arrived but acted as if we were bothering her. Not to mention, you only have one free conversation with the client(that's what we were informed) , or your venue has to charge for more conversations with the coordinator. This is so disappointing because your reviews indicated how helpful your staff was and how questions were answered promptly, yet again that wasn't our experience. What did we do to warrant such a level of disrespect?As we stated to you when we spoke, we would have never had to visit your venue prior to our event had your Event Coordinator been more prompt with our Point Of Contact, but only after our class representative sent emails and left a message did we finally start getting feedback. Let's also address the fact that you had a conversation with one committee member but accepted a signed contract from someone else that you had never had a conversation with. That's how you handle business, apparently. We actually took the liberty to read your reviews, and see that your most recent review was from a current restaurant vendor that has a business relationship with Live Wire. What's so strange about the review is that it was only shared on your Google review shortly after you and our class representative spoke. Now, this typically wouldn't be strange, but this vendor just so happens to also employ your son, which was information you eagerly shared with our classmate. When it was mentioned knowing the wife of the owner, your whole demeanor changed. This is just speculation, but it is very strange for another business to write a review under your page right after you and our class representative spoke. We even took it a step further with your reviews and found that a friend who also utilized your venue for an event had a bad experience with your event coordinator. They mentioned that it was only when they reached out to you that they got a resolution. Also, on Yelp, your reviews are through the floor, but on other platforms, you have nearly 5 stars. We really wished all of your 5-star reviews were accurate, but on some platforms, business owners can edit and hide less-than-perfect reviews. We wish this venue all the success, but we cannot say enough about how horrible your service leading up to our event was. We really wanted to post this review prior to our event, but we didn't want to jeopardize any more unwarranted behavior from this business, even though we have made every payment on time and have met all of our obligations.Post-event follow-up(July 13th ): On the day of the event, we all arrived, and the general manager Algy was there to greet us. He was helpful when asked for assistance, but other than that, we had no help. We were told that there would be security on the day to assist with guest check-in, but that didn't happen. This venue harassed us 48 hours prior to our event regarding needing proof that a balloon release didn't go against the county's policies and also that we would need to pay an additional $500 for insurance. During the event, we also had an issue with the AC freezing up, per the words from the general manager Algy, which made it extremely hot. We also provided slideshows that were to be incorporated during our event that ended up not being displayed correctly. We actually ended up seeing saved clips from the venue's engineer's TikToks profile, which were supposed to be a video tribute to our classmates who passed.IF YOU MADE IT TO THIS PART, MY ADVICE WOULD BE TO GO ELSEWHERE. There are too many venues in the area that provide better service for a fraction of the cost and do not throw last-minute charges at you less than 48 hours prior to your event. Our 20-year reunion went off without a hitch other than the mishaps. The only employee that should be highlighted and given praise is Drew. Drew went above and beyond to accommodate and address our concerns on the day of the event. Drew, thank you from the Class of 2004. Yet we have not gotten any follow ups regarding how are event went.In conclusion, we are deeply dissatisfied with the service and treatment we have received from Live Wire. We hope that in the future, the Live Wire team will rectify these issues to provide a more professional and reliable service for their customers. Your business is in hospitality and customer service, and that is something Live Wire severely lacks.

Live music? Live wire. Wedding? Live wire. Company party? Live wire. Couldn’t recommend this venue higher for any event you want to have. I’ve played there with my band several times and the quality of the sound and light production is top-tier, not to mention the fantastic staff and how well they treated us every time. Live wire is the real deal, through and through.

We hosted a conference party at Live Wire and it was fantastic! The staff were friendly, well organized, and very helpful and patient. The atmosphere was fun and enjoyable and very welcoming. We were fortunate to have nice weather and the outdoor space was great for socialization. The DJ was absolutely amazing!

The venue was beautiful, staff were friendly, organized, and willing to help with anything we needed which made set-up/clean-up a breeze.

We used Live Wire for our Sorority's Parent Weekend and it was beyond perfect!! Even though we made constant changes to the event/set up on our end, the staff was beyond accommodating. Day of the event, the staff went above and beyond again! From unloading my car, to hanging a banner, to beautifully arranging a dessert table, they were happy to do it all! Highly recommend for anyone looking to host an event in Athens. Perfect atmosphere, location, and staff!! Thanks again Live Wire for making our event so successful.