The early, subtle rumblings of disappointment from polo match customers are coming on stronger now, and over the past three days I've heard from more than half a dozen people talking about mishaps and mistakes at the May 12 America's Cup of Polo. Some customers without food or a chair to sit on (for which they had paid handsomely). This is in addition to the issues in Leesburg Today's online article with some telling comments about the lack of food and beverage in the higher priced VIP and Celebration tents, where people spent between $150 and $200 per ticket.

There was even Polo talk at a funeral service viewing. While waiting in line to pay respects to a deceased friend this week, one western Loudoun resident said that some of the talk was about problems at the Morven Park event, attended by close to 5,000 people. At issue: expensive tickets, high costs for food at the vendors' booths (with pervasive rumors that they had run out of some items by late afternoon), and the feeling that guests in corporate tents were more important to the event organizers than the hoi polloi.

Loudoun's finest emergency medical technicians, firefighters, and sheriff's deputies were also on hand for the day to help with security and safety. Many arrived at 7 a.m. and stayed through the final concert after dark. As part of their agreement, one public safety worker said the organizers were to provide them with lunch. The men and women, upwards of 40 people, were shocked to see two bowls of salad and a dish of cut up fruit for their nourishment. After going back-and-forth with organizers, pizzas and some chicken were eventually brought to their tent. But in the meantime, a couple guys went out on their own to buy $12 hamburgers at the booths. "It was a fiasco," said a public safety worker. "And what made it worse, when Journey came, they asked us to fix their computers. We're not their IT department."

The kicker for one family and their group of friends was finding that their $200 a person V.I.P. tickets got them no more than an empty buffet table and another unmanned table with wine, beer and tequilla, but no mixers. Tricia Pansanella, whose husband is a recreational polo player, said she talked some friends into attending the event and they decided to splurge on the V.I.P. level "Journey for the Cure Club" tickets, which were to include full catering, a bar and seats with a prime view of the action. "Our friends had never been to anything like this, and they went all out," said Pansanella.

In the end, she said, "We sat on the grass next to a gravel walkway while people paraded by, waiting, while my 3-year old sat there and scooped up gravel. A lady with a private party next to us gave us some food for my son." Pansanella said after the event, she sent emails to everyone she could find including Market Salamander (the caterer), America's Cup of Polo, Oasis Winery, Virginia Tourism, and the public relations company, and got no response until yesterday when I called organizers for comment about the unhappy customers.

David Mortz, special assistant to event chairman Tareq Salahi, said there were a number of things that went wrong for these patrons. One, Penguin bartending staff (which was subcontracted by Market Salamander) arrived late, so guests were not greeted and had no one tending the bar. Two, general admission guests removed the reserved chairs (with guest names taped to them) and beverages from the box- seat area. Three, food was delivered once to the area, but more than an hour late. And it was quickly picked over.

Event co-chair Michaele Salahi has been working to satisfy some of the unhappy patrons on a case-by-case basis. She also sent an email to me with her response to the issues: "While there are some concerns of food - that we recognize from some of the guests, the overwhelming majority are so happy with the day's charity celebration that they do not make the food the focus, however this does allow us room for improvement to make the 2008 America's Polo Cup even better based on the feedback we are getting, which we take very seriously and greatly appreciate."

Prem Devadas from Market Salamander said he would be happy to hear from anyone who has concerns about the food or service at the event. "We are dedicated to making people happy," said Devadas. "I will call them personally." Devadas said he was in the kitchen village throughout the day and that food went out continuously until 4:30 p.m., then desserts went out after that. "Food was being consumed very quickly; we're doing reviews of what happened, to find out exactly how much was distributed," he said.

The Salahis say plans for the 2008 event are already changing based on feedback from the attendees. Among them: More food service vendors, going from two bars up to 10 for the celebration tent; V.I.P. areas will be separated by fences from general admission patrons; lawn ticket holders will be able to bring in chairs (in addition to blankets), and they will create picnic basket meals available by pre-order, much like Wolf Trap does for events.

If you have comments or issues to bring to the attention of organizers, you can contact the Salahis at 540.635.9933, or email Prem Devadas at Market Salamander, pdevadas@salamanderhospitality.com.

Event reviews on local blogs: Another Loud Blog; Becoming a Firefighter

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