Can "who" substitute for "whom"?

English as a Second Language
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Now, the couple are seeking a refund from online business wowfloristsg, whom they say made their wedding, which was held at the Carlton Hotel last Saturday (May 25), a “disaster”.

Can “who” substitute for “whom”?

Thanks.

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Yes, it can because ‘who’ performs the action. ‘whom’ may be be technically correct.
I knew that the sentence is correct as it is, but to be sure I went to look it up.
English is flexible and doesn’t always follow the rules.

I hope this helps.

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You could argue that it should be which, or that.

Who and whom normally refer to people, and sometimes animals.
Which and that normally refer to inanimate objects, and sometimes animals.

However it’s become common to swap them around.

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Funny you should mention this. Keep having the same thought about a nasty grown-up little tot. I feel like I’m being watched by him and it’s very annoying. Now, do you think you can help me with that, sweet Nappy?

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In the Relative Clause, when the noun comes from the subject position in the original sentence, use “who”.
I know the man. He gave this. > I know the man who gave this.
When it comes from the object position, use “whom”.
I know the man. You hired him. > I know the man whom you hired.
In the second case, “whom” can be replaced by “who”, even though “whom” is the correct one if you want to stick to grammar rules.
As you most probably know, you cannot use “who” after a preposition - only “preposition + whom” is possible in the Relative Clause.

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Let’s analyze the sentence: Now, the couple are seeking a refund from online business wowfloristsg, whom they say made their wedding, which was held at the Carlton Hotel last Saturday (May 25), a “disaster”.

  1. Now, the couple are seeking a refund from online business wowfloristsg (?). - Main clause.
  2. … they say - Main clause
  3. … whom made their wedding a disaster - Subordinate clause
  4. … which was held at the Carlton Hotel last Saturday (May 25) - Subordinate clause.

We find that No.3 above has some problem. The relative pronoun ‘whom’ does not fit in there in the objective case.
We must change it into the subjective case and use ‘who’.

So, as the questioner suggests, whom can (needs to) be substituted by who.

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