Help! Wedding cancellation deposit questions

Hmm, is there anything on their website with t&c's regarding deposits/refunds?

Eeek. Golden rule of wedding planning never pay for any service without a written contract in place.

Anyway that advice is a too late in your case. Without a contract in place it does make it a lot more difficult to get a refund particularly if this hasn't even been discussed via email. Does the venue have a website? Have you checked if there are any T&C's on there?

Most venues would be unlikely to issue 100% deposit refund for a cancellation regardless of how far in advance the cancellation is.

Good Luck

I think you have to look at it from the hotel's point of view as well. You paid for a service which the hotel has committed to. Through no fault of theirs you have changed your mind and wish to cancel. They may well have turned other customers away in that time so they may well now end up with a hole in their diary. If they refund you then they have in effect lost money. I know for example for summer dates I've turned away several customers for every single Saturday. So in my mind that loss is very real.

Whilst you have not signed anything that says you understand that your deposit is non-refundable, it is common knowledge that in the event you cannot keep your end of a deal, the other side keeps the deposit. That's pretty much standard practice and I'm sure you know that.

That being said......a deposit of 83% of the final price is very high and you may want to check with a solicitor regarding the unfair contract laws. It's a bit of a murky area since deposits are generally considered non-refundable but a service provider can only charge you for work they've done. Keeping a very high deposit could be considered to be a disguised penalty which is not allowed. I'm not a solicitor so I reserve the right to be completely wrong but there's my understanding.

Like I said though I do have a degree of sympathy for the hotel and in my view offering a refund if they rebook the date does seem reasonable.

Very difficult to say without consulting legal advice due to the lack of contract. Did you get a receipt for the deposit? Does it say anything on there about refunds? 83% is an exceptionally high deposit so far ahead and an odd amount to pay too without a contract in place. Most suppliers don't offer refunds once you have paid the deposit because, as Martin says, once a date is booked, suppliers turn other work away and venues do get booked up some 2 years ahead so whilst they may get someone else in your place, they might not too.

I would copy all the email correspondence from them and contact your local Trading Standards Office. They are very helpful and will advice you the best course of action to take. As for claiming on your insurance, as far as I know, they only pay out for changing of dates if it's due to illness of a close relative but it's worth checking as each insurance company has different rules.

My initial thoughts of this is why should the venue refund money for something that is not a fault of their own you was happy enough handing the funds over and agreeing to the terms and conditions of service at the time

I am Sorry but in my none legal expertise opinion they have no obligation yes it would be nice of them but the hotel management may not have the funds

The idea of a deposit is to prevent loss to the supplier in case of cancellation. It's a recognised practice across many services. You cancel, you lose your deposit. Sorry, but that's life.

How do you know the venue hasn't lost any money? Do you know with 100% certainty they haven't turned down other bookings because of your reservation?

Why on earth was it such a high percentage (and strange number at that)? I feel for you- I really do- I HATE losing deposits. Do you have wedding insurance? I would contact them for advise.

Oh dear... Maybe speak to a solicitor or the CAB, but there is very little you can do about this. The whole point of the deposit is to ensure that the venue are not out of pocket if you change your mind. They might not be able to arrange for another wedding there and you say it's a small hotel so they might rely on people keeping their bookings.

The amount of deposit you've paid seems really strange. Our's was a fraction of that...

On another note, please make sure you read and check the contract for the new venue before sending the deposit.

Please go and see a lawyer or Citizens Advice Bureau.

Even if there are T&Cs on their website, if they weren't brought to your attention before you paid your deposit then they will not bind. Also, just because there isn't a written contract doesn't mean there isn't a contract. The terms of the contract between you and the venue will depend on common law plus the correspondence between you and the hotel.

Huh? I am guessing you're not a lawyer, Boro_Bride.

For a contract to be formed, you only need an offer, acceptance of that offer, consideration (e.g. payment) and intention to form a legal relationship. There is no requirement for it to be in writing and signed. There is a whole body of law that deal with contracts and consumer problems.

If she is in breach, the venue would be entitled to damages. That is the venue is entitled to the money they lost due to the breach. The venue is also required to mitigate (i.e. take reasonable steps to lessen/stop) their loss. That means the venue must take steps to find another booking or accept another booking if possible. Unless the venue is unique or exceptional, it is likely they could get another booking for next June. The aim is to put the innocent party in the position they would be in if the contract was properly formed.

This is why she needs to see a lawyer - and not rely on advice from a random internet forum.

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Ash - you might get done for Moonlighting if you're not careful. ?

Boro never said she was a solicitor so she can say what she likes surely? I'm sure OP will go see an expert rather than relying on our advice (whether we are qualified to give it or not).

June 2016 is only 12 months away so isn't that much notice really, you were lucky that the other suppliers gave you your deposits back as they didn't have to.

It is a very high deposit as others have said though, I'd certainly seek legal advice on this, you may be able to get some of it back.

True, she didn't says she was a lawyer. However, she did starting a sentence with "legally" and speculating that a "contract of sorts" was entered into after belittling the poor lass for putting down a deposit in good faith.

The deposit does seem a high percentage. As others have said, if you want to take legal advice, your first port of call would be CAB if you can get in with them (they are unfortunately very over stretched in some areas) or see if you can get a free half an hour with a solicitor. Whether it is worth paying for advice will depend upon the amount you have put down and whether it is financially worth it.

No one will be able to tell you exactly where you stand until they have reviewed the contents of your email correspondence with the company.

On the face of it, I don't think the venue have been unreasonable. They have said they will refund you if they get a replacement booking. I would imagine that if it was a Friday or Saturday in June 2016, there is a high chance of a booking. I know you want your money immediately but I would be tempted to sit tight for a short while and pester the venue for updates on whether the date has gone.

I have experienced something similar with a French wedding venue. We booked then paid the deposit of £1500 but within less than a month, our circumstances changed so we had to cancel.

Before I cancelled, I looked for the cancellation policy to see what costs I would incur, but on their website and in all the documentation there was no mention of a cancellation policy, so I contacted to cancel.

They then advised me that their cancellation policy was they they wouldn't refund anything. This was the first I'd been told of any cancellation policy.

However, as all our communication was via email, this was a distance contract, and for a distance contract to be binding, the trader has to have provided or make available the cancellation policy.

Since this venue failed to provide this, the contract wasn't binding and they were therefore unlawfully retaining my deposit.

So I took them to the small claims court and won, however, they're still refusing to refund me so I've instructed bailiffs.

So if you booked and all your communication was online/over the phone, then the trader has to make available the fact that you will not benefit from a cancellation policy in a means relevant to the original booking of the contract. (such as verbally telling you or making plainly obvious on their website or tell you about it on any emails/contract)

This is the Consumer Contracts Regulations and you can find the detail on legislation.gov

If you were never informed of a cancellation policy or told where to find, your contract is non-binding and you could have a claim through the small claims court.