Wedding Caterer - non-refundable deposit?
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Wle312
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hi There, I'm new to this forum and looking for some advice. We booked our wedding last year for 29th September 2017 and have been slowly but surely getting all of our arrangements in place. We booked the caterer on 5th May 2016, when we initially spoke to him (we met face to face), he seemed great! He knew everything that we wanted, had suggestions for food, knew our venue, and even helped us get a DJ booked. We paid a deposit of £350 to him on the same day, pleased that we had found someone who knew what he was doing.
However, since then he has been flaky as anything. He keeps rescheduling on us for meetings, changing dates and times, and when we had our tastings booked in and turned up he said he didn't have us in his diary! He was very apologetic and assured us everything would be fine for the day of the wedding. However, for our rescheduled tastings (tomorrow 8th April) this was supposed to be 3.30pm and when we've emailed him to confirm he's asked to change the time again!
In short, would we be entitled to our deposit back if we wanted to change caterers? I'm very aware that it is only 6 months to our wedding and I want to have peace of mind that we have the right caterer for our needs, but we can't afford to change if we lose our deposit as our budget is extremely tight!
We've not actually signed anything with this guy, just a verbal agreement and the deposit.
Any help/advice appreciated.
However, since then he has been flaky as anything. He keeps rescheduling on us for meetings, changing dates and times, and when we had our tastings booked in and turned up he said he didn't have us in his diary! He was very apologetic and assured us everything would be fine for the day of the wedding. However, for our rescheduled tastings (tomorrow 8th April) this was supposed to be 3.30pm and when we've emailed him to confirm he's asked to change the time again!
In short, would we be entitled to our deposit back if we wanted to change caterers? I'm very aware that it is only 6 months to our wedding and I want to have peace of mind that we have the right caterer for our needs, but we can't afford to change if we lose our deposit as our budget is extremely tight!
We've not actually signed anything with this guy, just a verbal agreement and the deposit.Any help/advice appreciated.
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Comments
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Some people are just flaky, when it comes to the non practical side of their business. Doesnt mean they wont produce on the day. its a risk you take, because on the flip side, you could be dealing with a business who are all talk and reassurance, then on the day they let you down0
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When you paid the deposit, didn't he send over any terms of contract for his services? You may not have signed anything but he might have included some ideas of cost, secured the date etc in a document, and if so it should be in there. Or check their website, it might be on there. Normally somewhere, on any documentation for an agreement of services, there will be a note saying how soon you'd have to cancel to get a deposit back (if at all, for some it's immediately non-refundable). You'd need to check this to be sure as everyone is different, but obviously the sooner the better.
I agree with flea72 that this might not be an indication of how they operate on the day. But it's up to you, if you think it'll cause you a lot of unnecessary stress just being worried about whether he'll even show up, I'd say it's worth looking elsewhere. I know it's a tough call when a budget is tight but you have enough to worry about for a wedding!
Try to ask the venue if it's a caterer they know and what feedback they've had about them before if so. Or look online. That might help inform your decision. Also, if something goes wrong again, just be honest and tell him this is really becoming a concern. Of course I'm not sure how you've been talking to him, but sometimes we just want to be nice and agreeable when plans change (I know I'm guilty of it!) - put your foot down and say this is becoming a real concern and you're starting to worry about his reliability. It'll either give him a kick up the bum or confirm that you need to move on.
Hope all goes well, I know how stressful it is so I feel for you!0 -
Your title mentions non-refundable deposit - did he tell you it is non refundable? If so, then unfortunately you got no chance of getting it back should you change your mind.
You still have a contract with him, albeit a verbal one. The contract is backed up by you paying your deposit - it doesn't need to be in writing.0 -
I can completely understand your problem as my best friend got married last month and had faced the similar problem and I can understand how stressful it is for you. First, he got stuck with a new catering team, but as he realized that the service providers are not dedicated towards the job, he quickly changed the catering services and opted for "The Addison" the well know professionals in the town. I think it was a good decision because if the catering service is not right that could ruin the whole celebration. As you have not signed any document and was a verb deal you can ask your money0
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