Wedding venue wont transfer £3k deposit paid - any legal bods wit advice?

lkk88

Hi not sure if this board is appropriate so pls send me in the right direction if needbe....

My colleague had a wedding booked for March 09, her dad has paid £3k so far to the venue (think the whole thing comes to around £10k in total), but she has just had the great news of finding out she is pregnant. Not entirely planned as this means she would be 7months walking down the aisle and so her and her family have decided to delay the wedding till after the baby.

Now the venue has said in its t&c's deposits are non refundable if cancelled - she is merely wishing to change the date but they are not willing to transfer her deposit over (my friend tells me theres nothing in the t&c's that say a change of date is classed as a cancellation) They have however said if she has the wedding sooner (dec/jan) they WILL transfer the deposit. A dec/jan wedding is not an option for my colleague. (and i think they are doing this to try and boost sales/income for this financial year)

Can the venue do this? Surely with a hefty deposit of £3k they should be flexible in situations like this? And my biggest question is this legal? As she is not CANCELLING she is still wanting the same venue.....all they will offer her is a £1k discount off a september wedding. Obviously this really is stress she does not need......Any advice???

pinkshoes

Personally I think that's disgusting, and if they don't change the date free of charge, they should be named and shamed and given bad publicity.

Perhaps write to the hotel owner, asking for receipts of money spent so far, and reasoning on why the £3k can't be used at a later date. It's unlikely they've spent anything specifically for March that can't be transferred to a later date in September, so in the circumstances it shouldn't be a problem. It's not too late to get someone else in that weekend, as it's a whole 6 months away!

If they won't change the date or give the money back, then kick up a fuss, and let everyone know what a poor attitude they have.

Congratulations on the pregnancy by the way.

lkk88

Thanks pinkshoes, I totally agree.
My friend has told them they will be getting a solicitor to check over the t&c's and ive said to her she should inform the local paper....a story like that is bound to get a good page and give them extremely bad publicity.

What gets me is they are prepared to let them have an earlier date (and so making the march day free again) but not for a later date.....!!!

pinkshoes

lkk88 wrote: »

Thanks pinkshoes, I totally agree.
My friend has told them they will be getting a solicitor to check over the t&c's and ive said to her she should inform the local paper....a story like that is bound to get a good page and give them extremely bad publicity.

What gets me is they are prepared to let them have an earlier date (and so making the march day free again) but not for a later date.....!!!

In this current credit crunch, bad publicity is the last thing they'll want! They've probably had a cancellation on the earlier date, hence trying to force her to change.

If they refuse to refund or change date to a suitable one, she'll need to go on every rating site and give the venue a bad review, along with naming and shaming them every where they can!

lkk88

They also have the risk of losing a further £7k but it depends where they would get the most profit from: £3k in there pocket and bad press or a happy customer and £10k sitting in there piggy bank (id guess around half of that would be profit)....doesnt take a scientist to work out what they should do for good business!!!

Savvy_Sue

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whowants2brich

Silly question, I know - but does the prospective bride and groom have wedding insurance? I know that some may regard it as pointless, but if when you booked the wedding and took out the insurance, the bride wasn't pregnant (and wasn't intending on getting pregant - which bride would intend??), then the insurance should help/pay out.

I agree, the hotel shouldn't be like this - if they're willing to bring the date forward then that's good for you. It means that they're varying the terms to their advantage. Or at least trying to. Which means that the contract is effectively null and void and you are entitled to cancel and get a refund. This goes against the unfair terms in contracts thing which I've read about so much on here.

A company cannot vary a contract, or have a clause to allow them to vary a contract, if it is unfairly affecting the other party, unless the affected party has the right to cancel the contract without penalty.

(or something like that, I'm no lawyer but my OH is, though not in this field...)

whowants2brich

PS If they review their prices and set the 2009 prices to start from April 1st (a lot of venues would, to allow new pricing for the 2009 season, starting after winter), then they may turn around and say that the price for the wedding package may increase by a little bit, if you have it later in the year.

Whilst this may not be avoidable, it may be better to accept this (a x% rise in the prices) than running the risk of losing the deposit. They may be entitled to do this, if they've reviewed their prices in this way in previous years.

lkk88

Dont know about the wedding insurance - I would have to ask my friend.

They appreciate that a later wedding could be more expensive - they asked the venue for a price list for 2009 and would be more than happy to pay extra but the venue will not budge and will not transfer that £3k already paid to a later date. My friend has even offered to pay even more towards the deposit for a later date to try and save the original deposit but nope they are not having any of it! It just seems so unfair - why would anyone want to get married there after them being so unfair? I certainly wouldnt pay again, id rather tell them to stuff it and go elsewhere (maybe thats what they want for a 'cancellation')but £3k is alot of money to lose!

karen_newcastle

She should just get married with bump and all. Life is about surprises and this couple have been lucky enough to become pregnant and should just take what life throws at them. There are worse things than getting married with a bump!!

SUESMITH_2

our friends got married at 7 months pregnant - same situation as your friends. tbh with how her dress fitted it was hard to see really unless she sat a certain way and by the end of the day she was tired so from personal experience i would say go for it; however i do wonder what sort of wedding this place will put on if they're being so mean about things