Wedding money with held (not the deposit)- any help please!

Lish_2

Hiya,
I am posting on behalf of my friend who sadly broke up with her fiance and had already put the deposit down (£300) and paid one installment (£700) to the venue for her reception.
She gave the venue 6 months notice of cancellation and has so far not incurred any charges (ie. the venue havn't had to use the installment towards supplies or anything) however, the venue are now refusing to give back ANY of the money. She totally understands that the deposit is lost- hence the term 'deposit' but the installment shoul surely be refundable? Even part of it?
She has sent them a letter kindly asking for reimbursement of the £700 to which the venue wrote back and said 'No':mad: . She then sent another letter explaining that the wedding pack they sent her does not state anything about non-refunable installments and that they technically cant have used the money towards anything to do with her wedding as she hasnt incurred any charges yet- and if this proves to be wrong, she would like a breakdown of where the money has gone in order to prove why she cant have the money back which I think is fair enough! She also wrote in the letter that she would like to hear from them within the next 28 days- which has now lapsed so I wondered if anyone could advise what to do next? Does she have a point or is it just a waste of time trying? I really want to help her but Im stuck as to what to suggest! Am I right in also thinking that there is a legal amount of days a company has to reply to a letter? If so, how many is it?

(Ps. While we are on the subject she also has a brand-new wedding dress that she needs to get rid of- any suggestions?!)

Any information anyone can offer would be gratefully appreciated, Thanks Guys!;)

foxxymynx

CAB - they can advise much better

Lish_2

Thanks, I have already suggested this to her but to be fair- it means taking a morning off of work to wait all morning for an appointment which might have to do eventually.
I am looking for some help in regards to whether or not she actually has a point in trying to get this money back at all rather than going straight to the CAB.

sal-ad_daze

According to the CAB website, some bureaux have an email service.
Find your nearest and see if they have the facility, then your friend may not have to take time off work.
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice.htm

Lish_2

Thanks sal-ad dayze they dont have any email facility in our area- I totally understand what the CAB are for and everything but some helpful suggestions on her moral stance would be very much appreciated rather than being pointed in CAB's direction.

picklepick

the only thing i can think of is getting the advice of a solicitor. There are some that will offer a free first consultation and then she can see where she stands legally on this. Try this link....

http://www.venables.co.uk/individx.htm

It gives a list of solicitors where you can call or email. Hope that helps your friend

Taadaa

She could try and flog her dress on a wedding forum, or pre loved. She won't get anywhere near full price for it in the current economic situation though. But something is better than nothing. Sometimes on pre loved people post 'wanteds' so she might get lucky - I think the sooner the better though i.e. before it becomes last season as buyers will have a bargaining chip.

Mrs_Huggett

:cool: Google consumer direct.gov and/or Office of fair trading (OFT) they both have lots of advice and you may find the answer, alternatively you could telephone them and ask their advice. I wish your friend luck!

Lish_2

Thanks for the advice folks- I will be looking at these websites and see what I can do.

I am all assuming that you all think she has a right to get this installment back then?...:rolleyes:

fuzzybear01

The venue I held my money at had a cancellation policy detailing the charges. Which were on a sliding scale depending on the amount of time given. There must be some information in the contract / wedding pack somewhere, as the venue may have people who cancel the day before the wedding, so need to charge accordingly.

Example from the terms and conditions of a venue

In the unfortunate event of you cancelling you’re confirmed

wedding reception the following Charges will apply:

12 weeks prior – 50% of anticipated Revenues
Between 11 & 5 weeks – 75% of anticipated Revenues

4 weeks or less – 100% of anticipated Revenues

Lish_2

Hiya fuzzybear01 - thanks we have already read the wedding pack and contract thoroughly and it doesnt say anything of the sort in relation to non refunding installments, she cancelled 6 months in advance and she is totally prepared to maybe lose some of it but the whole £700 i think is a bit unfair when they have also kept the £300 deposit too! If they had stated it was non refundable (the installment- not the deposit) then it would all be fine but there is no literature anywhere so I personally think she is right to try and get some of it back!
Also, as I said before- the letter we sent to them asking for a detailed description of what they have had to use this £700 towards which would equal not being able to refund her was requested and they havnt even bothered. 6 months is a fair amount of time to cancel- I wouldnt have even bothered posting this thread if she had left it 3 months or less because it would be fair for them to keep hold of the money.