Cancelled wedding

Steve_xx

Tipples wrote: »

The point of my first letter was to give them their right to explain their contractual reasons for cancelling the wedding.

As we have already verbally raised concern regarding the hygiene of the premises and the quality of food and service, they are well aware of the issues. As we did not cancel the wedding ourselves based on these reasons we have nothing to justify by bringing them up again at this point. If they come back and say we were being unreasonable, I will cite these instances in my response (after seeking further legal advice naturally). I have our own witness statement and one by my mother in law to back this up.

We did not ask for for the wedding to be cancelled because of the issues, nor did we ask for a refund for the meal, as yes, we did eat it. We would not have cancelled the wedding ourselves based on these issues either, as they are things that are easily rectified. We merely wanted to raise our concerns with the management as we naturally expect better hygiene, food and service on our wedding day.

I actually didn't have too much of a problem with my own meal, sure it wasn't overly hot, but it was fairly tasty and seemed to be fully cooked, although possibly left to stand some time before serving. The issues were raised mainly regarding the soup eaten by father in law and uncle in law, and the Chicken dish eaten by fiance, mother in law, and auntie in law - we merely voiced their opinions on their behalf and our own concerns on how well this boded for our wedding.

Had it been my establishment, I would have apologised for the food and poor hygiene, but explained that as the customer had eaten the food, they could not legitimately then also request a refund, but I would also attempt to reassure said customer that efforts would be made to make improvements with regard to the issues raised prior to the wedding.
Or, if I did not feel the issues were rectifiable within the nine week timescale, I would apologise to the customer, and say sadly, that due to our lack of knowledge and experience I do not feel we are currently in a position to give you the level of service you expect on your wedding day and then give the customer the OPTION of cancelling their wedding and if they wanted to cancel I would have then refunded their deposit.

I personally do have kitchen and bar experience having worked for my father in other establishments and also in establishments unconnected to him, and I am well versed in food hygiene regulations regarding both the storage and preparation of food. I work for the council in the Benefits Section, which is just down the corridor from environmental health - might pop in there tomorrow lunchtime and see if they fancy doing an unannounced visit.

Yes, don't cloud the issue by raising points about hygiene at the meal you had there some days ago. These are two separate contracts and must be treated as such. You are seeking recompense for breach of the contract relating to cancellation of your wedding reception, and nothing else. You do not know how good or bad the food will be because that portion of the contract has/will not be performed and therefore it is not relevant here. Your claim will be strictly limited to damages, ie the cost of setting up and providing what they were due to provide if you are out of pocket as a result. If you found that you were unable to set a fresh contract in time with another company then any damages might be significantly higher due to the fact that it would ruin your day if you didn't have your reception at all.

The fact that one of their clauses (9) seeks to limit their liability cuts no ice. This might be set aside under the Unfair Terms in Contracts act. However, it is unlikely that any level of compensation due would exceed cost of the reception anyway.

omen666

Why would you want it there after all that?

Tipples

omen666 wrote: »

Why would you want it there after all that?

I don't, as I've said in several posts. We are looking at other venues at the moment, but I wanted advice on what recourse to take against the original venue in the likely event that the wedding now costs more as a result.

Tozer

Tipples wrote: »

I don't, as I've said in several posts. We are looking at other venues at the moment, but I wanted advice on what recourse to take against the original venue in the likely event that the wedding now costs more as a result.

Then sue them. And when you win for their blatant breach of contract, go to the papers then.

You will prejudice your claim if you go to the press before and it serves absolutely no purpose.

Freddie_Snowbits

One assumes we should be watching the small claims courts for a decision soon.

One question, does your potential Father in Law fit car radios?

I am now emailing colleagues this thread, just incase the number of direct hits gets this topic to thread of the week. I have also noted it for Darwin Award for losing deposits.

Horace

What I cannot understand is why if the OP has received legal advice is she now asking for advice from a bunch of strangers who may or may not be legally trained?

Personally, I would accept the cheque and find somewhere else - as for the poorly cooked food and poor hygiene then that this another matter and a quiet word to the local environmental health team is needed - being new tenants with little or no experience of running such an establishment they are probably a due a visit from them anyway.

Steve_xx

Horace wrote: »

What I cannot understand is why if the OP has received legal advice is she now asking for advice from a bunch of strangers who may or may not be legally trained?

This is an open forum and therefore I would suggest that it is the hope of the original poster that someone who is legally versed will come on and offer advice. The poster may also be thinking that other people may have encountered a similar situation and if so they may wish to relate their experience and what the remedy was. That way we all learn something. That is the essence of forums of this nature.

WolfSong2000

God that pub sounds scarily like a place I used to waitress at! :eek:

Poor management can make a massive difference to what is otherwise a lovely establishment...I used to work at a gorgeous old pub, but the managers were unbelievable - rude to customers, etc, etc. Then a new owner took over the pub (and for some reason known only to himself retained the managers), and insisted on a number of changes (for the worse)...it all went downhill from there. There weren't enough staff to implement the new policies and as a result I had to deal with a table of around 20 having to wait around an hour for starters...there was nothing I could do about it, and they were understandably annoyed at the situation. Eventually I just quit.

Anyhow, point to the ramble is that I can sympathize with the OP. Fingers crossed she'll get the situation resolved and find another venue for her wedding!

Tozer

Steve_xx wrote: »

This is an open forum and therefore I would suggest that it is the hope of the original poster that someone who is legally versed will come on and offer advice. The poster may also be thinking that other people may have encountered a similar situation and if so they may wish to relate their experience and what the remedy was. That way we all learn something. That is the essence of forums of this nature.

Does being a lawyer make me legally versed?

Horace

Steve_xx wrote: »

This is an open forum and therefore I would suggest that it is the hope of the original poster that someone who is legally versed will come on and offer advice. The poster may also be thinking that other people may have encountered a similar situation and if so they may wish to relate their experience and what the remedy was. That way we all learn something. That is the essence of forums of this nature.

I was exercising my right of free thought - I was wondering why the OP who clearly states that she has sought legal advice is asking people who are often not lawyers for advice? It just seems wierd to me. I never said that the OP shouldnt post on here.

I do wonder if the OP had the sense to take out some wedding insurance - that way she would be covered for cancellation of the venue by the supplier. Now she needs to find an alternative venue and I would suggest looking at council-run places as they are often cheaper, guests could stay in a local hotel or travel lodge and it could all be arranged in 9 weeks for the sum she was prepared to pay in the first place.