Graduation Ball Misery - What Are My Rights?

Chester85

Hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to read this and hope I can get some help here.

I attended my university graduation ball last week, paying £65 for the privilege which included a meal, bottle of house wine and a performance by Jazz Club

Unfortuanately JC cancelled, beyond the control of the event organisers.

When I arrived, along with my friends we were told we were not seated in the main room but in the 'basement bar'. A basement bar without a bar and without the live music that was being performed upstairs. This was because the main room holds 600 and the union sold 900 tickets. We weren't told this could happen at all when we purchased the tickets. We couldnt' find anyone to complain to on the night, only bar staff who obviously were just hosting the event.

I feel I got a bit of a raw deal, bumped into a dingy basement with no live music while we ate and no bar, we had to keep going upstairs. None of this was explained to us as a possibility at time of booking.

I emailed the events officer at the Union who sent a rather curt reply saying it was simply a case of there is no luncheon venue in the area that can sit 900 people in one room, fair enough, but not explained, The events officer went on to say it wasn't their fault and that she had faced the same situation not long ago but still had a great time.

Do I have any grounds for complaint here?

Thanks for reading

Chester

hollydays

ooo-I would be mad and want my money back.
Threaten them with the County Court?
I think it's classed as" loss of enjoyment",but I could be wrong..

But then again,you say you weren't told it would happen,but what were you told would happen (in written form)?

dmg24

Difficult one - technically, you got what you paid for, however in reality, you were given a far substandard product. I would compare it to booking a standard hotel room and being given a room in the staff quarters downstairs. I agree with hollydays, send a Letter Before Action advising you intend to take legal action if you are not offered a (partial?) refund.

LinasPilibaitisisbatman

To Assume makes an !!! of you and me.

You made assumptions about what would be supplied and where - maybe fairly - and cant demand a refund etc because you didnt get what you assumed you would.

You do seem to have got what was advertised albeit it seems a raw deal so if you cant appeal to their better nature you may as well give up.

dmg24

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

To Assume makes an !!! of you and me.

You made assumptions about what would be supplied and where - maybe fairly - and cant demand a refund etc because you didnt get what you assumed you would.

You do seem to have got what was advertised albeit it seems a raw deal so if you cant appeal to their better nature you may as well give up.

I agree that the OP did make an assumption, however the assumption was quite reasonable based on the information the OP was given when buying the tickets.

If you buy one of those racetrack experience days, you assume that you will be racing in a high spec car. This is a fair assumption to make. If you turned up and found the car to be an old Fiesta, then you would be within your rights to expect some kind of reimbursement (although possibly not the full amount, assuming you continued with the event).

maggie111

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

To Assume makes an !!! of you and me.

You made assumptions about what would be supplied and where - maybe fairly - and cant demand a refund etc because you didnt get what you assumed you would.

You do seem to have got what was advertised albeit it seems a raw deal so if you cant appeal to their better nature you may as well give up.

How do you figure she got what was advertised? A sit down meal with entertainment?

Halloway

LinasPilibaitisisbatman wrote: »

To Assume makes an !!! of you and me.

Very poor.

Chester85

I don't want a full refund, £10 back would have satisfied me.

I simply do not think it was fair that people in the main area paid the same price as those in the basement when there was absolutely no suggestion that there'd be 2 rooms

[Deleted User]

Have you tried writing to the university and asking for a refund?

pinkshoes

I'd be furious, as £56 is a LOT of money to cough up for a student, particularly at the end of term.

With Ruth Lorenzo not turning up, then they would have got their money back, so should be refunding everyone a proportional amount, depending on what she cost to book.

As for being made to sit in a basement with no live music, then that's really not on, and they should have sold these as MUCH cheaper tickets, say £28 instead of £56, and made clear they were in a room with no live music or bar.

I would certainly write to them, and would ask for £20 refund. Can you get other people to write too? I'm sure they wouldn't want 200 separate small claims court papers coming through the post...

woody01

I would want £200 back if i had to sit through listening to Ruth 'Flash my Norks at Cowell' Lorenzo wailing through the evening.