Wedding Venue Deposit - Non-refundable?

octoman

Hi,

Hope someone can help....we paid a deposit for a wedding venue (£1,100) but have recently split.

We have asked whether the deposit would be refunded but have been informed that it is non-refundable, we appreciate that this clause is to stop people from booking and cancelling on the fly, but the wedding date is over a year away and if they can rebook then I would have thought morally they would return the deposit minus any administration costs.

I am thinking of taking them to a small claims court, but am not sure legally where I would stand - we did sign paperwork stating that it was non-refundable, however, seeing as the date is over a year away I see this as just easy money to them, the venue is extremely popular and they would not have a problem getting another booking, and we are happy for any admin charges to be deducted.

Thanks

Pee

I think the point of a deposit is that it is non-refundable... The CAB might be able to help if you could argue it is an unfair term.

xxlaurissaxx

octoman wrote: »

I am thinking of taking them to a small claims court, but am not sure legally where I would stand - we did sign paperwork stating that it was non-refundable, however, seeing as the date is over a year away I see this as just easy money to them, the venue is extremely popular and they would not have a problem getting another booking, and we are happy for any admin charges to be deducted.

Thanks

Theres your answer. You signed paperwork so will just be wasting time. Sorry but I really don't think you stand a chance xx

xmaslolly76

Is there any clause in the contract that states you cant sell the date on yourselves. obviousley not ideal but you would get some of your money back at least ?

octoman

xxlaurissaxx wrote: »

Theres your answer. You signed paperwork so will just be wasting time. Sorry but I really don't think you stand a chance xx

thought that would be the case - but was hoping there was a happy answer as it is a fair amount of cash to lose :-(

seeing as it is so far away, I thought they might be nice (haha)

the silly thing is that I can be a pain and not release the date to the last second thus minimising the timeframe to rebook (not nice I know!), even if they offered a 50% return then we would free the date up straight away!

octoman

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

Is there any clause in the contract that states you cant sell the date on yourselves. obviousley not ideal but you would get some of your money back at least ?

I thought of that....and there isn't.....but I couldn't even think of where I would advertise it....don't suppose you live in Kent, have a lovely venue for hire :-)

xmaslolly76

lol sorry chick im in midlands and havent divorced the last one let alone thought about where to marry the new one yet ;-) x

octoman

xmaslolly76 wrote: »

lol sorry chick im in midlands and havent divorced the last one let alone thought about where to marry the new one yet ;-) x

well.....if you change your mind or know someone then please pass them my details

perhaps I should advertise it on Ebay.....I'll even offer myself as a guest if they need to make numbers!!

Mark_Hewitt

£1,100 deposit? Yikes! We paid £250 and I thought that was a lot.

Pollycat

Although you DID sign up to their T&Cs that said no refund of deposit, as your booking was for a year away - and I assume that the venue has not incurred any costs as yet - it's more than likely that they will be able to re-sell that date.
Therefore they would not be out of pocket - in fact the reverse as they'd have your deposit plus the new booking.

Have you asked them if they'll refund if they resell your date at some time in the future?
If they will, you could get someone to check if the date is available, if it isn't then ask for your refund.

I'd be inclined to ask at CAB to see what they think your chances are.
As Mark says, £1100 is not an insignificant sum - and is a whopping amount to retain for providing nothing.

octoman

Mark_Hewitt wrote: »

£1,100 deposit? Yikes! We paid £250 and I thought that was a lot.

it is an expensive place (she wanted the fairy-tale wedding!) .... for the cost of just hiring the venue we could have had the entire wedding elsewhere ... lol, u live and learn :-(