Wedding venue problems - want to cancel.

beks

shellsuit wrote: »

Awww beks I'm sorry you are no further on with this. Is there not a solicitor who would not give you a little advice over the phone, or the CAB maybe?? xx

CAB have given us all the advice they can, we have an appt with their solicitor but the soonest they could make was mid november (and we booked that 2 weeks ago). Have tried the solicitors in our area but you have to get past secretary first!!!! Plus half of them wont deal with civil litigation. The only ones who would have helped us couldnt because they are either a) solicitors for the venue or b) they already have a client they are sueing the venue for (they couldnt tell us which).
What a mess!!

*Louise*

^^he is probably counting on you getting fed up with the process and giving in Beks.

I would fill in the form as best you can and send it, do you have anyone in your family who would read through it with you and double check your details are correct? - if there are any queries you will get a phone call asking for clarification.

Ps - I would imagine you are sueing the owner? As that is who you want the money back from. I could be wrong though, I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will advise.

frannyann

Beks, deep breath honey! You need to sue the venue, as that is who you have the 'supposed' contract with. Its not worth sueing him as an individual as he doesn't have the money, his company (the venue) does. You really don't need a solicitor. Don't give up, if others have successfully sued him, means you can too. Ask around for a 'fixed fee' consultation with solicitor if you feel the need to discuss the issues, most will do one for around £100. May even be worth ask on DFW boards as a lot have used small claims court.

frannyann

PS, I can read through it for you if you want, as proof reading is my freelance job HTH

floss2

BTW, do you have legal cover with your household insurance? You may be able to get the advice you want over the phone from them....

cherrub

beks wrote: »

We really need a solicitor to help us now but they are charging £213 per hour for the priviledge. Spent my day ringing round solicitors. There are arent any "no win, no fee" lawyers in the area who specialise in civil litigation. No one will give us 1/2 hour free either. If we go to small claims court then we cannot claim for cost of solicitor which seems ludicrous.
It just seems to be a lose lose situation and not an hour goes by without us stressing over it.

It's worth checking if your household insurance or any of your bank accounts come with any legal services cover. Also some employers offer legal services to their staff as part of their reward package.

If you don't have any cover it could well be worth joining a service such as 'Which legal service' which is linked to the Which consumer magazine. It's about £50 pounds a year and I think that gives you unlimited calls to them, so maybe you could investigate that as an option.

From the sort of cases that they highlight in the magazine they seem very good a helping people get their money back through the small claims court.

girl-in-a-hat

Hi Beks,

I'm pretty new to MSE forums and have only just come across this thread but want to lend my support. As Frannyann says, you probably don't need a solicitor but if you want some free advise, try contacting ContactLaw - http://www.contactlaw.co.uk/. They're there to put you in touch with the right solicitor but the site also says that their advisors have excellent legal knowledge so you might be able to get some accurate advice without having to pay a penny?

I'm sure you don't want to have to repeat your story again but maybe they can give you some free advice or put you in touch with a reasonably priced professional?

Keep strong x

Horace

Beks - are you in a union? I know that it sounds like a strange question but if you are you can have free legal advice from them (I know that Unison offers this service as long as what you contact them about isnt work related). Also if you have household insurance - you may have legal help attached to that.

You need to find out if the venue is owned by the owner (ie. the chap that has been messing you about) or whether or not he is a tenant (if its a pub-like venue). I would actually sue him if he is the owner. £213 per hour is steep for a solicitor - I would expect to pay that fee for a barrister - contact the Law Society and ask them for details of solicitors in your area who deal with civil cases, who are reasonably priced. Also what has happened with trading standards - are they taking this case further?

frannyann

Horace, its owned by him!

Beks, going to DM you an link to a case against same place where £1000 costs WERE awarded!! May cheer you up x

beks

Sorry - been writing this for ages but little dd vomiting in bed has made it take half the evening!!

Thanks everyone for your replies, I will look into the options you have all given. There are some really good suggestions there. Been feeling really down about it (doesnt help that my daughter and I have been ill and H2B has not really got too involved with this side of things - he is an action man not a paper work one and has had a lot on his plate of late!!!)

*Louise* and Steph1986 and shellsuit- thank you!

Horace - yes am in a union, not unison but a large enough one all the same. Will have a look at my info and see if they can help.

girl-in-a-hat - thanks for the link - I will take a look.

floss2 and cherrub - will take a look at house insurance thanks.

Cherrub - Have asked OH to check with his bank tomorrow - he has an advantage gold card which seems to come with bells and whistles so I wouldnt be surprised if they could offer some advice (it is also the same bank, although not card, that we used to pay the money in the first place). Thats a great idea, it hadnt crossed my mind until your suggestion.

Frannyann - thanks as always. I will try and get a clear head and then start on the legal form again.

xxx