Wedding venue problems - want to cancel.

floss2

Beks, did you try SSAFA, or can they recommend a solicitor who can help seeing as it was OH's military compensation that was used?

I still think you could get a lot of media & public interest from that angle if you wished to....and it might shame the venue into paying up.

beks

floss2 wrote: »

Beks, did you try SSAFA, or can they recommend a solicitor who can help seeing as it was OH's military compensation that was used?

I still think you could get a lot of media & public interest from that angle if you wished to....and it might shame the venue into paying up.

OH rang SSAFA about a week ago, I had forgotten about it actually and think OH said someone would be ringing back .. dont think they did so will get onto OH about it! Thanks for reminding me!! He is also going to speak to BLESMA today (British Limbless Ex-Servicemens Asscociation) as he is a member and see if they can offer any assistance. They have been great for other stuff so may be able to help too. I am a little more confident that we can do it now though and trying to get it all into writing (and limit my word count!). We are away all week next week so will either get it done before we go or finish it when we get back.

I am still a little unsure about the media thing, I doubt it would be of current interest as it didnt happen in Iraq or Afghanistan, he has been out a few years. Definitely after court (if we win the case) I will looking to spread the word and will use the media in any way we can. The longer this goes on, the more and more annoyed I am getting with the venue and the arrogance of the man!!

x

shellsuit

Beks, I'd go down the media route ~ I bet that you would be unindated with offers from venues and companies!!! xxx

Katie-Kat-Kins

Hi just got back to this, my subscriptions aren't working for some reason!

beks wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your advice, sorry for the late reply, I have now caught my daughters lurgy and both ill in bed lol!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KatP
Yep I can see that now, sorry someone sent me a pm about this thread.

OP have you posted on you and your wedding to see if anyone on there has experience of the venue? I haven't no, as I was a bit worried about publishing the name of the venue incase of legal problems Thanks everyone for your advice, sorry for the late reply, I have now caught my daughters lurgy and both ill in bed lol!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KatP
Yep I can see that now, sorry someone sent me a pm about this thread.

OP have you posted on you and your wedding to see if anyone on there has experience of the venue? I haven't no, as I was a bit worried about publishing the name of the venue incase of legal problems You could just post a message saying anyone getting married at ........... I'm looking for a venue buddy and then when you get some replies you could PM the people who reply. Alternatively you could use an obscure user name and just say that you are having problems with the venue and wonder if anyone else is.

Also a firm of solicitors who are already suing the venue could act for you, they do not have a conflict, it is the ones who act for the venue who can't act. Ok, so that means the solicitor we contacted is the venues solicitor already I guess! Good job I didnt give them too much info! Try a couple more solicitors

If you want someone to look at your claim form before you send it off PM me, I work in civil litigation, although not in quite this branch. As a newly wed myself I'd be happy to help where I can. Thank you

Personally I'd reply to his letter to you formally rejecting his offer and pointing out his inaccuracies then saying that you will accept the full amount within 14 days or you will start court proceedings. Tell him that if you have to start court proceedings you will claim for the full amount paid plus associated expenses and interest from the date the payment was made. We sent a letter on 8th October similar to what you have suggested (although did not mention expenses and interest), he hasnt responded Did you put a time limit on it? If so write again when the time limit expires, I'll give you some wording to make a formal letter that sounds like you have legal advice and puts him under some pressure.

You are entitled to do that and also bear in mind that if you can think of some associated expenses that total more than £50 your claim will no longer be a small claim and you would be able to recover costs and therefore maybe able to get no win no fee representation.

Associated expenses will include:
Cost of postage for each letter (including special delivery costs) (total £3.42)
Cost of phone calls (included in our phone bill charges so no extra cost)
Cancellation costs for anything else you booked for that date (nothing booked as we never got a confirmation and wanted this before we booked. Made lots of enquires and provisional bookings but no payment)
Mileage for any extra visits to the venue (about 15 miles round trip x2) Claim at 45p per mile, so £13.50, add on mileage/bus fares for trips to CAB etc.
Loss of earnings for any time off work incurred as a result (none as gone to CAB, venue on days off - would have been a good excuse for day off work though lol!)
bank charges incurred (paid out of bank account from OHs compensation so had money and in no debt because of it)!
interest incurred on a credit card/loan/overdraft as a result of being out of pocket. (as above) Ok but you can claim lost interest on the sum, that is at 6% from the date you paid it until settlement. If you give me the date you paid, I'll use our special calculator to work it out.

I would suggest making up a draft schedule of loss. This is a document that sets out the total amount you want to claim for every category, it is just a simple list, then seeing if you can get legal advice, if not this document will be helpful with your claim.

I suspect that if this guy is dodgy and actually never intends to honour the booking he probably sets the amount just below £5000 because it comes into the small claims track and it is difficult to get legal representation and you can't make binding part 36 offers with penalties.

Once you have your draft schedule of loss post it on here or pm me a copy, I will then tell you how to go about making him a part 36 offer before starting the financial claim. This puts him on risk of having to pay more costs and will hopefully put the frighteners on him!


Still looks like we are quite a way off the £5000 mark and I cannot think of any other way we can claim financially against him, it is literally just the disappointment and frustration of it all. Plus the £4950!!!
I think I have been trying to complete the forms from the heart and have rambled on and not got to the point, I need to use my head a bit more and forget the heartache this is causing. For court forms don't complete it from the heart, complete it with the bare facts stated as clearly as possible.





.

Hope some of that helps.

Katie-Kat-Kins

It also occures to me that if you could find more people that are having similar problems you could perhaps all join together to sue him like a joint action, that might make legal advice a little easier. I don't know whether that is possible legally though as it is outside my expertise. I also wonder whether this is some sort of ongoing scam or fraud......

Have you checked whether you can get legal representation on your home insurance or through your union? It would really help you here!

beks

Thanks KatP - those posts were really helpful.
In response to your questions ....

We didnt put a time limit on the final letter - it was our 4th letter and bascially told him we were taking him to court if we did not get our money back. We have been helped by consumer direct to write every letter we have written so they have a legal slant to them. Obviously he doesnt care though as he still chose to ignore 3 out of 4!! I am guessing he isnt scared of the legal process as we know he has been there quite a few times before.

We have had two appointments with CAB so will work the travel cost out - not much but will add if you think this is appropriate.

I dont really think that he is a scammer to the extreme where he has done this on purpose but I think he made a mistake but refuses to admit it and wotn do anything to rectify it or apologise. If that is the sort of person he is, I dont want him to have my money. I may be being too lenient but I havent found anything out about him doing this sort of thing before. There has been a lot about him not living up to expectations and not giving what has been paid for but this has all come from people who have got married there previously or stayed in his hotel. I dont think he cares what people think or how disappointed they are. When people complain, he does not acknowledge that there has been a problem and hold his hands up.

We paid £4950 on Monday 29th June 2009.

The brilliant news we have had today is that we have been granted a free appointment (an hour) with a solicitor a week on Tuesday (away next week so couldn't do it sooner ourselves):D, plus our house insurance is sending us forms to fill in and is pretty sure they can take on the case. (they said that if they are more than 51% sure they will win, they will take it on!!). We think this is the option we shall take depending on if they agree and how long it takes but will obviously check the details with the free solicitor first. At last some good news, time to get things moving in the right direction and stop procrastinating!!! :rotfl:

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUGGESTIONS MSE'ERS!!!! YOU ARE ALL SUPER-FANTASTIC!!! :T:T:T

shellsuit

Smashing news Beks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xxx

frannyann

KatP, wish it was possible to thank your posts more than once, great advice!

Beks, really pleased you are starting to get somewhere! Remember as soon as you give the word I will let all of kent know through my job

Chrysalis

hi beks, have read this entire thread but already cant remember all of it.

you sound like a nice person who has come across a nasty person, and he has probably trampled on many people before. I did wonder how he gets away with this but it seems your diffilculty in finding a legal route to solving the problem is probably how.

At the start he was denying all knowledge of your existance, claiming no emails, no contact with you etc. If he persisted with that I think you would have had very little hope legally.

He then made the mistake by telling you about refunds, so at this point you have receipt of payment.

Solicitors probably werent too willing because its not a cut and dry case for them, a lot of evidence as far as they are concerned is hear say, the only facts are the bank statement and the emails but emails can be fabricated.

Clearly he is experienced in this scam, when you first visited his partner will have already known how to react to you as well as himself when you met him, I feel your mistake was not been agressive at that point, like allowing him to usher you out, I would have deliberatly caused a fuss in front of the wedding that was going on at the time eg.

You defenitly need solid legal advice, you basically have paid for a service that he says he is willing to provide, I think if the day passed and he didnt provide the service your case would be strong but until then he probably has the upper hand. I hate typing this as he sounds a very evil man and I very much hope I am wrong. But keep persisting go to the media as everyone says, follow all legal avenues, consider naming and shaming him especially on here, and maybe even pound him with fake bookings from friends to mess him up.

Jemster

Aww Beks I'm really pleased to hear some good news! Hopefully one of the solicitors (sp?) will whoop his butt and get your money back. Will be keeping everything crossed for you, try not to worry to much while you're away and enjoy your break! Jem xx