Cancellation fees

greatatuin

Hi everyone! This is my first post so be gentle!! I work for the NHS with adults with learning difficulties,and was put in charge of organising the residents annual Xmas party for all of their families to attend as it is a secure unit and for many the only time they see their relatives. I booked a disco from the phone book,he said as it was NHS he would knock off £30 and we could employ his services for £150 instead of £180. However a serious outbreak of gastroenteritis on the unit meant we had to cancel the party and his services. He came to the unit and demanded the whole £150.Can he do this???:mad:

greatatuin

To add,this now means we dont have enough money to have a new year party instead as planned as the money was donated to us by a charity!

pendulum

Probably, yes. By booking you entered into a contract, and as I'm assuming you cancelled at short notice, its very likely you can be held to it, as he wouldn't have managed to book someone else in to your slot. Whether paying him leaves you short for another party, and where the money came from in the first place, is irrelevant to this.

Anthillmob

maybe he has caught the shoites too so that'll teach him.

greatatuin

God its so frustrating! What a horrid man. It was cancelled within a 7 day period,does that make a difference? Haha! Thankyou Anthillmob! At least u made me smile!!

Anthillmob

greatatuin wrote: »

God its so frustrating! What a horrid man. It was cancelled within a 7 day period,does that make a difference? Haha! Thankyou Anthillmob! At least u made me smile!!

i can see your issappointment but a contract is unfortunately a contract but if he came and touched anything that had the germ then he probably got it.

pendulum

greatatuin wrote: »

God its so frustrating! What a horrid man.

It's worth mentioning that your the one who's messed him around by booking then cancelling. I'm sure he wouldn't have many nice things to say about you if he was here to defend himself against that comment. It's very frustrating for businesses when customers book then cancel at short notice.

If you don't pay him he can potentially start charging interest too.

ckerrd

greatatuin wrote: »

God its so frustrating! What a horrid man. It was cancelled within a 7 day period,does that make a difference? Haha! Thankyou Anthillmob! At least u made me smile!!

Horrid man? For trying to run a business? A little harsh. You could try and negotiate with him but he is probably entitled to all the money.

Do you mean it was cancelled within 7 days of booking it?
Do you have a copy of his terms and conditions?

Ivory_Tinkler

I would think that this is his busiest time of the year and unless he could have booked something at short notice in place of your party he would have lost planned income. As he is a business whether you are NHS or corporate means nothing to him - he'll just want his cash!

Laz123

If it was me I'd tell him to take a running jump. I assume there's nothing in writing. It's highly unlikely he'll take it to small claims court.

whatmichaelsays

As others have said. You have booked and he has honoured his side of the agreement. It's likely that he has turned away business in order to honour the agreement he has with you.

You entered into a contract and he is perfectly entitled to ask for a cancellation fee.