MONEY MORAL DILEMMA: Should Monica and Chandler not pay their wedding planner?

Gerrym1984

On the face of it, even if there were a breach of contract the wedding planner would still be entitled to a portion of the fee for work done/completed.

charliee_3

I dont think it is as straightforward as it seems. I think it all depends on the contracts taken up and who was at fault. Moncia and Chandler had a contract with the planner, depending on the scope of that contract depends on where she can be deemed to have delivered or not. She may well have only been contracted for the planning with no liability for suppliers used in which case she has done her job.

The failures on the day were by the sub-contractors, the florist, the caterers, etc. Whoever had the contract with them needs to take it up with them and any claim for compensation is on THAT contract, not nessesarily the one with planner (unless the £800 was supposed to cover all of these things, which I doubt very much). Moncia and Chandler may be able to claim something back from the planner if she recommended companies who were not reliable, but I feel this would be more of a goodwill gesture on her part rather than a legal obligation. However, I am sure they would be able to reclaim some money from the florist/ caterer/ cake maker, etc if the errors were their fault. They would only be able to claim from the planner if she was negligent (ie ordered the wrong flowers, told the caterer the wrong time/ venue so the food was cold, etc)

RuthnJasper

No - they shouldn't pay the £800, as the services received were not satisfactory. What they SHOULD do is to sit down with the wedding planner and a list of things that DID run smoothly and the things that DIDN'T, and work out the proportional costs of each (e.g. guest list management went well - £80, Flowers unacceptable - £120, selection of venue OK - £75, etc.) and only pay for the items that WERE satisfactory. If necessary, also bring in an independent mediator.

Obviously, the most important thing about the wedding is the celebration of the couple's love for each other and the commitment they have made and not these extras. However - if I had ordered a red dress and been sent blue trousers, I would not expect to pay for them but would return them. The couple's wedding day mishaps CANNOT be returned, so they should not be expected to pay for the things that went awry.

And if I were a wedding planner, I would not expect the couple to pay for unacceptable service. I would not be paying the companies I had contracted - caterers, baker, florist - for the contracts they had failed to honour, so I wouldn't have the gall to ask the couple to pay for them either. That way, at the end of the day, the only ones out of pocket would be the individual companies that had let everyone down.

Have a great time in 2010, everyone.

MORPH3US

Would depend on whose fault it was for each mishap.... if it is the wedding planners fault, or not her fault but still should have been avoided with her knowledge and experience then I certainly wouldn't pay her the full amount.

fruugal

If all of the errors are the responsibility of the Wedding planner then she should offer not to be paid.

However, £800 is not a big fee for a wedding planner and therefore it might be that she was only doing some of the things.

We had the wrong flowers delivered, and none for our tables and that was entirely the fault of the florists who had closed by the time we knew of the error. They apologised and offered money back the following week, and the florist was shocked when she went into the workroom on the Monday morning, but it was their fault.

As the fee was so small for a pretty hairy job, I would suspect that the bride or a mother or sister had been involved with some of it and therefore the responsiblity was shared. If so, if the wedding planner did all she was contracted for, then she should be paid in full with good grace.

They are married now and should draw a line and get on with life or their memories of their big day will be thoroughly tarred with the disgruntled brush!

Hezzawithkids

Don't pay. The point of having a wedding planner is to have someone take care of thse details for you. She didn't do the job she was hired for so deserves to lose out. That's life, get over it.

JayD

You don't pay for a bad job and you certainly don't pay for a job that wasn't done!

The idea of a wedding planner is to leave all that in the hands of someone else who you trust will have sufficient experience and reliable contacts to make your day run smoothly.

She failed - so she doesn't get paid.

As all those suppliers let the wedding planner down, she should then be reclaiming her loss from them.

golddustmedia

It sounds like it's the final services (i.e. floristry and catering) that were supplied incorrectly, rather than the planner who booked them?

In which case to earn the £800 the planner should be speaking with the florist and caterer to negotiate either a refund or discount, thus offsetting her £800 cost for the married couple.


On the other hand, if the flowers etc were incorrectly ordered BY the wedding planner, then she didn't do her job properly and should expect her fee to be affected as a result.


Either way, if things weren't done right then someone shouldn't be getting paid the full amount.


Personally when I got married all the suit hire for the Grooms party was messed up by Burton/Moss Bros. Wrong sizes, missing items, stained clothing etc. They ended up giving a full refund, but it was a major problem sorting it out 48hrs before the wedding! (ps: as someone else joked earlier, I also got divorced a year later!).

slimmer1

Who placed the orders??? If the planner was paid to deliver the wedding as a whole and employed the contractors then the planner is specifically and solely in breach of contract. Employing the planner then acting on their recommendation should have involved the planner assessing the suppliers of services and although the suppliers may have defaulted on their contract, the planner must also bear the responsibility that the recommended package failed to deliver and so should not expect payment in full. The amount of reduction should reflect what went right as well as what went wrong. Any comments about missed alternative contracts are completely irrelevant, the planner willingly entered into the contract.

ani_ka0

I would say do not pay.

If these things were completely out of the planner's hands (ie. weather) then I may have a different opinion, but if they have not provided the service to the expected standard, then they should not pay her (or come to an agreement - but not pay the full amount)