Unfair cancellation charges

gallaghb

Hello there

My fiancee was booking an event for her hen do via an events company and it was to be held at hotel. He arranged it with the hotel etc and sent an invoice for dinner (provided by hotel), rooms and his fee for the event. We then realised my sister worked at said hotel and if we arranged direct with them it would be much cheaper.
She emailed the event organiser and said she'd like to do it direct with the hotel but just pay him for his service, he said this was fine and presented her with a new invoice with 2 extra charges £60 extra as he wasn't booking the whole thing?! £30 for admin charges for cancelling the previous invoice...

She then decided to go with someone else altogether as did not like the guys attitude at all or the ridiculous charges. Emailed him to cancel it completely and was presented with a final invoice for £60 (2 x £30 admin charges for invoice cancellation!).

At no point prior to sending the first invoice when she said she would like to proceed with it did he mention a cancellation charge if she changed her mind. So surely this is unlawful and he is just trying his luck?

I'm aware there is a 7 day cooling off period which applies to contracts for services, but a cancellation fee could still be payable? There is no contract in this instance he keeps sending these 'invoices' but in my mind they are just quotations and until she pays she hasn't legally agreed to anything.

Your thoughts please?

many thanks
Ben

unholyangel

gallaghb wrote: »

Hello there

My fiancee was booking an event for her hen do via an events company and it was to be held at hotel. He arranged it with the hotel etc and sent an invoice for dinner (provided by hotel), rooms and his fee for the event. We then realised my sister worked at said hotel and if we arranged direct with them it would be much cheaper.
She emailed the event organiser and said she'd like to do it direct with the hotel but just pay him for his service, he said this was fine and presented her with a new invoice with 2 extra charges £60 extra as he wasn't booking the whole thing?! £30 for admin charges for cancelling the previous invoice...

She then decided to go with someone else altogether as did not like the guys attitude at all or the ridiculous charges. Emailed him to cancel it completely and was presented with a final invoice for £60 (2 x £30 admin charges for invoice cancellation!).

At no point prior to sending the first invoice when she said she would like to proceed with it did he mention a cancellation charge if she changed her mind. So surely this is unlawful and he is just trying his luck?

I'm aware there is a 7 day cooling off period which applies to contracts for services, but a cancellation fee could still be payable? There is no contract in this instance he keeps sending these 'invoices' but in my mind they are just quotations and until she pays she hasn't legally agreed to anything.

Your thoughts please?

many thanks
Ben

DSRs dont apply for "leisure services" to be supplied on a specific date and cooling off period does not apply when you sign at the traders own premises. What exactly has she signed and how was it all discussed/ ordered/whatever?

With contracts, it is always best to assume that unless the terms and conditions state otherwise......all agreements are final. And as such, if one party breaches the contract, the other party is allowed to seek to recover any actual loss they have incurred as a result of the other partys breach.

Providing all documentation is up to scratch etc and the cancellation charge is enforceable, it may be worthwhile asking him to waive the fee or reduce it if you will recommend him to any friends/family that are getting married.

gallaghb

Hi, thanks for your quick reply.

This was all done over email and phone. No contracts were either presented or signed. She literally said on email I would like to go ahead with this and he sent an invoice stating it must be paid within 10 days. Before he sent this initial invoice he had not mentioned any cancellation charge if she was to not go ahead with it. It was only in the ts and cs on the invoice itself.

Does a cooling off period therefore apply, as she didn't sign anything and certainly not at the traders premises?

neilmcl

There is no cooling off period, and IMO his cancellation charge seems more than reasonable.

unholyangel

gallaghb wrote: »

Hi, thanks for your quick reply.

This was all done over email and phone. No contracts were either presented or signed. She literally said on email I would like to go ahead with this and he sent an invoice stating it must be paid within 10 days. Before he sent this initial invoice he had not mentioned any cancellation charge if she was to not go ahead with it. It was only in the ts and cs on the invoice itself.

Does a cooling off period therefore apply, as she didn't sign anything and certainly not at the traders premises?

No. You would be relying on Distance Selling Regulations (specifically regulation 10 which does not apply to contracts for leisure services to be provided on a specific deate).

You could try a call to consumer direct and go through what was discussed etc with them to see if there is a loophole but afaik, it is an implied term for both parties to carry out their sides of the contract with reasonable care and since your partner has failed to keep up her end....he is entitled to seek his consequential losses. After all.....he is running a business and not just doing a friend a favour. It wouldnt have been very fair if he had agreed everything, cancelled and your partner wasnt able to rebook it herself.....would it? In those instances....your partner would have been able to claim for loss just as he is able to claim for his loss in this case.

If there had been a contract with a term such as "full amount will be payable on cancellation" it may have been open to challenge under Unfair Contract Terms.

You don't have wedding insurance do you? Even if they do cover the hen & stag parties.......it will be highly unlikely they will cover you for cancellation for this particular reason but its always worth checking your policy documents to see.

Failing all of the above.....you could try what i mentioned in my first post.....asking if he will reduce or waive the fee if you recommend him to anyone looking to plan their own stag/hen party.

gallaghb

I don't understand how it can be lawful to charge a £30 cancellation charge when nothing was signed and he did not supply any information up front about the right to cancel or the charges for cancellation before she booked. You mentioned contract terms etc, there was no contract just a few emails about dates etc and then he sent an invoice.

I don't think I said but she never paid the invoice as this all happened in a matter of days. She isn't asking for a refund or anything, just to cancel it.
He sent the invoices, she didn't pay but asked to cancel, and now being hit with 2 x £30 charges...

We do have wedding insurance but it doesn't cover this. Was going to call consumer direct but thought to try here first.

unholyangel

gallaghb wrote: »

I don't understand how it can be lawful to charge a £30 cancellation charge when nothing was signed and he did not supply any information up front about the right to cancel or the charges for cancellation before she booked. You mentioned contract terms etc, there was no contract just a few emails about dates etc and then he sent an invoice.

I don't think I said but she never paid the invoice as this all happened in a matter of days. She isn't asking for a refund or anything, just to cancel it.
He sent the invoices, she didn't pay but asked to cancel, and now being hit with 2 x £30 charges...

Ask him for a detailed breakdown of the work he carried out in relation to your "order" then. If he is unable to provide one, dispute the charges or offer an amount you think is reasonable for the work he has carried out.

You have effectively entered into a contract for him to supply a service at x price. Contracts are - by definition - legally binding. A contract can exist without having signed something. For example, if you buy goods from a retailer.....you have a contract with them even though you have never signed anything.

From the distance selling regulations:
(2) Regulations 7 to 19(1) shall not apply to—

(a)contracts for the supply of food, beverages or other goods intended for everyday consumption supplied to the consumer’s residence or to his workplace by regular roundsmen; or
(b)contracts for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services, where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period.

So you can see yourself what regulations 7-19 are, here is a link to the DSRs:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/2334/contents/made

But to sum it up, the unconditional right to cancel, the right to certain information prior to contract conclusion etc do not apply to these types of contract.

CKhalvashi

Echo post 7, who beat me to it!

giraffe69

If you think £60 is unreasonable why don't you pay what you do think is reasonable? He could take you to court for the rest but if you paid some of it this probably would not be worth his time.

arcon5

In addition to that already posted, even if this was not a "leisure service" your rights to cancel would have ended as he had already begun providing the service:

Exceptions to the right to cancel

13.—(1) Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the consumer will not have the right to cancel the contract by giving notice of cancellation pursuant to regulation 10 in respect of contracts—
(a)for the supply of services if the supplier has complied with regulation 8(3) and performance of the contract has begun with the consumer’s agreement before the end of the cancellation period applicable under regulation 12;

it was to be held at hotel. He arranged it with the hotel etc and sent an invoice for dinner (provided by hotel), rooms and his fee for the event.

If the guy had already arranged the hotel for the event, count yourself lucky he hasn't incurred a much heavier cancellation charge which he could lawfully pass on to you as his proovable loss.

hcb42

does this agent have an online presence where we might be able to look at terms?

I personally think you would be able to get out of this one - agents hold space at hotels all the time, then release, the hotels do not charge them if nothing confirmed in writing (although email exchange might count there, and the sequence of events is a little confusing). I am a hotelier so see these things all the time.