How do I get my money back from hall hire?

j1992

Firstly, I'm not sure if this is in the right place but have put it here anyway.


I recently got engaged and we wanted to have an engagement party to celebrate with our family and friends. Having a small budget, we looked around for a cheap hall to hire. I found one (won't disclose company) as the website said FREE. No asterix with any small print, no hidden costs, just simply a refundable deposit if we spent a certain amount behind the bar. I paid the £100 deposit to secure my booking and begain busy planning.


One week before the party I got an e-mail saying that they needed to collect £160 for me to pay for bar staff, security and late licensing. I mentioned that nowhere on the website (and in the whole month I had been conversing with them) was any cost mentions and he said he would speak to his manager and get back to me. He then said that I would have to pay just £60 for security. I didn't NEED security, he said I had to have it although I've never been to any party with security, and because this was days before the party I just paid it.


The night was amazing, but so much went wrong. The air con was broken (and considering this was last Saturday, the heat was unbearable for the first few hours), they had no beer available apart from Guiness, and ran out of a lot of drinks by 10pm. The 'security' turned up at around 10.30 (the party started at 7 and was nowhere to be seen most of the night. I was also told that we could play music until 12.30 but be out by 1am, and at 12am they just turned the lights on and started clearing up!


I am demanding my £100 deposit back soon even if we didn't spend the required amount as there were hardly any drinks to buy, but do I have any rights to my £60 back too?


Thank you

keyser666

Move on and use it as an experience with planning your future wedding, and make sure you get wedding insurance as the first thing you buy

ThumbRemote

Send a letter before action in the first instance. If you really want to take it to court you'll need to try and get some evidence of what happened. Depends if you're that bothered about the hassle for the money you'd claim.

fridge_raider

This sounds like an absolute farce, one beer available, and a beer that's like a meal in a glass? I know this isn't helpful, but I am not sure why you agreed to pay the £60 when it should have been free, you should have stood your ground.

I don't know the business you're dealing with, but in my experience, a concise, emotion-free complaint has always worked. That should surely be the first port of call at least, when that's failed you can look at alternatives. If the security didn't turn up until 10:30, why should you have to pay them?

j1992

I was adamant about not paying but they phoned up two days before and I was worried they wouldn't let me have the hall. I also would have accepted the cost if it was worth it but my younger brother would have done a better job! Should I demand the money back, or just complain and see what happens?

fridge_raider

I would politely demand it back, yes. Are you 100% sure the hall is listed as free, with no additional fees? Even if not, they did not provide adequate security anyway, so whichever way you slice it you deserve the £60 back.

daytona0

Try the above, but I highly suspect that they will have the paperwork in place to ensure that they have more evidence than you... Sounds like you've been scammed a bit and pursuing it may be a waste of time. Here are my thoughts;

1. Do you have a contract which you can read and check for any discrepancies in what you were told vs what you signed up for?

2. Did you voluntarily pay for security? Yes. Can you prove that it was voluntary? Possibly... Did they provide security? Well not to your standards but Yes they did and I suspect they'll happily show that in court. From reading what you said, it sounds like they simply tried it on and if you agree to pay for security when they ask, you're going to need to prove that it was extortion as opposed to you accepting an additional service. The fact that you declined to pay "staff wages" was probably the reason you didn't get ale or air con haha (sorry!). By all means have a go at it but don't assume that you haven't set yourself up for a big crash in court at a later date depending on what your email responses are like

3. With regards to the problems with the hall, did you book it with the company who owns the hall or a 3rd party? If a 3rd party then what would stop them from saying that they fulfilled their contractual obligation? Could you realistically argue that the quality of the hall was their responsibility? Possibly....

j1992

The website clearly states it's free with a refundable deposit. No mention of anything else anywhere on the site at all, which is why I chose them.

daytona0

j1992 wrote: »

The website clearly states it's free with a refundable deposit. No mention of anything else anywhere on the site at all, which is why I chose them.

You've probably been conned. I would have a think about it but possibly write it off... maybe send them a "letter before action" warning shot and seer what happens.

You run the risk of them arguing successfully that everything was either above board (They provided security and you don't seem to have any conditions/terms regarding that so they merely have to show that the security turned up lol) or not their responsibility (are they responsible for the inadequacies of the hall? I have no idea!). Ironically, that 100 quid extra would probably have gone 50% to their cut, and 50% to the beer supply of which would have been just under the certain amount you had to spend on beer. Feel sorry for you but i'm a bit pessimistic here and i'm thinking it is a life lesson. Have a go at the letter though!

keyser666

have you a link to the website?

fridge_raider

Yes, I'd be interested to see that.