Wedding cancelled

Lainey1961

I booked my daughters wedding at a hotel for bext year and paid all the money to date which is deposits of £3,500 the remaining is the same amount due in January, I had to cancel as my daughter is seriously ill, the hotel have refused to give any money back even though its a year away and can rebook, I have offered them that if they cant resell it keep the money but if they can I feel i should get it back but they wont have any of it, but they said they will keep it on hold for a year incase we rebook does anyone know where I stand please

Okydoky25

What does you're contract say?

Ruby_Roo

As above, check your contract but I suspect if they're refusing to give you anything back then you're not entitled to anything.

Without wanting to pry, are you able to postpone the wedding at all? If so they may be willing to transfer the deposits. Or did you or your daughter take out wedding insurance?

gadgeteer_2

Firstly as Ruby said, have you got wedding insurance? I suspect not otherwise you probably wouldn't be asking.

Assuming you didn't then it gets a bit complicated and ultimately depends on how far you are willing to push it.

The idea of a deposit is of course to put some skin in the game. The hotel blocks the date out and you make a commitment. If everyone who canceled (regardless of reason) wants their deposit back then there's really no point in taking one in the first place.

That being said....the unfair contract law states that a supplier cannot take payment for services that they haven't supplied or suffered a loss for.

So...if they don't manage to rebook the date then they could be entitled to keep 100% of the deposit to offset the loss. If they rebooked the date then it would be entirely unreasonable for them to keep the deposit.

In addition they are perfectly entitled to subtract any costs they've already incurred. So any admin work for example they can deduct but I doubt that would amount to £3.5k.

I'm sorry to hear about your daughter and I hope she recovers but business is business and there's no point taking a deposit only to give it back on demand.

In your situation I would tell the hotel that if/when they rebook the date then you will expect the deposit back. It's something you can easily check. Just turn up on the day and see if there's a wedding there.

jackomdj

Sorry to hear about your Daughter.

I assume you haven't got insurance.

If I were you I would be telling the hotel that you are going to let a paper or magazine do an article about them not refunding her deposit and being ill. It may make them refund it.

Armorica

them saying they'll keep it on hold even though you want it cancelled is ridiculous

Daily Mail story

Alternatively - does anyone know if it's possible to sell/transfer a wedding date privately?

CreditCrunchie

Oh that's awful Unfortunately it is usually in the t&c's about deposits being non refundable but in practise most (compassionate) places are understanding. We booked a venue last year and then had to cancel but fortunately the venue were very understanding and refunded the £500 deposit we'd paid.

I can only suggest another go, explaining the situation to them and hoping they come around. If they refuse then as the poster above suggested, definitely go to the press, they'll have a field day

Floss

I would suggest checking your contract and then contacting your local Trading Standards team (look on your council website) for advice.

Cinderellie74

I agree about checking the contract. There should be a clause in there about cancellations. Also if she is ill you may be able to get a refund due to her health.

I hope your daughter is better soon. Prayers for you, your daughter and family.