Is she in the wrong?

meritaten

no law that I can think of - though she could try sueing her cousins for breach of contract. because they made a verbal contract with HER! Yes she sounds nice, too nice. but SHE shouldn't be out of pocket because they didn't honour their contract. tell her to dig her high heels in!

shoe*diva79

meritaten wrote: »

no law that I can think of - though she could try sueing her cousins for breach of contract. because they made a verbal contract with HER! Yes she sounds nice, too nice. but SHE shouldn't be out of pocket because they didn't honour their contract. tell her to dig her high heels in!

Meeting her for lunch tomorrow so will be showing her this thread.

Thanks everyone, opinions appreciated.

[Deleted User]

I'd write a letter detailing what was paid, what the charges were, what's outstanding

i.e
ticket cost
Late payment Charges
Bank Charges
TOTAL

Paid by SIL Refund Outstanding
Paid by C1 " "
Paid by C2 "



and suggest they sort it out between themselves as she (your SIL) can't. Say that she (SIL) is prepared to absorb her losses. Just a couple of lines. Nothing emotional at all.

And then don't speak to them again. Its up to them.

shoe*diva79

deannatrois wrote: »

I'd write a letter detailing what was paid, what the charges were, what's outstanding

i.e
ticket cost
Late payment Charges
Bank Charges
TOTAL

Paid by SIL Refund Outstanding
Paid by C1 " "
Paid by C2 "



and suggest they sort it out between themselves as she (your SIL) can't. Say that she (SIL) is prepared to absorb her losses. Just a couple of lines. Nothing emotional at all.

And then don't speak to them again. Its up to them.

She has already done that over a week ago. Because Cousin 2 wont give cousin 1 the remaining money, cousin 1 is now hassling my SIL.

LilElvis

shoe*diva79 wrote: »

She has already done that over a week ago. Because Cousin 2 wont give cousin 1 the remaining money, cousin 1 is now hassling my SIL.

I can see why Cousin 1 is annoyed. She paid, albeit late, but is now bearing the cancellation charge because of her sister's actions. Until Cousin 2 accepts that they should pay the cancellation charge then someone blameless is going to be out of pocket.

If your SIL wants to stay friends with Cousin 1 then perhaps she could give her a further £25 (half of the cancellation fee) so that they are both in the same situation, and then pursue Cousin 2 together for the money, possibly with involvement from parents to make her accept her responsibility.

Marisco

LilElvis wrote: »

I can see why Cousin 1 is annoyed. She paid, albeit late, but is now bearing the cancellation charge because of her sister's actions. Until Cousin 2 accepts that they should pay the cancellation charge then someone blameless is going to be out of pocket.

If your SIL wants to stay friends with Cousin 1 then perhaps she could give her a further £25 (half of the cancellation fee) so that they are both in the same situation, and then pursue Cousin 2 together for the money, possibly with involvement from parents to make her accept her responsibility.

But that is between the two sisters, not the SIL. And that is exactly what I would be telling the 2 cousins! Let them thrash it out between them, if cousin 2 had paid her dues on time then this would not have arisen, so it's purely cuz 2's fault! Valuable lesson learnt, never pay for anyone until the money is in your hand!

PenguinOfDeath

This is why I never book anything for others without being paid first. Lost two friends and a fair chunk of money by being trusting, no more!

shoe*diva79

Thank you for all the helpful advice!

I met my SIL for lunch today and she filled me in... she woke this morning to a barrage of texts/emails and she sent a polite response reiterating her position to Cousin 1 who responded that they were taking advice from CAB and would get back to my SIL.

The advice must have been along the lines of you guys as the next message was pretty much saying that Cousin 2 had agreed to pay 1/3 of the cancellation cost so SIL and Cousin 1 could also pay a third.

SIL basically said no - she reiterated the costs she had already incurred and told C1 to sort it out with her sister. A final message along the lines of 'fuming with you, your fault, shouldnt have booked without the money, never want to hear from you again' which has been ignored.

Im quite surprised with my SIL as she is quite meek and a bit of a pushover. Hopefully her cousins will sort it out between themselves now and SIL has learnt the harsh lesson that when it comes to money, dont trust anyone! Even family!

theoretica

Has she pointed out the bank charges? If she paid £35 charges and the cousins pay £25 each then SIL has already paid more than 1/3. If the cousin knew this might she be happier?

Spendless

shoe*diva79 wrote: »

The advice must have been along the lines of you guys as the next message was pretty much saying that Cousin 2 had agreed to pay 1/3 of the cancellation cost so SIL and Cousin 1 could also pay a third.

SIL basically said no - she reiterated the costs she had already incurred and told C1 to sort it out with her sister. A final message along the lines of 'fuming with you, your fault, shouldnt have booked without the money, never want to hear from you again' which has been ignored.

To me the cancellation costs are £50 lost deposit plus £35 in bank charges. Therefore sis in law has already paid more than 1/3. Cousin 2 owes her sister £25 and they still come out financially better off in it than sis in law.

I presume they think they are not responsible for sis in laws late charges and she should just keep money in her account to fund them too. They of all people should know how difficult it is to have spare money, considering one paid last minute and the other not at all.