Getting a deposit back

jeff3526

Hi all,

I paid a deposit to a venue to host a garden party in the summer. They work with a caterer to provide the food. The venue asks for a fixed price and after the event, the caterer invoices the venue for their fee.

However, the venue made certain verbal promises that they then later reneged on and because of this it is now not feasable for me to host my garden party with them.

The deposit I have paid ammounts to about 60% of the total price. I have asked repeatedly for them to return my deposit but they are refusing (in the contract it doesn't mention anything about cancelling/refunds. Unfortunately the contrace also doesn't mention anything about what we agreed to verbally).

The thing is, the cater fee is also about 50% of the total fee, and now the caterer won't invoice them, because we have cancelled with the venue. The cater doesn't have any penalty clauses in the contract.
Surely then it isn't the venue's money to keep?
Is there a way I can get it back? Like I have said, I have asked for it back and they refused to pay it saying they don't have to. I also told them that because they don't mention anything about cancellation in their contract, they have to return the deposit, but they didn't listen to that either.

I hope that makes sense.

Thanks for listening

wealdroam

Read this:

Is a deposit ever refundable?

jeff3526

Thanks for your reply. As there is nothing in the contract about the deposit being not refundable I am entitled to it back. The problem is that the venue simply wont give it back. They state that they don't have to. Is there anything I can do to make them see otherwise? Is it worth going to the small claims court?

Thanks

bod1467

A formal Letter Before Action first is normal protocol before going to court, and may well focus their minds.

Only you can determine whether going to court is worth it. How much does 60% amount to?

bris

You have to understand that no, you might not be able to get your deposit back so saying you are entitled to it back is just wrong.


You need to understand how losses work and what mitigating a loss means when a contract is rescinded.


Basically a contract is legally binding and if one party rescinds the contract then the other can sue for their losses. In this case the venue would be after "loss of profit" this is the amount of money they would have made if the contract was honoured, this is a genuine loss that can be recovered.


They must however mitigate this loss, they do this by trying to re let the venue on the day in question under the same terms, if they do this there is no loss and the deposit must be returned. If they can't get the same price then they can still mitigate the loss by accepting a reduced offer, this mitigates your loss but it means they get to keep the difference between what they get and what your original contract was for, they can also keep any costs associated with re letting the venue such as advertising for the day.


They are only allowed to keep what they would have made on the day, so if your deposit was more than their profit would be then they would need to give you back the difference. problem is you would need to get the courts to work that.


So the sticky is pretty misleading you really need to click the links and see what rights the retailer has as well as your own.




Unless you can prove they significantly altered the contract to your detriment then you really are at a loss.

unholyangel

jeff3526 wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. As there is nothing in the contract about the deposit being not refundable I am entitled to it back. The problem is that the venue simply wont give it back. They state that they don't have to. Is there anything I can do to make them see otherwise? Is it worth going to the small claims court?

Thanks

I'm afraid thats not the way it works. If the contract says nothing on the matter then it reverts to the default position of the law - which is what bris has said above (that where you are in breach, you are liable for the reasonable losses incurred by the other party as a result of their breach).

However, if you can prove the venue are in breach of contract, then that should entitle you to cancel without penalty and possibly also sue them for any reasonable losses you incur as a result of their breach (assuming you're not talking about something silly like them saying they'd provide tablecloths and you not happy that they wont provide them in a certain colour).

Did you sign a contract with them? What does that (or any written communications say) about what they were offering and at which price?