Wedding Car booking

baggieBoy

Good afternoon.

I need some advice regarding a wedding car booking I need to cancel please.

I found a link to a wedding car supplier via google and entered into correspondence with them on Friday 15th April, the company is [EMAIL="kevin@weddingcarhire.co.uk"]weddingcarhire.co.uk[/EMAIL] which I later learn is part of the transportbrokergroup.co.uk.

Without going into too may details I arranged a specific car with one of their staff but when I booked with a different member the car I was expecting was substituted and had gone up by £20.

After paying I received a booking confirmation, at this time I saw the car being supplied was a 2 seater and too small for us (my future wife and myself are almost 50 years old). I gave them every opportunity to try and find a replacement but nothing happened. I then found a suitable vehicle myself and requested they cancel the booking I had made. This they did but without any refund of the £120.00 already paid. The customer service manager was very unhelpful and kept implying that it is my fault and they are not liable because I made the booking.

Not sure if this falls under distance selling, or if there is a statutory cool off period but my question is 'do I have any recourse for refund'?

Any help/advice/guidance would be very welcome

Thank you.

John

pappa_golf

do people get bigger as they approach 50?

cono1717

Did you book it over the phone or via the web page? If it was via a web page presumably there would of been some sort of summary before the purchase was completed?

wealdroam

This post may help:

Is a deposit ever refundable?

I am afraid your purchase is specifically excluded from the cancellation right afforded by The Consumer Contracts Regulations.

See Regulation 28 - paragraph (1)(h).

baggieBoy

pappa_golf wrote: »

do people get bigger as they approach 50?

not necessarily bigger but certainly less agile!

baggieBoy

My grievance is based on the fact that the car being provided is not as expected, it was not until after I had booked that I became aware of this fact plus the booking was made over the phone and I was not aware of any T&C's at the time.

I was originally sent two photographs of the cars, both were four door (vintage cars), I chose the ivory Beauford. When the booking confirmation came through I saw it was a two door car. The customer services manager said the photo's were purely for colour purposes and that I should not have assumed it was a four door car being supplied.

susancs

The terms and conditions you would have agreed to are here:
http://www.weddingcarhire.co.uk/terms/

Reading the terms and conditions, it seems the company do not supply the wedding cars themselves but charge an administrative charge for finding you a wedding car. It seems that you put in a quotation request and they then charge you a non refundable booking administration fee once you have accepted the booking. You pay the car hire company direct. They also charge you extra administration costs if you change your booking (£35 for changing the type of vehicle).

If you only started contacting them 10 days ago for the booking and have already found and paid for another car hire, is it a last minute booking? The reason I ask is that if it is less than 30 days to go until the booking this will apply
"If the vehicle hire is cancelled within 30 days of the hire date you will be liable to pay the full balance due to the operator and will lose your booking fee".

baggieBoy

Thanks susancs

The booking is for 6th August this year. I did have another vintage car which unfortunately blew up, hence the reason for looking for a quick replacement.

The deposit was £120.00, not a huge amount of money but I do feel unhappy with how I have been treated in particular that the goods ordered and not as expected.

susancs

baggieBoy wrote: »

My grievance is based on the fact that the car being provided is not as expected, it was not until after I had booked that I became aware of this fact plus the booking was made over the phone and I was not aware of any T&C's at the time.

I was originally sent two photographs of the cars, both were four door (vintage cars), I chose the ivory Beauford. When the booking confirmation came through I saw it was a two door car. The customer services manager said the photo's were purely for colour purposes and that I should not have assumed it was a four door car being supplied.

Did you specify a four door car on the information you provided at booking? They apparently confirm any changes in writing.

We do not accept any liability if your booking later proves to be incorrect due to the fact information supplied by you either at the time of making your booking or subsequent to your booking was incorrect. If you think there is a mistake in the booking please contact us to discuss. We will confirm any changes in writing to avoid any confusion between you and us.

susancs

baggieBoy wrote: »

Thanks susancs

The booking is for 6th August this year. I did have another vintage car which unfortunately blew up, hence the reason for looking for a quick replacement.

The deposit was £120.00, not a huge amount of money but I do feel unhappy with how I have been treated in particular that the goods ordered and not as expected.

It seems that it may be an administrative fee rather than a deposit.

baggieBoy

I booked the car based on the photo's. It was large enough, right colour, right vintage, all boxes were ticked. I did not ant any time believe this was not the car I would be booking.