Wedding in Turkey!Help!

SaintSimon123

Help! i am a British national and myself and my fiance are due to be married in Fethiye, Turkey on the in August 2016 .

We have been looking forward to our wedding for a couple of years now, however with the recent terroist threat and the coup on Friday we are concerned for the safety of our guests and also the threat that the UK Government could state that only essential travel is allowed for Turkey.Our Tour operator is also Low Cost holidays who have recently gone into liquidation so this is an added concern.

The issue we have is that the company who are arranging the wedding have requested full payment of the balance on the 29th July(1 month before the wedding) We are dubious to pay this as there is a chance that the UK government could stop all travel to the country and therefore we would lose our money.

This is stated in the terms and conditions however we have also been advised via email that we would be able to pay cash on the day of the ceremony. Unfortunately no wedding insurance covers this scenario and therefore we are taking a big risk with our safety and finances.

I am struggling to find any consumer advice on this and whether the wedding company have the right to do this even if the UK government said we couldnt travel, any guidance you could provide or point me in the right direction would be much appreciated.

glentoran99

Normal travel insurance should cover you if you are told you cant travel.
You say your operator is low cost holidays? Who are you to pay?

richardw

How many guests are likely to drop out?
If unfortunately it is a significant number then you may have to look at re-arrangements.

leylandsunaddict

LowCost weren't a tour operator, just an agent. If you have anything other than a flight booked with them or any of their companies then it's unlikely to have been paid for.

Is the company organizing your wedding something outside your holiday bookings and provided by a separate company? I think a bit more detail is necessary about who you've booked flights, accommodation and actual wedding with to be able to offer advice.

I can't see the FO advising against all but essential travel, especially not to the main tourist areas. If they did then as long as your insurance covers for FCO advisories you would be able to claim the costs back.

SW17

Is the "wedding company" a local company in Turkey, ie not LowCostHolidays?

You could try to postpone the payment deadline, citing the recent incidents.

Honestly, you need to be concerned first about the accommodation booked via LCH, as it is highly likely your booking is no longer valid. I hope you and others booked with LCH already had travel insurance in place before last Friday, you will likely need to rebook the hotel via another means and claim from credit card company or insurance.

In my opinion (and remember I'm just a stranger on the Internet), it's not likely that the UK govt would put an advisory against all but essential travel to the main tourist areas of Turkey, unless perhaps there was an incident similar to that in Sousse, Tunisia. Even then I'm not sure, these things are also political and Turkey is a NATO member.

Sort your accommodation first (and flights, though likely LCH will have paid those if you booked with them), buy time with the wedding company and see where you are.

Good luck, hope it turns out well.

[edit - I see leylandsunaddict wrote some of the same points while I was typing (obviously slowly)]

SaintSimon123

The wedding company are independant from the holiday, we booked the wedding seperate from the package holiday we booked via low cost holidays.We have started the process of putting in a dispute to claim the money back for the rooms which low cost holiday hadnt paid for. We are looking at keeping the hotel reservation and paying for this again.

The wedding company are just organizing the catering,ceremony etc.The problem we have is that the wedding company want the full balance by the 29th July and i am concerned that if things escalate in Turkey we will be unable to go and therefore there will be no wedding and i wont see my money again.

I cant find any wedding insurance that protects against coups or terrorism or if the CFO says we cant travel. My fiance is obviously devastated as we have been planning this for 2/3 years. Just looking for some guidance if i have any consumer rights or protection otherwise we are in the fate of the current situation in Turkey.

SaintSimon123

and thank you SW17- thst is the route i think we will try to go down.problem is with 20 guests with different operators who have different conditions , its making it very difficult.

SaintSimon123

although anymore guidance on our rights with this deposit would be appreciated.

leylandsunaddict

SaintSimon123 wrote: »

The wedding company are independant from the holiday, we booked the wedding seperate from the package holiday we booked via low cost holidays.We have started the process of putting in a dispute to claim the money back for the rooms which low cost holiday hadnt paid for. We are looking at keeping the hotel reservation and paying for this again.

The wedding company are just organizing the catering,ceremony etc.The problem we have is that the wedding company want the full balance by the 29th July and i am concerned that if things escalate in Turkey we will be unable to go and therefore there will be no wedding and i wont see my money again.

I cant find any wedding insurance that protects against coups or terrorism or if the CFO says we cant travel. My fiance is obviously devastated as we have been planning this for 2/3 years. Just looking for some guidance if i have any consumer rights or protection otherwise we are in the fate of the current situation in Turkey.

First of all I'd sort your accommodation out. Have you spoken to your hotel about rebooking the room, and what price they will charge you? Lot's of hoteliers have already cancelled down LCB bookings so if you haven't already done so I'd contact them asap.

With regards to your wedding deposit you would need to read the agreed terms and conditions again. You have no right to a refund of your fight unless the FCO issue an advisory, or your ticket is a fully refundable one.

Alan_Bowen

I think you will find your Turkish wedding organiser will be so pleased you aren't cancelling that they will agree a delay in payment. After the attempted coup this weekend, I fear bookings to Turkey will fall even further and the last thing they want is to lose even more business