Cancelled Christmas meal booking cover?

poshandspecs

Sadly my father is seriously ill in hospital so we have cancelled our family Christmas Day meal restaurant booking. We paid a £70 deposit by credit card, which we have lost. I just wondered whether there
might be any way of claiming on the credit card(MBNA)? Thanks for any advice.

agrinnall

No. I hope your father is on the mend by Christmas.

elsien

Section 75 cover is for breach of contract or misrepresentation by the retailer/trader and the goods/service has to be over £100.

It has no bearing on a change of mind by the customer, whatever the reason, which is what has happened here.
Sorry to hear about your circumstances but there are no grounds for a claim.

I guess the only other option (which is unlikely at this short notice) is to ask the restaurant if they can refund your deposit if they find someone else to take your place in the interim.

bris

You can actually try and find out if they are fully booked for the day in question, if they are then they must refund you as they have mitigated the loss.

eddddy

bris wrote: »

You can actually try and find out if they are fully booked for the day in question, if they are then they must refund you as they have mitigated the loss.

That would be correct, if the restaurant was claiming damages for breach of contract.

However, I suspect that a term in the contract specifically says that the deposit is still payable, if the booking is cancelled. And the OP would have agreed to that term.

So the restaurant is just enforcing the contract, rather than claiming for breach of contract.

bris

eddddy wrote: »

That would be correct, if the restaurant was claiming damages for breach of contract.

However, I suspect that a term in the contract specifically says that the deposit is still payable, if the booking is cancelled. And the OP would have agreed to that term.

So the restaurant is just enforcing the contract, rather than claiming for breach of contract.

Their terms mean nothing, the law states they must mitigate a consumers losses, those losses are mitigated if they resell the table so they must by law refund or they can be taken to court to make them pay.




it's widely known on this forum that a companies T&C's can not over rule your statutory rights.

Arleen

bris wrote: »

Their terms mean nothing, the law states they must mitigate a consumers losses, those losses are mitigated if they resell the table so they must by law refund or they can be taken to court to make them pay.




it's widely known on this forum that a companies T&C's can not over rule your statutory rights.

Principle of mitigations is to mitigate loss of potenatial gain.
Let's say that by the T&C of the restaurant person booking the table would be liable for entire dinner (valued at 150 GBP), with the deposit being just that - a security towards that dinner that is by default non-refundable (and T&C doesn't say differently).
Then after cancellation by the customer, the restaurant could sue for damages in the amount of 80 GBP, as per their contract. Of course, they should do their best to mitigate said damages by trying to rent out the table anyway. If they are successful, you only lose your deposit, if they aren't, they can sue for the extra 80 GBP.

I hope that your father will get better by the time, but maybe you can sell the reservation to some friends? Politely calling the restaurant and explaining the situation can also work, as they may very well have reservation list.

bigadaj

bris wrote: »

Their terms mean nothing, the law states they must mitigate a consumers losses, those losses are mitigated if they resell the table so they must by law refund or they can be taken to court to make them pay.




it's widely known on this forum that a companies T&C's can not over rule your statutory rights.

Where does this come from?

So you have, for example, claimed back your money from a non refundable pre booked hotel when not able to travel, or a flight you couldn't make?

I'd love to see your precedent and evidence.

pinkshoes

bigadaj wrote: »

Where does this come from?

So you have, for example, claimed back your money from a non refundable pre booked hotel when not able to travel, or a flight you couldn't make?

I'd love to see your precedent and evidence.

The restaurant can't claim twice, so if they re-book the table, they need to refund the OP.

If they don't, then the OP could quite rightfully turn up to the restaurant on Christmas day for their meal, as that is what the deposit is for.

bigadaj

pinkshoes wrote: »

The restaurant can't claim twice, so if they re-book the table, they need to refund the OP.

If they don't, then the OP could quite rightfully turn up to the restaurant on Christmas day for their meal, as that is what the deposit is for.

That depends on how you define the table.

You suggest that the restaurant can't overbook, but that's exactly what hotels and airlines do.

If the OP turns up for the booking then the restaurant has to honour that. If the restaurant is full, the OP doesn't show then which is their table?

GothicStirling

pinkshoes wrote: »

If they don't, then the OP could quite rightfully turn up to the restaurant on Christmas day for their meal, as that is what the deposit is for.

To cover the costs of the food that they will have already ordered from their suppliers, and staff that they will have already rota'ed on (which will be at least double time), and any other costs for opening on Christmas Day.