Legal / Consumer advice query

RS2OOO

Hi,
First of all, I was a member on here for some years but not used the site in a while and forgot which email address I signed up with to recover forgotten password.

Anyway, I wonder if anyone could offer help for this straight forward but frustrating situation:

Missus and I booked a wedding and the venue provides their in-house wedding planner.

Terms were an initial £500 deposit followed by a £1500 payment 2 Months later and remaining balance 2 weeks before wedding.

Paid the £500 and they emailed copy of receipt by PDF.

2 Months later went to pay the £1500 by phone and the planner said it had already been paid. Queried this and was told it has definitely been paid and someone actually came in person to pay it for us. I asked if she was sure this is definitely correct and she said yes and then emailed me a PDF of the till receipt which has mine and my partners names on it and our event date and showing £1500 had been paid off the total balance.

Obviously I was surprised. Clearly it had been paid by someone who wanted to remain anonymous and as I have 2 very wealthy family friends who have offered to help financially to which I declined, I naturally assumed it was them.

I then proceeded to upgrade other aspects of the wedding and spent the entire £1500.

This all happened in March (5 Months ago).

I've since drafted my speech and included an "anonymous" thank you note for the day as a way of recognising what this couple have done for us.

We received the final bill through the post the other day and it doesn't include that £1500 payment!

We queried this by email and the reply simply said it was an error and the payment had accidentally been applied to our account instead of someone elses and they are sorry but the £1500 is still owed.

As above, I have a copy of the till/transaction receipt which clearly says it has been paid and clearly states mine and my partners full name and event details.

The problem is, we are now £1500 short and simply don't have the money as it has been spent elsewhere.

Where do I stand legally here and how should I proceed?

I think we have to play this very carefully as falling out with the wedding planner is not a great idea just weeks before the big day, but through their mistake we now don't have the money to pay the final bill bar taking out a loan or putting it on a credit card.

I'm most upset by the fact they are so blase about it...Up until now there's been no mention of a mistake, and at the time I queried it and asked if they are absolutely sure this is correct and they said yes, definitely.

takman

It's quite simple really there is £1500 owed and it hasn't been paid so you legally have to pay it.

If it was the other way round and you had paid £1500 too much i bet you would expect the money back.

You will have to pay the £1500 from other money you have saved up. If you don't have £1500 anywhere then it's pretty silly to spend all your money on what is essentially a one day party.

KeithP

Offer them a payment plan.

SouthUKMan

While it is their mistake, sadly it is still your debt.

If they are reasonable, then they will want to work with you.

Maybe suggest that they put £150 behind the bar as a goodwill gesture (the sort of amount that shows you're not taking the Mickey, but one that will still help you out a bit) and put forward a realistic repayment plan - perhaps £150 a month.

It's totally rubbish that this has happened to you, it's even more rubbish that the venue isn't bending over backwards to acknowledge their error and to help you out - but the money is still outstanding.

discat11

agree with taxman & keith here, offer a payment plan explaining what you have in this thread as the reason why you don't have £1500 to hand.
The facts are the bill still has to be paid

RS2OOO

Thanks for the responses.
Probably not really what I wanted to hear but maybe what I expected.

The fact we fully queried this payment and received absolute assurance it had been paid (and was sent the receipt), and pointed out that we'd use it on upgrading other aspects, and then heard absolutely nothing from the venue until 4 Weeks prior to the wedding has left us in a difficult situation.

Of course, its easy to say its silly to spend all our savings on one day, but saving up for this has been our priority for the last 8 years of the 12 we've been engaged, I don't think it would be normal for almost anyone to have £1500 spare this close to the big day, so it really has come as a shock.

I guess, on the basis we have no legal standing according to the post above, I was hoping for suggestions on working towards meeting them half-way with the unexpected cost.

They must have spotted the mistake previously, but instead sprung it on us just as the final payment is due without a hint of apology.

As for if the tables had turned, if my business made such a mistake there is no doubt I'd be profusely apologising and offering a goodwill attempt to meet the customer half-way, and would take the full hit if I had to.

takman

RS2OOO wrote: »

Thanks for the responses.
Probably not really what I wanted to hear but maybe what I expected.

The fact we fully queried this payment and received absolute assurance it had been paid (and was sent the receipt), and pointed out that we'd use it on upgrading other aspects, and then heard absolutely nothing from the venue until 4 Weeks prior to the wedding has left us in a difficult situation.

Of course, its easy to say its silly to spend all our savings on one day, but saving up for this has been our priority for the last 8 years of the 12 we've been engaged, I don't think it would be normal for almost anyone to have £1500 spare this close to the big day, so it really has come as a shock.

I disagree with that. You should really have budgeted for the wedding and spent a set amount. Not spending every last penny you have on one day and spending an extra £1500 just because you happen to have it sitting in the bank.

This is one of the main reasons people end up in debt because they have no emergency fund and suddenly they need money to pay for a house/car repair.

RS2OOO wrote: »

I guess, on the basis we have no legal standing according to the post above, I was hoping for suggestions on working towards meeting them half-way with the unexpected cost.

They must have spotted the mistake previously, but instead sprung it on us just as the final payment is due without a hint of apology.

As for if the tables had turned, if my business made such a mistake there is no doubt I'd be profusely apologising and offering a goodwill attempt to meet the customer half-way, and would take the full hit if I had to.

So you saying if you had paid the hotel an extra £1500 by mistake as you thought you owed it to them. Then you reliased you had overpaid so asked for the money back and they said "sorry you can't have it because we have spent it already". You would be perfectly happy with that?.

RS2OOO

takman wrote: »

I disagree with that. You should really have budgeted for the wedding and spent a set amount. Not spending every last penny you have on one day and spending an extra £1500 just because you happen to have it sitting in the bank.

This is one of the main reasons people end up in debt because they have no emergency fund and suddenly they need money to pay for a house/car repair.

I disagree with some of that.
But it's also the part of the reason I'm here asking for advice. If I'd saved the £1500 I'd still be asking the same query, where do I legally stand and how to approach the situation, for which I now have answers.

The query is nothing to do with having emergency funds for house/car repairs, that's a separate issue for which means are in place to cover.
Getting into debt.... well yes, potentially as it is an unexpected bill and genuinely wasn't expected.

takman wrote: »

So you saying if you had paid the hotel an extra £1500 by mistake as you thought you owed it to them. Then you reliased you had overpaid so asked for the money back and they said "sorry you can't have it because we have spent it already". You would be perfectly happy with that?.

No, I didn't say that.
My point was from a business/reputation perspective in that the supplier has advised the payment has been made, sent me proof of the payment and confirmed it is no longer required from me. Thus I've upgraded aspects of the package and spent £1500 more with them, and now they say it was all a mistake.

Downgrading that aspect of the package isn't straight forward as part has already been paid and part of it allowed us to invite more people.

gettingtheresometime

I think you need to have a face to face meeting with the hotel / wedding planner to discuss the way forward, confirming whatever is agreed in writing afterwards.

Yes they made a serious mistake yes they should have informed you as soon as that mistake was realised but at the end of the day it was a mistake.

you need to agree a way forward so I'd spend energy in resolving the situation rather than on trying to get out of paying.

I do have to say though it seems a strange reaction to learning that (on the face if it) the bill had been reduced by £1,500 to go out & effectively spend more money

hollydays

takman wrote: »

I disagree with that. You should really have budgeted for the wedding and spent a set amount. Not spending every last penny you have on one day and spending an extra £1500 just because you happen to have it sitting in the bank.

This is one of the main reasons people end up in debt because they have no emergency fund and suddenly they need money to pay for a house/car repair.



So you saying if you had paid the hotel an extra £1500 by mistake as you thought you owed it to them. Then you reliased you had overpaid so asked for the money back and they said "sorry you can't have it because we have spent it already". You would be perfectly happy with that?.

I think part of this is very judgemental .:(

takman

hollydays wrote: »

I think part of this is very judgemental .:(

Oh no don't use that word! :rotfl:

I'm not being judgmental i'm just giving my opinion. It's never a good idea to spend 100% of your money just because you have it and have no savings for emergencies. Any big expenditure should have a set budget to avoid overspending.

It's much better to be saying this now than potentially in 5 years time where the OP is posting on the debt free forum struggling to pay what they owe.

RS2OOO wrote: »

I disagree with some of that.
But it's also the part of the reason I'm here asking for advice. If I'd saved the £1500 I'd still be asking the same query, where do I legally stand and how to approach the situation, for which I now have answers.

The query is nothing to do with having emergency funds for house/car repairs, that's a separate issue for which means are in place to cover.
Getting into debt.... well yes, potentially as it is an unexpected bill and genuinely wasn't expected.

If you have the money set aside for house/car repairs then you may have to use that and then build it back up after the wedding.

If you don't have any money set aside then you should start a plan immediately to build up some savings so you don't end up in future financial trouble.

RS2OOO wrote: »

No, I didn't say that.
My point was from a business/reputation perspective in that the supplier has advised the payment has been made, sent me proof of the payment and confirmed it is no longer required from me. Thus I've upgraded aspects of the package and spent £1500 more with them, and now they say it was all a mistake.

Downgrading that aspect of the package isn't straight forward as part has already been paid and part of it allowed us to invite more people.

Spending the £1500 on other things is irrelevant to whether or not you owe the money, so i wouldn't use that as an argument because you chose to spend the extra.

They may have said it was paid but you know that you didn't pay it and you haven't paid the amount that you agreed.
Did they hotel say that someone had paid anonymously for you and didn't want to be named?.