Do they owe me for the unwanted gift?

gettingtheresometime

Sarastro wrote: »

I don't think it's relevant: I just want to know if I'm being fair to her.

It does sort of influence our opinion of the situation

Poor_Single_lady

We are all different. I wouldn't want reimbursement from my parents. I would write it off
Because it would be my mum.

onlyroz

Is mum aware that the deposit is non-returnable? Does she have an opinion over who should cover this loss, or whether this means that she'll now only be getting a bag of chocolate raisins for Christmas?

Have you contacted the property owners to see if there is an other arrangement you can make to keep the deposit? E.g. perhaps you could help them find alternate people to cover the week?

leslieknope

if you offered to pay half of the deposit for her - and you said the deposit was £270.16 - and she has paid £252 then why does she owe you any money at all? by my calculations you should be refunding her £116.92.

just let it go and say that you can't afford to get her another present.

Ames

onlyroz wrote: »

Is mum aware that the deposit is non-returnable? Does she have an opinion over who should cover this loss, or whether this means that she'll now only be getting a bag of chocolate raisins for Christmas?

Have you contacted the property owners to see if there is an other arrangement you can make to keep the deposit? E.g. perhaps you could help them find alternate people to cover the week?

The OP hasn't said the deposit is non-refundable.

She's refused to answer my questions about contacting the property owners.

I'm not an expert on consumer law, but as I understand it the owners have an obligation to minimise their loss. So to try and find new buyers and reduce the amount owed by the OP.

Sarastro

leslieknope wrote: »

if you offered to pay half of the deposit for her - and you said the deposit was £270.16 - and she has paid £252 then why does she owe you any money at all? by my calculations you should be refunding her £116.92.

just let it go and say that you can't afford to get her another present.

Thanks everyone, I think this is what I'm going with.

Sarastro

Ames wrote: »

The OP hasn't said the deposit is non-refundable.

It's non-refundable.

She's refused to answer my questions about contacting the property owners.

He, not she. And I have no intention of trying to find alternative guests for them. Nightmare.

I'm not an expert on consumer law, but as I understand it the owners have an obligation to minimise their loss. So to try and find new buyers and reduce the amount owed by the OP.

The owners don't have an obligation to do anything. I don't owe them anything because it's cancelled; they are free to rent the property out as they wish, or not.

Serendipitious

Sarastro wrote: »

The whole thing was £872. The deposit was 30%. I paid the deposit of £267.50 and consider this half gift and half loan I think she has to pay me back for the loan element. So, she's given me £252 towards her half so far. That covers the half of the deposit that I paid for her. My point is that she's cancelling it, so I haven't given the gift yet if you see what I mean, and be cancelling I think she's saying she doesn't want the gift anyway, so should I ask her for this half of the deposit?

I don't think it's fair that I pay all the deposit and forget it. We went into the agreement 50/50, so if she's cancelling, I think we have to at least share the cost 50/50, if not her pay for the whole deposit lost on the grounds that half of it was a loan anyway and if she doesn't want to go in March, then she should return the part of the gift already given.

There's no alternative: I can't have the dogs here as we have cats; she refuses to put them in kennels even for a night. Hence the idea of the cottage in the first place.

The only thing paid out so far is the £267.50.

And you said you each went into this 50/50.

So I think at this stage you should split the deposit 50/50, and refund your mother the difference between £133.75 and the £252 that she's paid.

If the cottage owners find someone else between now and the letting date, they may refund all or part of the deposit, so there may still be a chance of getting some money back to split between you.

Worst case scenario is you've each wasted £133.75. Which is still better than a last-minute cancellation which would have cost the whole amount of £872.

In your case, you can adjust the gift budget accordingly, and give a smaller gift this Christmas.

In your mum's case, it's the cost of her decision.

Sarastro

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

It does sort of influence our opinion of the situation

They said that the deposit is non-refundable.

Ames

Sarastro wrote: »

The owners don't have an obligation to do anything. I don't owe them anything because it's cancelled; they are free to rent the property out as they wish, or not.

No one's saying that you have to find someone else to rent the cottage, but the owners have an obligation to do that and minimise what you owe. We're trying to help you get your consumer rights.

Apologies for using the wrong gender, I thought your username meant you were called Sara and therefore female.