Wedding cancelled ..venue wont refund

mobilemaz

My daughter  and partner were due to get married 30 may but the government have closed the venue due to the pandemic.  The manager only told them today.

The only date available to them is 17 April next year. ... nearly a year later.  They booked this venue nearly 2 years ago so obviously want to get married this year....they are feeling forced into  accepting this random date. The company say because the government have told them to close my daughter and partner cant get a refund.   Is this so? They have paid with credit card throughout as we thought this would be safest 
We are devastated.  Any advice please.  Thank you

suki1964

Im afraid this is so, it comes under force majeure

Has she wedding insurance that covers it?

kazwookie

Get married this year with 5 people, then have a party next year.

suki1964

kazwookie said:

Get married this year with 5 people, then have a party next year.

I think this is the only way forward for anyone who was planning to get married this year

mobilemaz

kazwookie said:

Get married this year with 5 people, then have a party next year.

Thank you i did suggest this. I'm having trouble on this site on my phone lol 

Mrsn

Most people don’t take wedding insurance and I’m sure if I recall from ours force majeure wasn’t covered as standard anyway. I appreciate for the couple this must be absolutely devastating but for the health and safety of guest and staff it really is for the best.

mobilemaz

Mrsn said:

Most people don’t take wedding insurance and I’m sure if I recall from ours force majeure wasn’t covered as standard anyway. I appreciate for the couple this must be absolutely devastating but for the health and safety of guest and staff it really is for the best.

Oh definitely but the venue weren't the ones who cancelled. ...the government guidelines recommended it..  Thank you though

Gundric

Would credit card company refund as goods/service not delivered?

7Phil

I'm afraid there are going to be a lot of loss sustained by many through this crisis. The only thing at the moment is to stay safe and sort things out later. The govt is effectively cancelling social ceremonies including weddings and I think that now includes weddings behind closed doors - however this is likely to be a civil matter and the govt is unlikely to issue rules for the millions of different scenarios that people need answers to. 
While it's no consolation, there are huge amounts of people that will be in the same boat. Millions of people will suffer loss and hurt and the most severe of those will be through death.
People losing money via the loss of wedding bookings will become a large group of people whose loss is not a priority and may need to wait some months for an answer. 

As above, rely on credit card protections - there may be an easy solution there. 

Jeremy535897

Ask the credit card company about getting a refund. You've nothing to lose.

Undervalued

mobilemaz said:

Mrsn said:

Most people don’t take wedding insurance and I’m sure if I recall from ours force majeure wasn’t covered as standard anyway. I appreciate for the couple this must be absolutely devastating but for the health and safety of guest and staff it really is for the best.

Oh definitely but the venue weren't the ones who cancelled. ...the government guidelines recommended it..  Thank you though

That is the key word - recommended!
OK the situation has changed overnight with the government effectively banning weddings with more than five attendees. However that is initially only for three weeks then to be reviewed. So as yet that doesn't apply to the 30 May.

So as I see it the current position is that the venue have chosen to cancel the wedding. As I say, that may change but is the situation at the moment.