Refusal to refund party booking deposit

Dancestar

I had a booking for a child's birthday party that obviously couldn't go ahead due to Covid-19. I paid a deposit by debit card (£130) and the venue are refusing to refund my deposit as saying it is non-refundable. I understand that that would be the case only if I cancelled. There were no further T&Cs provided. They say that they do not need to refund the deposit and that they will only offer to have the party at a later date (which they claim they don't even have to do that!). I do not want an alternative date - why would I want to celebrate a birthday in potentially months down the line. They will not budge despite given them 14 days written notice to resolve and stating I will take further action if need be. Given the new CMA information just recently published, can anyone suggest what I can now do? Any further help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

Grumpy_chap

It sounds like the deposit should be refunded, assuming that the venue cancelled and not you.  This is a critical thing - if you called them to cancel when lockdown started, then it is likely your loss (unless the venue is being generous).  If you waited until the venue called you to cancel, then they need to reimburse you.

I have exactly the same thing with a hotel booking in June, and just waiting until the picture becomes clearer and that the hotel will call me to cancel if the stay cannot go ahead because they are closed at that date.  Of course, at this point in time, the hotel might be open by then, and it will go ahead.  So, the hotel will not make a call until the really have to.

You may find the newsflash link at the top of this page helpful "WATCHDOG TO INVESTIGATE CORONAVIRUS CANCELLATION POLICIES "

One other thing you might consider is the impact to the venue of cancellation - if it is a community hall then they will really be impacted by losing the value of your booking.  Not to say that you are not impacted by being down £130, but depending on the type of venue might flex how much forebearance you are willing to show.

At last resort, I think you can possibly make a claim via the credit card if the venue cancelled.  I have no ideas how that works in practice, but have heard it is possible. I am sure that there will be information on this site that can give guidance.

Dancestar

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I didn't cancel, in fact I had to contact the venue myself to find out what was happening with my money as they made no effort to get in contact with me. It is a softplay venue. I have read i could try chargeback but not sure how succesful it would be 

[Deleted User]

I would use the chargeback scheme, it’s certainly the easiest option. If they don’t refund you, write with a formal request and give them additional time to refund you at this challenging time. You are entitled to a refund and they probably know it too.