Deposit refund

meme86

So I booked a table at a restaurant earlier today, and had to pay a £35 deposit.
I have just phoned to cancel the booking due to change in circumstances, but have now been told the deposit is non refundable.

Where do I stand?
1. I wasn't told it was none Refundable at the time of booking (call was recorded)

2. I rang to cancel 10 hours after the booking

3. The booking wasn't last minute. It's in 10 days

DanDare999

meme86 said:

So I booked a table at a restaurant earlier today, and had to pay a £35 deposit.
I have just phoned to cancel the booking due to change in circumstances, but have now been told the deposit is non refundable.

Where do I stand?
1. I wasn't told it was none Refundable at the time of booking (call was recorded)

2. I rang to cancel 10 hours after the booking

3. The booking wasn't last minute. It's in 10 days

Why did you pay a £35 deposit?

To secure the table and prevent you cancelling. 

Ring them back and ask ask them to explain how they justify their loss being £35.  

Aylesbury_Duck

What do you think the deposit was for?  Turn it around: If they'd taken your deposit and cancelled your booking at the last minute, returning your deposit, would you be happy?

As the previous poster says, they do have to justify their loss.  If they can't re-sell the table to a similar sized group, then it's reasonable to retain some or all of your deposit.  If they can, they may only retain a portion for their administrative costs.

In practise, I suspect they'll just refund you to get you off their back.

Undervalued

Aylesbury_Duck said:

What do you think the deposit was for?  Turn it around: If they'd taken your deposit and cancelled your booking at the last minute, returning your deposit, would you be happy?

As the previous poster says, they do have to justify their loss.  If they can't re-sell the table to a similar sized group, then it's reasonable to retain some or all of your deposit.  If they can, they may only retain a portion for their administrative costs.

In practise, I suspect they'll just refund you to get you off their back.

Quite!

Regarding the last line, you may well be right. Or they could just dig in and ignore the OP leaving them to sue if they feel they have a claim. That wouldn't be all that easy as it would be hard for the OP to establish if the table had been resold and, if so, on what terms.

Quite frankly it amazes and annoys me that many consumers seem to think a deposit should always be refundable which would mean that, effectively, it is not actually a deposit at all.

With rights come responsibilities!

mattyprice4004

You don’t just pay a deposit for fun - it’s a token of your obligation to follow through on the booking (otherwise what’s the point in a deposit at all?) 

Next time just make sure you’re 100% before booking. 

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Undervalued said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

What do you think the deposit was for?  Turn it around: If they'd taken your deposit and cancelled your booking at the last minute, returning your deposit, would you be happy?

As the previous poster says, they do have to justify their loss.  If they can't re-sell the table to a similar sized group, then it's reasonable to retain some or all of your deposit.  If they can, they may only retain a portion for their administrative costs.

In practise, I suspect they'll just refund you to get you off their back.

Quite frankly it amazes and annoys me that many consumers seem to think a deposit should always be refundable which would mean that, effectively, it is not actually a deposit at all.

With rights come responsibilities!

It amazes me how many traders think they can take a deposit that is greater than their pre estimation of loss and keep the difference….

OP it’s tricky in this instance as traders can take a small reservation fee and keep this, although I don’t know if for something to be classed as a reservation fee whether the trader can credit that to the service.

£35 seems a lot to reserve a table, was this a group booking? 

meme86

The point of the matter is that we were not told it was non Refundable. 
There are plenty of things that you can put a deposit on and if you change your mind you get a refund if a reasonable amount of notice is given. A lot of restaurants ask for £5 deposit, which is fair enough. 
It was a booking for 7. Under 7 is no deposit 

Aylesbury_Duck

meme86 said:

The point of the matter is that we were not told it was non Refundable. 
There are plenty of things that you can put a deposit on and if you change your mind you get a refund if a reasonable amount of notice is given. A lot of restaurants ask for £5 deposit, which is fair enough. 
It was a booking for 7. Under 7 is no deposit 

So what was the point of the deposit if you can just cancel with no consequences? Did you ask? Why is £5 fair enough, but £35 isn't? For a booking of 7 people, that is £5 a head, anyway. Seems a perfectly reasonable deposit to me. The restaurant trade has had a pretty tough time of it, so I can see why they're trying to make best judgements of covers and then to buy food and roster staff accordingly. People mucking them about doesn't help.

Anyway, your rights are a return of your deposit if they don't lose out. Your responsibilities are the other side of the same coin.

sheramber

So if they don't resell the table they get £5 a head profit- no doubt less than they would get from 7 people buying a meal.

There is also the admin cost of someone's time to answer the phone and make the booking.

£5 per head does not seem a lot.

why do people assume a deposit will be refundable. Why did you not check that before booking?

pinkshoes

If they won't refund, then I suggest you take a friend for a nice meal that night in the restaurant, using the deposit towards the cost of the meal. Phone them nearer the time and tell them the booking for 7 will now just be for two people.

If they manage to rebook the table they should refund your deposit.

Undervalued

meme86 said:

The point of the matter is that we were not told it was non Refundable. 
There are plenty of things that you can put a deposit on and if you change your mind you get a refund if a reasonable amount of notice is given. A lot of restaurants ask for £5 deposit, which is fair enough. 
It was a booking for 7. Under 7 is no deposit 

Equally you weren't told it was refundable so the default legal position applies as has been explained.

I assume you would have been spending £30 a head in total and maybe significantly more?

So a fiver a head or around a 15% deposit I would have though was perfectly reasonable.