non refundable deposit

J

juanjuan

Guest
hi all .. I paid 1500 booking deposit for a wedding in Aug 09. I decided a couple of weeks ago to cancel it. I had orginally sent a draft but never received a receipt or acknowledgement of money received. I tried to cancel draft but was told it was cashed. I understand the contract I entered said it was non refundable but they wont even let me use the money for a party or different celebration. is there any way around this legally considering I never got a receipt? the hotel manager said in a mail that although he is sorry he never issued a receipt , he acknowleged receiving the draft when I mailed him to ask... help as €1500 is a lot of money to us...
 
What was the basis of it being non refundable? Was it some sort of special offer?
 
Was you told before you parted with the money that the deposit was non refundable?
 
hiya .. yes it said it was non refundable on the contract I signed so I believe they are right not to return it .. it also says non transferrable but I thought there might be a loophole if I did not get a receipt from them.
 
the venue is a golf club and hotel that specialises in weddings.... just filled out a stanard booking form and waved goodbye to €1500 by the looks of it ...
 
sorry if I sound a bit thick ... on the contract it said .. please send a €1500 non refundable deposit. it said that if you cancel etc you were not entitled to the deposit back. this is my first time posting on this site so just getting the hang of it... I can copy and post the managers email that he sent to me today???
 
I am curious if it was just a standard booking why it would be non refundable from the outset?
Was it short notice ? Was it a discounted rate?
Doy you mind stating the reason for the cancellation
 
this is what the web site says ...

'Provisional bookings are held for a period of 14 day only. A deposit of €1500 is required to secure the booking date along with a signed copy of the booking contract. Deposits are accepted in good faith and are strictly non-refundable. We accept payment of deposit by credit card, cheque or bank draft'
 
If there is a good reason for the cancellation you could plead that it was paid in good faith also & these circumstances were unforeseen.
I am no legal expert so I cant say how you stand legally
 
hiya colm ...dont know if you could read above clearly? anyway we decided to get married and my dad is a member of this certain golf club and its really nice so we went ahead and booked and paid deposit.. then found out I was pregnant so decided to cancel for the time being.. can you believe that then last week we lost the baby so its been cr*p all round. lost baby at ten weeks.. originally told the hotel I was cancelling cos pregnant and then this happened ....
 
Hi Juan Juan.. First off you have my sympathy & my thoughts.
This is surly an exceptional circumstance. I think if they were approached & this was explained a full refund should be given..
Option 2 would be to shame them into it by going to the media.
 
I am in a similar situation but I did not sign a contract with the hotel but gave them €1000 deposit. I was posted the contract and it does not state the deposit can't be used for other hotel services. Am I within my rights to ask the hotel to use the deposit for other services as it doesn't state I couldn't in the contract. Currently the hotel are refusing to allow me get a refund or use it for other hotel services or another event.
 

tell them you got the contract but do not agree with the terms of it and would like your money back.....
 
Am I missing something here. People are signing contracts that say deposits are non-refundable and then complaining when they can't get the money back after cancelling?

OP I am sorry for your circumstances but I don't think non-receipt of a receipt nullifies the T&C of the contract.
 

You are not missing anything.... colm seems to be under the impression that they need a good reason to have a non-refundable clause in their contract which of course they don't....


the second poster on the other hand has not signed the contract yet, so there is more room to get out of it...
 
hi all ... I understand I am in the wrong regarding signing a contract which cleary states it is non refundable , I was just hoping that there was some little way out of it and I thought the fact they never issued a receipt might be my only hope.. anyway im stilll down my €1500 so expensive lesson learnt eh !?

thanx for all the advise
 
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You have my sympathies...what a horrible situatio all round for you and your partner.

I can understand hotels and clubs having such a rule to avoid people changing their location 'cos something better comes along, but your circumstances are different. Rule are rule....but there has to be the odd exception (That's Lifes "Jobs Worth Award" springs to mind!!)

You said your dad is a member, could he not go and pled your case as being for medical reasons & subsequently, mourning. You could hardly be expected to go ahead with so much trauma going on. Your best bet is to appeal to their human side.

If they definately won;t refund, do you plan to re-schedule the wedding, would they move the date for you?

It does seem particularly harsh.
 
would the hotel be willing to let you use the deposit towards having the wedding at a different date? Can your dad do anything as a member?

cross post with samh
 
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