Wedding Venue Price Increases

Hi,

I got engaged in Jan 07. I started shoppong around for a wedding venue almost immediately as I wanted good value.

I found a nice venue, with very reasonable prices and made a booking for June 09.

I asked prior to booking could the prices be "frozen". The response from the hotel was that the reason that the prices were lower than average is that they do not freeze their prices in advance. I accepted this, but asked for an assurance that the prices would not increase by an unreasonable amount like 10% prior to the wedding. The hotel manager said that the prices would not increase by more than 3-4%. We were happy with this and paid a €1000 deposit.

Last week I recieved notification of the latest price increases in the post. The menu price have increased by 16%. I did a bit of research over the weekend and the hotel is now more expensive than its competitors!

My partner works in construction and has lost his job. We can not afford to pay the hotels increased prices.

I have spoken to the manager of the hotel and his view is that he may impose any price increases he feels justified with!!

What are my options? I am willing to cancel but I cant see the hotel refunding the €1,000..............

Thanks

Hi Porridge

Did you get anything in writing about them not increasinig by more than 3-4%.

regards

hizzy

Hi Hizzy,

No just a verbal agreement...........highinsight is a wonderful thing!!!

Regards
Porridge

Hi,
Usually the deposit receipt will state that menu prices applicable during the year of the actual event will be charged. If your receipt states that you may not have the option of having your deposit returned. It does seem like a huge percentage increase though especially given the downturn which is hitting the hospitality industry very hard, but to put it in context there has been immense food product inflation during the period you booked to now. If you want to continue with the booking or have no way of getting out of it maybe you could negociate free corkage with them, change the menu selected to a cheaper one or buffet rather than table service or ask for a complimentary tea/coffee/sherry reception upon arrival as you weren't expecting the increase. Or you could appeal to their better nature and ask for the refund due to the change in your circumstances due to your Finacee's job loss.
Good luck

I actually heard of a case where a hotel called a couple to say that they would be reducing the price per head for their wedding AND they threw in some room free of charge. Apparently due to the increased competition in the industry & a number of the hotels nearby had dropped their prices....but I rdon;t know if they had a deposit paid.

Thanks for the replys. I have set up a meeting with the manager to see if I can appeal to his better nature. Maybe he is not aware that there is a recession! Lucky him! I'll let you know how i get on.

As I said I was expecting a reasonable price increase but not 16%. Thats very interesting sam h. and similar to the offers made by other hotels in the locality that i visited over the weekend. I'm hopeful that I have some barganing power particularly if i am prepared to loose my deposit.

Do some research with competing hotels before talking to the manager.

If they are over €1,000 cheaper, you can afford to lose the deposit, and can dangle the spectre of having no booking at all in front of the manager.

I know of a couple who are getting married in April next (2009). The"special" hotel rate for rooms was €180 and corkage was €15. They met within the last week with the manager and ask for a reduction in prices and got the rooms for €160 and corkage for €10.
You know the saying if you don't ask you won't receive.

Your verbal contract (no outrageous increases) is still valid and legally binding. THe problem you have is proving that it still exists. You could try playing hardball, and threatening him with Small Claims Court proceedings for return of your deposit on grounds of breach of verbal contract. The question is whether a judge will believe your story or not.

I'm not saying that this is best tactic - only you can decide that.

This is completely unreasonable 16% in that short of time is unacceptable. See if any other hotels have the date available and if they do make some enquires. Bring the figures with you to your meeting and tell the manager where to stick them.

If anything they should be giving you extra's in the current environment. If it was to save just 20 quid at this stag I'd move hotels (unless you love the place!)

This post has really made me mad! 16%......nuts. How the hell can they justify that when the rest of the country is in a pay freeze?

Yeager said:

How the hell can they justify that when the rest of the country is in a pay freeze?

Click to expand...

You'll probably find that the flimsy justification is that they have to increase prices precisely because business is so bad. The same excuse was used by publicans last year to increase their prices. In this case the hotel probably assumes that anyone organising a wedding will put up and shut up rather than change venue. It's bizarre that some businesses think that increasing prices will do anything but make matters worse.

I'd go along with Yeager's suggestion. Get prices from other hotels in the area and have them on hand when you go to see the manager. Make it very clear that you are fully prepared to change venue. Best of luck!

All,

Well, I have met with the hotel manager to ask if he could accommodate us in any way. The short answer was a definite no. His line is that food prices have increased and he couldn't have predicted this at the time that I placed my deposit.

I did some shopping around. We went to a hotel that had been too expensive when we were last looking around. They had the date available, were eager for a sale, offered me my selected menu for €10pp less as well as free corkage, sparkling wine toast, tea/coffee/fruit punch reception and free afters food! We estimate that out bill be reduced by about 3K.

So we have cancelled our original booking and changed venue. We are hoping the first hotel can sell on our date and then return our deposit. If not we will be looking at a date in the small claims court.

Porridge

Excellent result - at the worst case scenario you are up 2,000

Fantastic result! Let your feet do the talking - that manager deserves the boot for his lack of negotiation. An attitude like that won't survive the current environment.

Good for you. The price increase was outrageous. Nothing to do with food prices I'd say, more likely profits are down and he's trying to make the most of any wedding bookings hoping you won't change.

I note, however, that your partner is unemployed. Perhaps you should consider a much smaller wedding celebration entirely?

extopia

I appreciate the word of caution. I would definately pospone if I felt we couldn't manage.

I had estimated that the wedding would cost us about 18k and have been putting money aside for the past two years to made sure we had that amount saved.

As it happens the wedding will cost about 15-16k. This includes all the things an Traditional Irish wedding mandates, photographer, band, designer dress, flowers, cake, diamond rings, video etc........

We had planned on travelling for about six weeks after the wedding. This has been downgraded to a week in the algarve, but there is nothing wrong with that!

We are managing on one wage, dont have any loans aside from our mortgage and the wedding won't add to our dept.

Hi,
Best of luck with the new venue. What I would suggest is you find out the name(s) of the Hotel owners and explain what has happened. Also put your cancellation in writing both my mail and e-mail with a proof of delivery and state the reason for cancellation as 'excessive menu price inflation' and state that you request return of your deposit, not in the event of them (as its unlikely) taking another booking for that date but simply return of deposit full stop.

Hi - I definitely agree with gillarosa - get it all done in writing. Definitely address it with the hotel owner(s) as well. Hotels all over the country are cutting their staff to three-day weeks and occupancy rates are down - they should be bending over backwards to keep the business they have and encourage others attending your wedding to return. What is wrong with some businesses in this country?

Wishing you lots of luck on your big day and happy planning!

Hi Porridge. I just read all the posts here am I'm really angry at the way you were treated by the manager of the first hotel you booked. In Cork he'd be known as a L****r!

I'm delighted you bit the bullet and switched venue. It's not easy to walk away from a €1k deposit. And if he doesn't get another booking for the day and you don't get a refund, I'm sure you'll get some satisfaction from the knowledge that his hotel will have lost a day's takings in the bar, dining room, B&B, etc. Isn't it amazing that some hotels get away with paying minimum wage and charging maximum prices?

This is none of my business but, in your current circumstances, it might be an idea to let your guests know that they could give a few bob as a wedding present, especially as ye have yer own house and probably all the contents ye want. Maybe ye have other ideas. (To diverge slightly, my sister got married in the early 80's and got 8 deep fat fryers as wedding presents!)

I sincerely wish you and your partner the very best, both on your big day and for a long and happy life together. And a week in The Algarve? Heaven! I'm not remotely jealous!

Thanks a million for all the good wishes. I have written a letter to the hotel owner stating that I am cancelling due to excessive menu price inflation. He has written back to say that as a gesture of "goodwill" he will not pursue a 20% cancellation fee on top of out deposit.

I am beginning to wonder how long the hotel will be in business for. The owners seem to be very cash hungry. They bought the hotel about three years ago and have told us that they have invested heavily. They have no scope for negotiation on price even if it means loosing business, and the booking deposit for new wedding bookings has increased to €1,750! The average in the area is about €800.

I'll spread the cash gift by subtle word of mouth I think. Although, I definitely don't want to but pressure on anybody to bring a gift. I know some of our guests have lost their jobs and genuinely cant afford to give a gift. I also suspect that the days of the outrageously generous wedding presents are gone (and rightly so IMO).