Overpaid for a unsuitable function room, what can we do?

terley

terley

terley

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So we have been looking for a function room for the past week or so to hold a wake..

My step-mother found a place that could accommodate the number of guests we would need, and paid up front for the area..

Since then she has had second thoughts (1 day since payment) and isn't happy with the location or the condition of the area..

Legally where do we stand in terms of asking for a refund?
 
A catered area that can fit up to 300 people with a bar and a receipt for the booking.. Thats it, unfortunately.. i wasn't involved with it, and in my opinion we have paid far too much for somewhere that looks very chavy and tacky.

I'm thinking we may be locked in to it right now, the wake is on the 18th.
 
unfortunately probably not a lot:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-mind/cancelling-a-service-youve-arranged/

When you don’t get 14 days to cancel

If you went into the business’s shop or premises to arrange the service you won’t get this cooling-off period.

You also won’t get a cooling-off period for:
[...]
catering or leisure activities for specific dates (eg hotel and restaurant bookings, theatre tickets, catering for a wedding or party)

For these services you’ll have the same cancellation rights as if you were making arrangements for them from the seller’s premises.
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terley said:
A catered area that can fit up to 300 people with a bar and a receipt for the booking.. Thats it, unfortunately.. i wasn't involved with it, and in my opinion we have paid far too much for somewhere that looks very chavy and tacky.

I'm thinking we may be locked in to it right now, the wake is on the 18th.
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Your step mother appears to have had a different opinion until you spoke to her.

All you can do really is ask the place to cancel and for a refund, they may be ok wiht it, they may keep a %age of the cash for messing them about, or they may simply state no refunds.

Up to them really dont think theres any legal recourse tbh
 
Think of the situation the other way round, that they found a better customer and cancelled your arrange date?

Have you tried calling them? The old skill of talking sometimes actually works.
 
There seems to be a propensity in GD users to think that "asking the internet" is preferable to talking to/asking the party in question for some reason.

Why is this?

Surely you'd phone them and have a polite chat about it first....

"Hi, we booked this in a bit of a hurry and not really thinking clearly due to the nature of the event (funeral wake) and have now realised it might not be as suitable as we first thought. I understand it's quite short notice and I'm really sorry for messing you around, but where do we stand if we need to cancel and book somewhere else?

THEN you come to GD when they "no" etc etc etc.
 
Moses said:
You're reliant on their goodwill. Do they have any alternative rooms which are suitable? Can the room you've booked be made to look more suitable? They haven't spent anything, yet... and so far all they've lost out on is the chance to rent that room to someone else on that day for that period... so if they're nice they might let you off. Play the grieving family card as well.
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Depends, you don't know if they haven't already started spending the money. The OP mentioned that it's catered, so food will have to be ordered in (for the 18th, so will ideally be placed before the weekend). Caterers and staff might have had to be called in specifically for this...

Even the bar might have needed to be restocked, you never know how busy they normally are..

If the event was months down the line, I'd say you'd be likely to get off with just a 10% deposit fee taken off, or something like that. Less than a week before, I'm not too sure..

Still worth giving them a call, the worst they can say is no.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
Think of the situation the other way round, that they found a better customer and cancelled your arrange date?
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Because I'm sure this never happens ;)

If someone else really wanted that room on that date and offered to pay an extra say 50%, do you really think the venue wouldn't consider making up some BS excuse to cancel the original booking?
 
Haggisman said:
Because I'm sure this never happens ;)
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Happened to one of my family members when a hotel cancelled their booking (well in advance) to cater for an exclusive wedding. Wanted that date and location for some special anniversary... a few months later they split up anyway.
 
Haggisman said:
Because I'm sure this never happens ;)

If someone else really wanted that room on that date and offered to pay an extra say 50%, do you really think the venue wouldn't consider making up some BS excuse to cancel the original booking?
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doesn't mean you should act like a **** as well.
just phone and ask them, if they say no-well sorry that's life. research before booking. btw dont tell the venue "because its chavy and tacky" :p
 
Edit; yeah the 18th is pretty soon, they'll be out of pocket since they could have booked another customer in and made money on the bar.

I think charging you the full price is reasonable so near.
 
Kuros said:
Depends, you don't know if they haven't already started spending the money. The OP mentioned that it's catered, so food will have to be ordered in (for the 18th, so will ideally be placed before the weekend). Caterers and staff might have had to be called in specifically for this...

Even the bar might have needed to be restocked, you never know how busy they normally are..

If the event was months down the line, I'd say you'd be likely to get off with just a 10% deposit fee taken off, or something like that. Less than a week before, I'm not too sure..

Still worth giving them a call, the worst they can say is no.
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Because she raised the concern with me at 1am..
 
gandhi said:
There seems to be a propensity in GD users to think that "asking the internet" is preferable to talking to/asking the party in question for some reason.

Why is this?

Surely you'd phone them and have a polite chat about it first....

"Hi, we booked this in a bit of a hurry and not really thinking clearly due to the nature of the event (funeral wake) and have now realised it might not be as suitable as we first thought. I understand it's quite short notice and I'm really sorry for messing you around, but where do we stand if we need to cancel and book somewhere else?

THEN you come to GD when they "no" etc etc etc.
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Erm...you seem to forget this is a forum...online...for general discussion...

Ever occurred to you that someone on this forum might either have first hand knowledge of a similar situation, or legally know the situation? If either case is true, then OP has a wider range of facts and information to take into a conversation with said venue. As opposed to going in blind with no idea what he's entitled to.
 
One of the issues in this scenario is that if the customer decides they don't like the venue, chances are they aren't going to be a future customer so there isn't much incentive for keeping them onside (other than perhaps the risk of a grieving family posted on local social media about how abysmally they were treated).

Seems very short notice to be cancelling to me so I'd be expecting them to want to retain a decent percentage of the booking at least. Would be interesting to hear what was agreed on?
 
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