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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to expect a refund.

106 replies

sodorisland · 30/06/2016 14:42

I had a makeup trial done for £30 and then paid a deposit to secure our booking for my wedding £50.

My makeup artist has just cancelled saying its a personal thing and she's leaving the country and doesn't know when she will be back, my weddings in 12 weeks.

Fair enough though if she's not here she can't do it so I asked her to refund the trial and deposit.
She's agreed to the deposit but not the trial as the trail has been done.

Aibu to ask again For the trial money back as I will have to pay for new one and we only had the trial with her as she was available on the day of our wedding.

OP posts:
Furcat85 · 30/06/2016 16:43

Absolutely should be refunded - trial is now rendered worthless and you'll have to pay for another.

Original poster
sodorisland · 30/06/2016 16:45

Thanks I've asked and explained I will need another so I think it's fair to refund the trial.

I don't have any notes or what brands.

I will need a new trial and to find someone, the people we had as a shortlist are now all booked up.

OP posts:
Chocolatefudgecake100 · 30/06/2016 16:49

You should get your money back

Toxicity · 30/06/2016 16:54

YANBU, what good is the trial do you now she is unavailable? When you find a new make up artist you will need another trial with them.

The MU Artist sounds really unreasonable.

user1465823522 · 30/06/2016 17:21

the trial was a trial - neither you nor her were committed because of it - you are being unreasonable.

dowhatnow · 30/06/2016 17:26

You only agreed the trial as part of the overall package. They have not completely upheld their side of the bargain. What use is the trial without the main bit? You should be refunded.

I'd be kicking up a stink for the principle of it. You would never just have a trial for its own sake.

If it was you canceling then it would be a different matter.

user1465823522 · 30/06/2016 17:31

and if you decided based on the trial that you didn't want the full package should you still pay for it?

It goes both ways.

fruitlovingmonkey · 30/06/2016 17:44

I think yabu. You will have got a good idea of what you want from the trial. Ask her for a sketch of what she did and a list of products.
Friends who had destination weddings did a trial with a make up artist at home to work out what they wanted and then sent the details to the make up artist abroad.
She might have very good reasons for cancelling.

DuckAndPancakes · 30/06/2016 17:49

YABU

the deposit being returned for the wedding day makeup is a reasonable request that is being fulfilled. Expecting money back for the trial is a piss take. That is still her time, experience and product that is being paid for.
I'm sure if you asked her for a list of products that were used etc she would pass them onto you. Assuming that you should be reimbursed because her circumstances have changed and she's given you adequate notice is ridiculous.

Lunar1 · 30/06/2016 17:51

She should refund both. It would be different if you booked the trial but didn't go with her.

When you have a trial you are testing out the artist as much as the makeup/ideas.

foursillybeans · 30/06/2016 17:56

Yes it's a bit of both really. I would insist on a part refund - at least 60%.

TheFlyingFauxPas · 30/06/2016 18:10

If you paid for a wedding cake with tester charged for if you booked it then they said they had to cancel surely they'd refund for the trial. They couldn't say well you ate the cake 😁 Point of trial is to decide what's wanted for the big day itself. Any preworn make up/ preaten cake the benefit is the end result not the bloody trial! I would say that cake would leave a very bitter taste in my mouth Confused

DuckAndPancakes · 30/06/2016 18:11

The trial is a reduced rate that on the day makeup.

Are you all saying you'd be QUITE HAPPY for an employer to say to you "well, I want the money I paid you for Monday back because you can't work on Thursday and Friday due to unforeseen circumstances"?

Course you fucking wouldn't. Being a makeup artist is her JOB and like everyone else that has one, circumstances arise. If she went totally AWOL maybe, but she's explained and apologised even though she may well be back in the country at the time of the wedding and able to do the booking.

She's probably had to write off A LOT of work due to something like a family bereavement or whatever, yet everyone thinks it's totally acceptable to expect her to reimburse someone for a job she's done.
Argh. I scream.

HisNameWasPrinceAndHeWasFunky · 30/06/2016 18:44

Well you pay for the trial and the make up artist gets to keep that if you don't book.

But if you do book it is offset against the final fee - so if you book it's a pre-payment.

If client cancels make up artist gets to keep it. If make up artist cancels she must pay back the pre-payment.

If she wasn't available to do the wedding, the op would never have given her £30 for the trial.

dowhatnow · 30/06/2016 19:10

So those who disagree with the refund think that it is ok that the op is completely out of pocket and has to start again with another trial. That is money she would never have spent in the first place but she should just suck it up even though she has had a make up that she didn't want or need if there was no chance of the wedding make up proper? It could even be argued that the make up artist owes her even more for wasting the ops time...

If she decided not to go ahead then she should pay but not this way round.

ScrewyMcScrewup · 30/06/2016 19:13

DuckAndPancakes she hasn't done the job. She's cancelled the job, so the trial was a waste of everyone's time - OP's included. Since it's out of OP's control, OP should get the money back.

ThatsMyStapler · 30/06/2016 19:16

Trial was a trial for the wedding make up
Mua won't be there for the wedding, Mua fault, not the bride

All money should be returned to the bride...

DuckAndPancakes · 30/06/2016 19:28

So, I reiterate, if you worked on a Monday and were paid but then were unable to work on Thursday and Friday, you'd be happy to give the money back for the work you did on Monday?

Un be fucking lievable.

MargaretCavendish · 30/06/2016 19:37

But, in your analogy, the work done on the work was absolutely worthless.... I don't think you can compare employment and self-employment like this. I suppose I have a situation a bit like this because I do some regular short-term adult further education classes where I get paid extra (on top of the teaching money) for preparing the course materials in advance. If the course gets cancelled due to low uptake I get paid for those materials (but not for the teaching time); if I pulled out then I would receive no pay at all. I've never thought of that as anything but fair.

Look, to be 100% honest I don't think I would pursue it any further if I'd already asked for the money back and she'd said no - I'd be annoyed but write it off. But I can afford £30 quite easily, maybe OP can't.

People do work they don't get paid for all the time - no one thinks it's unfair that builders don't get paid for estimates, or that in some industries (including mine) it's normal for interview processes to include stuff that takes days and days to prepare even though all but one candidate will turn out to have wasted their time. Make-up artists are actually quite unusual in charging for an initial 'consultation' like this; I think it's much more common to have to write off a lot more costs of pitching for business.

MargaretCavendish · 30/06/2016 19:38

Sorry, the first sentence there should say 'the work done on the Monday'

Original poster
sodorisland · 30/06/2016 19:58

She's ignored my email so I don't think she will refund that.

I don't know when she will refund the deposit as she said she needed to wait until she is paid whenever that is.

OP posts:
DoJo · 30/06/2016 21:08

If the OP had called the make up artists and said 'are you free to do my wedding makeup on the 20th September' and they had said no, then she wouldn't have booked a trial.

The trial was booked and paid for on the assumption that the make up artist was available to do the makeup on the day as well, and now she isn't - the trial may have been as waste of both their time, but it's the make up artist who has pulled out so she should bear the costs of that waste.

DoJo · 30/06/2016 21:09

Sorry OP - didn't refresh the page! I hope she does give your money back, but if not then at least you will know not to recommend her to anyone else.

GingerLDN · 30/06/2016 23:25

You should defo be refunded, it's her fault not yours.

KoalaDownUnder · 30/06/2016 23:35

YANBU! Absolutely, you should get a full refund.

Duck, enough with the outrage. Your analogy makes no sense, as this is fundamentally different to an employer/employee situation.

Read Margaret Cavendish's post below yours.

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