I'm such an idiot, I want to cry

[SOSHelp]

Not AIBU but need some serious advice and kind words right now.

We are getting married next June, and paid £250 deposit for the catering. I have now found out the venue is closing down.

After frantically emailing and calling, I was given contact details for the (former) owner to contact for my deposit. She said she is nothing to do with the business or accounts anymore, left last month, and is now living abroad. She then gave me a number for another owner. I spoke to him, and he said the first owner has taken all the money. I don't know who to believe.

I can not believe I have lost this money. I am trying to get through to the police but unsure if there's anything they can do? Does anyone know what I can do?

If £250 was just a deposit for catering then how were you going to pay the balance of catering, plus venue hire, music, dresses, flowers, service fees etc etc etc with the other £250 of your £500 budget? The figures don't really add up.
With such a small budget if you can't get the £250 back just go and get married with two witnesses and have a great meal - do-able on £250 rather than trying to do something bigger which can't be done well, if at all on £250. If you can't afford a fancy wedding - then don't have one, it's the marriage that matters, not the wedding.

Mirmummy1 is right about paying on credit card which protects you if you lose more than £100 as the card company is liable to reimburse you for losses.

However, if you choose to pay by PayPal you break the direct contract with the credit card company by introducing a third party and lose the protection.

So the rule should be to use PayPal up to £100 for the convenience and security and by credit card for anything over £100 for the insurance and protection from loss.

I'm really sorry this has happened to you OP. And you are absolutely not an idiot - perfectly normal to pay half to reserve catering in many places.

I hate to be pessimistic however but I don't think you are going to get this money back however, and it may well be costly to pursue it. Sorry. Your best bet is to ask the current owner what they agreed with the previous owner regarding honouring bookings already made. If the owner still in the UK was supposed to honour any bookings made then in my opinion the new owners owe you the money back, but it doesn't sound like they have any intention of paying it to you.

Do you have any paperwork which confirms everything?

bluefolder - “remember for next time”! The OP is only hoping to do it once🤪
I have never heard of wedding Insurance either
I am a bit suspicious - sorry OP if you are genuine but is someone trying to market wedding insurance as a “thing”.
If you are genuine OP hope you have a long and happy marriage - my feeling is the longevity of marriage is inversely proportional to the amount spent - it looks like you should be fine
.

We got married 15 years ago and had insurance. It’s absolutely a thing.

Not that it helps the op at all, but yes, wedding insurance is most definitely a thing.
I can’t believe so many people haven’t heard of it.

I didn't know about wedding insurance and I spent a small fortune on my wedding - its a great idea but obviously not as well know as some of the posters on here think.

Contact your bank as many have the same insurances as Credit Cards. Explain that this company have taken your money but not provided the goods/services. If you have emails etc, they will be able to get it back if they subscribe. It may only apply to Debit Card payments, but it's worth asking.

Where in the country are you op? Maybe the power of Mumsnet can help you find a new venue?

@LunaTheCat I am not trying to market wedding insurance, and I doubt it would have helped me anyway in this situation as there are so many conditions

@pollymere I have spoken to the bank and they can't do anything :(

Also, an update: my friend contacted one of the owners asking about the closure and they said they would still be catering for external bookings. So the business is apparently still running but there is no venue.

What shits. How cruel to ignore you and keep your money when they are still up and running to a degree.

Oh - wedding insurance www.johnlewisfinance.com/insurance/wedding-insurance.html?ppc=true&eng=GOOGLE&product=Wedding&cat=Generic&camp=Generic+-+Wedding+Insurance+-+Exact&track=DS&keyword=insure+wedding&adgroup=%5BInsure+Wedding%5D&gclid=Cj0KCQiA05zhBRCMARIsACKDWjcrM1OnNTJf2HHCDFx6izhiwL_1c1NdDVLzdY9voOmVyFGbGAYs1ggaAneeEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

SOS, in that case, if your friend is prepared to be quoted, I would contact them to say:

• You know they are still catering, so expect your booking to be honoured and your deposit to be used to provide food.

• You are willing to accept external catering rather than the venue.

• You expect this to be cheaper, please could they let you know the revised price + menu so that you know how much the balance will be.

• If they refuse to provide this, then you are afraid that you will have no alternative other than to spread the news via social media and local newspapers that this is a catering company that is not to be trusted, and that those who are considering using it for external catering should beware, and also that you will be widely publicising their failure to repay your deposit.

Then look to find a venue where this could be possible for your numbers - even if this is a friend's house.

Oh I feel for you my bosses did this a year ago the shut the company down over night and ran I never got my last months pay which is ideal in January and there is nothing you can do even citizens advice couldn’t do anything with the owners running abroad it’s horrible when you trust someone and they turn out to be snakes! I would say the main taking from this should be thank god you didn’t pay the full amount for catering I know how stressful it is when planning a wedding and how expensive it gets hopefully you can find a reasonable alternative!

As others h ave said you can claim the money back if you used your credit card. Trading standards can offer advice and you could consider claiming the money back via the small claims court I think...good luck jane