Lost my deposit-AIBU?

[Outofpocket2022]

Not sure if AIBU to feel a bit annoyed by all of this….
My family and all live in different parts of the country, and although we all visit each other’s different houses etc at various points we try to get all together once a year for a meal out-generally on Mother’s Day.

We booked a restaurant (not a chain-small family owned type place) midway between all of us for Mother’s Day in 2020 but the pandemic happened and it got cancelled. We’d paid a pretty substantial deposit of £70, and the restaurant got in touch to offer either a full refund or that if we still wanted to visit then they would issue a voucher for the sum of the deposit plus a % extra per person as a thank you.
We accepted the voucher (perhaps foolishly in hindsight) and didn’t think anything more of it. Mother’s day 2021 came around and lockdown was still in place so we didn’t book anything.

Fast forward to 2022 and I booked the same restaurant again for Mother’s Day. They emailed asking for a deposit so we got back in touch to explain about the voucher.

Problem is, the voucher has expired.

I’m really annoyed with myself that I didn’t check in advance and also that I didn’t get back in touch with them perhaps the same time last year. But everything was still shut and it didn’t really cross my mind. The restaurant isn’t somewhere we’d pass so wouldn’t have been on the radar for us to visit earlier. I got back in contact with them via email to explain the circumstances and asked if they would be able to reconsider letting us use our part of the deposit (not the extra % they added on for goodwill) and it was a flat no. The response was from the owner rather than other staff so I’m pretty sure it’s the final answer. They said that everyone else who was issue a voucher has used it and they were a small business who had been impacted by Covid and they hoped we understood.

It’s not their fault that the voucher had expired-that’s 100% on us and we should have checked. But £70 is a lot of money to us and it feels a little bit snakey if I’m honest. Especially as they’d asked for our support in the early part of the pandemic by having a voucher issues rather than taking the refund.

So yeh, feeling a bit peeved but would be good to hear others opinions-AIBU?

I can see both sides.

It's not like you bought a voucher that has now expired. Nor did you cancel on a whim and ask for the deposit to be tranferred.

They asked if you'd take a voucher rather than a refund and that felt like a kind thing to do at the time.

Yes, you should have probably checked it and Mother's Day probably isn't a day they're going to feel like losing out on a profit making table.

But we are doing huge gymnastic feats to publicly protect businesses at the moment and forgetting that the money spent in them is earned by someone who might also have had a shitty pandemic. And deserves their cash to be valued as well.

I'm really on the fence here.

It's not abuse to complain factually. It's a public service to put honest reviews rather than just empty positivity. If they are being perfectly fair then such a complaint wouldn't harm them at all

But it isn’t factual. Restaurants were opening up again from July 2020. Op has had a long time to use this voucher but has chosen to save it until Mother’s Day 2022. Unfortunately, by which time, it has expired.

Yes there's been a pandemic. But there's also been plenty of time inbetween lockdowns that it xould have been used.

It didn't need to be used on mothers day.

How much deposit in total OP? £70 or is that per family/ couple?
Yes that's bad form. They probably furloughed staff and took all Rishi's handouts. I wouldn't be feeling sorry for them

Mothers Day 2020 was immediately before we went into lockdown, so restaurants were still open then. So considering they even offered a refund at all was reasonable of them.

You had a whole year to use the voucher, and you didn’t. You now want to use it a whole year after.

I already said YABU, but well done on not being a person who posts a spiteful review.

Maybe I misunderstood though. Did the restaurant cancel the booking or did the OP cancel the booking?

My parents had booked a hotel for their wedding anniversary but had to cancel because they couldn't travel to that area due to covid lockdown, but the hotel was still open and running, so they offered my parents a voucher, which they used last year when things opened up a bit. I just assumed it was this kind of situation.

I'm with the restaurant. We haven't been locked down for the full two years and most people know that gift vouchers expire. You didn't have to wait for Mother's Day. You could have used it for another occasion or just to see each other.

@JellybeansJelly

Mothers Day 2020 was immediately before we went into lockdown, so restaurants were still open then. So considering they even offered a refund at all was reasonable of them.

You had a whole year to use the voucher, and you didn’t. You now want to use it a whole year after.

I already said YABU, but well done on not being a person who posts a spiteful review.

We were being asked not to mix though. I remember my DH being a bit grumpy with me for driving to my mum's on MD. I can remember the journey being my last before the world shut

Did the restaurant make it clear to you before you accepted the voucher, that it would expire in a year?

But it isn’t factual. Restaurants were opening up again from July 2020. Op has had a long time to use this voucher but has chosen to save it until Mother’s Day 2022. Unfortunately, by which time, it has expired.

I don't understand what you think OP has said that isn't factual?

No explicit consumer law re voucher limitations in UK. But terms should be explicitly stated on any vouchers at the point of purchase/acceptance

I think while I get it's annoying Yabu. It's been two years thst money is long gone for them. Ti think better business for them would have been to offer half of thst amount if you spent a certain amount etc.

I sympathise. I bought a flying lesson for my son for Xmas 2019. He wanted to use it for his birthday in March 2020. We booked twice and couldn't fly due to bad weather. Then came lockdown. Then when lockdown eased I was diagnosed with cancer and son was helping out while I had chemo etc. We actually forgot about the gift. Explained circumstances to flying club and they are "consulting the directors" This was 3 weeks ago. They said if they won't honour the voucher he can have a simulator flight instead. I understand how this business would have been hit during lockdown but this is £200 of my money they have kept for nothing! Sorry to hijack your thread but still fuming about this.

@BankingOnChange

But £70 is a lot of money to us and it feels a little bit snakey if I’m honest

It's not. They're a business who exist to make a profit...it's likely that they needed the certainty of an expiry date without having the voucher hanging over them forever more. Yabu.

But they have made £70 from the OP for doing nothing, it's pretty crappy - businesses need to be a bit more flexible with things affected by covid, and if that means extending an expired voucher then they should. With the coming recession people are going to much more careful where they spend their money and if I was the OP I wouldn't be spending it there, or recommending it to friends.

I’m glad you think YABU you even say “ It’s not their fault that the voucher had expired-that’s 100% us”. You had a choice of refund but you opted for the voucher with % good will gesture. You had plenty of time to redeem it but didn’t. Other customers redeemed theirs in time. You now want to book on one of their busiest times of the year - Mother’s Day and want to use the expired voucher. The restaurant has refused and Other posters are right they have missed a good opportunity for positive customer service however the Hospitality industry and especially small private businesses are on their knees so I can understand why they refused. I hope you manage to find somewhere to celebrate with your family and have a great time.

That's mean of them.

You didn't take a refund because that presumably helped them out and taking a voucher was a show of good faith that you would go when it was possible to do so.

No good deed goes unpunished but I certainly wouldn't keep quiet about it. They sound like a bunch of fly boys.

@donquixotedelamancha

But it isn’t factual. Restaurants were opening up again from July 2020. Op has had a long time to use this voucher but has chosen to save it until Mother’s Day 2022. Unfortunately, by which time, it has expired.

I don't understand what you think OP has said that isn't factual?

I think what they mean is the OP had said the restaurant was closed for most of the time that the voucher was valid, when actually there were plenty of opportunities to go as most restaurants were open last summer…

I think I can see both sides. If it were my restaurant I’d probably meet them halfway and say they could have £50 off a meal at another, more off peak, time, but not Mother’s Day.

Thing is it’s not as if the voucher was only valid for mother’s day— the way they see it was you had 12 months (in which they were maybe open for 8) to use it—. And it’s clear you aren’t a regular— so they simply don’t care— some business I’m afraid just works like this rightly or wrongly.

I'd be pissed off.you did them a favour by accepting a voucher rather than refund.

@TabithaHazel They made £70 from the OP in 2020, and depending how close to the date the cancellation occurred it probably paid the suppliers for the food that went to waste.

How is there so little business acumen on these boards that people think the restaurant owner is just laughing their way to the bank with OPs money?

Their goodwill gesture was a) offering a refund or voucher in the first place if they weren't closed and the country wasn't in lockdown and b) adding a percentage to the voucher. They've done enough. Failure to use it (or even ask to extend it) in good time is solely down to the OP.

OP, did you cancel the 2020 booking or did the restaurant?

Mother's Day 2020 was March 10th. Covid wasn't declared a pandemic by WHO until the next day and lockdown didn't happen for over a week.

If the restaurant cancelled, I can understand you feeling they should have been a little more flexible in their arrangements. If your family chose to cancel it, they restaurant has already been generous in the goodwill gesture on their voucher.

It's irksome, sure, but YABU.

YABU you snooze you loose

the restaurant got in touch to offer either a full refund or that if we still wanted to visit then they would issue a voucher for the sum of the deposit plus a % extra per person as a thank you.

Sorry, I'm hard of reading today. The restaurant did offer a full refund but the OP declined and accepted the voucher. I think it's just one of those things. The date was on the voucher and the OP made a mistake. That's on her not the restaurant.

Appreciate everyone's responses-a mixed bag by the looks of things! I'm not going to leave a review I don't think (certainly not an abusive one for anyone who was worried about that) but I guess it's a lesson learned for me.
Guess I could contact them to see if they'd honour the voucher at a different time but as I said it's nowhere near where I live (well over an hours drive) so probably the best thing is to just let it go

Thanks all!

They did offer a full refund... it was your choice to accept the voucher. Therefore up to you to check terms and conditions.