They should refund me, right??

[Thehonestbadger]

Booked a birthday party at a small independently owned soft play near me.

Got a call today from the lovely lady who works there to say they had to cancel the booking as she’d come into work today to a redundancy notice, the business is closing and will close before the date of our party.
She said she’d not been able to reach the owners all day and didn’t know if I would be refunded or not. I’ve emailed the owners but a bit concerned I’ll never see that £50 again 🤦‍♀️

They should refund me, right?

They should but it depends on if they have the funds in the business. Otherwise you'll get the money back but it may be a longer process.

Yes they should but you might find you never hear from them again tbh.

Are the premises closed? Might be worth going over and pleading a cash refund?

I wouldn't hold out much hope of a refund in the near future unfortunately.

I wonder if they took your money knowing they’d be closing soon.

If they're insolvent you'll likely be one of many unsecured creditors. If after paying HMRC, staff & secure creditors there's anything left you'd get an equivalent percentage to all the other unsecure creditors. It's could well be nothing and take a long time. Sorry not great news

Of course they should but whether they can is a different matter

Ask and keep your fingers crossed

How did you pay?

If it's formal insolvency then you will be a very minor non-preferential creditor and unlikely to be refunded.

If you paid by credit card you may be able to claim it back

I paid debit card 🤦‍♀️
i usually use credit card if I’m concerned but they’ve been open a long time and we’ve had parties there before. I just didn’t think!

You will get the refund however it will probably be months down the line if due process is followed

How do you know?

If the business is bust there won't be any money to refund her, I'd be surprised if a small business would have a client accoubt

Keep trying the owner for a day or so and if not contact your bank and see if you can chargeback the payment.

They may be able to take your money that way.

Unlikely if they have gone into liquidation

Unlikely I'm afraid.

You can do a chargeback on debit cards for non delivery of service. The credit card only protection is section 75 which is wider in scope, it effectively acts like a limited warranty of sorts.

@Thehonestbadger I have had this before but with my wedding cake, I got in touch with my bank and they refunded me via chargeback as there was proof i would no longer get the service. Better if you can get written proof eg. Website saying they will close on x date. Just the sooner the better while their bank still has funds in/is open. You may get it back but act fast!

Get the chargeback quickly. The firm could never answer the phones or emails again. And then they will have taken all the money out and gone bust, so you would be unlikely to see it.