To ask for non-refundable deposit back

[Roundgreysoft]

I know mumsnet hate tattoos but please put that aside the the sake of the question.

I had a tattoo appt booked for 7 months. I got very poorly and was hospitalised. Knowing I may still not be well enough to attend (in fact the tattooist probably wouldn't have been able to go ahead on medical grounds), I cancelled the appt with 6 weeks notice and asked to reschedule when I was definitely well enough, as I may not be by the appt date. Was upfront when originally booking that I could only do Saturdays due to childcare. The shop is a long way from me and I can only do a weekend because of people being around to basically help for the whole day.

Tattooist will now not rebook for a Saturday at any point in 2024. They haven’t said they're fully booked, just said they can't do any Saturdays now. They also didn't mention that this would be impossible for them when I asked to reschedule. They are 2 hours drive from me and I've used them 3 times before (did not have the childcare to worry about then). It is a 4 hour round trip to get there and back without the time it takes to do the tattoo.

I paid a £70 non refundable deposit at the time of booking. Should I ask for them to return this? Am I being unreasonable expecting them to rebook for a Saturday if they did before - I don't care if I have to wait months for this, or even if it is next year, but they don't seem to understand I can't magic up childcare for an entire day.
With 6 weeks to go they filled my cancelled appointment and hadn't done my artwork. Still haven't as I don't actually have an appointment yet. So the deposit isn't being held against anything.

I work in an industry where I actually ask for payment in full to secure dates in my diary, but if people cancel with at least 3 days notice then they are refunded in full, and I only keep the money if they cancel on the day (50% if less than 3 days). If I originally offer one week day for somebody and we reschedule, then I will always give them the opportunity to reschedule for the same day I agreed to to start with.
I hate having to ask for a refund when it clearly states non-refundable but...

Interested in opinions.

You said in a previous post that your husband is around at weekends so why can't he look after the baby?

Your H has no annual leave for the rest of 2024 that he could use on a Thursday or something?

You might have to just suck up the loss, ridiculous that you can’t commit to one weekday during the next 9 months. As pp said, they’re either no longer doing Saturdays or have those slots filled earlier.

@FunnyFinch

7 months ago, she booked a tattoo appointment for around now.

5 months ago she had a baby.

6 weeks ago she got sepsis and cancelled the appointment, which should be happening around now. She has been working with the tattoo artists to try and find another date but can’t.

She has now started a thread to ask for advice about the deposit.

Thats the time line. Each event is unrelated. Nothing to do with pregnant; you misunderstood what the 7 months thing meant in the OP and started going on about pregnancy. It is very easy to understand.

The tattoo artist says they have no weekend availability.

I know you say DH cannot take leave, but if you give him multiple months notice surely he can take one day?

Even if he's a teacher or similar, he is entitled to some time off. Can you coordinate to when he is not in work?

Teachers can’t even get a day off for a funeral is it isn’t their own parent or child who has died.

I'd say husband takes annual leave too. I presume you aren't going to far flung holidays for all annual leave weeks with a new baby so just arrange a day when he can take leave. You seem to be making a meal of this minor rescheduling. Are you never going to book anything during the day?

IMO it would be unreasonable for them not to refund as a gesture to a previous customer, in fairness you're both inflexible and I think the non refundable deposit thing is not covering medial issues and their own availability. Ask them and see what happens.

@Itslegitimatesalvage - oh I know. I meant that she could coordinate with a date he does have off (e.g. October half term, summer holidays etc).

I didn't explain well!

HelloMiss his annual leave has been pretty much dessimated to help during my recovery but he could take a day when his leave year renews which is closer to Christmas

If they no longer have a Saturday then they no longer have a Saturday.

Could your DH not take a days annual leave sometime in this year?
If no family member is happy to mind the baby for so long could someone come with you and take the baby a walk/coffee/shopping/museum etc for a few hours then home again together?

Oops, that's the whole point of the thread Note to self...engage brain before posting.

How far have you got with trying?

Have you explained to the tattoo artist that you had sepsis (so they presumably couldn't have tattooed you anyway) and booked on there day you did as you have strictly weekend availability due to childcare restrictions? I assume so.

Definitely reiterate this and ask for your deposit back.

Make clear you don't have the money to spare and gave 6 weeks' notice.

You booked specifically on a Saturday and they can't offer you an equivalent appointment. As you're a repeat customer i would have thought they might offer you a refund as a goodwill gesture.

They might stick to 'well, it's non refundable and I don't do weekends' but this isn't good business sense on their part. A lot of tattooing is word of mouth. You didn't just change your mind on the day. It's worth trying.

What date was the booking for? What dates have they offered you?

I'd def go for the "if you cannot see me on a Saturday as previously arranged, please can I be refunded the deposit"

It's not their role to reschedule you for a Saturday - it sounds like you're being massively inflexible to not even consider leaving your child for a day. If they are 5 months now, surely they'll be in nursery soon anyway? Or why can't you leave with a friend?

My DSis is a tattooist and would refund in the circumstances. Her contract states that the desposit is non-refundable but DSis will only keep it if an appointment is cancelled last minute (even next day appointments can often be filled as she's pretty popular) or it's a bespoke design that she's already started work on You'd be surprised how many people call up with a hangover or something the morning of the appointment fully expecting the non-refundable deposit to be returned!

Overall I'd say it doesn't hurt to ask. Given that you're a repeat customer and you have genuine reasons I'd hope that the tattooist would be decent about it! Tbh her reputation is probably worth more than 70 quid if she's not otherwise out of pocket.

If they are 5 months now, surely they'll be in nursery soon anyway? Or why can't you leave with a friend?

They won't be in nursery until they are 2, DH and I work opposite hours so no need (or desire, did that with DC1 and it was miserable).

No friends feel comfortable looking after them for a whole day plus doing my school run & their kids also go to different schools - fair enough

If this is really important to you book a Premier Inn and make a mini-break out of it during the week, DH will need to use annual leave/ Flexi to take a Friday off he must have some holiday even if he was a teacher. DH and baby explore the local area go to the zoo or whatevers nearby, you get your tattoo and then have a family day later.

What you do re refunds at work has no bearing on this company/organisation, T&C were clear.

@Itslegitimatesalvage Not the point of the thread but don't be ridiculous of course teachers get bereavement leave for close family, it may only be a day but if they need longer you get signed off with stress which they will be at the time anyway.

😅😅😅

Seriously OP just ask. My sister would refund you in this situation, absolutely no question. Tattooists are people too and some are actually nice people who understand that shit happens. Particularly as this isn't impacting her at all in terms of time and money lost.

I think you'll probably have to lose the £70, but there's no harm in politely asking for the deposit back. They can politely decline (which I expect they will, and tbh I think is reasonable). You don't neeeeed a tatoo, so you'll have to patiently wait until you can rebook.

Seriously OP just ask. My sister would refund you in this situation, absolutely no question. Tattooists are people too and some are actually nice people who understand that shit happens. Particularly as this isn't impacting her at all in terms of time and money lost

Yeah I might have to. I know DH will be incredibly reluctant to use annual leave for this (I don't blame him, plus I do get more down time than he does - rare for a woman!) and their diary might not even be open for how far ahead he'd have to book this leave anyway.

You don't neeeeed a tatoo, so you'll have to patiently wait until you can rebook.

You're right, I can wait, I just don't want to lose £70 if I can help it.

Could a relative go with you so they were only in charge of the baby whilst you were having it done?

Anyway, to answer your question, contract terms (including the non refundable deposit) have to be fair and reasonable to be upheld. It sounds like you’ve tried rebooking but you’re being told that you can’t - possibly because they don’t work Saturday (maybe they don’t have childcare either 🤷‍♀️). Whether or not you are unreasonable for only being free on Saturdays and whether or not they are unreasonable for never being free on Saturdays would possibly take a small claims court to decide - however the cost of that for £70 would be silly. Their contract terms of allowing one cancellation with two days notice sounds like they have a lot of people chickening out last minute and they’re trying to protect their income (which is contractually reasonable). Worth asking and, if you’re really at an impasse, offer to split the deposit but point out you’ve been a loyal customer and still wish to go ahead if it can be arranged somehow.

@Roundgreysoft

I'd speak to the tattoo artist and ask about ANY availability on a Saturday as you'd really like to re-book.

If they are not working Saturdays any more, then I would ask for the deposit refunded.

A business has a legal duty to mitigate their losses. If this tattoo artist is as good as you say, then they would have had no issues filling this appointment, so should refund the £70 less a small admin fee for re-advertising the space.

Has the date been and gone yet?

Could a relative go with you so they were only in charge of the baby whilst you were having it done?

I don't think any of them would to be honest. They would if it was medical but not for something like a tattoo. My whole family hate them. The school run might also prove a bit tricky but I'm sure could be covered by somebody.

If it was just my eldest then they'd have no issue doing the school run for me but none of them are confident looking after a baby for that long. I think when we were discussing it earlier on (I was asking because I need to book a hair cut) they said they'd be happy to do a few hours for me but not much longer until he was older and they knew he was more settled.