Daughters party Deposit

[anonqrtb]

This has (undeservingly) taken over my day and I need some perspective if I am being unreasonable, and if i'm not - what the hell can I do about it?!

Booked and paid £50 deposit for my daughters 2nd birthday party at a role play centre close by in March/April time. (Party is for end of September)

I have since decided to do something smaller at home so have emailed to cancel and have been told my deposit is non refundable.

To be clear:
At no point on either their facebook page, website or emails back and forth was it described as Non-refundable. I have triple checked everywhere, it does not state its Non-refundable.
The party is for the end of September, so over 10 weeks away. If I was cancelling like 2 weeks before I wouldn't even query it.

I am massively pissed off about it, and have explained so in my email to them. Its mainly pissing me off because it just feels like greed? They have 10 weeks to either book another party, or just open as a normal session which given its a Saturday will quickly fill slots.
Whats more annoying is this is somewhere we go often, and I would of spent way more than £50 there over the next few months. But now it's put a massive sour taste in my mouth.

Any suggestions on how I can get my money back? So far my last email has gone unanswered.

YABU - You paid a deposit and should not expect it back
YANBU - Its cheeky fuckery.

If you paid on a credit card you can request a charge back . I have done it before with a party booking I ended up cancelling. Was also not informed the deposit was non refundable

YABU - of course its non-refundable, that's the point of a deposit. What did you think it was for? It is confirm your booking. They have reserved a space for you, which means they may already have turned away other business on that day. Yes they may well have time to fill it, but have already incurred admin costs in emailling you back and forth, and in cancelling an event. YABU massively.

A deposit usually isn’t refundable. It gives both the customer and business a bit of security without having to pay for the whole party so far in advance.

if deposits were refundable people would be cancelling all the time and that’s not ok for the business.

By default deposits are non refundable. If it was refundable they’d tell you. You are very unreasonable and it’s not a huge deposit.

Laughing at the posters still jumping on to tell OP how massively unreasonable, stupid and WRONG WRONG WRONG she is when she confirmed 4 DAYS AGO that even the company acknowledged they didn't specify the terms of the deposit and have refunded her...

A deposit is to protect the venue against exactly this sort of thing. If you cancel, they still get some money. I thought that was common knowledge.

What an entitled expectation to get a deposit back.

That's the whole point of a deposit!! You don't get deposits back! How can you be an adult and not know this?

Even if it wasn't in writing or on a contract that's exactly what the word deposit means. Noone would think they would need to explain this to an adult as its common knowledge.

As a business that takes non refundable deposits (because I have to turn customers away if I have other bookings) there are rules that they have to be ‘fair’ and represent a true loss.
Here is some info www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/can-i-claim-back-a-non-refundable-deposit-aHwOj3S21AWP

I would go back to them and be clear you have given them sufficient time to make alternative arrangements such as open for a normal public slot and should they do so they will not be out of pocket so you will pursue the deposit through small claims court.

I've booked many things before with a deposit that's been refunded if needed, infact i'd say its more often refunded then isn't in my past experience.

Just because the T&C’s of some establishments allow refunds doesn’t mean all do, you not doing your homework is on you.

Ask them if they will agree to let you move the date to her birthday next year - you can always cancel then
the reason they have a deposit is they would have turned away other people enquiring about that date and they might not get another booking

I can't believe how unreasonable you're being.. even after so many people have pointed it out to you!

How much were you supposed to be paying in full for the party at this place? Let's say £400. That's £350 they have been counting on from you for 4 months since you originally booked and will now miss out on. They may have turned away countless other people wanting to give them £400 to book that exact date. It's an absolute nightmare for businesses trying to manage their finances and accurately predict income because of people like you.

You've only lost £50 and you're arguing with them as if you're the injured party. You're lucky they're professionals and aren't the ones having a go at you!

The whole point of a deposit is that it's non refundable surely?

Only she did get it back!

Well done OP!

You’ve been holding this date since march. So they’ve turned down everyone that may have enquired since then.
Yes you are being unreasonable. You wanted an expensive party and now you’re backing out of an agreement and doing something sensibly cheaper at home.
This is someone’s business that pays for their daughters party.

Only because the company hadn't anticipated there would be someone daft enough to need it spelt out to them that a deposit was non-refundable...

The company has learnt a lesson in making this crystal clear so no one can argue later but sadly I suspect them refunding it will mean the OP continues to expect this as standard!

@Fluffyelephant she got it back..

You can make up a narrative that suits you around that, but she got it back.

Of course, if they hadn't of agreed to refund it, she could've said ok, I'll keep the booking in 20 weeks time, not allowed them to rebook the place (likely they could with 2 weeks notice).

Then cancelled it on the day (or the shortest stone until she would've had to pay more), so less chance of them rebooking.

So actually it suits them both!

*10 weeks time

Would never expect a deposit back if I cancelled a venue, cake, entertainment etc. That is whole point of it. Someone will have checked space for you and sent all the back and forth emails you had so effectively worked on your booking and now you expect to not pay for any of that work!!!!!

Deposits are non refundable unless stated otherwise eg when hiring towels at a spa. It's implied .

@anonqrtb I appreciate this may have well run it's course but what I've done in cases like this is asked if I could have the date moved to another time, don't know if it would work? So you still get to use it and they don't lose the money

Thats literally what a deposit os for. It's to secure it on both sides. If one of you pulls out then that money is retained

Op deposits are refundable, even if stated that they aren't. The business has to prove they have done work equivalent to the amount of the deposit.

I'm a wedding photographer and we get this all the time. Couples pay deposits to secure their date but if they cancel for any reason, although I state deposits aren't refundable after a certain point, in court I would have to prove what work I have done to keep the deposit or that I wouldn't have the opportunity to fill that date.
In this case they have plenty of time to fill the space.
If you haven't signed a contract either, they haven't go a leg to stand on

We used to call it a c?$& tax. Deposits were retained when people spent a few hours of our time emailing back and forth and then cancel. Who pays for all that time wasted?

It’s regardless who is being unreasonable there are consumer laws to advise so follow what the law says, if you are in the uk this is the advice, which effectively means the business are being unreasonable
www.gov.uk/government/publications/cancelling-goods-or-services-guide-for-consumers/cancelling-goods-or-services

This is interesting (and I'm sure open to interpretation), but I wonder how this works with hotels? When you book, quite often the cheapest rate you pay is the one that's non-refundable, and you have to pay more if you want the choice. As a lot people book months in advance and also as hotels in popular spots can surely fill the rooms easily if it's cancelled in a reasonable time before the stay, I wonder if it's legal for them to actually do this?