So me and my OH found our perfect venue in hampton (i'd posted prev bout the pricing etc) and they said they could accom the guests in all 32 rooms, which was why we chose them.
now she send me the contract to review via email after we paid our deposit at a meeting with her. at no time did she tell us that we could only reserve 15 and a bridal room, 'because the rugby is on that wkend 24/10/15, they are puttin their prices up also' and the other 15/17 rooms are now booked.
me and my oh have gone mad, so she managed to speak to reservations mgr and wow she got us one more room.... ffs still doesnt solve my prob
now we are strugglin to find accomm near by for the rest of the guest (they are driving at least 5/6 hrs to get to us so have to stay over).
we'd told her in the initial walk round we needed the majority of the hotel rooms - no objection was met. when we paid our depost about 2wks later and outlined the contract and room number she was the one told us to do the rooms in 'groups', 15 at first and then a further 10 and the rest - which we thought was reasonable - again no objection to the overal 32 needed or that their pricing would go up for the rugby wkend or that there was actually only 15 rooms actually free that were not booked already.
me and OH are now in a pickle, so im ranting cos i dont no what to do. i've not signed the contract (its sittin infront of me) but deposit of £1k is not refundable. all i done was give them my card details which they needed for cash deposit and told them my name/addy etc.
Any advice or words of calmness is needed ladies
TY xxxxx
CommentAuthorCatherineR
edited
You have a verbal contract from her though so I would ring her up/go in person and state this and if they can't honour that then you want your deposit back because otherwise you will be suing! xx
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorIrishLion
im going to speak to OH when hes bk from nightshift, we looked on their site to see if we could book any rooms for our weekend - just to see if she was telling us a lie - and they were all not available - oh good we thought they're actually all gone.
I've gone on tonight and there are plenty of rooms avail at the full price of £250 per night for that weekend, we had a rate of 145 per night.
i send her a fuming email sayin i dont fancy spending the breakie the next morn with the majority of guest being randomers or rugby people - something thats stressing me out and not what we spoke about. its her fault for not taking proper notes and suggesting smaller group bookings first. i also emailed the reservations mgr too... but i think a visit is in order to her soon
ty hun.xx
CommentAuthorGlitterfairy
I hope you get it sorted out. I would say call their bluff and say you are now looking at another venue, but they will probably think of well we have their deposit.
See what comes of the emails, hopefully they will accommodate you at what you originally thought.
Our wedding day - 6 October 2012
CommentAuthorCharlieBe-Cool
Obvious question, but why didn't you book exclusive use if you thought you would want a majority of the rooms? Our venue has 38 rooms but we can only reserve 15 at a lower price, with the remainder being charged full price. We could have paid a fee for exclusive use but we had to guarantee we could fill 80% of rooms.
The only thing you can do is ask for return of your deposit and go elsewhere or try and reduce your overall price as your not getting what you originally put the deposit down for.
Met my prince charming - May 2002
Finally tying the knot - July 2015
Where there is love there is life - Muhatma Ghandi
Surely if you've not yet signed the contract then they should give the deposit back to you if you want to find another venue? It is the contract itself that will state the deposit is non-refundable, but if you haven't yet signed it then I don't see how they can withhold the deposit, particularly when it's them that have moved the goal posts and let you down.
As said above, it would be better to have exclusive use of a venue then you will have no nasty surprises and know that all the rooms in the venue will definitely be free for your guests.
The first thing I would do is speak to them about their empty promises and demand the deposit back.
Good luck. Hope you get it sorted x
Happily married
18th June 2016
xx
CommentAuthorAprilS61
Mr & Mrs Swan 04/04/15
CommentAuthorVelcro
Good point flossie, if you dont sign it, you should be able to get it back as you haven't agreed to their terms, really, you should have had the contract FIRST before signing and sending over, so I reckon you would have a good claim to get it back if they don't sort their act out
Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey
*Kelbel* is my wedding twinny!
CommentAuthorKatya
does the contract state its a "non-refundable deposit" or does it state "non-refundable booking fee"
The law has recently changed so if a contract states its a deposit it IS refundable regardless of what the contract states (as the contract would be in breach of the new law)
If the contract states its a booking fee... then i would try fighting the fact that you have not signed the contract & also speak with your bank & tell them its a fraudulent purchase & explain why taking the UNSIGNED contract with you.
Just to make all other ladies aware, this law is only recent, so if you signed the contract before the new law came in you are bound by the old laws & do not need to worry, its only if the contract is signed after the new law that this applies
Find out who you are & do it on purpose!
CommentAuthor*KelBel*
Flossie makes a good point, don't sign the contract they can't withhold a deposit verbally, it has to be contractual anyway x
Velcro...my wedding day twinny! The Two Kel's!
Got engaged 14/10/12 in Central Park NYC!
Became Mrs Macdonald 13th September 2014
Mummy to 4 girlies and baby blue boy Due 10/05/2016
CommentAuthorIrishLion
edited
thanks ladies for your replies
good and bad news she phoned this morn, and because i cc'd in the hotel mgr lastnite with my snotty email, shes had a telling off. she cud give us the remaining hotel (as suddenly theyre now free) but at the full price of 300 each per night. we a verbal contract for exclusive use of the hotel and all hotel rooms, but they now sayin the rugby is more important to them and that the general/reservations manager didnt discuss this with her when she spoke with us about our wedding. I told her im not making my guests pay 600 quid for two nights while other pay only 200/300.
I put my OH on, hes a force to b reconed with, funnily enough after speakin to him, the general manager has allowed us to have our full deposit back as she changed our verbal agreement. she recons that she only knows of summer doo's affecting the hotel and not the 'manly ones' - rubbish events person if you ask me.
She's just emailed me a quote if i want to move my wedding two weeks back, we can have all rooms for the lower 145 a night price. but me and my OH do not want to move the wedding so we're gonna take the money
IM now having to go from scratch again and find a more suitable venue for us.
i even double checked my contract with the brochure she'd give us initially and their website t and c's. nothing matches and nothing is consistant. so now im very wary.... shes got my whole quote wrong when i nit picked it.
soo thankyou all for you words, you've given me hope and strength now to get another venue and not be messed with.
if any ladies are interested in the not so fab hotel, pm me :) obv i dont think i can name and shame. but i would NOT recommend them to surrey based ladies.
xxxx
CommentAuthorCatherineR
I'm sorry you've had such a nightmare but fantastic news on getting your deposit back!! I'd be interested in which hotel this is as I'm Surrey based ;) I'll send you a message! Thank goodness for your fiance - yay xx
Married my wife on 15.08.15
Honeymooned on the Isles of Scilly :)
CommentAuthorElinor Claire
Well done for fighting and getting your money back. If she didn't know when you visited that the rugby asks on she should have informed you as soon as she knew that the situation was different.
30th August 2014 was the best birthday ever.
It was the day that I became Mrs. Dixon.
CommentAuthorIrishLion
Funnily enough Elinor, she did inform us, only after she had our deposit and sent me the contract. she even had the cheek to add the room situ as a PS on the email...like it was a snall detail and never mattered..
stupid hotel :(
CommentAuthorElinor Claire
She probably hoped you wouldn't read the contract before signing, and wouldn't want the hassle of finding a new venue. Unfortunately for her you have more sense. I hope you find somewhere else soon.
30th August 2014 was the best birthday ever.
It was the day that I became Mrs. Dixon.
CommentAuthorIrishLion
Yeah thankfully im a stickler for reading every last inch. im one of those people who reads all the t&c's lol. So Many flaws on their site and contract etc.
But we won....another venue here we come
i've already emailed 10 hotels nearby, so fingers crossed.
CommentAuthorthefuture:Mrs_Hurren
So sorry that you now have to start from scratch but at least you got your deposit back x
CommentAuthorJennK
Glad you got it sorted, good luck with your new search! :)
Our perfect day - 08.08.15 <3
CommentAuthorFlossie
edited
Glad you've got your deposit back.. sorry you have to start from scratch now and find somewhere else, but sounds like you will be much better off. Terrible customer service and you would expect soo much more for your wedding day.. these people would have been responsible for your wedding day going smoothly, sounds like they can't be trusted!!
I would make sure you read through any contract before paying a deposit when you find another venue though just to be on the safe side and avoid a similar situation. If you have any queries, make them alter the contract to suit before paying a penny. I wouldn't be wary about any verbal contract.. if it's not written down in black and white, it's not a cert!! x
xx
