Lankyseagull
One Step Beyond
At the beginning of the month, my wife & I held a Birthday Party for our two boys who turned 2 & 4.
In the lead up to the party, my wife undertook all the planning & organising to make sure that everything was in place.
As part of this, we decided to hire a balloon modeller. With typical meticulous research, my wife found a lady who fitted the bill and confirmed that she was available on the date. To secure the booking we paid a deposit of £50, with the balance to be paid the week before the party. The deposit was paid at the end of April.
In May and June my wife texted the balloon modeller to establish that she had received the deposit and had our booking in her diary. We received no replies.
Then, a week before the party, we received a text out of the blue stating that she could no longer fulfill our booking. No reason was given, no mention of refunding of the deposit and no apology.
With my wife wanting everything to be perfect, this was extremely upsetting for her and she spent anxious hours trying to find another balloon modeller and fortunately we managed to secure a replacement who was fantastic with the children.
Having had the party, we have again tried to contact our original balloon lady to have our deposit returned to be met by a deafening silence.
If we had cancelled our booking, I would not expect our deposit to be refunded, however as the cancellation was her decision, I do expect to have it returned.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation and if so, how did you go about getting your money back? At the moment I am thinking about writing a letter, but would need to make the correct legal references e.g. consumer act or similar - can anyone point me in the right direction for a suitable template or wording?
Thanks in advance for any help that can help me get my money back!
In the lead up to the party, my wife undertook all the planning & organising to make sure that everything was in place.
As part of this, we decided to hire a balloon modeller. With typical meticulous research, my wife found a lady who fitted the bill and confirmed that she was available on the date. To secure the booking we paid a deposit of £50, with the balance to be paid the week before the party. The deposit was paid at the end of April.
In May and June my wife texted the balloon modeller to establish that she had received the deposit and had our booking in her diary. We received no replies.
Then, a week before the party, we received a text out of the blue stating that she could no longer fulfill our booking. No reason was given, no mention of refunding of the deposit and no apology.
With my wife wanting everything to be perfect, this was extremely upsetting for her and she spent anxious hours trying to find another balloon modeller and fortunately we managed to secure a replacement who was fantastic with the children.
Having had the party, we have again tried to contact our original balloon lady to have our deposit returned to be met by a deafening silence.
If we had cancelled our booking, I would not expect our deposit to be refunded, however as the cancellation was her decision, I do expect to have it returned.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation and if so, how did you go about getting your money back? At the moment I am thinking about writing a letter, but would need to make the correct legal references e.g. consumer act or similar - can anyone point me in the right direction for a suitable template or wording?
Thanks in advance for any help that can help me get my money back!
