Has anyone ever got a deposit back from a cancelled supplier?

Hi Mrs W,
I would say in normal occasion all the booking fees are non-refundable for photography as you are securing your date with it, I highlight this in my first email to make sure the couple understands it, HOWEVER if the lady got double booked at her own fault, I would chase that deposit. In this case I would personally send back the booking fee for you with a massive sorry, or I would help you to find another photographer and pass your deposit to him.

Regards,
Chuck

She hasn't actually double booked us, she just had us booked in for last year but luckily she still had this year still available but made up that she had a client with the same name to cover the fact that she had us down for the wrong year.

We could still have her, it's just I don't feel I want her anymore as I have lost confidence x

Oh I see, Sorry for miss understanding. To be Honest, if she stated (or even just mentioned) anywhere written or spoken that the booking fee is non-refundable (even on her website anywhere) I would say that you won't be able to get that booking fee back. If that amount of money is not a "big" problem for your household and you feel to go ahead with another photographer, so be it, and don't stress about it. It is only your day by your rules, don't let anyone to makes you stressing on this beautiful occasion(but this is my personal opinion). If you are lucky and you can explain it to the new photographer, he/she might even offer you some discount, or maybe include something extra to your package for the same price.

All our correspondence has been via email and she has never stated it to be non-refundable so I have my fingers crossed...although we can just about afford a new photographer...the £175 will be missed!! it is a lot of money for us...luckily the new photographer is doing us a discount! otherwise it wouldn't have been affordable.

Thanks x

Where are you getting Married? Maybe I or we (photographers) can recommend you some trusted ones with plenty reputation and affordable prices. Our network is quite big and I am very happy to share it on our photography society if you would like. Doesn't cost anything, but be ready for a quite few email to read

If not, I wish you the best with it and I am 100% sure you will have a well-deserved wonderful time at your Wedding!

I am getting married in Knutsford but we have already found a replacement (meeting her on Tuesday just to be sure) but thank you anyway! I will let you know if we don't go with the new one! x

She doesn't do that many weddings and my name is really unusual so I don't believe that she would have two of us exactly a year apart but hey ho!

I have had a look back through and it has always been called a 'deposit' on any emails and the confirmation sent through after I paid it (of course once I chased her for it!)

She is fairly new to the game (around 3 years) so I am hoping that if I ask nicely and she says no then If I threaten to take it further then she might just return it...although I don't want to go down the legal route....if I ask her to point out where she has said it is non-refundable she won't be able to...also on her website she has just put on a cancellation policy that states if cancelled 4 weeks or less you have to pay the full amount...nowhere does it mention the deposit OR that you wouldn't get the full amount back if cancelled before the 4 weeks (which we are)

I loved her pictures and still do but to me a photographer has to be a full package as they are going to be my closest supplier on the day...at the moment I am thinking if it takes a month to arrange a meeting with her then when the hell am I going to get my pictures back?? haha! x

OK, i think this is a bit of a difficult one. I can certainly see that such a delay between responses is bad. There's simply no excuse for it. It doesn't matter if you are full time or part time such a long delay between communications is simply unacceptable. I feel guilty if I don't reply within a couple of hours of reading an email! Even if the reply is only "I'm out and will reply properly later"

That said....technically she's not breached any contract so hasn't done anything 'wrong' if you see what I mean. So your decision to cancel is your choice and therefore she shouldn't have to refund a date she may have genuinely turned other customers away for. I know that in my case I've turned away loads of couples for the July/Aug dates.

Also I totally understand what you mean about £175 being a lot of money to you but any cost of legal action and the sheer hassle of it wouldn't be worth it so I would secretly be prepared to write it off as an unforseen expense but at the same time I certainly would ask. You never know, you may be able to compromise on say 50% of it. (guessing).

I can totally understand that she may have turned dates away but if she hadn't made me lose confidence in her I would still be more than happy to have her photograph the wedding, I haven't just decided I am not going to have a photographer.

I am going to try and hope for the best! fingers crossed

A deposit 'can be' refunded at the discretion of the vendor but I think in this situation it's a big ask because it's unlikely they will accept your point of view as the booking is now two years old.

In the USA a deposit is refundable but the UK law looks at this differently and has been a much heated debate with wedding suppliers when clients have cancelled.

To be completely honest and straight up. If the photographer has turned away other bookings and / or has already incurred costs leading up to this point (meetings, admin time and so on) you shouldn't expect a refund on your deposit. In fact they 'could' pursue you for the final balance or part of it if you are really close to the wedding date with no chance of them taking on another booking (their argument being client indecision has cost them xxx amount of pounds).

You do have a contract though? Stating terms, hours of cover, sickness information and so on? Is nothing mentioned there?

Oooh you're from the knutsford area? I could recommend a good photographer right around the corner from you if you need it, mine Kanashay was really good!

Not sure If you'll get the deposit back thou, if you haven't signed anything then your not protected from losing that money then I'm afraid.

The only time i met her was at a wedding fayre and then everything else has been via email so she hasn't really incurred much admin time, her 'contract' (if you can call it that) just states the times we have her for, the venues, the full payment and then 'deposit £175' and it was just sent via email, we have no signed contract! (I know stupid but it was one of the first suppliers we booked and I have learnt since then!!)

I will know more on Tuesday when I have met with this other photographer as obviously I don't want to cancel until I have someone else in place.

I am going to hope we can get at least some back and if we can't it is just a very steep learning curve! x

Don't get me wrong, in your shoes I'd be doing the same thing and i totally understand your point of view. All I'm saying is that technically she's always got back to you (albeit eventually) and she hasn't breached any contract unless there's a clause where the photographer agrees to respond within x period of time.

What we're giving you is the photographer's point of view.

Think they will be above price range if I don't get the deposit back but we will see, I have to really book someone not expecting it back but I have heard good things about Kanashay before thanks

I would say that in view of the fact that you haven't got a signed contract and just a verbal one, although some people will view this as given even though it's verbal, you still have the right to receive good service from your supplier and that they are going to provide you with the service and goods you expected when you booked them. To me, she clearly got the date wrong which is unforgivable in the wedding trade. I also find it hard to believe that there was another couple with the same surname on the same date albeit another year. I often have customers with the same forenames but in 25 years of being in the trade, I've never had customers with the same surname on the same date. Her communication has been lacking even though she knows you've chased her on many occasions and also the fact that she doesn't give you the confidence to carry on with her. I agree with you that I would be looking for someone else too but would be writing a strong letter (not email as these can easily be discounted as 'never received') sent by Recorded Delivery and keep a copy listing all your concerns asking for your money back. If you don't get any joy, take it up with your local Tradiing Standards Office who will give you all the help and advice needed to take it further. Hope you manage to find someone else that you feel confident with.

I would write to her setting out your concerns and explaining that you have lost confidence and would appreciate it if she would return your deposit and cancel the booking. You might not get anywhere but you can try. Although her standards up to now have been poor, I don't think legally you have a leg to stand on I'm afraid. She hasn't failed to deliver your wedding photo's which is what your contract is for.

You say you have no signed contract. But you must have something as you have agreed a price and paid a deposit. That says you have made an agreement. A contract doesn't have to be written or signed to be binding. It just helps when there are disputes like this.

You say you don't have anything that suggests the deposit is not refundable but by the same token don't have anything that says it is.

A rotten position for you and you have nothing to lose by trying to get your money back. But you might just have to chalk this to experience I'm afraid. Fingers crossed you do get it back. X

I just read this elsewhere:

'My solicitor explained to me that booking fees and deposits under UK law are refundable up to a reasonable time eg a month before the date, even if you state in your contracts that they are not. A court of law would not look in your favour in this regard.'

But in the wedding photography world where bookings are taken 1-2 years in advance you may now be beyond the reasonable point.

I think this is spot on.....not what you want to hear, although the reality of the situation....

Peter

Thank you!

A letter might be a better idea! I am hoping she will reply!

I will let you know how I get on x

If she doesn't reply, at least this will give you a bit more ammunition in terms of getting your money back. With Recorded Delivery, you know that she has received it as it has to be signed for. Good luck with everything. Hope it all works out for you.

Hello there,

We are having a similar situation at the moment! What was the outcome? x

This thread has bandaged my bleeding heart. As someone who's felt the blunt of an untimely cancellation, stuff like this really breaks you down. It was unlucky for anybody planning their important day during the outbreak of the coronavirus, but there is a light at the end. After all this, I'm panning to run a litigation against a lot of these miscreants who've robbed us of our hard earned money. I hope you guys would do the same.

As someone in the industry feeling the sharp end of this right now, along with my couples it's worth pointing out we're ALL feeling it. Nobody asked for this, couples are losing their deposits, suppliers are losing out on their final payments.

Many if not most suppliers are offering to move a couples date forward into the future. Even if in doing so that means they cannot get a fresh booking on the new date. Many suppliers are offering to take a hit in sympathy of their couples. Yet the sympathy isn't being reciprocated.

If all my couples moved their dates to 2021 I would lose a whole years worth of income, effectively halving my earnings across two years in order to generously fulfill my obligations to the couple. I don't have to do this. I choose to. My business costs haven't changed. My dependants in the household are still here. My personal costs of a mortgage and the expectation to pay it is still there.

You talk of litigation but it works both ways. Couples stalling payments even after I move their date may force my hand to treat it as a cancellation and chase the balance through the courts.

What makes it worse is couples are holding the welfare of several businesses in their hands. One person messing about on payments is a thing. 10 couples a month? A disaster.

While nobody asked for this to happen, if every couple refused to stick to their contract and ignored the need for good insurance they end up leaving their suppliers high and dry. This could mean they go out of business and it'll create a cascade of cancellations by that supplier.

If a supplier has 40 weddings booked for this year and 20 for next and they went under they'll take 60 deposits with them and those couples will be left high and dry.

All because some couples in May didn't honour their contracts / get proper insurance.