Venue has double booked our wedding

Would it be possible to find an alternative venue and get all your money back, they sound not apologetic enough that essentially, they've made a giant boo boo.

We have found another venue that could take us, its not as grand as our last one but its much better than both the alternative rooms. It's disgusting how rude they have been about it all, I was wanting to get opinions before I phone them back threatening legal action and to get an idea of what I would be entitled to.

I'd start calling round all other venues in the area and see if any have that date free - explain what has happened. If a new venue is close, hopefully nothing will have to change for your guests, it would only be the venue, and you could notify each guest of the change and the circumstances. They will still be flying to same place, and could stay in the original hotel if need be.

You can then demand that the original venue refund you in full. You are not getting what you 'ordered' and expected, the room they are offering is not fit for purpose.

If you've found another venue I would call your current venue and say thank you for your offer of the alternative room but, as I'm sure you appreciate, it is not up to the standard that we originally booked so I am requesting all monies paid back in full.

See what they say to that then if they refuse, that's when I'd start about breach of contract etc.

I'm not a legal bod and it's difficult to know if they are in fact in breach of contract but their service is definitely way below par.

If you don't mind me asking, how much would you stand to lose if you didn't get your money back?

I would be looking elsewhere, without a doubt.

Their lack of apologies would just seal it all for me.

Do you have a contract that states the rooms you originally booked (the best ones?).

I'd say if you do then you have a concrete argument that they have cancelled the contract by moving you into different rooms etc

I can't see how they could possibly argue with you on this? But, venues cease to amaze me sometimes, unfortunately.

What does the small print in your contract say about function rooms? Does it state anything about specific rooms? Or in the event of having to swap function rooms?

Sorry no legal advice but what a disgrace, I feel so sorry for you. Surely a wedding should have priority over a dance competition? As they said the other wedding was booked first and had priority over you, can you find out when the dance competition was booked to see if you booked first(numbers aside), not that you should have to! Not sure about the rules but are you allowed to name the hotel? I'm from Northern Ireland, so just curious

If you've found an alternative venue I'd say take it. You will never feel comfortable knowing another wedding is going on at the same time as yours, in the same hotel, in the room that you should have had.

If a lot of your guests are booked to stay at the hotel I think you should try to get them to arrange and pay for transport to get your guests from the hotel to the new venue and back again. Overcoming transport issues is one of the main reasons why people have hotel weddings.

In my view, you are entitled to every last penny. I don't think that they can claim to be out of pocket by losing a booking, as it seems very unlikely that they intended to have three big events on in one weekend (given the dire room they've offered you).

I also think you should tot up your out of pocket costs and ask for those as gesture of goodwill.

And don't ask for your money back, demand and expect it.

"I am unhappy with the substandard alternative room offered to us for our wedding. In addition, your "customer service" during this difficult time has been appalling. I wish to completely cancel our arrangements with you and I expect to receive a refund of all monies paid to you to date. We are prepared to seek legal advice if necessary."

You poor thing, what a horrible situation to be in.

Rightly so I think you should cancel with that poor venue. If they have messed this up then I think they are likely to mess up other aspects of your day. Get out of there ASAP. Get the other venue booked in.

I think a strong phone call with the manager is in order. Be very calm - don't lose your temper that will belittle your argument (although I am sure yu are very cross). Explain to them that you had agreed certian things that they are no longer providing, and are not offering a SUITABLE alternative that you are happy with. You would like a full and immediate refund on the deposits you have paid, which is perfectly reasonable.

Say that you don't want to have to start getting lawyers and the like involved on it, and that you would like to resolve this between the two of you, by simply getting back the money. You appreciate that they have tried to offer alternatives, but they are not of the same standard and are therefore not suitable. The error was their end, not yours, you are not being promised what was agreed, but you will cancel and move venues for the return of your money paid thus far.

I thinkif you appear reasonable like that, they will be quick to give you your money back and you can get it all resolved quickly. You poor thing, it is a horrible situation, but try to remain calm it really will make your argument stronger if you don't lose your temper with them.

OK - first thing, don't panic. A similar thing happened to me as well, but I had a year to sort it out. H and I are both solicitors, so they didn't realise who they were messing with! They offered to return our deposit and that was it. When we pressed them, they offered us their sister hotel, but it just wasn't satisfactory to us.

First thing we did was check our contract. It provided that we'd lose our deposit if we pulled out, but didn't contain any provisions as to them pulling out. Basically, they were in breach of contract.

We managed to find another venue (which, as it happens, was much better) and we went to a meeting with the old venue's head office. We'd had to travel out to Australia to find a new venue, which we wouldn't have had to have done if they hadn't breached the contract. We told them how much it had cost us to get out there and asked for a figure slightly above that, to compensate for our wasted time also. They were quite willing to accept.

I've probably still got the letters that I sent to them if that would assist you.