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Master July 2021 Ontario

Trouble with vendors - Covid—19 edition

Kelsie, on April 1, 2021 at 09:22 Posted in Before the wedding 0 11

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Hey everyone!

I’ve been really lucky thus far in that all of my vendors, with the exception of one, have been fantastic during Covid-19.
The venue for one of my events have been absolutely horrendous to work with.
Last year, around May I was given an option to postpone or get a refund as there were too many restrictions at the time to make my event possible. I opted to postpone as we had already decided to postpone our wedding anyway.
Fast forward to this year - it’s not looking any better and there’s no way I’d meet the minimum in my contract. I expressed concern months ago and I got a reply from the owner basically telling me to relax and there was still tons of time. Umm....thanks for the vote of confidence there.
As of the last two months I’ve seen things go dramatically downhill and we are tired of the roller coaster of emotion Covid has brought on our wedding events. We just want to do it and move on at this point.
I had been in talks with this venue trying to find ways to meet in the middle somehow - I was offered a tent outside so I could have more people attend...but of course at my own cost.
I got so frustrated - I just wanted my money back. Well that’s been a disaster

they’re refusing to give me my money back as the contract says the deposit is non refundable. All of my contracts with all of my other vendors say that too and I haven’t had a problem yet.
I get businesses are suffering - but so are many people. Loved ones have been lost, so many are working in hospitals, etc. fighting this virus and some businesses have the audacity to try to keep a couples hard earned money.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? How did you handle it?

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11 Comments

Latest activity by Hank, on April 2, 2021 at 14:41

Featured September 2021 Ontario
Hank · On April 2, 2021 at 14:41
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Do it! If they're going to make your lives miserable, fight fire with fire.
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Featured September 2021 Ontario
Hank · On April 2, 2021 at 14:39
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It depends on the venue. If they're renting rather than owning the property, and the landlord is not willing to reduce rent, they're not entitled to the government rent subsidy. And if no one is working because they have no other source of revenue (since events are shut down), they can't get the wage subsidy. That's why restaurant, hotel, and golf course venues are surviving more so than regular banquet halls.
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Master July 2021 Ontario
Kelsie · On April 2, 2021 at 13:07
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That’s very interesting to know! The owner of my venue did a news interview where they said they get nothing from the government.

So super interesting lol
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Expert October 2022 Ontario
Gloria · On April 2, 2021 at 11:22
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I’m pretty sure business have been able to apply for governments grants and whatnot.... my venue lost close to $10 million dollars and they’re still allowing us to postpone. I just think it depends on management/owners etc
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Master July 2021 Ontario
Kelsie · On April 2, 2021 at 10:52
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So, we can serve them an unissued claim (basically the same as an issued claim through the court - it just hasn’t been acknowledged by the court and given a court file number). Or he can attempt to negotiate with them. I already tried that and I’m passed the point of negotiating now - I want all of my money back.

So we are going to wait until the contract becomes frustrated (the day of the event, or however many days or weeks before that it’s obvious it won’t happen, ie if this lockdown continues for another month) and sue for the entire amount plus costs.
It seems silly because it’s going to cost me $95 to issue the claim and nothing for legal fees but it’ll cost the venue much much more (likely more than my deposit) to try to defend it with lawyers.
It makes me so mad just on principle lol
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Master July 2021 Ontario
Kelsie · On April 2, 2021 at 10:49
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I’m sorry your photographer was a pain. It’s not right that we should lose our money for something totally out of our control.

I really feel the government should’ve stepped up here somehow and met in the middle where couples could get their money back and the government would provide the business a credit or something.
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Expert October 2022 Ontario
Gloria · On April 2, 2021 at 10:05
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I hear your frustration... my photographer has been a pain and pretty much put his two cents in saying we should be able to have the wedding. I cut my ties and decided to just lose my deposit for peace of mind.
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Featured September 2021 Ontario
Hank · On April 2, 2021 at 02:28
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If you end up suing them, can your fiance serve the papers in his capacity as a lawyer or do you have to go through the court?
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Frequent user May 2021 Ontario
Zara · On April 1, 2021 at 16:29
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Oh thank you for that information, it will definitely help us out if he refuses. With all the stress that we have already, it is unfortunate that the vendors are not cooperating. I hope yours will resolve soon!
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Master July 2021 Ontario
Kelsie · On April 1, 2021 at 16:13
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Our contract also doesn’t have a force majeure clause, it just states the deposit is non refundable.

If they can’t have your event then the contract is frustrated and you can make a claim for your money back. Our venue unfortunately is not being good at all in this regard.
It’s looking more like we’ll be suing them later this spring. Luckily, my fiancé is a lawyer and I work in law so this isn’t a huge expense for us - but it is a pain in the neck and definitely not the way anyone should conduct business.
This is for my shower - my wedding venue has been fantastic! I hope your venue is as great as my wedding venue has been with us!
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Frequent user May 2021 Ontario
Zara · On April 1, 2021 at 16:08
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We will be contacting our venue as well since I do not think a reception in May is a possibility. In our contract, there is no force majeure statements. It says "non-refundable deposit for any reason" but then later on it indicates that the venue has the right to cancel the party for emergency reasons. It doesn't even indicate if the deposit will be given if they cancel it. We had previously postponed our October wedding to May. Now, given the government restrictions, I assume that it will still remain closed therefore he will not be able to provide the services. So, I guess it is them breaching the contract, therefore the deposit needs to be returned? Maybe, you can wait a bit more over the summer and see if the vendor needs to refund it because of "breach of contract". I hope ours would agree to return the deposit.
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