Wedding cancelled whole booking for July would you give money back????

[Lynne Baker]

I would keep the deposit, the money for the trial, and return the rest. My conscience wouldn't allow me to do anything other. You're running a business, not an extortion racket. Word would soon get round...

 

[weezie]

It's up to you but I would just keep the money for the trial and give back the rest including the deposit. The point of a deposit is so that you do not loose business if they cancel near to the date, they have given you plenty of notice and you have therefore lost no other client because of this.

To save this problem in the future it could be advisable to take the deposit to keep the booking after the trial run which they pay for on the day, this way you can make sure they are happy with the make up and ready to go ahead. I would then tell them their deposit will not be returned if a cancellation is made within one month of the appointment, as I feel even though many businesses do, that for me it is not right to keep the deposit if plenty of notice is given :hug:

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

Yeah I am just gonna keep the 50% deposit as agreed with client and giving the rest back I just couldn't live with myself and keep it I did'nt push for a reason from the client as you say just move on hard when you've put your heart and sole into the trial though:irked:

Thanks for the advice

Kate xx

You have had loads of suggestions already but I'm going to add my two pence worth. I think you need to keep your business head on as you are running a business and offering a professional service. So this is my advice.

Your brochure states 50% nonrefundable deposit for her special day. You also provided a trial (for which I assume she paid for at the time?) with which she must have been satisfied as she was willing to pay to secure your services. This is what a nonrefundable deposit is for .... securing your professional services!

You are quite within your right to retain the 50% which is binding if she has signed an agreement. She is entitled to the remainder of the payment back.

Correct, you don't have to know why she has cancelled unless it is because she is unhappy with your work, but this leaves a question mark as to why she would have paid to secure you up front. I also feel that asking for reasons for cancellations could open a can of worms as the client could easily lie to get her money back, and you would never know if she was telling the truth or not.

I know of one situation where the therapist refunded the entire deposit because tragically the groom was killed weeks before the wedding. In this case, yes, I would refund. But if she has changed her mind then I would politely decline the refund. Personally, I don't think July is too far off. You may not necessarily refill that slot in your diary.

If you are really agonizing over this, another option is to offer to refund the 50% deposit only if you secure another booking for that date and have received the deposit.

 

[Warwick Wendy]

I agree I think you should refund all except the cost for the trial, after all she has given you lots of notice, Personally I would charge a cancellation fee if it was within 24 hours but not otherwise.


xxx

 

[Katelisa]

so do you take a 50% deposit on all your appointments?!
And do you keep it if they cancel within any time scale?

I would make a fortune if i did this, i wouldn't actually need to see any clients.

My feeling on the matter is, if the client shows consideration for you and your business, and gives as much notice as possible, then you should respect and appreciate that, and give them any deposit back, or at least carry it over for another time.

The only time i will keep a deposit or charge, is if the client gives less than 24 hours notice to cancel.

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

so do you take a 50% deposit on all your appointments?!
And do you keep it if they cancel within any time scale?

I would make a fortune if i did this, i wouldn't actually need to see any clients.

My feeling on the matter is, if the client shows consideration for you and your business, and gives as much notice as possible, then you should respect and appreciate that, and give them any deposit back, or at least carry it over for another time.

The only time i will keep a deposit or charge, is if the client gives less than 24 hours notice to cancel.

Hi Kate, Not sure if your question was directed to me, but I will explain what I meant.

A client books for a trial. No deposit taken. Client attends trial and is happy with the results. Client pays 50% nonrefundable deposit to secure you for her Wedding day and signs agreement of deposit and accepts the terms and conditions as laid out in the agreement.

In my opinion, 24hrs for a bridal make-up booking is too short to cancel, but this is my opinion. It is obviously up to the individual therapist to decide on the timescale for cancellation and would also probably depend on how busy and booked up the therapist is.

 

[Katelisa]

No, not directed at you Tracey.

I just think its a bit wrong to take money off someone for services they havn't used. Especially when they have respected the fact your running a business and not left it to the last minute to cancel.

End of the day, its just another appointment.
There was a thread about the cost of things going up for weddings.

But regardless of what the appointment is, i wouldnt take a non refundable deposit. As i just feel its a bit immoral. I know some businesses in other indistries do, i would guess that that is when they have to buy in materials to do a job.

I cant believe people would give you a non refundable deposit anyway!! I wouldn't! I dont object to leaving a deposit, but providing i cancel with decent notice then i would expect it back.

I dunno quite where i'm going with this, but IMO its just wrong to take a non refundable deposit.

 

[Blue Rose]

I think I would be inclined to keep the fee for doing the work already done, but return the rest without even being asked for it.

She has given plenty of notice to cancel & if she's not expecting an almost full refund, it will do wonders for your credibility.

Yes we all have businesses to run & bills to pay, but put yourself in the brides shoes. It can't be easy having to cancel all your wedding plans without being out of pocket as well. A little compassion goes a long way.

 

[Terese]

At least she has cancelled all 3 services and notified you all

What ever is your refund policy..just do it. In most services you have a 7 day cooling off period anyway,but the deposit is kept, but it baffles me as there is no reason to it.

Its your buisness and there is plenty of advice on here, so what ever your refund policy is I would just do it and forget about it

 

[rebelrebel]

I would take the money for the trial you have done and refund the rest, I would ring her to explain this, it is a couple of months away so you have not really lost anything, you have plenty of time to re book someone else.

 

[ciara1980]

I would give her all he money back and only charge for the trial. 2 months is plenty of notice for a cancellation . In the salon i used to work in we had a system where a credit card number was taken , if the appointment was cancelled before 48 hours then no money was taken, cacellation of 24 hours incurred a 50% payment and a no show , the full amount was taken. I know this is not possible with mobile therapists but i suppose what im trying to say is every one is intitled to change their mind and not have to pay for a service they have not recieved. she is intitled to a full refund in my opinion and its plenty of time to refill the appointment.

 

[Mrs.Clooney]

In many cases, accomodation eg. hotels, theatre tickets, airline reservations etc... stipulate that tickets are nonrefundable regardless of reasons or timing. In many cases only a portion of total cost is refunded. If the stipulation is made clear in writing then IMO there is no question about it.

We all have varied opinions about this and this is what makes for healthy discussion. I agree though that worthit has recieved lots of response on this matter.

Whatever you decide, you must feel comfortable with it. Best wishes x

 

[number1kitty]

Its a toughie but to save face, write her a letter saying your sorry thats she cancelled her appointment with you and as shes given you plenty of notice that your willing to refund her money, excluding (whatever you deem fit, I would just take off money for the trial or give her back 50% deposit in vouchers) State this is a good will gesture and that you hope to see her again in the future.

She wont have a leg to stand on with trading standards because she has handed over her money and that technically enters her into a contract with her your business to provide her with the service she booked. Even if she was unhappy with the make-up you have the rights first to rectify it and this means you do not have to give any of her money back.

However as mentioned above sometimes they can mouth off to people and make your business look back so you have to weigh up pros and cons.

I had a problem with 4 clients that came in together for spray tanning. I got a phone call two days later saying the tan never took, then another one of the girls said they were all patchy. I apologised and said if they came in and showed me I would refund all their money, they refused and said they had been somewhere else to get it redone so their was nothing to show!! (In other words they were trying it on!). They tried getting trading standards on to me, but because I offered a refund if they showed me the mistakes and I offered to redo the tan they didnt have a leg to stand on! Basically M&S wouldnt refund a faulty top if you didnt return it!!

I later found out that these four women ran a tanning salon and wanted to see the competition as I was charging half what they were for a treatment! Luckily we heard the last of it!

Its always hard to know whats right and wrong especially when your business head rules your heart and vice versa.!

Do what you think is best, but dont feel bad retaining some money for the work you have already done!

 

[thg]

take the money you have earnt, my daughter had her wedding cancelled and the only peeps that treated us fairly was the registry office they refunded us back with a small handling fee, the photograpther who had a deposit of £150.00 which had not really done anything kept he's money, but the previous year had done my other daughters wedding and had made a tidy bundle there. so from that , i will never recommend him, and will certainly wouldn't consider him for other photography work , and in my line of business , i could have recommended him lot's of times, So think about us poor people who lose out when the wedding get's postponed,My poor husband and i lost a lot, from that, luckily my daughter didn't, she could have married the RAT...thg

 

[kaylee]

so do you take a 50% deposit on all your appointments?!
And do you keep it if they cancel within any time scale?

I would make a fortune if i did this, i wouldn't actually need to see any clients.

My feeling on the matter is, if the client shows consideration for you and your business, and gives as much notice as possible, then you should respect and appreciate that, and give them any deposit back, or at least carry it over for another time.

The only time i will keep a deposit or charge, is if the client gives less than 24 hours notice to cancel.

I will like to know what do you do in 24 hours are you able to replace the client?

 

[Kim Lawless]

As the wedding is so far away, I would just charge for the trial. I'm confused about one thing though. Did she cancel after you'd done the trial make up? If so, then you need to be honest with yourself and question why. Was she not happy with the make up? This is important to know for future bookings and your business.

Why not get a colleague/friend to make a friendly call to her on behalf of the salon/business and say that you'll be refunding x amount to her and ask for feedback on what she thought of her make up. It's important to know so that you can improve your skills if there's something lacking. xxx

 

[beautynails]

Hi,

I said that 50% on my pricelists and letter sent out to her at the time was not refundable, but she paid me £80 not full 50%
Kate xx

She did ask me if she gets the deposit back and I said no as I had told her on an earlier date so out of the money she has given me for rest of booking £125 in reality I owe her £100 of that coz she payed me all of the booking and she didn't really need to
Kate xxx

What was the cost of the services?
Sorry, I might be a bit slow today but I can't get my head aroud the figures.

This just goes to show how important it is to have a clear policy for cancellations.
For something like a wedding which is usually a group booking, I'd want more notice for a cancellation then with a single appointment.
I think maybe 2/4(?) weeks notice, after that deposit is taken?
In the situation you have I would refund it all, minus the cost of the makeup trial. Say thankyou for letting you know about the cancellation, and ask her if there was a problem.

 

[Katelisa]

I will like to know what do you do in 24 hours are you able to replace the client?

yup!

People are always calling up for last minute appointments, and cancellations are usually the only slots i have to offer them as im normally fully booked 1 - 2 weeks ahead.

 

[thg]

perhaps the woman in question might have other things on her mind like. the devastation of her big day being cancelled. put yourself in her situation, i don't suppose she's thinking of her bookings. i know when my daughter and her fiance parted, the last thing on her mind,My other daughter and i had to take things over and cancel everything, so dreadfully sad for her, my brother in law took her beautiful wedding dress back to the shop ,we were refunded half of what we paid for the dress, better then nothing. but just imagine how that poor girl might be feeling.just imagine your dream dress your dream wedding cancelled , your relationship over, your home lost, your whole life changed, so have a thought for the poor girl, charge her for what she had, not what she hasn't had. that will be very much appreciated i'm sure, and good practice, but that's what i think, thg:sad:

 

[worthit]

yup!

People are always calling up for last minute appointments, and cancellations are usually the only slots i have to offer them as im normally fully booked 1 - 2 weeks ahead.

Aren't you the lucky one some of us aren't that lucky!

Kate