Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Paid our deposit and a wedding payment (both for $1500 each) but due to covid, we couldn't proceed with our wedding. Original wedding was March 2020 and they allowed us to either cancel (and lose our deposit) or transfer everything over to a new date as per their covid flex policy. Since we had many guests from out of country we advised we didn't want to rebook a new date unless we knew that should covid STILL be an issue, we would be able to cancel, losing only the deposit. The confirmed via email that yes, we would still be able to and the flex policy would apply. Covid was still an issue for our new date the following year and they said that they would not honor their agreement as they felt that enough restrictions were lifted. Nowhere did they state that if they decide to cancel their flex policy would be out of luck and out the money. The only condition was if covid was still an issue...which it was. We wanted to cancel but we were also willing to work with them. We said if they had a Saturday date in July, Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, Dec we would just postpone. They had no availability. They suggested waiting until 2023 which would be 2 years after our original wedding and just not an option for us. We requested the payment of $1500 back, leaving them the deposit as we originally agreed upon. ********************************************************

  Business response

  22/04/2022

  Business Response /* (1000, 5, 2022/04/06) */ Contact Name and Title: St. Boniface Golf Club Contact Phone: ********** Contact Email: ************************************* The claimant initially booked their wedding & completed a contract with St. Boniface Golf Club on Feb 23 2020. Thy secured the date of March 20, 2021. Their contract included a commitment of a $1500 initial payment, 6month payment and subsequent payments. Terms and conditions of this contract clearly outlined that these payments are non-refundable. The second portion of their deposit ($1500) was paid on September 23rd, as per the terms of their contract. As the pandemic evolved into 2021 and restrictions pertaining to gatherings increased, the claimants were offered alternative options for their March 2021 event. This including postponement, preceding and cancellation accommodations. At this time (Jan-March 2021) St. Boniface Golf Club was offering serval accommodations to our clients; outside of our standard booking terms and conditions. We included options of reduced spending minimums to accommodate reduced gathering sizes, postponements and transferring of deposits and credits, or cancelation with a partial deposit return. After several attempts to reach the claimant and discuss their options, they finally responded with a decision to postpone their March 20th 2021 wedding, only weeks before the event. This request was accommodated and their booking and deposits were transferred to March 2022. As the Pandemic continued to evolve in 2021, an email was sent out on August 7th 2021 to all event clients, with updated Covid accommodations and allowances. This email included the terms of cancellation going forward. Our event team continued to work with the claimant through the end of 2021, planning their March 2022 wedding. They expressed a concern over proceeding in March of 2022, and our events team provided the claimants with options. This included potential postponement dates. we confirmed they had received the updated policies; including Covid accommodations that were sent out in August 2021. Communication continued to be an issue with this claimant, and they didn't officially cancel their event until right before their scheduled date. As a struggling business, we have lost potential revenue from 2 dates that this client has held with our operation. Our team has spent 100's of hours on email communication, administrative work processing of the claimants arrangements. This included the securement of outsourced vendors (Dj services, linens, baked goods) included in their pre-selected package. These vendors are also out the projected revenue from the 2 dates cancelled. The claimant mentioned that they were interested in postponing a second time, but we did not have their desired dates available. Although we were limited on availability, the claimant has failed to mention that they had originally booked a "winter Package", which is available between November - April. They mention they would have booked a Saturday in the Summer, however this was not applicable to their package. At no time did St. Boniface GC tell this claimant that we would continue to offer the same accommodations to our clients throughout the pandemic. We communicated to all clients monthly, as the conditions were continually changing. All changes were communicated to clients in a timely manner. In total claimant made payments in the amount $3000; all of which are non-refundable according to the terms of their contract. in addition to this they were provided with a $500 Visa Gift Card as a bonus at time of booking. The terms of this gift, as per their contract, was that they were holding an event with a $8000 spending minimum. Lastly, I will mention that ALL provincial health restrictions and conditions were removed by the time of their event day on March 19th, 2022.

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