What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Texas
In May of 2009 my fiance, Jessica, and I put in a $500 deposit with Oakland Farm and Ranch to hold the evening of March 13th for our wedding. At the time we were not sure what our exact budget was going to be for the wedding. We communicated this to every venue we visited to be sure they knew our situation. Pam at Oakland Farm and Ranch told us she understands the situation and they would be flexible with us. We learned in October of 2009 that our budget would be much smaller than we expected and that we would not be able to afford the wedding at Oakland. When we called to let them know we were told that the deposit is non-refundable. We were not informed of this we when paid the deposit, and there was no written contract. Pam said she does not have the authority to make an exception to the policy and would need to talk to the owner and call us back. She also said that she does not specifically remember the conversations, but if we had informed her of our situation she is sure she would have made the policy clear. When she called us back she offered to refund $250 only if they were able to fill the date. We believe that $250 is reasonable, but not the stipulation provided because we were not informed of the policy at the time of deposit. When I asked to speak with the owner since he is the one that has the authority to make the exception to the policy I was told that he does not speak with customers. I was never given a phone number to contact him, or even his name. We had a disagreement with Pam so I believe that the person making a decision for us should hear both sides of the story. As stated before we are comfortable with only a 50% refund because they held the date and vendors until October. However, they were given ample notice of the cancellation and we would not have paid $500 nearly a year in advance if we were told that there was no way we could get any of the money back. She refused, so we filed a complaint with the BBB only to end up with the same result. We then found the owners name through other means, but no new contact information for him. We set up a mediation with the Dispute Resolution Center in Houston where The owner was the primary person we requested come. Pam called the DRC to inform them that they would not attend the mediation. The DRC never had any contact with the owner and could not confirm that he received his letter. We have tried everything possible to open communication with the owner with no luck. Do we have a valid case in small claims considering the woman we have a dispute with refuses to let us speak with the person we need to? What is the first step in filing a claim?
In May of 2009 my fiance, Jessica, and I put in a $500 deposit with Oakland Farm and Ranch to hold the evening of March 13th for our wedding. At the time we were not sure what our exact budget was going to be for the wedding. We communicated this to every venue we visited to be sure they knew our situation. Pam at Oakland Farm and Ranch told us she understands the situation and they would be flexible with us. We learned in October of 2009 that our budget would be much smaller than we expected and that we would not be able to afford the wedding at Oakland. When we called to let them know we were told that the deposit is non-refundable. We were not informed of this we when paid the deposit, and there was no written contract. Pam said she does not have the authority to make an exception to the policy and would need to talk to the owner and call us back. She also said that she does not specifically remember the conversations, but if we had informed her of our situation she is sure she would have made the policy clear. When she called us back she offered to refund $250 only if they were able to fill the date. We believe that $250 is reasonable, but not the stipulation provided because we were not informed of the policy at the time of deposit. When I asked to speak with the owner since he is the one that has the authority to make the exception to the policy I was told that he does not speak with customers. I was never given a phone number to contact him, or even his name. We had a disagreement with Pam so I believe that the person making a decision for us should hear both sides of the story. As stated before we are comfortable with only a 50% refund because they held the date and vendors until October. However, they were given ample notice of the cancellation and we would not have paid $500 nearly a year in advance if we were told that there was no way we could get any of the money back. She refused, so we filed a complaint with the BBB only to end up with the same result. We then found the owners name through other means, but no new contact information for him. We set up a mediation with the Dispute Resolution Center in Houston where The owner was the primary person we requested come. Pam called the DRC to inform them that they would not attend the mediation. The DRC never had any contact with the owner and could not confirm that he received his letter. We have tried everything possible to open communication with the owner with no luck. Do we have a valid case in small claims considering the woman we have a dispute with refuses to let us speak with the person we need to? What is the first step in filing a claim?
