COUPLE PAID $3K TO HOLD WEDDING, VENUE CANCEL & REFUSE TO REFUND, OFFER DINING VOUCHERS INSTEAD

So my fiancé and I paid $3,000 deposit on 2nd July with this well-known restaurant to hold our wedding in their venue.

We had trouble getting the contract signed due to their lack of response. This was due to the sales manager we were in contact with had resigned. So we were assigned a new sales manager.

The new sales manager, let’s call him Dude. Dude had us going back and forth for several weeks, saying he would get back to us but did not on multiple occasions, giving excuses that he was under the weather. This went on until end August, to the point where we decided to pull out and asked for our deposit back.

He drafted a “Refund Authorisation Form” for us to sign and it clearly states that the the deposit be returned in cash. We signed it and he asked us to wait 2-3 weeks for it to process. Dude, again, delayed the refund after deadline has passed.

Fast forward to October (last week), another sales manager came into the group chat. It turns out, Dude had embezzled the company asking couples to PayNow him their deposits. The sales manager filled us in and said the “Refund Authorisation Form” was not the official form of their establishment.

So, now, they are saying the deposit is non-refundable. They are only going to give us vouchers/dining credits.

We want to know if there is any chance of us getting back our deposit in cash.

TLDR:

• Deposited $3000 with restaurant for wedding
• Sales manager delay contract 2 months
• We asked for refund.
• Sales manager agree for cash refund but delay refund 2 months.
• Sales manager jailed for embezzlement.
• Restaurant say no to cash refund. Only dining voucher/credits.

Netizens’ comments

1. You put deposit before signing contract???
   • (OP) Haha isn’t it a good thing we did not sign anything with them? So we are not bound to their contract? Correct me if I am wrong 😅
2. So you paid $3,000 deposit under the tenure of the first sales manager who has resigned.
   “Dude” only came in to supposedly handle the refund but he was eventually caught for embezzlement.
   But your deposit was not to paid to Dude mah. He only gave a fake Authorisation Form without any actual money going to him.
   If the restaurant has indeed received the deposit via the first sales manager, then they could just refund you accordingly.