Scrapbook retreats and cancellations

I was signed up for a crop in March that was postponed to May. At first, our registrations were moved to May. If you wanted a refund at that time, they would only give you 50% or credit for a future event. Then, they had to cancel May. They tried to move it again to July but not enough people were interested. So, they finally issued refunds minus a $25 registration fee. Did the $350 include hotel? I think hotels are refunding people.

Yeah. I’m pretty sure this would be a whole Donna Downey(?) thing. It might possibly ruin her brand. $350 is no laughing matter. I’d be fighting tooth and nail for my money back. I’m still upset with the owner of a Scrapbook store/retreat for the crappy NSD she sold us 3yrs ago.

It’s a difficult one, that’s for sure.

It’s hard to know whether she (the event host) is pulling a fast one, or if she’s being genuine that she can’t get a refund for what she’s already booked.

It completely depends on the cancellation policy of what she’s booked with. There are so many people in the U.K. who cannot get refunds for wedding cancellations, they can only have the date rescheduled. Anyone who needs to cancel completely, unless they have wedding insurance, will be left out of pocket.

The only reason I have been so lucky to get the majority of my money back so quickly from a trip I had paid for to the USA for this month was because Airbnb created an extenuating circumstances policy that meant everyone could cancel free of charge, and the hosts would be compensated for their loss. I would have otherwise had to claim on my travel insurance.

Are you expecting the host of the event, if she is unable to get a refund with the space that she’s booked for the event, to pay you back out of her own pocket?

I guess though, she really should have some kind of insurance she can call on, if she’s taking thousands of dollars collectively from people, to cover herself if nothing else.

I’m not suggesting that you lie down and take it, but there’s lots of factors to consider and the host needs to be transparent about the situation. Good luck and I hope you get your money back. I’d be disappointed too.

Hopefully people will think twice before paying hundreds of dollars for an event that states “no refunds” if they cannot afford to eat the cost of a cancellation.

ETA: Internet ate my edit. Everyone is suffering now, customers and vendors. I don’t know that she can give refunds. She’s probably out money as well. I doubt she can afford to refund everyone and I wouldn’t assume her personal spending is a reflection on any money earned or lost on this cancelled retreat.

Does she have a partner or spouse that is working outside the home and that funds the home/personal buying? It may not have anything to do with her business. Her business might well not have the money.

Honestly I’m not sure where I stand on this one. It’s not a DD not refunding money to a cancer patient Or not allowing her to switch To a person she already found to take her place. That was so beyond unacceptable I could never do business with her after that. But this is different. This is a hard question.

This pandemic is affecting small businesses in many unforeseen ways and she might not have the money to refund. Venues may not even be open to refund any money to her. Venues around here are shut down. I have no idea what situation is where this event was to take place.

But YOU could use the money, the event never happened and who knows if you’ll be able to go next year sometime. It seems like it should be refunded in those circumstances.

Yes, yes, I know they say ‘no refunds’ but the event never happened. Next year is not adequate for rescheduling to count in my opinion.

The event did not happen within a reasonable time frame so I’m pretty sure you’d win in small claims court. Not having the event at all is a breach on her part, yes beyond her control, but still.

My LSS says ‘no refunds‘ for classes but she has always either refunded me or made a kit for me to do it on my own. ( and with the kit she has always said contact her if I have questions ) She doesn’t want us there sick either. But she still wants us as customers.

I don’t know. I can see all sides of this- can’t hurt to politely ask for your money back, next year is not a valid rescheduling really.

No DD was real nasty and at first even refused to allow the person with cancer, to switch With a person she had already found - until the peas freaked out. Then DD begrudgingly allowed the switch but was condescending about it. Not exactly the same. Or not yet anyway. I’ll get my popcorn and we’ll see.

If it were my business, I’d still move heaven & earth to refund people who asked as much as I could if it were me. But it’s not as nasty as the DD thing. ( Yet )

Can she guarantee it will be rescheduled in 2021? This virus is still going to be around. Not sure I'd want to sleep with a bunch of strangers for a looooong time. I would ask for a refund then go to your form of payment to dispute.

And I don't understand how it can't be partially refunded. If you are charged $350, not all of that goes directly to expenses. She has to pocket some amount of money. Otherwise, what kind of business is she running?

That is all kinds of wrong. Seems like flat out stealing to me. 

I told my husband the same when I read about the cancellation policies for people already out money (at the time, the Pomona Expo hadn't been canceled, but before it was they locked threads discussing people wanting their money back if a cancellation did occur because they'd already emailed about other events receiving future credits) and that I wasn't going to spend a cent on anything until I knew for sure it was happening because I would not be willing to accept anything less than a full 100% refund if it got pushed back.  I'm glad that for once my overly anxious 'what if something happens' mindset actually did me a solid instead of just make me end up missing out because of sell outs or paying more at resale (sporting event type things) like usual.  I feel awful for everyone.  On one hand, I don't want the businesses to go belly up because they refund people and can't afford to stay afloat, but on the other, people deserve to get their money back in situations with unforeseen circumstances like this because it's not like they CHOSE not to go.  Since this is Queen & Co's stance, it makes me wonder if they've handled their own 1 day retreats with full refunds...it certainly would be a good marketing move for them because people would feel more confident booking again in the future...whereas now I'm going to be booking at the last possible moment for the Expo so I don't get swindled (and I'm sure a lot of others will do the same).  Could this be the end of the Expo?

Please remember that it’s the business that would be making the refund. Not her personal finances. And while it sounds simple enough to refund one person their $350, what she does for you she will have to also do for all the other people who purchased admission as well.

Everyone is experiencing losses right now. I’m so sorry for your loss. Have you spoken to other registrants?

peachiceteas For what it’s worth, despite how Airbnb’s PR is making it seem, the hosts are not being compensated for the loss. A few lucky hosts with strict cancellation policies only are getting 25% of a fraction of the reservation.

To the OP, I totally understand $350 that you’re not spending this year is an annoying and expensive pill to swallow. I do think she should at least offer a partial refund, because surely she was making profit on it. But she’s likely not getting a refund from the venue or any of the event vendors either.

I would start with asking for a refund. 
The "no refund policy" pertains to if you cancelled. You did not cancel. The company in question cancelled. They owe you a refund.

If no refund happens, dispute it with paypal and/or credit card.

I would be leaving buyer beware reviews on every scrapbooking message board, yelp, google reviews, etc...
I would also contact youtube, and make them away of the situation. 

No. The company postponed the event.