HELP! Client asking for her deposit to be transferred to a new date

[stephanie_collins]

<p>Hi there, hoping to get some solid advice here. I have a client who has a signed contract but has cancelled the wedding, she has since then asked if she can transfer the deposit already given to another date. In my contract I have stipulations of the deposit being non refundable if the date is changed or cancelled. But I don't specifically have anything stating the deposit is non transferable. At a bit of a loss of what to say to her- she has changed her date 4 times now and tentatively booked me several times for photo shoots that have never happened. I want to make sure if I tell her no I have legitimacy and can back it up!<br>

Will post a piece of my contract below that pertains to the deposit. Thanks.</p>

 

<p align="LEFT"><strong>RESERVATION: </strong>Upon your signature, SC Photography will reserve the time and date agreed upon, and will not make other</p>

<p align="LEFT">reservations for that time and date. For this reason, the Deposit of $___________ dollars is non-refundable, even if date is</p>

<p align="LEFT">changed or wedding cancelled for any reason, including acts of God, fire, strike, and extreme weather. The Deposit is applied</p>

<p align="LEFT">towards the contracted wedding photography package.</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Firstly it will depend where, (under what legal jurisdiction), you are working what you can and can't do, within that contract.</p>

<p>Secondly, a comment on the contract (as my business opinion, not as a legal practitioner) the wording is full of holes if it were applied where I work.</p>

<p>I think you should ask your local legal practitioner:<br>

> firstly, if there is any difference between a "fee payable to reserve a date" and a "deposit"<br>

> secondly, to review <strong>all of</strong> your contract<br>

> thirdly, what to do apropos this particular deposit</p>

<p>As for the business advice - after attaining the legal advice, as to whether or not return the deposit, I would not take on any future bookings from this Client.</p>

<p>In any case, on the face of what you write, I would be inclined to return the deposit anyway and simply say goodbye: the wedding shoot seems to me to be a disaster, just waiting to happen.</p>

<p>WW<br>

</p>

[kim_johnson1]

According to the clause you posted, the contract ends at the moment of cancellation or change of date. Since there is no

clause about transferability, that is left up in the air and left to your discretion whether to or not transfer the deposit,

barring something in your state mandating you allow the deposit to be transferred.

 

Add some wording to your clause that deposits are not transferable for any reason. If you choose transfer it, limit how

many times that can happen, and make a NEW contractual agreement.

 

But as stated, the contract is breeched at the cancellation, and transferability is left to your discetion,, since there is

clause addressing it, and if there is no state statute that forces you to allow transfers.

[AzDavid]

<p>What have you done all the other times that this client changed dates on you? Your contract says, " ... even if date is changed ..."</p>

<p>Whatever the case may be, I agree with William ... return the deposit and say goodbye to this client.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

It sounds as if the long term you will be better off without her as a client. Nobody likes to give up money but I think in this

case you should bite the bullet and make an exception to your general contract and just quietly refund her deposit.

[david_henderson]

<p>I think, with others here, that retaining this person as a client is unlikely to bring you joy. What I can't quite follow is why that means you should return her deposit. If you dump her as a client there's a good chance she'll bad mouth you anyway, whether you return her deposit or not, because no-one likes being dumped. I don't know how much more risk you run if you act as your contract intends. Or even tell her that you'll refund her money if you get an equivalent booking for the date in question that ends up happening/being paid. She'd probably think that her chances of seeing that deposit returned will reduce markedly if she behaves ungraciously about you and it got back. </p>

<p>Indeed on reflection maybe you don't have to dump her at all, with the attendant unpleasantness. Sounds like she's already dumped you by cancelling. You could respond to her current request by indicating that though you don't refund deposits, you'll do so if you get an equivalent booking for the day, and that if she wants to make another booking for a different day, you look forward to receiving her additional deposit for that day to reserve it. </p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I'm not a lawyer. But from other conversations on this topic over the year, in some jurisdictions a "deposit" can't legally be non-refundable. As WW says, it depends on where you are located.<br /><br />In this context, the deposit should really be called a "reservation fee." I think if you call it that and describe it the way you have in your contract (minus the word deposit) you are in a better position of being clear that this is a fee to reserve the date. In that case, the fee is for the service of reserving the date, and once you've agreed to not book other work that date (whether you get any or not) the service has been performed. As opposed to being a deposit on a service (shooting the pictures) that was never performed.<br /><br />In this case, I would not refund the money. I would point out to her that the contract clearly describes this as a fee for reserving the date, not as a deposit on the photography itself. Your easy out, if she has given you the date she wants to change to, it to tell her you are not available that day.</p>

[William Michael]

<blockquote>

<p>"I think, with others here, that retaining this person as a client is unlikely to bring you joy. What <strong><em>I can't quite follow is why that means you should return her deposit.</em></strong>"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>It doesn't, but, for one example, this (and other factors) might -</p>

<p><em>" . . . in some jurisdictions a "deposit" can't legally be non-refundable. As WW says, <strong>it depends on where you are located.</strong>"</em><br>

<em><br /></em>WW</p>

[kim_johnson1]

Deposit vs Retainer.

 

http://www.legalphotopro.com/2013/01/16/the-myth-of-the-non-refundable-deposit-l-law-for-photographers/.

[William Michael]

<p>N.B. In her "About Page", the author of the link posted by Kim, states: "<em>I am a practicing attorney living in Vero Beach, Florida." </em></p>

<p>WW</p>