Event Venue finding serviceHere at Event Venues we know that many of our clients have had unacceptable dealings with venues when it comes to booking events and weddings and today we’re pleased to read that the government is stepping in to have a clampdown. Issues included are things like high (non-returnable) deposits, hefty cancellation charges and, for weddings, simply higher rates purely because it’s a wedding. We know for a fact that venues hear the ‘W’ word and it’s like, ker-ching.

But today the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) stepped in to raise these issues, particularly regarding weddings, to remind venues that their obligation is to their customer and they would do well to remember that. Ideally, venues shouldn’t really need telling this, but it seems that they do, and so the CMA is working closely with Trading Standards to keep an eye out and start to ensure best practice across the industry.

Obviously we’re likely to point out here that this is just another reason for using a professional venue finding business, but it’s good news all round. Actually it’s not just weddings that fall into this exploitative bracket. Venues in busy destinations during peak periods can often have punitive terms for clients booking events, for example, and we just don’t believe this is reasonable. Clients we’ve worked with have previously found themselves at the mercy of hefty rates or cancellation terms and it’s only by working with us that they’ve come to understand that negotiation is always possible. And so we negotiate on their behalf, dancing the delicate balance between pushing the best deal for our client whilst still retaining the quality of the event.

Using us as your venue finding agent will cost you nothing as our client. So you might want to have a think about whether we can help you get the best deal for your event. Have you even stopped to consider if the deal you’re getting is fair? The CMA by the way have produced a handy ‘Deposits, Advance Payments & Cancellation Charges’ document and if you’d like a copy of that we’re happy to send one out to you. Email us and let us know.

Planning an event? Need a venue? Need some help? Please give us a shout, and stop paying crazy rates or getting tied up in unreasonable booking terms.

Venues – time to play fair
Tagged on: