I hired the DJ in May. He came with excellent referrals and seemed like a genuine nice guy. He is also known to be one of the most popular DJ's in the Sacramento area. During our initial meeting he kept telling me I would have to decide ASAP, within a couple of days, because he was already getting other calls for my same May 2011 date and he was already filling up dates that far in advance. I felt pressured and I didn't want to lose the opportunity to hire him! So, I did. I gave him a 25% retainer, $500, and I haven't heard from him since that day.
Well, fast forward two months and I found myself calling off my wedding. This is the hardest and most painful decision I have ever made. The first person I called, before I even told my fiance, was the DJ. I felt he deserved to have as much notice as possible so he had a better chance of re-booking the date. I asked him about the non-refundable retainer and his cancellation policy. The contract I signed did not clearly state his cancellation policy, only that refunds were at his discretion. Never did I imagine in my wildest dreams I would be calling it off. So, I sent Mr. DJ an email and immediately called him to tell him verbally. I asked about his refund policy and was told it was not black and white, that it was a gray area. I told him I was not sure if the wedding would be rescheduled. He told me "this doesn't happen very often" and in regards to the non-refundable retainer he said it was not in black and white, that its a gray area. He also insisted if we were going to reschedule for the Fall 2011 he would need to know immediately because he was already filling those dates even though they were more than a year away. I followed up our phone conversation with an email requesting a confirmation in writing that I had cancelled his services and respectfully requested a refund of the $500, or at least partial, if he was able to re-book our date since he had 10 MONTHS notice. I understand he took about an hour to meet with me, so I was perfectly okay with him keeping some of the money to cover his time, which I told him in the email. Outside of our initial meeting I have never spoken to him, he had yet to give me client access to his website, we had not discussed playlists, timelines or anything, and he never even met my fiance.
He responded after a second email request, since he ignored the first, for confirmation in writing. He completely ignored my request for a refund yet confirmed I had cancelled his services and conveyed his hopes that we would consider him for a future event. I told my fiance I felt he was blowing me off when I talked to him and that his email failed to acknowledge my request. My fiance called him to let him know we would not be rescheduling and requested the refund again. Mr. DJ was so rude to him, my normally calm and happy go lucky fiance was furious. Mr. DJ insisted the retainer policy was there for a reason, to protect him from cancellations. He insisted he had already turned away other clients for our same date, and when my fiance kindly suggested he contact some of those potential clients who had requested his services, he informed my fiance even if he DID re-book the date he would be keeping our retainer because that was policy.
My fiance, myself, and everyone who I have spoken with all agree we are within reason requesting all or at least a partial refund since Mr. DJ has 10 months, a substantial amount of time, to re-book the date, since he touts himself as so popular and so busy, he has told me twice he is already booking up for events 12-14 months away. He specified his refund policy was a gray area, yet a few days later insisted he was sticking to his guns on this one. WHY? He has done absolutely nothing for our event.
I have spoken to countless other local vendors in Sacramento who agree, although there is a contract, this is an ethical and moral judgement, but they would refund the money under the circumstances. The other DJ's I spoke with all said the retainer was quite high compared to their rates, especially without any terms specified for cancellations (i.e. 90 days notice, 6 months, etc.).
What do you ladies think?