Wedding refund following tragedy (From The Northern Echo)

Wedding refund following tragedy

8:49am Friday 23rd July 2010 in

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A NORTH-EAST hotel that failed to pay back the cost of a wedding cancelled after the bride-to-be died apologised last night and pledged to refund her grieving family.

Judges Country House Hotel, in Kirklevington, near Yarm, has returned £2,000 to Annette Bainbridge’s fiance after her family spoke to The Northern Echo earlier this week.

Ms Bainbridge, 35, had been due to marry Paul Teece, 36, on November 5, but died following an asthma attack on May 29 – six months before the wedding.

Her parents told The Northern Echo how the hotel initially tried to charge a £1,500 cancellation fee – waived on production of the death certificate – and kept the full payment for the wedding.

The hotel also sent a letter to Ms Bainbridge and Mr Teece inquiring about their wedding plans after they had been informed of her death.

Now, following widespread criticism, the hotel has apologised for the letter, refunded the cash and donated £250 to an asthma charity as a gesture of goodwill.

Although the hotel was within its legal rights to keep the money because the couple had not taken out wedding insurance, the family was upset at the way the situation had been handled.

Hotel owner Mike Downs said: “This is a very sad time for Annette’s fiance, Paul, and her family and they have my deepest sympathy.

“I would also like to apologise personally for the upset caused by sending a letter in error to Annette following her death.

“Although the hotel manager followed our cancellation procedures correctly, as the owner of the hotel I have taken the decision to refund the money paid for the wedding and as a gesture of goodwill will make a donation to Asthma UK.

“The first I heard there had been an issue was when our local newspaper made contact and after carrying out a review I can find no formal request for a refund from the family.

“Perhaps on reflection there was an expectation the money would be returned and in this exceptional case we have decided this is the right course of action.”

Ms Bainbridge’s mother, Pauline Wray, 66, from Norton, near Stockton, welcomed the move, but said she wished hotel staff had initially used common sense and compassion.

“It was never about the money – it was about the principle and the insensitive way it was dealt with,” she said.

“If they had waived the cancellation fee as soon as we told them Annette had died, we probably would have left it at that. We never thought we would get the money returned as they said they would waive the additional £1,500 as a ‘gesture of goodwill’, so I don’t think we ever formally asked them to return it.”

She said Mr Teece, from Redcar, east Cleveland, was too upset to talk to The Northern Echo, but welcomed the hotel’s actions, and regretted the grief the situation had caused him and Ms Bainbridge’s family.

“We are glad they have now done the right thing, but we are all sad it has had to get to this point. It has been something that we really could have done without,” said Mrs Wray.

“Although the manager followed the procedures correctly, I think the hotel should understand that sometimes procedures should, or need not, be followed to the letter.

“Surely a more flexible approach could be taken in what are, after all, exceptional circumstances?

“I hope, in future, the hotel will deal with any similar situations in a more sensitive and compassionate way and that no other family has to go through this.”