Planning the perfect wedding? Take some advice and avoid the pitfalls says Consumer Direct
Venues cancelling bookings at the last minute, wedding dresses not arriving on time, guests coming down with food poisoning and photographers disappearing without a trace. These were just a few of the wedding complaints reported last year, but there are ways of avoiding the pitfalls advises Consumer Direct.
Last year, the government advice service received over 4000 wedding-related complaints about hotels, caterers, jewellers, photographers, florists and travel agents.
Michele Shambrook, Operations Manager for Consumer Direct said: 'Wedding contracts can be worth several thousands of pounds so it's vital that you shop around, compare prices, ask lots of questions and make sure you know exactly what you're getting before you agree a deal.'
Consumer Direct has the following list of tips for couples planning to tie the knot:
- Start planning well in advance. A lot of reported problems result from trying to do too much in too short a space of time.
- Set yourself a budget and stick to it.
- Look at a number of different venues and suppliers to compare costs and levels of service.
- Ask for written quotes (rather than just estimates) as these are legally binding.
- If you make a decision based on verbal promises, ask to get these in writing.
- Before you pay a deposit to a venue, make sure you have read all the terms and conditions and ask about cancellation policies. If you have to pull out and you breach your contract, you won't be automatically entitled to a refund and you could lose a lot of money.
- Consider using a credit card for purchases of between £100 and £30,000 as this could give you extra protection if the contract is breached by the supplier.
- Think about wedding insurance, but make sure you read the policy to see what's covered and what's excluded.
Further information and advice is available by calling Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or visiting the website at http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
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Editor's Notes:
* It should be noted that information captured by Consumer Direct is provided as given by the consumer and that no opinion on the truth or verification of facts has been made by the Consumer Direct service.
* The Consumer Direct is a telephone and online consumer advice service funded by government and managed by the Office of Fair Trading. It operates in partnership with Local Authority Trading Standards Services to offer consumers clear, practical and impartial advice and information.
* Consumer Direct has around 350 trained advisors in 11 contact centres across England, Wales and Scotland.
* The information and advice helpline is available on a single national telephone number - 08454 04 05 06 from 0800 - 1830 Monday to Friday, and 0900 - 1300 Saturday, excluding bank holidays and public holidays.
* A Welsh-speaking Consumer Direct service is available on 08454 04 05 05. Minicom users should call 08451 28 13 84.
* Calls to the Consumer Direct 0845 numbers are charged at no more than four pence per minute from a BT landline. Call charges from other landline providers or mobile phones may vary. Please check the rate with your phone service provider.
* Northern Ireland has its own service called ConsumerLine (available on 08456 00 62 62) which is similar to Consumer Direct.
Frank Shepherd
Press Officer
http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk
Published on: 2008-06-05
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