Cancelling A Gig.... Advise Please

[skydj 0]

Guys (n Gals)

 

Firstly this is not something I like doing.... But

 

Here the story

 

Quoted and had customer accept quote, although now thinking back maybe under quoted for the time (5 hours - £300)

 

Met with the customer at the Venue (a boat on the thames), they paid a deposit

 

All was going good

 

Then

 

Rec'd a call from the customer stating that the venue had changed, OK..... I visited the new location, still on the Thames, but 2 miles furether away up river and on the other side, once on the boat I found out the following

 

6 Hours floating (so playing music)

No Parking close, well mounting the kerb, but advise to leave someone with the vehicle incase of clamping as very near to parliment

No trollies to assist down the jetty

Only 1 hour to load and unload

Nowhere to leave van, only 1/4 mile away

 

And not to mention the boat looks so tatty and my equipment would take up 1/3 on the dance floor

 

So.... what do you think

 

Do I charge extra for the inconvenience and time etc (I was thinking £200)

 

or do I just tell her due to all the changes I am unable to committ and offer her deposit back

 

How would I stand, a copy of my T&C's are found here http://www.skydj.co.uk/html/skydj_-_terms___cond.html

 

Advise more than welcome, I will be calling them on Monday with my points

 

Regards

 

Jay

SKYDJ

 

Topic moved to NON PUBLIC area.

[Paul Smith 0]

Call in Kavanagh QC (aka Mikeee) tongue out icon

 

I didn't read all your T&Cs however I would treat this as a major change to the initial contract - the only thing staying the same is the date.

 

I have the occasional client who changes venue for their own reasons and most of the time I am happy to do it for the original agreed fee however there have been a couple of times when I have told them that the changes will result in extra charges.

 

I think as long as the extra charges are fair and reflect additional work, time, extra staff etc and you can justify it then fine. If however you are adding some extra money just because under-quoted or you don't like the new venue then it may be fairer to tell the client that you are not prepared to work there and refund their deposit.

[Smudger 0]

I believe that you should tell the customer that the previous contract is cancelled.

The details of that contract have changed and as a result a new one needs to be agreed.

 

Jon

[yorkiemark 0]

sounds like a lot of hassle to me Jay. Id phone her like you intend to do & outline all the stuff you have mentioned.

 

I used to do the boats in York & the setting up & packing down was always a nightmare because of no where to park car etc.

 

good luck with it mate

[Andy Westcott 0]

If it were me, I'd simply decline the new contract, and give (not offer) her deposit back.

 

Sounds to me as if you are pretty unhappy with the circumstances surrounding this new scenario, so don't do it. I dare say you'll fill the date with another booking anyhow.

 

EDIT:

I am assuming here that on the booking form for the original booking you have stated the venue, yes? If not this could be a little more tricky...

Edited February 17, 2008 by Andy Westcott

[spinner 0]

1. The playing time has been extended. On that basis you are entitled to charge more.

 

2. There is nowhere to park. Provision for this should be in your terms and conditions although it should be insisted upon rather than asked for. In any case youmay wish to use this as a reason to withdraw from the contract.

 

3. No trolley available. Much better to have your own for when it's needed.

 

4. Only 1 hour to break down and get off. Your terms stipulating an hour to get out are, no doubt, written with land-based venues in mind. It's quite possible that the boat will not be able to remain moored at the end for more than an hour. If that is so it would make sense to cancel the original contract if one hour is totally impractical. The alternative may be to employ more helpers for the gig and charge accordingly.

 

5. Nowhere to leave your van. See 2.

 

In my opinion your original price was too low and you should certainly be charging more with all the extra complications and time involved. However if you'll be loading and unloading on Westminster Embankment ( too near to Parliament ) you may be better advised to withdraw from the contract completely and save yourself a great deal of potential frustration and aggravation.

Edited February 17, 2008 by spinner

[mikeee 0]

Hi Jay,

 

Don't worry I haven't put the wig on :bouncy:

 

Is this the job we spoke about on the phone a few weeks ago???

 

If your contract states that changes can't be made, and I haven't read yours yet, then technically you are looking at it as a new booking. I would get on the phone and say, look all these changes, Venue, Hours and now I have to pay someone to drive me there and then come and pick me up, it is no longer viable to do the job, or I can charge you an extra £XXX to cover these changes. What ever you do, don't sit on it, or the client could say that the knew X weeks ago and didn't say anything at the time.

 

OK, just had a read, looks vagually familiar

 

Clause 4, states that the client ensure suitable parking!!! Have you discussed this with the client.

 

I also noted that you say it is smaller area, so to me thats a console, amp, pair of speakers and two white light effects on a pod. A sack barrow might be useful :joe:

 

Is this the same company that moor up at wapping???

Edited February 17, 2008 by mikeee

[skydj 0]

Hi Jay,

 

Don't worry I haven't put the wig on :bouncy:

 

Is this the job we spoke about on the phone a few weeks ago???

 

If your contract states that changes can't be made, and I haven't read yours yet, then technically you are looking at it as a new booking. I would get on the phone and say, look all these changes, Venue, Hours and now I have to pay someone to drive me there and then come and pick me up, it is no longer viable to do the job, or I can charge you an extra £XXX to cover these changes. What ever you do, don't sit on it, or the client could say that the knew X weeks ago and didn't say anything at the time.

 

OK, just had a read, looks vagually familiar

 

Clause 4, states that the client ensure suitable parking!!! Have you discussed this with the client.

 

I also noted that you say it is smaller area, so to me thats a console, amp, pair of speakers and two white light effects on a pod. A sack barrow might be useful :joe:

 

Is this the same company that moor up at wapping???

 

Hi Mikee

 

Yes, This is the same Job we spoke about, I only got told about the change 1 1/2 weeks ago and arranged to visit/view fri gone

 

I will also give the original Boat Company a call 1st just to see if they can advise me as to why they changed, as I have heard on the grape vine, they want every thing and budget cost,

 

I will not hold out, and will call her tomorrow evening

 

But the mobile is on if you wanna chat (any more advise)

 

Cheers all for the advise

 

Regards

 

Jay

[jamminroadshow 0]

Tell us what happened i would not mind it but for the fact that it would be a 4 hour drive to get there.

[mikeee 0]

Tell us what happened i would not mind it but for the fact that it would be a 4 hour drive to get there.

 

LOL, you probably wouldn't even make your gas money out of this one tongue out icon

[Gary 0]

On the off-chance that you've not contacted the customer yet, here's what I'd do.

 

And basically it's "Give the customer the choice"

 

Write/email the customer, rather than phone - explain to them that the different venue which they've choosen presents you with a number of difficulties (try to avoid the word "problems").

 

List the difficulties as bullet points - remember to include why each one causes you a difficulty and how you CAN overcome each obstacle - stay postive throughout the letter, make sure that the fact that you WANT to entertain them and their guests at their event, shines through.

 

For example:

 

---------------------------------------

 

* During my pre-inspection visit the boat crew advised me that my vehicle should have a driver in it at all times to avoid clamping. I would be able to pay one of my colleagues to cover this aspect.

 

* The boat crew also clarified that there is no free parking on their site, with the nearest parking being 1/4 mile (20 minutes each way) away. This would increase the amount of time that my colleague and I would be attendance by 40 minutes each.

 

* The new location have no trolleys suitable for their jetty to aid with the movement of our equipment onto and off of the vessel. This would not normally be a difficulty, except that the boat crew have advised that they can only offer us 1 hour for loading pre-departure, and 1 hour unloaded upon return. We can achieve this deadline through the hiring of additional staff.

 

* I understand from the boat crew that the number of hours of music has increased to 6 Hours in total, which equates to (x) additional hours from our previous discussions.

 

With the above points taken into consideration, my original figure of £300 for the initial venue would have to increase to £480, given the extra staff, man-hours and travel times involved.

 

Please let me know by (7 days time + 1 or 2 days for letter to arrive) whether you would like to proceed, with a cheque for the additional....blah...

 

 

------------

 

 

 

(or something like that...)

[skydj 0]

On the off-chance that you've not contacted the customer yet, here's what I'd do.

 

And basically it's "Give the customer the choice"

 

Write/email the customer, rather than phone - explain to them that the different venue which they've choosen presents you with a number of difficulties (try to avoid the word "problems").

 

List the difficulties as bullet points - remember to include why each one causes you a difficulty and how you CAN overcome each obstacle - stay postive throughout the letter, make sure that the fact that you WANT to entertain them and their guests at their event, shines through.

 

For example:

 

---------------------------------------

 

* During my pre-inspection visit the boat crew advised me that my vehicle should have a driver in it at all times to avoid clamping. I would be able to pay one of my colleagues to cover this aspect.

 

* The boat crew also clarified that there is no free parking on their site, with the nearest parking being 1/4 mile (20 minutes each way) away. This would increase the amount of time that my colleague and I would be attendance by 40 minutes each.

 

* The new location have no trolleys suitable for their jetty to aid with the movement of our equipment onto and off of the vessel. This would not normally be a difficulty, except that the boat crew have advised that they can only offer us 1 hour for loading pre-departure, and 1 hour unloaded upon return. We can achieve this deadline through the hiring of additional staff.

 

* I understand from the boat crew that the number of hours of music has increased to 6 Hours in total, which equates to (x) additional hours from our previous discussions.

 

With the above points taken into consideration, my original figure of £300 for the initial venue would have to increase to £480, given the extra staff, man-hours and travel times involved.

 

Please let me know by (7 days time + 1 or 2 days for letter to arrive) whether you would like to proceed, with a cheque for the additional....blah...

------------

(or something like that...)

 

Gary, Wow, many thanks

 

I did leave a message on there home phone on monday and also sent an email last night stating that I was cancelling the gig and they were to contact me

 

But I may use your wording when she does

 

Cheers for advise all

 

 

[jukeboxdj 0]

Hi Jay

have you made any progress with your dilemma

 

i've never had the priviledge of djing on a boat so was interested

in all the obstacles you've come up against

 

hope it all worked out well

[Gary 0]

Gary, Wow, many thanks

 

I did leave a message on there home phone on monday and also sent an email last night stating that I was cancelling the gig and they were to contact me

 

But I may use your wording when she does

 

Cheers for advise all

 

Not a problem you using any/all the wording - I happy to have helped.

 

At the moment however, I think that you're in a situation where the (former) customer could turn round and say (on the night for example) that they still thought that they have got you booked for the gig. eg: ("No, we didn't get any telephone message, or email to say that you weren't doing the booking"...

 

It's time "wasted" (short term) but worth it in the long-run, to get something back from them to confirm that they have received/read and understood your message of not doing the gig.

 

 

 

[Dukesy 0]

or do I just tell her due to all the changes I am unable to committ and offer her deposit back

 

Last year, I quoted for a Christmas function in Greenwich for a well known company. Confirmed the booking in September 07. Received the paperwork and reservation fee, all was good.

 

Towards the end of October I received an email informing me that the actual venue had unfortunately been changed from Greenwich to a new location in Westminster as it was now available and was originally their intended venue. I would also be required a couple of hours earlier to play background music during the meal and finishing one hour later.

I immediately replied to the email and contacted the company via phone soon after, that due to the number of contract changes I would be recalculating the balance and forwarding a new contract.

 

The client suggested that as it would soon be Christmas and that the booking was already confirmed, it would be too late to exchange let alone get authorisation for paperwork. In fact, as everything had previously 'been agreed', it would be in my interests to accept the changes, the client providing further examples as to why everything should remain as is!

 

Now as much as I appreciate that circumstances can change, I have to take into business consideration all the kind of variables that would have been included in my quotation, especially had the 'new location' been the original venue in question and of course the extra hours required, etc, etc!

 

The client would not accept that there was differences and I had no option but to return the reservation fee and decline service.

 

Fortunately for me with a good month to go, I was able to secure another booking with a film company for the same date which was held at the Soho Hotel, Westminster - not that far from the location changed to by the previous client!

 

The point of all this is that sometimes, when the parameters and details change and you are forced to decline and return the reservation fee even when you are very accommodating with your service, life isn't always bad!

 

And if I hadn't of been able to secure another booking late in the day then sure, you win some and lose some.

 

But the end result on the date in question was another happy crowd satisfied and entertained!

http://www.discodirect.com/photos5/lg_dec_07.jpg

 

[spinner 0]

The client suggested that as it would soon be Christmas and that the booking was already confirmed, it would be too late to exchange let alone get authorisation for paperwork. In fact, as everything had previously 'been agreed', it would be in my interests to accept the changes, the client providing further examples as to why everything should remain as is!

 

Now as much as I appreciate that circumstances can change, I have to take into business consideration all the kind of variables that would have been included in my quotation, especially had the 'new location' been the original venue in question and of course the extra hours required, etc, etc!

 

The client would not accept that there was differences and I had no option but to return the reservation fee and decline service.

 

 

 

No doubt your contract conditions, like mine, stipulate that the contract can be varied only by mutual, written agreement.

 

Your client, in this case was cheeky, to put it mildly.

 

[skydj 0]

Hi Guys

 

So here's the update so far

 

I rec'd a call from customer 5 days ago (Sunday), obvious to say he was not too happy, but I explained (as per Gary's Info), and just told them I would be able to do the job, but.... more money needed, more set-uptime needed, provide someone to stay with the vehicle and they are to pay for any fines blah blah

 

Now I wait, I was gonna give it till sunday (thats 7 days) and re-email, requesting read receipt and acknowledgment

 

Will update again on monday (Hopefully)

[skydj 0]

Hi Guys

 

Just a very quick Update

 

THEY CANCELLED, due to not being able to meet my requirements

 

&

 

Being I'm sure a Nice Guys (and did not want any hassle), I offered the full deposit refund

 

Cheers all who had input, all helped me in advising the customer

 

Cheers Again

 

Jay

[nigelwright7557 0]

Sounds like far too much hassle to me.

 

I would refund the deposit and back out gracefully.