Trade fair postponed 3 times - what are my rights?

[unstoppable]

Hi,

We signed up for an exhibition stand at a trade fair which was going to originally take place in Spring 2020. We have already paid in full for the stand.

Due to the pandemic the trade fair got cancelled and we were told we can't be given our money back as per the contract and that trade fair will get rescheduled. It did get rescheduled but since then it has been rescheduled two more time - the next date being in April 2022. We have enquired from the organisers and they say that money cannot be refunded and any cancellation would mean forfeiting 100% of the fees already paid.

I could really do with that money as business cash flow is terrible at the moment due to the pandemic. There is no guarantee that the event won't be rescheduled again. Also I'm concerned what will happed if the exhibition organiser goes bust as currently they are obviously not making any money themselves due to lack of large events.

Where do I stand legally to get my money back and cancel the booking?

Many thanks.

 

[Newchodge]

Read your contract.

 

[MOIC]

Read your contract.

My guess is that the contract will have a Force Majeure clause.

 

[unstoppable]

My guess is that the contract will have a Force Majeure clause.

Yes that's correct. Can they postpone repeatedly like this and keep my money for this long under this term?

 

[Newchodge]

Yes that's correct. Can they postpone repeatedly like this and keep my money for this long under this term?

It depends on what it says.

 

[fisicx]

Yes that's correct. Can they postpone repeatedly like this and keep my money for this long under this term?

Probably yes.

 

[unstoppable]

This is the clause in the contract (below). So looks like they have covered themselves. But the question is can they reasonably do this or is it just black and white and I have no grounds to ask for a refund at all? I had other exhibitions booked, and although they also have this clause in the contracts they were all reasonable and refunded the money upon cancellation. They did not force us to keep the booking either!


6. Organiser’s Liability - Cancellation of the Exhibition, Force Majeure etc

6.1. The Contract shall continue in full force and effect and the Organiser shall be under no obligation to repay the charges paid or payable by the Exhibitor and shall be under no liability to the Exhibitor whatsoever (including, without limitation in respect of any actions, claims, liabilities, damages, losses (including consequential losses), loss of sales, loss of opportunity, costs or expenses whatsoever which may be suffered or incurred by the Exhibitor whether directly or indirectly,) as a result of the happening of any of the following events:

a) the Exhibition being abandoned, cancelled, postponed, suspended (in whole or in part) or otherwise adversely affected by reason of any act of God, war, fire, flood emergency, drought, labour dispute, trade dispute, terrorist act, threat of terrorism, strike, lockout, civil disturbance, riot, accident, the non-availability of the Exhibition hall, or any other cause not within the Organiser’s control;

b) any changes in the requirements of any Authority or the Owner in respect of the Exhibition; c) any adverse publicity or comment regarding the Exhibition made in any newspaper or otherwise promulgated;
d) poor attendance at the Exhibition by visitors or the press.

6.2. The Organisers shall be entitled to exercise all or any of the rights, powers or discretions conferred on it by the Contract and Rules and Regulations without assigning any reason and (unless otherwise provided) in such manner as, in the Organisers’ view, is in the best interest of the Exhibition. In no circumstances shall the exercise by the Organisers of any of these rights, powers or discretions give rise to any claim against it.

6.3. Cancellation of Exhibition - If the Organiser determines that there is insufficient support for the Exhibition, they have the right at all times to cancel or suspend the Exhibition without notice. In the event of such a cancellation the Exhibitor shall receive a full refund of the cost paid by the Exhibitor for the Stand. Any liability of the Organiser shall be limited to such a refund. The Organiser shall not be responsible for any losses (whether direct, indirect or consequential) incurred by the Exhibitor as a result of such cancellation.

 

[Newchodge]

Presumably, you accepted the contract with that caluse in it? If so, they can do it.

 

[MOIC]

Who are the organisers?

The probability is that the next scheduled date of April 2022 will go ahead.

Will you survive till then?

 

[unstoppable]

Yes I did sign the contract with this clause in it. I'm not sure if many people read or cared about the force majure clause before the pandemic, I certainly didn't...

The organisers are Diversified Business Communications UK Ltd. Yes the event probably will go ahead eventually if the organisers don't go bust that is. However it's not the same proposition as before. The whole floor plan has changed, also I do not think it will attract the same level of interest, footfall and fellow exhibitor's as pre-pandemic times which are all very important factors for a successful trade fair.

Whether I survive or not... I hope so, it's difficult to predict anything at the moment due to the pandemic lockdowns and changing public buying habits (I'm in retail/wholesale). We are just taking it a month at a time...

 

[MOIC]

Sadly, I don't think there's a lot you can do at the moment.

Have you spoken with any other exhibitors to see what they say or plan?

 

[fisicx]

Yes I did sign the contract with this clause in it. I'm not sure if many people read or cared about the force majure clause before the pandemic, I certainly didn't...

Which does sort of put you on the back foot. In any case, just about every contract will have a force majure clause so you should have expected it. In the same way your contracts should have a similar clause.

 

[unstoppable]

So looks like legally I might not be able to do anything. Though ethically it's a bad move by them, because it's a sure fire way for them to lose my future business beyond this exhibition. I know all businesses have to do what they can to survive but ethics are important and also maintaining customer loyalty - this doesn't help.

Good shout about other exhibitors. I haven't spoke to any other exhibitors because I don't know any, this is the first time I was going to take part in this particular exhibition through these organisers. So I am sort of 'blind' as to what they are doing with others. It's common knowledge that exhibition organisers have a lot of favouritism towards big clients. It's a very dirty business from that point of view from my experience of working with exhibition organisers so far.

Guess I'm stuffed!

 

[intheTRADE]

Have you tried negotiating with them?

Suggest a 50% refund with the other 50% remaining with them securing your stand at the exhibition. You will again pay the 50% a month before the event in March 2022

 

[bwglaw]

a) the Exhibition being abandoned, cancelled, postponed, suspended (in whole or in part) or otherwise adversely affected by reason of any act of God, war, fire, flood emergency, drought, labour dispute, trade dispute, terrorist act, threat of terrorism, strike, lockout, civil disturbance, riot, accident, the non-availability of the Exhibition hall, or any other cause not within the Organiser’s control;

A poorly drafted Force Majeure clause in my opinion. There is no statutory definition as such therefore parties can only rely on the wording of the contract itself. Also, there is no case law where a pandemic or epidemic is deemed a force majeure event. In my experience, a well-drafted force majeure clause would ordinarily include "disease" and "government action" which would encompass the lockdown.

However, in your case, the event organiser is likely to rely on the poorly drafted catch-all

...or any other cause not within the Organiser's control

only insofar as where it was illegal to organise and host an event pursuant to coronavirus regulations but not where the event can be held despite there being some restrictions in place. As for postponing the event on several occasions, it wholly depends on what the law was at the particular time the event was to be held. In other words, to rely on a force majeure clause, performance of the contract must be impossible - it is not sufficient where performance is challenging, tough or difficult.

 

[Paul Norman]

I do feel for exhibition companies right now. Through no fault of their own this company have had to postpone events, and that means, beyond the income for those postponed events, they have had probably close to zero revenue for a year.

That is tough. Very tough. I can visualise their side of the story, too, and I am sure some of us would be sympathetic.

Oh. Your payment. You can negotiate with the exhibition company. You can take them to court. You are probably not entitled to your money back.

And I empathise with that, too, because you also couldn't foresee all this.

That's the thing about the pandemic. Lots of us are carrying big losses. Trying to pass those losses amongst ourselves will keep us amused for the next few years, and generate many threads in here.

 

[IanSuth]

Have you tried negotiating with them?

Suggest a 50% refund with the other 50% remaining with them securing your stand at the exhibition. You will again pay the 50% a month before the event in March 2022

I doubt they have the 50% spare to pay back at present, they will have paid at least deposits on premises hire that they wont get back either - you are more likely to be successful at asking for freebies when it does happen, a bigger space than you paid for, more power than you paid for, a more prominent space on their marketing etc, things that have value to you over and above the cost to them or at worst a discount against the next exhibition you book (if you are still interested)

 

[Mr D]

So looks like legally I might not be able to do anything. Though ethically it's a bad move by them, because it's a sure fire way for them to lose my future business beyond this exhibition. I know all businesses have to do what they can to survive but ethics are important and also maintaining customer loyalty - this doesn't help.

Good shout about other exhibitors. I haven't spoke to any other exhibitors because I don't know any, this is the first time I was going to take part in this particular exhibition through these organisers. So I am sort of 'blind' as to what they are doing with others. It's common knowledge that exhibition organisers have a lot of favouritism towards big clients. It's a very dirty business from that point of view from my experience of working with exhibition organisers so far.

Guess I'm stuffed!

Do they normally struggle to find exhibitors?
If not then the ethics won't come into it. You won't be loyal to them by the sound of it regardless, why should you expect them to try and retain your loyalty?

The fact the situation has changed and may be less (or more!) attending with different layout is irrelevant. The fact you could do with the money is irrelevant. So could they - but again irrelevant.

Common knowledge tends to be less common than people believe. Can also be wrong.