Buy cheap, buy twice?
Every day I see at least one post on a Facebook group from someone asking for a replacement supplier as they've been let down or how to avoid getting scammed.
There are, sadly, plenty of intentional scammers out there who will offer the moon and stars at a bargain price, take a deposit and disappear and while some of the advice below will help avoid those, I want to talk about the un-intentional scammer.
A what?
Un-intentional scammers start off with good intentions, maybe they helped out at a friend's wedding and think they can make some extra money, it went great for their friend, how hard can it be? They'll advertise great prices, often saying they're just starting out so the cheap price is because they're looking to get some experience. People bite their hand off for the great deal, bookings are flooding in and they think they're on to a winner, this time next year they'll be millionaires.
Then reality turns up and for a quick word. It's nowhere as easy or simple as they thought and quickly takes over their lives whilst they're still juggling a full time job, family and everything else. The low low price is too low and they're barely making a profit (certainly not minimum wage) and have learned they need to have insurance, invest in equipment and training. What seemed like a great idea is has become a mill stone they want to get rid of. Some will simply disappear, keep all the deposits and earn their place as a fully fledged scammer. Some will try and farm the work out to 3rd parties at an even lower price and the couples are getting even less for their money. The rest will tell their couples they're no longer trading and perhaps even refund deposits but leave them with no supplier, often only weeks before the wedding, and little or no budget for a replacement.
The outcome generally isn't good and sadly a lot of couples will lose money or get a very poor service that leaves a dark shadow over what should have been one of the best days of their lives.
Protect yourself.
There are a few things you can do to ensure you're dealing with a legitimate trader:
A website. It's very cheap and easy to set up a facebook page but a website shows investment in the business, well a decent one does. Do they have a proper domain name with an email address that uses that domain?
A contract. Ask to see a copy of their T&Cs, read them and ask questions if you're not sure about anything. What does it say if you need to cancel the booking?
A reasonable deposit. Deposits should only be a small percentage of the total cost.
Payments. Two things to avoid - suppliers who only accept bank transfers and/or ask you to use PayPal but to send the payment as Friends & Family to avoid fees. In either case you'll have no protection so where possible pay by credit card to get the best protection. Again a legit business will be able to accept cards and PayPal Business, yes there are fees that have to pay but that's one of the costs of running a business.
Insurance. Depending on the type of service provided they might need Public Liability, Professional Indemnity, and Equipment Cover. Ask to see their certificates if you have doubts.
Contact information. A geographical address should appear on contracts, invoices and their website if they offer online sales. A phone number and email address should also be available - if they only want contact via social media consider it a big red flag.
Stock Images. Check if the images on their website/social are actually stock images. This is pretty easy to do with Google Lens to check for the source of an image, if you see it's been used by lots of companies/website it's a red flag.
Finally ask if you can speak to previous clients and where appropriate view a complete video/album/etc.
Here's a couple of useful links with advice on deposits and your rights if you cancel a service.
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5d38661040f0b604e2353e16/UCT_04_Deposits.pdf
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/wedding-venues-advised-to-play-fair