By: Ellen Cans
A country club in upstate NY has finally agreed to refund thousands of dollars to two couples who made down payments for wedding celebrations that got canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
As reported by the NY Post, in 2020 the Falkirk Estate and Country Club in Hudson Valley became the subject of an investigation by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, following complaints from couples seeking to get back deposits made for weddings that could not take place. The Hudson Valley venue, which boasts views of the lush Ramapo Mountains, had allegedly refused to reimburse the couples for their deposits, ranging from $10,000 to $15,000, for wedding receptions that had to be cancelled due to coronavirus protocol, as per settlement papers.
The couples said “refunds and deposits were not offered and that Falkirk’s principal and agents had represented that the deposited funds earmarked for specific weddings were being used to fund ongoing operations at Falkirk,” as per the documents. Following the AG’s investigation efforts, Falkirk reimbursed two of the couples a total of $22,500 on June 7, 2021. Now, the venue has agreed also to pay back another two couples a total of $18,300, the AG’s office said.
“Today’s agreement returns joy and money to New Yorkers who were unfairly denied refunds for their cancelled weddings,” James said in a statement. “Although the pandemic forced many couples to cancel their weddings, they shouldn’t have been left waiting at the altar for their refunds. This is a big day for couples who were not able to celebrate at Falkirk, and I encourage anyone who paid a deposit but was denied a refund for their cancelled event to contact my office.” Couples have 180 days from the day they signed the agreement to submit a refund request. Joseph Haspel, a lawyer for the country club, told The Post, “The settlement contains a provision which prohibits my comment.”
The AG has also previously returned $427,000 to people who paid deposits for events canceled due to COVID-19 related restrictions at Greentree Country Club in New Rochelle. Similarly, the AG announced on March 1, that her office recovered over $1 million for thousands of customers who purchased tickets to Westchester Broadway Theater but had the performances canceled due to the pandemic. In October 2021, James had recovered $4.4 million from ticket resale platforms which originally refused to refund thousands of customers for pandemic-related cancellations.
