Texas wedding refund dispute drawing criticism

All right, welcome back. Time now, 5:24. So you know your wedding day, it's something so many of us look forward to. And sadly, a bride lost her fiancé. He passed away, but the couple had already put thousands of dollars towards the venue. And there was a legal back and forth between the venue and the bride who was trying to get that money back. But now there's a settlement. So Leslie Delasport joining us now to talk more about this, because this is something that can happen to just about anyone out there. Anyone. And to be honest, you and I were talking, I'm a bride-to-be. That's right. So when I saw this story, it tugged at my heartstrings. So we first, we wanna offer our condolences to that bride. I mean, I can't even imagine what that bride has to be going through. Again, couldn't imagine being in her shoes, but the story is just crazy to think about. And so in this situation, so this couple or this bride was supposed to be preparing for her wedding, but instead she's been fighting to get $16,000 back after her fiancé passed away. Now, we spoke with our senior legal analyst, Chris Tritico, who gave us some tips on what to tell brides and couples but also venues as well so here's what we know about the story so according to the San Antonio Express-News, Zoe Vandalo sued San Marcos venue Posey Meadow after her fiancé Diego Hernandez died in April and she's at she was asking for 16,000 back now the venue cited its non-refundable contract and they later countersued her for suing them now obviously as you mentioned both sides agreed to settle today but now the agreement has remained unsigned as of earlier when this news broke. But our senior legal analyst, Chris Tritico, he gave his opinion. First, he said, and I quote, it's disgusting that a venue would even do something like this to a bride, especially under these circumstances, right? But he wanted to share some advice on what brides and couples need to ask these venues and even vendors when they're preparing for one of the most important days of their lives. So she had to hire a lawyer. She had to pay that lawyer, whatever the lawyer charged, whether it was a contingent fee or hourly, but she's now out money for the attorney's fees. And so the venue gave the money back, but she's still out money. The venue should have done the right thing in the beginning and not forced her to hire a lawyer and go to court. Look for insurance for your wedding. It's a lot of money. And so look for insurance would cover you in the case of this type of disaster or a hurricane or something that would cause this to happen. So now what is his also, what is his, I guess, advice to venues out there if they do in fact have this like no refund policy? So the main thing is he's telling venues, he's like, you gotta have a heart. I mean, at the end of the day, come on. You're in business, you gotta have a heart, especially for a situation like this. But he did say that in situations like this, it does call for compassion. And he does believe that the venue should have done the right thing and return the bride the money. But here's his message to venues. They have a definite explanation of what that policy exactly is. And then you cannot have in writing a policy that says if your fiance or your bride dies, we're gonna give you your money back. But that doesn't mean you can't have a heart. It happens once every 1,000, 10,000 weddings, but the time that it happens when someone comes to you in tears and says, my fiance just died, I can't have my wedding. That's the time when you write a check and give them their money back and hug them. You hug them, that's what this bride needed in this moment. Again, as a bride to be cannot even imagine being in that situation, but we do wanna point out that the venue did tell San Antonio Express News that it was heartbroken and it had worked to refund the bride this money before the litigation. Now, that is what the venue told this outlet in San Antonio. But at this time, we do know that the settlement terms are confidential, and we are still working to confirm if a full refund has been issued. So we do know settlement is there, but we're working to confirm if all $16,000 has been given back to that bride. They better give her that money back. Look. Look, weddings are expensive nowadays. Look. And, like, come on. At the end of the day, when we were talking about this story earlier today, I'm like, I mean, I get it. Business is business, but come on. Especially in a situation like this. You know, I mean, her fiance passed away and she's grieving and now having to worry about $16,000 that she put towards a venue. But again, happy that a settlement was reached. We are hoping that the entire $16,000 is going to be given back to her and she doesn't have to pay any legal fees. So we're trying to stay on top of this and see, you know, what information we can gather. But also, like I said, I want to stay in the loop, too. figure out some things I may need to take a double look at or take a second look at as well. That's real talk. Yeah. And we got a little poll at the bottom of our screen here. And the vast majority of you saying it should be an automatic full refund. Lori in Texas City says, shame on them. You know, you should have a heart. And, you know, having a heart and you should have made the change right out the gate and, you know, cut them a check. And I'm really hoping this bride is able to heal, man, because that is such an awful thing to heal from. You just lost your fiance. Now you have to go through a legal back and forth. And to be honest, she was supposed to get married next month. That is horrible. So again, horrible situation, want to send our condolences to her, but in the end, this is a win for her. And I think any couple, any person in the midst of a wedding would be happy to see that there is a settlement. But like I said, we are gonna stay on top of it and try to figure out how much money she is in fact getting back. All right, Leslie, thank you so much for that.