Wedding Canceled 10 Months in Advance... Court Orders Deposit Refund

Front view of Gwangju District Court.

A wedding hall that refused to refund a deposit based on its own special terms, even after a wedding was canceled 10 months before the scheduled date, has lost a related civil lawsuit.

On November 23, Presiding Judge Nam Sujin of the 22nd Civil Division at the Gwangju District Court announced a ruling in favor of the plaintiff, Mr. A, in a lawsuit against Wedding Hall B seeking a refund of the deposit.

The court ordered Wedding Hall B to return the full deposit of 1 million won it had received from Mr. A, as well as 136 won in interest for the delayed refund.

Mr. A notified Wedding Hall B of the intention to terminate the contract on November 30 last year, approximately 10 months before the scheduled wedding date.

Wedding Hall B refused to return the deposit paid by Mr. A, citing its own special terms, which stated that the banquet hall deposit could only be refunded if the cancellation was made within seven days of the contract date.

Wedding Hall B also argued that even if a refund was processed within the specified period, a consultation fee of 300,000 won would be deducted.

The court rejected Wedding Hall B's arguments, citing the itemized consumer dispute resolution standards (as announced by the Fair Trade Commission), which were established in accordance with the Basic Consumer Act.

According to these standards, if notice of cancellation is given at least 150 days before the scheduled wedding date, the deposit must be refunded to the consumer, even if the consumer is at fault.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.