SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - With her 10th birthday quickly approaching, Roop Kaur wanted her double digit celebration to be extra special. So, she decided to save up her money and pay for it herself.
“I collected money when people came to our house. My sister helped me get the money,” explained Roop.
After a while of saving, Roop raised enough cash to make a big birthday splash, a pool party at a hotel in Somerville.
“I thought, ‘It’s a good place. Everyone can do something’,” said Roop.
Her parents, Gurpreet and Sukhi, booked the party for February 11th.
In total it cost $925, which included use of the pool, games, and all of the food.
Everything was going as planned, but Roop began to feel under the weather.
“The day before the party my daughter got sick. She had the flu,” said Gurpreet.
It seemed like Roop’s pool party plans were sinking fast, but the hotel party coordinator agreed to reschedule her party to next Saturday.
“I asked if there were any extra charges, she said no,” Gurpreet told 7News.
But just three days later, the Kaur family was dealt an unexpected blow when Gurpreet’s grandmother passed away.
“In our culture, we don’t celebrate soon after a death in the family,” Gurpreet said.
So with a heavy heart, Gurpreet contacted the hotel to cancel the party.
Solve It 7 read through the contract with the hotel, and only $250 of Roop’s money was non-refundable if the party was cancelled at least three days in advance.
According to Gurpreet, she cancelled on Tuesday, four days before the party.
After doing their part to cancel the party, the Kaur family thought they would get their money back, minus the non-refundable $250 deposit.
However, when a week went by and no refund was issued, Gurpreet emailed the party coordinator for an update.
“She said we are not refunding your money back,” said Gurpreet.
Gurpreet told Solve It 7 that the hotel representative wrote that they would not be refunding her money because she cancelled the party without rescheduling, noting that they were taking a loss on the cost of the food.
That’s when the Kaurs reached out to Solve It 7.
We called the hotel and left a message detailing the Kaur’s refund woes.
A couple of hours later, we spoke to the general manager.
He told us that the problem had already been taken care of.
“At my work it was a message that me and [the] general manager have decided to return your money,” said Gurpreet.
The refund totaled $675, the amount owed after subtracting the non-refundable $250 deposit.
Roop got her money back, and can now save for an even better 11th birthday!
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