Can you be charged for a consultation fee after telling a florist you are going with another vendor?

If they never mentioned a "consulation fee" then no, they do not have a valid argument.

I have seen some people put that in the contract if you have an excessive amount of initial meetings or if you want them, say, to come to your venue with you. Otherwise I've never seen that for the initial meeting.

Ok thank you. I just think it is ridiculous. If they were going to charge me for a "consultation fee" they would have charged us upfront and not after I decided to go with another florist.

Yea, that is ridiculous. I mean if you took up hours of their time or had several meetings maybe its legit but they need to be upfront about that and give you a bill at the first meeting.

Unless you sign an agreement to a consultation and the fee is noted, a vendor cannot bill you after the fact. No, you are not obligated to pay the fee as they have nothing in writing.

I would hold onto the bill and if they forward another, I would have my attorney forward a cease and desist letter.

Unless that is stated at the beginning of the appointment, it's not going to fly now.

For the record, a lot of pros do not give out written price quotes without a deposit; it's just to easy for anyone to shop intellectual property. Why did you meet with her twice?

It should be stated clearly that there is a consult fee if you don't book with them. That wouldn't necessarily put me off (though it's not typical), but I would want to leave with some solid information that was worth paying for, and I"d probably approach the meeting differently.....(as a client)

She's a bad business person; no one should attempt to collect money that was not specified in the first place.

That's all kinds of jacked up!

Celia:

I am planning my wedding from out of town. I stopped by the florist shop while I was in town. I had a brief meeting with her because she usually does appts but she gave me a quote off the top of her head. She told me to email her with all the details. I emailed her the next day with the details and pictures I brought in and asked her for a written quote. After a few emails going back and forth for a month she said she would send a written quote but then she came back and said her notes were not the best so I set up a formal meeting for her to meet with my Mom as I live out of state. We did a conference call during the meeting and there a consultation fee was not mentioned and I asked again for a quote. After I hung up with them, she asked my mom if she was going to put down the deposit for me. My mom told her that she thinks I need the quote before. I emailed her again for the quote, she emailed me back stating she needed a deposit before she went any further.

Sounds like bad/bitter business to me! If there was no contract, why would she hold a date for you? Why would she hold a date without providing a quote? I'm not a florist, but wouldn't one need to know HOW MUCH they are spending before they can decide if the florist is within their budget, or ready to hold the date? Shouldn't the deposit be a percentage of the quoted amount? I think the quote should come during the first consultation or shortly after, but before making any firm arrangements or deposit.

Wow, unbelievable. I agree with the consensus. I am just amazed someone would do that.

I've had a few of the cake bakers I met with charge a consultation fee in order to do a tasting with them, but it was never more than like $20. We were told about it when making the appointment however, and we paid during the consultation. Plus if we had signed with them they all would have credited the amount towards the cake purchase. No way would I pay something I was told about after the fact and never agreed to. That's crazy. She has no grounds, it doesn't sound like you had excessive meetings with her.

I wouldn't pay. Send her a letter explaining why you aren't going to pay it--my guess is she'll drop it. I can't imagine the consultation fee would be a significant enough amount to pursue it legally, especially when it was never stated or in a contract. Good Luck!

Um all of my vendors have given us written quotes without charging us the deposit. Why would I pay someone if I'm not certain I'll use them? Maybe that is just our area. I find it absurd.

I agree, they can bill you all they want, bit unless you were notified in some way that you would be charged this fee then no, they can't bill you and expect you to pay it. Nor do they have an arguement.

If you didn't sign a contract stating that you would pay a consultation fee, you do not owe anything.

Here's the thing: for a vendor to spend a LOT of time with you, and price out all the details, that takes a LOT of time, and time=$. Sometimes my detailed estimates take eight hours to write, because I have to make "recipes" for each arrangement, check to see what flowers are available that month, etc.

Normally, I give a non-detailed estimate based on what we discussed. My estimate, and a brief consultation (<1 hr), are no charge.

If you had given a retainer to save the date, then most vendors have it in their contract that it is non-refundable, to compensate for their time and for turning away other business. That is not the case here. Once I have a retainer, and I am then hired, then I will spend much more time, and go into a lot more details.

By the way, bravo for telling vendors you are going with someone else. Many (most) couples just leave us hanging, and that's not very nice when we've spent a couple of hours of our time on you. Just shoot us an email and let us know that you've chosen someone else. No big deal

I'm having the same problem! Decided not to work with a florist whom I had emailed/spoken to. She went on vacation and was unable to answer my questions or have availability for another 2 weeks. I politely informed her I needed to work with another florist due to timing (there were a few other reasons I decided not to work with her but didn't go into all the details). I received an email about consultation fees and other threats trying to deface me and my professional career (she internet stalked me).... Never signed a contract or placed a deposit. Never informed of any consultation fees. Advice appreciated on how you resolved this, thanks!