Moral Dilemma re: Gig Fee. What would you have done?

RocknRollDave

OK, so we are a Birmingham-based wedding band.
Booking was in Devon, just outside Plymouth - 3.5 hours away with the wind in your sails and no cameras.
We had been paid an extra £150 between us to stay until 1am instead of the usual midnight finish, to provide our DJ service for that final hour.
The £150 was potentially going to pay for us to stopover somewhere cheap rather than drive back from Plymouth to Brum at , what, 1:30am, maybe even 2am once everything was packed up.

We arrive at the gig to find that the venue manager insists ALL music must be off at midnight. He agrees the couple have paid for the bar to remain open for an extra hour but is firm that he cannot allow music any longer due to ongoing local disputes over noise levels.

What do you do? Do you stand firm on the agreed fee, on the basis that whilst you will get away an hour early, it is still dangerously late to be driving home and you need the £150 for the Holiday Premier Days Lodge Inn and we have arrived prepared to do everything we were contracted to do - if the couple hasn't squared it properly with the venue, that is not our fault, so why should we be out of pocket?

Or do you refund the difference to the couple, on the basis that you are not going to be putting in the overtime, so why should you be paid for it? Even if that means driving home cos it blows your stopover budget?

John_P

If they have paid you in advance then I'd be tempted to see if they ask for it.     
Parlty depends on how big the rest of the fee was as well though and if you have already paid out or are stuck with the cost of accommodation you mention.  
I assume there was no chance of a compromise of the band being done by 12 and a deal of music after so long as it is quieter and can't be heard outside.  

stickyfiddle

I'd apply whatever my band's standard contract terms are, because I've heard too many of these stories to take chance. 
 
Though i realise that wasn't necessarily an option, so...

If presented with the scenario in reality and no contract with a clear provision for the change, I'd probably offer to meet them in the middle at 75 to cover most of your cost but recognise that they aren't getting the full extra hour of music they wanted.

RocknRollDave

The duty manager was insistant that only background music could be played after 12, and at a very low level - and explicitly stated that our DJ music wasn't classed as background music, however much we turned it down.

He also said he would make sure the couple knew the situation....and he didn't, meaning when we cut the music off at 12, they had no idea it was coming, making US look the bad guys.

The fee without the extra was comparable to more local gigs for us, I would say, and without the extra it was probably a wee bit less than we'd normally want for a Plymouth gig, but it wasn't scandalously low. Certainly would have still taken the gig if it had been offered at the lower price.
I hadn't paid out in advance for accomodation, thankfully.

paul_c2

Did you need that £150 extra for accommodation after all? ie did you book something and pay for it even if you didn't use it?

Maynehead

Would you have taken the job without the extra £150? If so then you should give it back. While it's bad for plans to change at the last minute, you haven't lost anything so there's no reason to compensate you for it.

vasselmeyer

It seems to me that it's the fault of the venue for not making this clear up front. If they did then it's the couple's fault, and if not it's the venue's fault. Wherever the blame lies you should keep the £150 and let the venue and the couple sort it out between them. Either the couple eat the cost or the wedding venue should refund the money to the couple.

not_the_dj

Pocket the cash and ride off into the sunset (well sun rise I'd guess). You were there and willing to fulfil your obligation but other parties stopped you from doing that. 

Tuscan777

Offer the £150 back, that's what I'd do. This will go 2 ways:

1. They take the cash, think you are very honest and lovely chaps, recommend you to friends etc and provide glowing feedback; or
2. Tell you not to worry and keep the cash.

Both ways you win.

maltingsaudio

Not an unusual situation these days as a lot of "wedding venues" are getting clobbered by noise complaints and organisers don't quite understand or get it or just don't inform the bands/guests until they arrive. (Recently did one where happy couple had booked a reggae band and drum and bass Dj's, the event organisers first thing she said to me was not too much bass we've had complaints!) The fact that you couldn't give them what they had paid for due to venue's rules is not your fault and you shouldn't be obliged to treat it as such.

BahHumbug

@Tuscan777 has a good idea.

My own opinion wasn't so positive......this dilemma is typical of my experience of weddings.  You turn up with a clear expectation of what is expected of you, only to find that the arrangements made by the happy couple aren't actually very well arranged and that you have issues and buggeration to deal with.
I've had the opposite experience where we expected to play until midnight, only to find the bride demanding to play music through our PA until 1:30am.  How do you say no to a drunk bride on her special day?  They didn't pay extra either.
So....you made a commitment to provide a service.  You weren't able to fulfil that commitment due to your client not knowing the facts.  It's their problem, not yours.  Take the money.

bbill335

paul_c2 said:

Did you need that £150 extra for accommodation after all? ie did you book something and pay for it even if you didn't use it?

This is what I was thinking. They've effectively paid whatever deposit you may/may not have put down for your bed that night, so even if you were to leave early, the hotel would want theirs. If that's not an issue I'd say it's a gift horse, and you shouldn't look it in the mouth.

midlifecrisis

dont say anything, if they bring it up say you have booked a hotel. or offer them £150 off her next wedding if booked within the next 5 years

TheBigDipper

My take would be that the band kept its side of the contract, so it's entitled to keep the fee that was agreed. It's not the bands fault that it cannot complete what was agreed. I'd be prepared to stay until the agreed time, though - meaningless as it may seem - just to fulfil the contract times. 

It's business - you provide a service for money and should be paid.

What did you do, anyway?

paul_c2

RocknRollDave said:

The duty manager was insistant that only background music could be played after 12, and at a very low level - and explicitly stated that our DJ music wasn't classed as background music, however much we turned it down.

He also said he would make sure the couple knew the situation....and he didn't, meaning when we cut the music off at 12, they had no idea it was coming, making US look the bad guys.

The fee without the extra was comparable to more local gigs for us, I would say, and without the extra it was probably a wee bit less than we'd normally want for a Plymouth gig, but it wasn't scandalously low. Certainly would have still taken the gig if it had been offered at the lower price.
I hadn't paid out in advance for accomodation, thankfully.

(I just reread and noticed you cross posted moments before my post!) Yeah I think strictly, you owe it back. But you might be able to amicably split it half way?

Roland

Contractually it would be the couples' problem if their contracts with you and the venue don't match. You do have a written contract don't you?

In practice you could go one of two ways. If you've got committed costs, such as non-refundable hotel payments, then you should take the money. If you don't then @Tuscan777 has the answer which would suit many people's sense of values. 

Some organisations think that the customer is the person who pays the bill. Some act as though the customer is their own head office. Some realise that the customer is the person who buys the next piece of work - please this current customer and they will tell their friends.

StefB

Plenty of opinions now in, so what did you do @RocknRollDave?

RocknRollDave

Bearing in mind that we had NOT shelled out in advance for accomodation, and that we would in effect be getting that extra hour 'back' unused, so to speak, we agreed that whilst it was the venue's fault, it would be very unsporting of us to cash in on that fault, especially when the bride and groom were so clearly upset - and they were VERY upset.

The groom was not expecting it and said it was 'very decent of us' and also added how it had been a brilliant night up until midnight, so I walked away with a clear conscience knowing that we had done all WE could do to ensure a great night.

Of course, the band is a business and reputation is important and we know full well how many gigs come off the back of 'I saw you at so-and-so's wedding two years ago and decided to book you for our day too' and also I know how many other line-ups our agenty-person has who he can send out instead of us if we start leaving him messes to smooth over.
And, equally cynically, I would rather just give them the damn cash back myself than have them phone up agenty-person after the event and demand it back, thus still having to hand it over anyway, only now with the added kick in the goolies of having though we had gotten away with it.

At the end of the day, the three of us agreed it was the right thing to do, we all still got paid handsomely for what was a riotous gig, and we also got to see the groom and his mates do their 'Shed Metal' turn for two songs, so I don't feel at all hard done by.

RocknRollDave

....forgot to mention that really what we ought to have done was pursue the venue for the cash they had cost us.....but, again, the cynic in me says keep the venues happy, you never know when you will be back there....

paul_c2

Would it be inappropriate to offer a discount to the bride and groom for their next wedding?

midlifecrisis

You did the best thing imho integrity rules