1. What this page covers
This is how cancellations, refunds and credit work for bookings with Northwest Gaming Limited, a company registered in Ireland under number 781283. It sits alongside our Terms & Conditions; where the two describe the same thing, they are meant to say the same thing.
Nothing here takes away rights you have under Irish consumer law. Where a statutory right gives you more than this page does, the statutory right applies.
2. The 14-day cooling-off period
Most things bought online in Ireland come with a 14-day right to change your mind. Party bookings do not, because they are leisure services supplied on a specific date - an exemption set out in the Consumer Rights Act 2022. The moment you book, that date and that van stop being available to anyone else.
Gift vouchers are different. A voucher is not tied to a date, so it does carry the 14-day right - see section 7.
3. Your deposit, and what it is for
A booking is confirmed by a deposit, normally 25% of the party price. The balance is paid before or on the day.
The deposit is not a fee for booking. It covers what we lose if the date goes unused: we run a small fleet, each party takes a van and a crew for the day, and a date we have held for you is a date we have turned other people away from. That is why the cancellation terms below are built around how much notice we get, and not around anything else.
4. Cancelling with more than 7 days notice
Tell us more than 7 days before your party and your deposit is not lost. It becomes credit on your Northwest Gaming account, and you can put it towards any booking within 6 months. You do not have to name the new date straight away.
With that much notice we can usually offer the slot to somebody else, so there is no loss to cover.
5. Cancelling within 7 days
Inside 7 days we keep the deposit. At that point the date is very unlikely to be filled, the van and crew are committed, and the deposit is our estimate of what that costs us.
Two limits on that, and we mean both:
- It is capped at the deposit. We do not ask for the balance of a party that did not happen, and we do not charge anything on top.
- If the real loss is smaller than the deposit - the slot gets filled after all, or we had not yet committed anything to your date - we return the difference. If you think that applies to you, tell us and we will look at it.
If you cancel because of a bereavement, a serious illness or something else of that kind, talk to us. We would rather deal with it as people than point at a policy.
6. Moving your booking instead
Moving a booking is usually easier than cancelling it, for both of us. More than 7 days out we will move you to any free date at no charge and your deposit moves with it. Inside 7 days we will still try, but it depends on what is free and on what we have already committed to your original date.
7. Gift vouchers
A voucher bought online can be cancelled within 14 days of purchase for a full refund, as long as it has not been used. Email us and we will refund the card it was bought on.
Vouchers are valid for at least 5 years, as required by the Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act 2019, and the expiry date is printed on the voucher. You can spend a voucher across more than one booking; whatever is left stays on it.
Where more than EUR 1 is left on a voucher you can ask us for the balance back rather than spending it. We will pay it out or issue a replacement voucher, whichever you prefer. A replacement carries the original expiry date - it is the same voucher in a new form, not a new one.
Vouchers cannot be used to buy other vouchers.
8. Bookings paid for with voucher credit
If you paid with a voucher and the booking is cancelled, the credit goes back onto the voucher rather than being paid out as cash. The voucher keeps its original expiry date.
A discount code applied to a cancelled booking is not reissued.
9. If we cancel
We may have to cancel or alter a booking - serious illness, severe weather, a breakdown, or anything that would put our crew or your guests at risk. We will tell you as soon as we know.
When that happens you choose: another date at no extra cost, or a full refund of everything you have paid, including the deposit. We do not keep a deposit on a party we cancelled.
If we are late through traffic or something else outside our control, we run your full booked time where we can. Where we cannot, we reduce the fee in proportion to the time you lost.
10. If something goes wrong on the day
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 our service has to be supplied with reasonable care and skill. If it is not, you are entitled to have it put right, and to a reduction in price or a refund where it cannot be. Tell us on the day if you can, and in writing afterwards, and we will sort it out.
In the unlikely event of a major technical failure affecting your event, we will work out the best answer with you - that may be a full refund or another date at no extra cost, subject to availability.
11. No-shows and behaviour
If nobody is available 30 minutes after the agreed start time, our crew will leave and the booking is treated as a no-show, with no refund.
Our crew may ask anyone behaving in an unsafe or abusive way to leave. Where that happens no refund is given for that person or for the event.
12. Merchandise
Merchandise ordered with a booking is brought to your event on the day - nothing is posted and nothing needs collecting. If an item is faulty, damaged or not what you ordered, tell us and we will replace it or refund it. If you cancel the booking, the merchandise is cancelled with it and refunded in full.
13. How refunds are paid
Refunds go back to the card or account the payment came from. We do not refund to a different card. Card refunds usually appear within 5 to 10 working days, depending on your bank.
Where a payment was taken outside the website - cash, a transfer, or a card machine - the refund is returned the same way.
14. How to cancel or ask for a refund
Email bookings@nwgaming.ie or call 089 256 8395, and quote your booking reference. You can also use the "manage my booking" link in your confirmation email.
The date we work from is the date you tell us, not the date we get round to replying. Email is safest because it timestamps itself.
15. If you are not happy with the outcome
Come back to us first - most of this gets sorted in one email. If it does not, you can contact the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission at ccpc.ie, and you can bring a claim through the District Court small claims procedure, which is designed to be used without a solicitor.
These terms are governed by Irish law and the Irish courts have jurisdiction. As a consumer you can also bring proceedings where you live, and you keep the benefit of any mandatory consumer protection law that applies there.