Canceling Covid-19 Brides - Refunds?

I'm curious what happened with this. My wedding was scheduled for May 2 in the florida keys which obviously cant happen now. My photographer is one person and the business is named after her, but once i hired i discovered it's the photographer and her partner michael who split up the jobs. They originally told me they weren't available on my new postponed date but then suddenly they produced a 'third' shooter that they claim to have hired. They say they hired this new guy to be a third first shooter and that they would edit all his photos and give them to me. It seems super shady because this other guy has his own photography business website! I'm like why should I have to pay the same rate for this random person i've never met or spoken with? Ive already paid them $1500 (half) as a deposit which they refuse to give back to me

I booked Verge events. I paid a
total of 1648 in fees. They did absolutely no work in booking venders. This can
be proved. The main reason I hired Verge was for wedding day only. I needed the
company to decorate and coordinate my wedding day. My wedding was canceled due
to the COVID-19. When I informed Verge of the cancelation (mandated by the
state of N.C.) and that we could not wait to get married due to health reasons,
they actually sent me an invoice of contract due. I explained to them that I
was having signs of reoccurrence cancer symptoms and I didn’t want to wait to
get married and planed on having a backyard ceremony in the state I actually
live. Verges simply had no sympathy for the tragic events taking place and
refuse any kind of refund from monies paid. They did however decide that the
852 dollars left owing would be forgiven. They have kept my money that they
earned in no way!

Yes it is just horrible. I am currently having the issue with my photographer. I have postponed my wedding twice and not willing to postpone it again. My wedding was set for June 19, 2021. I just cancelled on Jan 11, 2021. They are saying that because it is less than 6 months that I can not receive a refund. I would think they would try and work with clients given the fact that it is a large company. I disagree with this entirely because I have given at least 5 1/2 months cancellation notice. It is my understanding that by law they should be refunding guest especially if you have done all that you can to make it possible but COVID does not allow.

Thanks for the information. I am going through the same and think it is unfair to not refund clients due to the pandemic