Question (from anonymous in California):
“We didn’t like the wedding venue and didn’t return or sign their contract. Are we liable? We left messages to cancel but no response. Two months later they are calling to schedule design meetings???”
Response (from Attorney Rob):
As stated, there are not enough facts here to warrant a thorough response.
I strongly advise sending a certified letter (a) referencing your previous messages in which you declined their offer and (b) that you never provided them a returned, signed contract.
Although you do NOT have to have a written document in order to have a legally binding contract, here, this looks like you never made it past the “offer and “acceptance” stage of the contract. That is, their ‘offer’ to you, i.e. “Hey, we will provide you our venue on X date, and subject to the terms of this written contract,” was not ‘accepted’ by you, i.e., “Here is the signed contract, buddy.”
Moral of the Story: Get it in writing!!!!