what would you do here??

[pumpseeker]

A buddy of mine planned this ski trip last fall, which happened last weekend. Originally, he planned on splitting up the $1,500 bill for this 5 bedroom house on the mountain with 12 people so it wasn't supposed to be that bad.....but...of course, it came down to only 4 guys, including myself, that committed in the end.

However, I found out 4 days before leaving that I could not get out of work so I told them I would meet them there Friday night. I was gonna drive 4 hours by myself to meet them but when Friday night came around, I said fuck it, I'm staying home. I called and left the guys a message and told them I wasn't gonna make it and to keep the $100 I already paid for the trip.

Then yesterday, my buddy that planned the trip calls me to collect the other $270 that was my share of the house. I'm like what??? I didn't even go on the trip and he's tellin me I need to pay him back for my share. First of all, I never knew how much the cost was gonna be. They kept telling me we'd have enough people to get the price down to like $250 total, tops. All of the sudden, I'm supposed to cover $370 for a trip I didn't even go on?

His reasoning was that I gave them no notice to decide if they would absorb my cost or cancel the trip. (Like they wouldn't have gone if they knew earlier )

IMO, he took this risk when he booked the whole thing on his credit card before asking anyone to go. People backed out and he got stuck with the slack but do you guys think I should pay his ass? We've been friends a long time and he's like "I don't want money to come in between us" but it obviously has and I feel like he's making it that way. He's always been well known for being a stingy bastard so this is typical. I'm a nice guy, and they know I can afford this so I'm sure he didn't have a problem asking.

What would you all do? :grumpy:

[Heckman]

IMO, he should not have made the reservation without a firm committment and or a non refundable deposit from each of the people that were to attend.
I certainly would not pay for a vacation I couldn't or didn't go on.

Oops, just noticed the "last weekend part"

[SuperSport]

I agree with Heckman....something like that the friend should get all the finances up front. He outta know that with 12 people saying they are going to do something that maybe half would follow through.

[pumpseeker]

Originally posted by Heckman
IMO, he should not have made the reservation without a firm committment and or a non refundable deposit from each of the people that were to attend.
I certainly would not pay for a vacation I wasn't going on.

That's what I think. He made the reservation before any committments were made

[GetnBigr]

um, you shouldn't have to pay. If he was really a friend, he would have said, "I wish you could have made it, we had a blast." and left it at that. Asking for money from you, wasn't cool if you ask me.

[pumpseeker]

Thanks guys. Any more opinions?

[jaywooly]

You have two choices. You pay, or you don't. Or perhaps you meet somewhere in the middle.

Call around and see what a cancelation fee would be if you booked a trip like that with an agency.

Just looking at it from a different side.

[saturn]

I've been in simmilar situations. When he booked the trip he assumed the respocibility of making sure everyone was going and letting everyone know what amount was expected in payment. I could see if he may expect another $150 since he told you $250 tops but it's his problem for not setting all expectations ahead of time and collecting payment ahead of time.

[winnie]

Seems if I was in his shoes I would eat the bill and never plan anything again for my friends. There are always risks that are associated when planning a group vacation and he should have been aware of that. Seems to be a tough one for him to swallow, I know it would be for me. Is he charging the rest of the people who backed out? The 100 bucks that you let him keep is fair, unless if he could have opted out of the agreement when you four decided on commiting to the vacation. If that was the case then I think you would be responsible for the whole thing, but I am no judge here.

[slide]

Unless you told him you were going to pay (but you said you didnt even know how much total cost is was going to be), I think hes wrong for asking for the money. In fact, I think its pretty cool of you to let him keep the $100 and he should appreciate that as if it werent for a work commitment, you would have been there.

He should have known/calculated the costs and got firm commitments/payments ahead of time. Tough lesson here...

-slide

[pumpseeker]

Originally posted by saturn
I could see if he may expect another $150 since he told you $250 tops

That's a good point....but it was the other friend that pumped up the trip and told me 250 tops, not the planner. I called a few weeks before and tried to get them to realize the trip should be canceled because it was too much money for just 3-4 of us but I was assured we'd have more guys going.

Originally posted by winnie
The 100 bucks that you let him keep is fair, unless if he could have opted out of the agreement when you four decided on commiting to the vacation. If that was the case then I think you would be responsible for the whole thing, but I am no judge here.

Hey Winny, I didn't quite understand this part of your post. Fill me in....

Originally posted by slide
In fact, I think its pretty cool of you to let him keep the $100 and he should appreciate that as if it werent for a work commitment, you would have been there.

That's what I'm sayin!

Does anyone think I'm wrong here? I really would like to hear if ya do

[winnie]

Originally posted by pumpseeker


Hey Winny, I didn't quite understand this part of your post. Fill me in....

LOL...very understandable...sometimes I can't even understand what I type..haha


I was just stating that when it was down to the four of you, could he have backed out and got some money back? If so, he might have done so if you told him at that point that you weren't going.

Does that make sense?...*shrugs*

[pumpseeker]

Originally posted by winnie
LOL...very understandable...sometimes I can't even understand what I type..haha


I was just stating that when it was down to the four of you, could he have backed out and got some money back? If so, he might have done so if you told him at that point that you weren't going.

Does that make sense?...*shrugs*

He would have been out more money himself if he had canceled so even though he said he would of, he would have never canceled even if I gave him notice so that was BS.

I decided to send him half and split it. That way, we're both somewhat satisfied. I'll let you all know how this pans out.

[Anadrol]

that sounds good... to split it.

[jaywooly]

So what the hell are you gonna do little lady?