Some Ottawa couples who were supposed to get married at the West Carleton Meeting Centre are considering suing the owner of the venue, which burned down back in May.
Those couples, including Scott Shelley and Sheryl Rivers, say they are out thousands of dollars they had put towards their weddings at the venue and have not received any money back.
“The correspondence we’ve had with West Carleton has been almost slim and none,” said Shelley.
Being out thousands of dollars has forced the couple to cut back on many things associated with a wedding, including limo transportation and the guest list.
“I’m hoping that they will step up and give our money back,” said bride-to-be Rivers.
Another couple, newlyweds Antony and Karen Van Dijk had to pay for two weddings because the fire at the West Carleton happened just six weeks before their big day.
“As time goes on their [West Carleton’s] emails or phone calls have petered off to really being completely unresponsive,” said Antony Van Dijk.
He said a document sent by a third party called "Sobel Adjusting Solutions Incorporated" was not received by all couples. It is what is written at the bottom of the document that is concerning for some.
"At the very last line it says if and when there's any funds remaining, after the banks and creditors, then the individuals will be entitled at that point to whatever's left over,” said Antony Van Dijk.
That means there is no guarantee that couples will get their money back.
"Everyone should be, you know, working as hard as they can and then keeping in contact with us to let us know what they've been doing instead of having left us in the dark,” said Karen Van Dijk
CTV Ottawa reached out to the owner of the venue for comment, but he hung up the phone.
With a report from CTV Ottawa’s Stefan Keyes
