Business ProfileforSir D's Catering

My niece booked this company March 2020 a week PRIOR to the closedown of everything because of a GLOBAL PAN*EMIC. (The key factor in this issue). It was for a surprise 40 th anniversary party, a milestone event. Sir * required a down payment in order to secure the August 1st, 2020 date. My wife and I decided to pay the deposit to help our niece. My wife contacted the caterer by phone to give a credit card for the deposit. The only information given was a credit card would incur an additional charge so she agreed to send a check. Because of the Covid Pandemic we were unable to hold the event and planned to hold it the following summer of 2021. Sir * would hold deposit til then.Summer 2021, large gatherings were not encouraged and many of the invitees declined participation due to Covid. After my niece surveyed the group for a possible date in 2022, many still didnt feel comfortable attending a group function due to Covid variant surges. My niece decided since Covid was still present and this was a milestone event for 2020, she would cancel at this time. This is when I found out that Sir * had a policy of non refundable deposits listed in their contract which I had never seen and Sir * never mentioned to my wife when she called to pay the deposit. My niece requested the refund through two separate emails which no one had the professional courtesy to return. I made a phone call on April 11 to Sir * when I explained in detail the unusual Covid situation, and was told by ******** that a refund was not at all possible. She stated if they gave back all deposits they would be out of business. This struck me as an unusual reason. She suggested I call the owner and gave me his phone number. I called and left a message requesting a call back to discuss. To date this return call hasnt happened. If it wasnt for Covid, cancellation would have never been a option.