Harryoke : Are you booking your "services" or are you booking the exclusive "date & time" reservation? Contract wording would be different in each case.
Contract verbiage reflects business policies. Until it is known what your policies are, what you're willing to give and take, and how far you're willing to go for enforcement, only then will the entire document evolve as a single cohesive contract as opposed to a bits and pieces mishmash.
Here's an example:
3. What percentage of the total, or what amount, do you require as a deposit?
The payment at contract signing doesn't need to be a fixed percentage and sometimes can be seasonally adjusted to keep cash flow smooth.
For example, during the first quarter of the year here in the Northeast, performance numbers are less than prime second and third quarter months. Cash flow is less. By increasing the payment amount due at contract signing for those contracts issued during the first quarter, cash flow can be improved for those lean months and yet the lesser final payment amounts due during the busiest month evens it out. Then conversely, contracts issued during the prime quarters can have a lesser amount of payments at contract signing thus allowing for larger final payments during the lean months. It's a business practise that takes a few years of experience to manipulate with accuracy.
Having good records and personal business trending greatly assists in coming up with a workable number to plug-in for that first payment.
This now leads to question#2:
2. When is a deposit refundable and when does it become un-refundable?
Notice in the example above, no mention was made of a deposit or booking fee or entertainment charge or anything else cleverly evolved from the non-legalistic inclined mobile DJ community. Everything in a well rounded contract regarding money can easily be called a "payment" whether for services or exclusive date and time booking philosophy. Very simple and very straightforward...a payment.
Some folks allow for multiple payment points during the life of the contract. But each is called a payment, nothing more, nothing less.
Then, when the contract clearly states in its own stand-alone clause:
VI. Payments are not transferable, not assignable, nor refundable. A fee of $30.00 is charged any returned bank checks.
you can see the wide ranged implications and value of calling all monies collected...payments.
Hope this helps a little.
Regarding the first question,
1. What policies are all of you using for your terms on deposit returns in the event of cancellations, etc? What language do you use and what is your policy in regard to the deposits, or "booking fees"?
Based on the explanation of 3, then 2, now leads back to question 1 : Once a payment is defined, how much, and when due, once received,
it is NEVER returned at least in the context of the contract.
If you expect to be paid in full 90 days before the event should the client cancel, then demand FINAL PAYMENT 90 days before the event. Now you have the money and they have to come and get it. Any other way, they have the money and you have to go get it. And there's why the vast majority of mobile DJs chicken out in enforcing their own contract while verbalizing some lame excuses about reputation damage or fairness or blah blah.
