Before you pay a deposit: nine questions
The deposit is the moment your leverage is highest and your information is usually lowest. Nine questions, answered in writing, prevent almost every dispute we see.
The nine
None of these are unreasonable to ask, and a good supplier will have answers ready.
- Exactly what is delivered or performed, in quantities — servings, hours, edited images, hire items
- The arrival window, completion time and any turnaround commitment
- Who attends — the named person you met, or an assigned staff member
- Delivery, setup, pack-down and travel to your NSW address
- The total, with service fees and GST treatment separated
- The cancellation and postponement terms, in dates and dollars
- What happens if your guest count changes, and the deadline for that
- Insurance and any venue-required documentation
- How changes get agreed — and that they will be in writing, not a verbal nod
Keep the agreement on one record
Scope and price changes that live in a phone call are the ones that get disputed. Use written messages, quote cards or amendments so both sides can point at the same thing months later.
Be careful about how money moves
Pay through a channel that leaves a record and a path to recourse. Nobody legitimate needs your card details typed into a chat window, and a request to move a transaction off-platform to 'save the fee' removes exactly the protection the fee pays for.
Confirm completion, not intention
Only confirm delivery once the work has actually been delivered. If something is incomplete or materially different from what was agreed, raise it through a formal issue rather than confirming and hoping it gets resolved afterwards.