Who loses when someone bails out?

[sparr]

When someone commits to buying a ticket to an event from you, or sharing a hotel room, or riding in your car, when other people also want to, and then they bail, do they still owe you the money? If they tell you they aren't coming a month in advance? A week? A day? During the event? Or if they just don't show up?

Comments

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Oh man, let me tell you about a thing that happened.

I got a bunch of tickets so my extended family could come to a show I had built costumes for. A few were comps but most were 80 plus dollars a pop. Some family members asked whether they could pay me back for the tickets, but I thought of them as a gift, so I told them no. On the day of the show, my aunt told me she was "too tired" and wouldn't be coming to the show. (I tried to sell or even give away her ticket, but her seat stayed vacant.)

And three years later I am still pissed, apparently. I mean, it's like I gave her a gift that I made with $80 worth of materials and she burned it in front of me.

[cos]

If someone agrees to pay (or pay a share) at the time they sign on to the plan, then they owe the money by default, unless I or they find a replacement person. But that's the expectation by default; I can say they don't owe anything (and I very often do, because I have more spare money than most friends), or they can ask if it's okay to cancel and not pay and I can agree.