Cape Town - A Cape Flats couple say they’ve been forced to postpone their big day after being “scammed” by a wedding planner who was previously exposed in the Daily Voice.
The pair were supposed to wed on Saturday, but by Thursday night no wedding invitations had been delivered to their guests, nor has the reception venue been confirmed.
Now they want a refund of the R15 000 they forked out.
The 25-year-old bride-to-be and her 27-year-old fiancé, from Athlone, say despite being warned of The Travelling Chef owner Martinette van Hansen, they never thought she’d do the same to them.
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The angry woman tells the Daily Voice: “Despite her bad reviews and image, I still went ahead with using her for my wedding."
“I booked her in July last year and paid her R3 000 on 10 July, and made another payment of R12 000 in August,” she says.
The bride says she grew suspicious when she saw the constant negative posts of angry brides on The Travelling Chef Facebook page, and read about Van Hansen in the Daily Voice in January.
A Pelican Park couple had said Van Hansen refused to refund their R5500 deposit after she accused them of bringing alcohol into the wedding venue.
Van Hansen said she changed her mind about the refund after the couple bad-mouthed her on Facebook.
The bride says she decided to check on things herself.
“I called the reception venue early in February and, to my surprise, the guy said they no longer take bookings because of water restrictions and she never booked with them,” the shocked young woman says.
“I have been waiting for months for the wedding invitations and that kept being postponed as she kept blaming the printers."
“We are so embarrassed and depressed because we had to tell our guests that we cannot get married this week. We are in the process of laying a charge.”
She says they’ve postponed their wedding to March 17 and asked Van Hansen for a refund, but the businesswoman has been avoiding her calls.
A confident Van Hansen on Thursday said she could only do a refund if the bride “cancels” her services.
“The venue was withdrawn because of water restrictions. There then couldn’t be a wedding invitation because there was no venue,” she tells the Daily Voice.
“I then offered her a Brackenfell venue and she refused and asked for a refund. The only way I can refund is if she cancels and she didn’t want to cancel so she still keeps me liable.”
But the bride says she cancelled Van Hansen’s services when she asked for a refund: “I just want my money back.”