Ripped Off

We contracted Oakfield Farm to do our wedding in December 2019. We paid a non-refundable deposit of about R5 000.00 to secure our date of 30 May 2020. Most of our immediate family are based in the United Kingdom and Europe. But as coved-19 cases went up and travel bans were instituted we knew we couldn't have our wedding as planned so we asked to postpone it to March 2021 hoping that everyone would be allowed to travel by then. Things still looked tenuous and we decided to postpone to December 2021. But alas travel to and from South Africa for people living in the UK and Europe was still banned and we decided to call the whole thing off because it had become stressful for both us and our family members. Would there be a wedding would they be able to travel. In January we took the painful decision to call the whole thing off. We had paid the venue a non-refundable deposit of R5 000.00 which we understand they are entitled to keep. However we had made two additional payments of R12 837, totalling R25 674.00 (half the full venue fee). We received absolutely no value for this amount. Oakfield Farm refuses to refund it back to us unless they book a wedding of the same value in the same venue. This is in their terms and conditions but it is so unfair and hardly constitutional. This sounds like a Ponzi scheme but for weddings. We gave them ample notice of cancellation, 12 months. No costs were incurred by the venue - there was no food bought, staff used or anything. It is just so arbitrary. If we had paid the full amount for the wedding would they be holding onto the entire amount. What happens if they don't book another wedding for the date, does that mean we lose our hard earned money for nothing.

Yes weddings can be held but for us we can't have a wedding without our family or friends who are overseas and are not allowed to travel to South Africa. It is not something we can reasonably plan for so we believe that the should get a refund, this is through no fault of ours.