Be cateful when dealing with these people

We were ****med by Lucinda and Gerard from La Vie Rose and Grace and Timber. They took R5,400 from me for two chairs that I never received.

They previously did two small jobs for me on my furniture and mirror, and also sold me cushions, which I was allowed to pay for afterwards. With the last job, however, I was asked to pay 50% upfront and the balance a few weeks later so that they could collect the chairs from the upholsterer, as they claimed they did not have enough money to pay the upholsterer themselves.

After I made the payment, they suddenly stopped answering my calls and messages. When they eventually responded, they gave us delivery dates and times, but they never arrived. This happened three times, with the delivery times being changed each time.

They then sent me a photo of a couch, claiming it was ours. It is clearly a picture taken from Google and is not at all what we ordered. After that, they said the second couch was almost finished, then later said the second couch still needed to be started.

At that point, it was clear that I had been ****med and could no longer trust them. I asked for my money back, but they refused.

They then sent me a **** proof of payment. I am sending it to Standardbank ans Absa ***** department. The money never showed in my bank account. These people are experienced.

All of these facts can be proven and supporting evidence is available on request.