Scammed by so called management

I have never been through such a traumatic experience with Christie (the owner/manager) of the Leeupoort. We booked and paid for a vacation on 04/10/2019 an amount of R3400 for what was meant to be a 4 nights stay. She sent us a document with the terms of booking with them, which stated as follows regarding securing booking;

Please pay your R50 non refundable CONSERVATION fee and R250 deposit in this account -ref: name + “your name” - the R250 deposit is refundable - pay once off R300 – PLEAE NOTE! NO CASH DEPOSITS – bank fees will be taken off repayment should a cash deposit took place. please note: all dishes needs to be washed and packed away - as well as trash bags needs to be taken with you on the day of departure. - extra fees of R150 for dirty dishes and R50 for trash left behind will be deducted from your deposit Should you be paying the whole amount or deposit, you can add the R300 on the same payment.

Upon reading page 5 of the document where it states the cancellation terms, it states;

Cancellation and Refunds policy: The provision of accommodation is subject to availability. Cancelled bookings will be charged for as follows: ● Less than 14 days prior to the arrival date => forfeit 100% of the deposit. ● Less than 28 days prior to the agreed arrival date => forfeit 50% of the deposit. ● More than 28 days => forfeit 10% of the deposit. Cancellation Process ● Cancellations should be in writing and will only be accepted as per the above. If no notification is given, cancellations will only be refunded if another reservation is made by other guests for the same period.

So due to unforeseen circumstances we needed to cancel the booking 4 days before the booked arrival date set. We sent her an email to cancel. She replied saying we forfeit the whole amount. After a few back and forth emails expressing my dissatisfaction, I decided to call her. She said she is not obligated to return our money regardless of what the document she sent us say. After some heated words she said she will investigate and get back to us.

The following day she sends my spouse a message saying she will only refund R2400, I then highlighted the deposit terms and she said she will not take only the R300 deposit and she will pay us R50 per month. Then she blocked our numbers. We tried calling from another number she wouldn't answer any of our call.

I am apaulled by the type of treatment we receiving considering we never hustled her when payments that were made. Getting a refund has never been this much of a nightmare. I still haven't received my money back