The Travelling Chef has struck again, but this time the “scammed” bride is not taking no for an answer and says she will sue Martinette van Hansen for ruining her wedding.
Leandra Jones, 30 says she paid Van Hansen
R66 000 to cater for her big day.
But instead of getting the fancy troue she was promised, she received nothing.
This is not the first time Van Hansen has been accused of defrauding her clients.
In March, an Athlone couple told the Daily Voice they were forced to postpone their wedding after Van Hansen failed to book their venue or send out wedding invitations.
And in January, a Pelican Park couple said Van Hansen had refused to refund their R5 500 deposit after she wrongfully accused them of bringing alcohol into the wedding venue.
Leandra says she discovered The Travelling Chef last November while going through wedding inventories.
She was offered three venues and chose one in Claremont as it suited all her needs.
The bride says she and her then fiancé, Lyle, saved for three years because they did not want any debt from their wedding, which was on 31 March.
She paid Van Hansen
R66 000 in cash.
“The quote for catering and the venue was R40 500.”
She forked out an extra
R25 500 for rooms, a dance floor, drapings, lighting and the arch for the ceremony.
“She said she would do everything, all I had to do was show up. To me, everything was perfect,” says Leandra.
But in January things went south when she saw some bad reviews of The Travelling Chef online.
“Martinette told me those were spiteful couples who were venting on social media. I then told her I wanted to see what she has done [and] I wanted a food tasting. She told me those things usually happened a month before the wedding.”
She was then contacted, via email, by a private investigator looking into the “shady” dealings of Van Hansen.
But more shocks were in store.
“Then I received an affidavit from her then assistant, stating Martinette was not doing any weddings in 2018, she was going to declare bankruptcy.
“I immediately called the venue, and to my shock I was told she had never booked a venue. In fact, she was banned from the venue because of the last incident, when she left a couple stranded a day before their wedding in December.”
In tears, she tried contacting Van Hansen, who, she says, promptly ignored her.
Leandra says she ended up planning her own wedding, at the same venue.
“I am now in debt over my head. The venue recommended a person for the decor, and when suppliers heard her name they offered me discounts because she had done this many times.
“I think the chances of getting my money back are slim, but I want to make people aware and I will be making a criminal case hoping she will go to prison.”
The Daily Voice contacted Van Hansen, who says she’s been trying to get hold of Leandra.
“She hasn’t called, emailed, nothing since our last conversation when I told her Claremont cancelled on us,” Van Hansen says.
“I informed all the brides and gave alternatives, but she didn’t want any. Then I heard from a third party Leandra was going forth with her wedding.
“She just stayed quiet. She didn’t cancel, I had to hear it from someone else.”
Asked about Leandra’s refund, Van Hansen said “she did sign a contract which has a cancellation policy in it”.
But Leandra says: “She’s a liar! The policy states should I cancel, I can only receive my monies once she received a replacement bride. But I never cancelled and my lawyer confirmed there was no breach of contract.”