AUCKLAND (NZ Punjabi News Service):COVID - 19 induced lock down has stopped many events and those whose marriages were planned during this period also had to suffer.
Tracey Chand and Anitesh Govind too were among the sufferers. They faced loss of $11,200 they'd paid as a deposit for their venue. However, they helped other couples receive refunds from the company against which they raised an alarm.
The company in question is S.K. Hospitality, run by Reet Maan. Tracey and Anitesh mostly dealt with her husband, Vikkram Maan.
As per One News, in September last year Tracey Chand and Anitesh paid the amount to Vikkram to book their wedding at the D’Grand Cabana and were all set for marriage function, with over 350 guests.
As the lockdown started, they had to cancel the event as level - 4 lockdown prohibited even the indoor gatherings.
As Vikkram refused to postpone the event as was requested, Anitesh asked for a refund minus $3,000 to cover costs but Vikkram didn’t agree.
Frustrated Vikkram started to look into the company and the people he was dealing with. “He discovered Vikkram Maan had been declared bankrupt back in August 2019 and that the IRD had filed liquidation proceedings against S.K. Hospitality in November,” reported One News.
After failing to make headway with Mr or Mrs Maan, he went public with their story. This led to other couples getting in touch with Anitesh saying they too were owed money and had tried communicating but their calls were ignored, and their messages on Facebook had been blocked. So Anitesh got in touch with Fair Go, the consumer show on TVNZ.
Further investigation showed that Vikkram and Reet had quite a business history to their name. Actually, make that names, as the couple both use Maan and Singh as surnames, and Reet also goes by the name Sonia.
The couple has also registered well over a dozen companies in the last few years, many no longer operating. There’s also the issue of whether S.K. Hospitality should have been taking new bookings after liquidation proceedings were filed.
As director, once Reet Maan was aware that liquidation was looming, it was up to her to avoid trading in a manner likely to create risk of serious loss to creditors. Yet Fair Go is aware that new bookings were still being taken in 2020.
After talking to Anitesh and Tracey, Fair Go also spoke to two other couples who had similar complaints who were willing to go on TV.
Fair Go then tried to make contact with Vikkram and Reet Maan to put their allegations to them and provide them with the chance to explain their side of the story. It was hard work trying to get an answer.
“At one point, Reet answered the phone only to say she would call back in 15 minutes. The call never came. Fair Go did eventually receive a response through a third party,” reported One News.
It stated that COVID - 19 had disrupted normal business and that the Maans had always planned to make the refunds. Fair Go offered to relay the good news if the money could first be deposited into a holding account to be certain it would be paid.
Through the third party, the Maans agreed to do this, so it was with great pleasure we could tell the couples the great news. They were getting their money back. Only it wasn't good news for everyone.
The Maans agreed to pay back two of the couples but still refused to pay Anitesh and Tracey.
It was time to try to make direct contact with the Maans to understand why. After several attempts, we finally had an email from Vikkram claiming that Anitesh had "fraudulently altered a document... had made a commitment he'd not gone to the media... and had used his position in the council to cause our family harm". Fair Go looked into each of these allegations and have found they simply don't stack up, reported One News.
Fair Go responded to Vikkram asking for actual proof to support his claims. None came. So, Tracey and Anitesh still owed $11,200 and while they're very happy others are getting repaid, they'd love to have their own refund so plans for a new wedding date could get underway.
Maans have stopped communicating with Fair Go and are refusing to engage any further.