Diep in die Berg Venue - not compliant to CPA, stole our money

We booked DDB for a wedding venue. We had to pay an upfront deposit of R10 000. Within less than a month of making our booking we had to cancel the wedding for personal reasons - giving DDB 8-9 months to get a replacement for our cancellation. DDB refused to pay back our deposit, they had incurred zero costs for our wedding. We had to formally lodge a case at the Consumer Goods and Services Ombudsman. DDB blatantly **** to the Ombudsman. We will never support DDB ever again - please be aware if you are looking at wedding venues that DDB is also not compliant to the Consumer Protection Act (CPA). They are not allowed legally to charge non-refundable deposits and according to the CPA it is the client's right to cancel a function/service. A reasonable cancellation may be charged, but the wedding venue has to substantiate for what exactly the fee is. DDB eventually refunded R5000 - they refused to substantiate the amount. As mentioned they didn't incur any costs and had an 8 month lead time to get another wedding for our date. A reasonable fee would have been R500 for admin. The service from them and just their attitude was appalling. Will not recommend them.