Gareth James Music - Don't pay him a deposit

I had seen Gareth James perform live at various venues around Cape Town. Great musician and a lovely young talent. But that is unfortunately where my pleasant experience ends. On the 2nd of May 2018 I decided to book him for our local running club family day event to be held on the 27th of May 2018. On the same day he confirmed the booking and I paid the deposit over. Nearly three weeks later (on the 22nd of May – four days before our event) he had obviously found a gig that paid more, and therefore notified us that he couldn’t fulfil his obligation to us. Very short notice and a bitter pill to swallow seeing as we had already sent out the invite to our members advertising his show, but not the only tragedy in this story. One would think that the artist would at least have the morals to return the deposit immediately should something this embarrassing happen? Well, in this case, sadly not. Numerous phone calls and messages, and nearly three months later, I am still waiting for the return of the full amount. Great artist, but would you really risk the success of your function on someone so unreliable? Sadly, he gives the whole industry a bad name, and is no different to people who take deposits for catering at a wedding and then don’t deliver. All messages and communication have been kept as proof of the efforts to get the matter resolved.