COMPANY WON'T RETURN DEPOSIT AMOUNT PAID

I paid a deposit on the 29th of October 2015 of R500.00 for accommodation, check-in date: 16th of December 2015. Full invoice amount was R1000.00. Due to unforeseen events, I have to cancel this reservation. <br> <br> Upon receipt of the deposit payment confirmation, Modizen Guest House did not explain to me at all that there might be cancellation fees should I decide to change my mind about the booking, only when I notified them of my cancellation request was this brought to my attention. The penalty fee structure is in the order of 75% of deposit amount (R375), meaning I only get R125 back! <br> <br> When I asked them why they did not bring this to my attention upon receipt of deposit payment confirmation they mentioned that \everybody knows that in this industry there's a cancellation fee". I found this very disconcerting. My agitation springs merely from the fact that they assumed that I know all their terms and conditions without even explaining them to me from the onset and hence I refuse to pay any penalty fee.<br> <br> Please assist."""