Bad Service and Products from Venco Woodworks

I had a very bad experience with Cobus Venter of Venco Woodworks. In 2019 I made an appointment in July 2019 to see him regarding a huge order for furniture and wooden panels and doors to supply to a customer of mine together with lodge tents that we that we had to manufacture and install in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Our time frame was 4 months to complete the order. All the products he showed us were really very good. The complete order was almost R500 000. He insisted that I pay a deposit of R350 000, but I asked him to first supply me with samples of each product - at least one door to show the customer. For that, I paid R150 000 into his account and then waited for more than 2 weeks for the first door sample - it was a total disaster and it was too late to show the customer as Venco Woodworks did not meet the deadline. Then I asked him to make another door, as well as a whole set of all the panels and furniture. It took another month for these samples, but it was still incomplete. We had to drive through to Fochville numerous times, just to find that the products were not ready. Eventually I asked him to at least get the tables and chairs manufactured first and set a deadline again. Once again the deadline was not met! I realised that we were not going to be able to get all these items done before the container was supposed to transport the goods to Zimbabwe. We were forced to get another supplier to complete the order. The value of the furniture that Venco Woodworks made was about R80 000. I requested that he pay back R50 000, but he refused! Now he advertises doors on Facebook that he was supposed to make for me with wood that I had paid for!! Coming back to Victoria Falls now a year after full lockdown, I also found that some of the chairs were broken and most of the tables had cracked on the top and sides of the tops. My customer is rightfully not very pleased and it has done a huge amount of damage to my name!