Fair Go: Couple help get money back for victims of rogue wedding venue operators, but not themselves

Level four lockdown put a stop to many events, and the wedding of Tracey Chand and Anitesh Govind was no exception.

Level four lockdown put a stop to many events, and the wedding of Tracey Chand and Anitesh Govind was no exception.

It's left them without the joy of their big day, and without the $11,200 they'd paid as a deposit for their venue.

Yet other couples whose plans were upset, have received refunds of their deposits in full, which could suggest the couple are taking a hit for raising the alarm about a company that appeared to be keeping others’ money without good reason.

The company is S.K. Hospitality, run by Reet Maan. But Tracey and Anitesh were mostly dealing with her husband, Vikkram Maan.

They contacted Vikkram to book their wedding at the D’Grand Cabana and were all set for an extravagant affair, with over 350 guests.

The deposit of $11,200 was paid in September last year.

All was well until lockdown loomed. At first, they agreed to drastically reduce the number of guests, but then even a small wedding became impossible to hold with all indoor gatherings banned under the Level 4 alert system.

Anitesh asked Vikkram if they could postpone but Vikkram refused. Given this, Anitesh asked for a refund minus $3,000 to cover costs. Again, Vikkram turned them down.

Feeling 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.

This set the alarm bells ringing, and 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.

Further digging around 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 have also registered well over a dozen companies in the last few years, many no longer operating. (One of the companies they are listed as owning is Waihi Beach Hotel Limited, but that is in name only. Waihi Beach Hotel is locally owned and operated, and has absolutely no affiliation with the Maans). 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.

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.

We'll explain. As for altering a document, this appears to be in relation to the date the original contract was signed, but Anitesh provided proof of the email trail between them showing he sent the document on September 2, and that Vikkram had then asked for a word copy on September 4.

Regarding the media, there was no written agreement barring the couple from approaching the media and they have evidence of several communications alerting the Maans to the possibility they’d share their story if an agreement couldn't be reached.

Lastly, Anitesh and Tracey did approach the Mayor of Auckland Council and others to try to make headway with this situation, but they say that this is the normal right of any citizen, regardless of their place of work.

Fair Go responded to Vikkram asking for actual proof to support his claims. None came. So right now, Tracey and Anitesh appear to be paying the price for alerting others to this frustrating situation.

They're 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.

However, communication with the Maans has come to a halt, and they’re also refusing to engage any further with Fair Go.

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