The Christmas hamper curse has struck again.
An upset woman from Elsies River in Cape Town is furious after she and two colleagues paid R11,100 for festive food hampers, but on the day of delivery, they were told that the “woman in charge” had run away with their money.
Angeline Koopman, 40, from Avonwood, said in February, they came across a TikTok video of Aliscia Rhode, who was selling hampers, and got in contact.
They each paid R370 a month for 10 months in preparation for the festive season but said they’ve been left empty-handed for Christmas.
“We spoke to her on WhatsApp, and she told us where she stays in Matroosfontein. I went to meet her one Sunday at her house because I told her I can’t just put money into her account, and I don’t even know where she lives,” Koopman said.
“She told me that she and her mother-in-law have been doing this over the years. She sent us the list, and the things looked nice, so from the end of February to the end of November, we paid her. Whenever I paid the money into her account and asked if everything was still alright, she would always say yes.”
The R3,700 hamper had three pages of goods, including 12 bottles of 2 litres of cooking oil, five 10 kg of rice, five 10 kg of sugar, 7 kg of steak, and a leg of lamb, among others.
On December 13, Koopman and her pals went to collect their hampers at Rhode’s house but were told by her mother that she was unaware of any hampers.
Angeline adds: “When we asked Aliscia where the food was, she spoke about an aunty Jane from Mitchells Plain, but she never mentioned this woman before.
“She said that she paid the money into aunty Jane’s account, and she has no money.
“I depended on this hamper because me and my mom would’ve gone half-and-half on the food. I am so heartbroken and was shocked when she told us.”
When the Daily Voice contacted Aliscia Rhode, she claimed that she was also swindled by "Jane.”.
She explained: “I met Jane at a church service at the beginning of the year. I wanted to get into selling hampers and was told that Jane does hampers, so she told me that I needed to get six people.”
“I have since tried calling her and went to the address she gave us, but when I got there, there was not a single person; she was just missing.”
Asked to provide the contact number and address for Jane, Rhode claimed, “No, I don’t have her address anymore. I deleted everything about her [on my phone].”
She has now promised to reimburse her six clients.
“I told them I am liable and will pay them. I am paying them via debit order, and the other three are cash. I also lost money in this process,” Rhode said.
Rhode provided a bank statement to prove that her account will be debited with R1,320 every month, paying R440 into each account. The first payment is expected to go off between December 20 - 24.
Koopman said she will wait and see if they get their money back before taking any further action.
marsha.dean@inl.co.za