I'm in the same boat as well, no pun intended. Paid in Feb and doubled payment for private charter after several cancellations. Been cancelled at least 5 times now where after the last one I was offered a refund. No refund came and I contacted him again and got a story the business needs sorting out and payment will be in by end of the week. Two weeks later no money back and as of today no response to texts.
After reading this thread it appears to be this jokers modus operandi. I'm going to go to Fair Trading and lodge a case. If anyone else is interested in joining please get in touch.