Lion King

My friends and I had to cancel our holiday after a booking date mistake left us without money for replacement accommodation. We were looking for somewhere in Marloth Park for Tuesday 31 March to Friday 3 April 2026, but on Booking.com the dates had switched to Tuesday 7 April to Friday 10 April without me noticing. I accidentally confirmed Lion King Marloth Park for the wrong dates on 30 March 2026. About 30 minutes later, at 10:23, I messaged the host on WhatsApp to say I'd booked Tuesday to Friday. She ignored the message all of yesterday and today, then confirmed the booking on the website about two hours later, at 12:23, which brought the cancellation policy into effect. On 31 March, I called to arrange a check-in after 7pm because my friend was still stuck in court. That's when we realized I'd chosen the wrong dates. The host made me feel incredibly stupid and said she wouldn't refund the R5000 unless she found another booking for those dates, in line with her policy. She had no financial loss in less than 24 hours, as far as I could see. It seemed unlikely anyone would book at such short notice, though there was still a week for the dates to fill. Meanwhile, we couldn't afford alternative accommodation from that night until Friday, and my friend is only on leave this week, so we cancelled the holiday. She could have stuck to the cancellation policy and taken advantage of my mistake, or she could have understood it was human error and returned money she'd received less than 14 hours earlier. I'm disappointed she chose to capitalize on it. You see villains like this in movies, but don't expect someone to act this way in good conscience. I couldn't sleep at night or spend that money without feeling guilty. We've accepted the loss and cancelled our plans. I'm writing this because I'd want to know if a business treated someone this way, so I could avoid supporting it. Of course, each to their own. Update: New guests have now been booked for our dates, but the refund still hasn't been honored. You told me you'd refund us if you got new guests. After you ignored my messages, my friend called, and you told her we wouldn't get our money back or the dates to pass on to family or friends instead. You've booked other people, and now you've doubled your greed. The most sly businesswoman I've ever met.