Wrongful decline of transaction

I am overseas for a business trip, and when I had to put down a payment at the hotel, my credit card would not go through - after I have phoned ABSA to activate my credit card. When I phoned the credit card division to address this, my credit card number would not even work. I had to phone another call centre number. The lady at the call centre then informed me that my payment was declined because my card had expired, even though it only expires in 2017. The calls cost me over R300, as I had to call from overseas. Absa's mistake cost me money, time and embarrassed me as someone else had to cover my bill. To top it all off, I can't even see my credit card transaction history on ABSA online. I am extremely unhappy about this, and expect to be refunded for my international calls because of ABSA's mistake. I also want my transaction history displayed within the next 24 hours. If ABSA will not correct this I'll switch banks - I've had enough.