Afriski booking nightmare

We booked on the Afriski website which required credit card details and received a booking voucher. A few days ahead of our scheduled arrival, I enquired about ski lessons, to be told that my booking is canceled since I had not paid the required 50% deposit within 72 hours of booking voucher being issued.

There was absolutely nothing on the booking voucher that explained the action to be taken nor any banking details provided. Since my credit card details were already required and provided if a deposit needed to be taken it could have been.

Since the deposit was not paid, the booking was considered unconfirmed and hence the room given away. There was no communication indicating the action to be taken to secure a booking, nor was there communication advising that the booking voucher had lapsed.

After numerous phone calls and and email, I was assisted by Katlego when I called. She was able to help me secure a booking and the banking details were then provided.

At check-in we paid the balance of our accommodation. We were handed a key and proceeded to our room, only to find it occupied. We returned to reception and advised them, they were very surprised. Eventually after about 4 hours, the room was available as the people were moved and housekeeping had refreshed the accommodation.

Long story short, CONFIRM your booking before you arrive. And confirm it more than once.

The management does not have a clear view of the rooms booked or not. And the communication around booking procedure is not clearly communicated. We were not alone in our experience. There were numerous irate people coming into reception complaining about booking issues.

Besides the booking issue, the actual snowboarding and skiing experience was lovely. The instructors, namely Sylvester and Lubisi, were extremely patient and wonderfully helpful.

The other complaint would be the queue at he ski rental. The staff were too slow in understanding and processing what needed to be paid for. It took 1.5 hours for 4 of us to pay for and hire our equipment. The fitting of boots, boards and helmets was organized. The cashiers seemed to have difficulty understanding the requests and it took ridiculously long to be able to pay. The cashiers also are not aware of where to direct people. As an example, they directed people to the slopes for the ski lessons instead of advising that the meeting point is outside of the rental shop. This aggravated instructors who found many of us wondering on the beginner slope awaiting an instructor. It does not feel like a well oiled machine. Please sort out the booking system!