Booking.com a no-no to book accommodation through, they kept all my money on cancelation.

I booked accommodation for 23/24/25 September through booking.com in Cape Town, Micro Apartments. I paid R2700 and was credited from my credit card. Because of personal reasons i contacted booking.com through their website and explained to them that i had to cancel my accommodation because my daughter is ill and we will not be attending the SA championships in Cape Town on those days. I am willing to pay a cancelation fee and do understand. I cancelled the booking on 24 August , which they rep**** that Micro apartments does not want to refund me at all and that no money will be paid back to me at all. I contacted Micro Apartments and they said that booking.com never inquired about the situation and never canceled my booking, and because they work through booking.com i need to sort the matter out with booking.com. Up until now , i haven't heard anything back from booking.com and they refuse to email or contact me back after numerous attempts. This is so bad because im a single mother and do not have the finances to waste like this. I am very angry and insulted by booking.com. Please be sure when booking through them because they are unhelpful when you need to change or cancel.