Booking.com cancelled booking nightmare

I booked an accommodation in Bloemfontein for 12/08/2019 check-in, which listed the owner's number to be called upon arrival. During the days leading up to the check-in date, I had sent through requests to the owner, who had responded accordingly. On check-in day, the owner did not answer the call at all, with the result that I had to look for alternative accommodation (extremely inconvenient during Macufe last weekend). After calling booking.com and waiting for over 15 minutes I eventually got through to an operator. They also could not get hold of the owner and suggested other alternative accommodations, which I had to also pay upfront. Luckily I went to check up on the suggested places and found one to be completely booked out, despite the place showing that is was available on booking.com. I sought out accommodation and had to pay upfront (another inconvenience). Booking.com will refund the initial payment within 7-12 days and the difference between the initial and the actual accommodation (good for them). However, as an inconvenienced customer, there is no information from booking.com as to why my booking was not honoured, what steps are to be taken to allay my fear with future bookings. I was expecting a far better service from what I thought was a reputable accommodation website, but, alas, that was not to be!