Cancelled without any correspondence

I am writing this review with utter disappointment as the service I received it was pathetic to say the least My parents decided to use Booking.com with my recommendation to book holiday accommodation for a weekend stay in Durban this past Christmas long weekend.

They booked months in advance and received a confirmation email and submitted they credit card details to debit their account. they had booked a family room as they were travelling with their grandkids. Upon arrival at the Aha riverside hotel in Durban to check in. The first receptionist could not find our booking they searched. The manager was came and informed us that our booking was cancelled due to NO DEPOSIT RECEIVED!!! There was no communication from Bookings.com nor AHA RIVERSIDE HOTEL. She informed us that the reservation department was closed for the long weekend and no one can assist us with resolving this and she would email us. They did acknowledge their Reservations department were wrong for not contacting us. She could only accommodate us un a trio room for two days(we booked for 4 nights)and then gave us numbers of their sister hotels after I had to ask for the contact details, as they could not call around on our behalf for a least a half decent effort at salvaging what was left of our experience. At first they tried to tell us there was a decline maybe on the credit card details. i work for a bank we get notification when a merchant uses your credit card and it declines. it’s the 28th of December two business days and no one has contacted us .BARING in mind we had traveling 580KM from Secunda to get to Durban. My parents were heavily stressed out on were they would sleep instead of enjoying Durban as they had planned to while they came to have a relaxing weekend . For such a company working in hospitality industry and which places a high value in service and customer experience. I CAN SAFELY SAY THAT WAS A 1 in all avenues.

From my experience with bookings.com They communicate via email or the hotel contacts you directly at least 48hours before cancelling your booking to find out if you are still interested in the booking and why it has not been confirmed form their side.

I am appalled, disgusted , annoyed and more at Bookings.com and Aha riverside hotel. I am expecting someone to contact me with all service failures experienced.

faith **********