Poor flight ticket service rendered by Booking.com

Booking.com's customer reference number *** for a flexible return flight ticket, on Johannesburg to Kimberley route. I requested Booking.com local customer centre on 22/7/2024 around 07h00 by telephone to alter my flight departure time of 23/7/2024 from 08h20 to 16h20. The customer care agent said Booking.com had a technical problem in that they could not access any bookings by then and advised I call after an hour. Around 08h00, I then logged in through Booking.com's chat facility whereby I was assisted by Roystin. Roystin said he too, can't access the booking details and committed to escalate the technical issue. I kept a screen shot of my chat with Roystin. Around 10h00, 22/7/2024, I phoned the airline directly to find out the possibility of altering the flight times, which they said can be done, but at a minimal penalty and applicable flight cost differences, if applicable. The airline said the reason for the penalty is because Id did not buy the flexible flight ticket directly from them, but through a 3rd party, Booking.com. Booking.com did not bother phoning me with feedback for the whole from 08h00 on 22/7/2024. Only around 08h20 on 23/7/2024, one of Booking.com's agent phoned to say they are unable to alter my flight time because the airline has taken over the tickets.

Lesson learnt for me is to buy the flexible light tickets directly from the airline.