Airlines are a ******* when it comes to cancellations

Booked and online ticket for my daughter through Budget Air online. The ticket BZA-*** was from Sydney to Perth 28-12-2019 with a stopover in Melbourne. I changed the booking on Saturday to a direct flight from Sydney to Perth. With the admin and change fees it cost me an extra R2350. I had to cancel the flight this morning due to a leave cancellation. The payment was still pending and tried calling Budget as per the hours 10:00. They only opened after 12pm according to them the payment went through this morning so I could not get any money back.