Misleading deposit terms, zero car provided, and refund refused after a month of empty promises

On 16 September 2026, while reserving accommodation through Airbnb, we were offered an integrated car hire option powered by CarTrawler. During the checkout process, the booking interface explicitly indicated that the security deposit was covered. Relying entirely on this information, we completed the payment and received our booking confirmation to collect the vehicle on 17 September 2026 from the local operator desk (Kenings / Green Motion / U-Save Car Hire at the airport).

Upon arrival at the counter, the agents abruptly demanded a security deposit of R8,400. We explained that the booking clearly stated the deposit was covered, but the counter staff refused to release the vehicle without an upfront deposit. Because we were misled by the booking breakdown and did not have an unexpected R8,400 on hand, we could not take possession of the car. We were stranded at the airport and forced to make alternative arrangements at great personal inconvenience and expense.

When we immediately requested a refund on 17 September 2026 due to the failure to honor the terms displayed at checkout, we were passed back and forth between Airbnb, CarTrawler, and the desk operator. CarTrawler eventually opened a formal case, collected our ***, and assured us that our refund would be processed by 12 October 2026.

After waiting nearly an entire month, we followed up on 15 October 2026, only to be told out of nowhere that our refund request has been rejected.

Holding a customer's money for a full month under the pretense of processing a refund, only to issue an outright refusal for a service that was never delivered due to their own misleading platform details, is unacceptable. We never received the vehicle, we were left stranded, and CarTrawler is now withholding our funds.