Funds withheld due to lack of communication

I am sorely disappointed in Thibault Square Flight Centre as I have been mislead on a "service fee" reduction, on a flight booked through them.

I had approached Thibault Square Flight Centre to enquire if I could have a flight itinerary printed out. This was to show for a visa application, and I was still unsure of my exact dates I'd be traveling, as I was still in the process of finalising my journey.

I was told that wasn't a problem, but I would incur a "service fee" of R300. I was slightly surprised as this was the 1st time a flight centre had told me about this. The previous week, I had gotten a print out for no cost at all, as I was continuously comparing prices of flights.

I was hesitant to proceed, but the agent assisting me told me that the R300 would be deducted of my flight when I knew which flights I would be booking for.

This gave me comfort as I knew I would be booking a flight through flight centre in the foreseeable future. At this point I was not told that this deduction would only apply on international flights, or specifically for flights made with in the same month.

A week later, while still trying to get the best pricing for my June/July flights, I visited another flight centre to see if they could beat the pricing I found online, earlier that day. They unfortunately could not get better pricing then the flights I'd found. I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to make use of the R300 I had with flight centre.

At this point I had mentioned this to the agent assisting me, at Canal Walk, in which she clarified that I could only access that R300 with flights booked through Thibault Square Flight Centre. And that I should not worry, as I will still have that R300 deduction accessible to me, when booking through Thibault Square Flight Centre.

During this process I had visited 3 flight centres, over the course of a month, seeing if they could beat the pricing I was able to find, in which they were unable to.

Skip ahead 4 months.

I have come back from my 3 month trip and I am booking domestic flights now. I am more than happy to use Thibault Square Flight Centre.

On the first flight I requested, I asked the agent to book a flight for me. When I received the invoice though, they had not deducted the R300 still owed to me. Completely new to me, they insist that I can not get this reduction, as this is for international flights only and for the month of May.

Thibault Square Flight Centre however have notified that I can have the amount reduced on any international flights I make with them. Which is great but doesn't help as I won't be traveling internationally for quiet some time. And right now I need to book flights domestically.

In short, it seems this R300 was just for two pieces of paper, just an itinerary...not even an official signed visa letter.