Intercape refund

My mom took a bus to the northern Cape on Sunday and was supposed to come back on Wednesday night but due to unfortunate circumstances she had to come back home Wednesday during the day.... Ending up not taking the bus, when she went to intercape to ask for a refund she was told that we can't be refunded because she didn't call 48 hours before the time... My argument is that how would a person know 48 hours in advance that there would be a unforesen incident that would require her immediate attention.... We spoke to the tellers and they told us we can take the matter to complains however she doesn't believe that we are not going to be refunded