BEWARE of Travelstart - they ruined what should have been our honeymoon

I won what was meant to be a dream trip to Sun City - flights, rental car and 2 nights at the Sun City Hotel. My fiancé and I planned to use it as our honeymoon.

Instead, Travelstart turned it into more than 6 months of stress and disappointment. They took weeks, sometimes months, to respond, and along the way kept changing the prize: first the car rental became a shuttle, then the Sun City Hotel became the Cabanas. Still, we remained patient.

Then, after months of back-and-forth and repeated reassurances, they suddenly claimed the prize had expired. When I challenged them on why they had led me on for so long, clearly without even understanding their own terms and conditions, they backtracked and agreed to honour it. But just when we thought it was resolved, they retracted the accommodation again, leaving us with nothing but flights to Gauteng and nowhere to stay.

No apology. No goodwill gesture. Just emotional whiplash from a company that has proven itself to be slow, unprofessional, dishonourable and unwilling to take accountability.

This was supposed to be a joyful celebration of our marriage. Instead, it’s left us hurt, frustrated and shocked at how little they care for their customers. Travelstart didn’t just fail to deliver a prize - they destroyed the excitement of a once-in-a-lifetime moment.