Online flight booking

I booked a Kulula flight for my parents through the Travelstart website, made payment and received booking confirmation with ease. The flight requested was for the next day. When my parents got to the airport, there was a massive problem at the Kulula check in, they said there was no such booking and that we needed to wait 48 hours for the payment with Travelstart to reflect first. How is it possible that Travelstart allows the selection and payment for a flight if there is a 48hr waiting period for funds to clear with the airline and a person needs to be on that specific flight? The website should not allow the booking if there isn't enough time for the the clearance period! I had gone into early labour and desperately needed my parents to fly to me. They've had to repurchase tickets at a higher price at the Kulula counter and was told there would be a full refund from Travelstart within the next 14 days. This was a terrible process and experience that costed us more money than we expected, we need this refund to be released immediately from Travelstart! Please assist urgently.