Concerd and disappointed customer

I accidentally bought R29 airtime to a number that doesn’t exist this morning (07-11-2018), I then called Vodacom to ask if they can assist me. The lady which I spoke to (I forgot her name) checked if the number the number had an owner, however it didn’t. She asked me to call my bank and see if they can assist me. My bank advised that only Vodacom can assist as it’s an airtime. I just called back and spoke to Khanonina, I explained everything to her, she said they can’t assist me as well. I then asked her what is gonna happen to that airtime as the number doesn’t exist. She told me that the airtime will be stay there until the number is giving to someone else, it’s my loss.

My question here is: I would have understood if the number existed and the person using the number has started using the airtime, however there’s no owner and the airtime is hanging. Is this how things really works with this network?