Sanparks: fantastic locations but inadequate customer service
Via SanParks.org you can make reservations in the accommodation of several South African National Parks. The restcamps are within the most fantastic wildlife areas in the world and the facilities of the parks are very good. Many have a swimming pool, a shop, fuel and more. The houses are often small but adequately equipped and sufficiently comfortable. They all (including the more expensive large homes) have a basic, rustic design which has been unchanged for many years. Lighting, layout and more could use a make over however. Many private accommodations look a lot better but are often either not in (National) parks or if they are, they are very expensive. But in terms of nature protection, an income stream for Sanparks is a good thing.
The reason why Sanparks.org gets this low rating is that their administrative organization is a mess. If you mail Reservations with a question, you usually have to mail again twice or more before you get the (full) answer to the question – if you get it, that is. I booked a house in Skukuza Rest Camp but a time out error occurred during payment. I retried successfully but then found out it was double paid. Also it was an upgrade for a cabin in Pretoriuskop so I asked them to credit the double payment and the booking costs of the upgraded cabin on June 4th. After multiple mails I they wrote
"Kindly be informed that you have a credit of xxx".
But this appeared to be a credit in my Sanparks account, not on my credit card. In Skukuza I finally got a form filled in and signed which I mailed to get the refund. But that didn’t happen. On July 23rd they wrote "still waiting for the authorizations." On September 17th, 3,5 months after the first request for refund, I got the credit. Not because SanParks finally arranged that, but because I filed a disputed payment at Visa within the 3 months limit.
So unfortunately, Sanparks can not be relied on for an adequate handling of credits.