Deceptive marketing, massive penalties

Bought 2x return tickets online for around R34k ($1926). I got a message saying "we could not confirm your reservation" and inviting me to phone the SmartFares call centre. There they told me (a) the price had gone up by $585 (b) I couldn't cancel without a penalty. I eventually paid up, under protest. Online prices (even Smartfares) remained stable for days at the original level, no sign of a "price hike". 2 days later I decided I had been ****med, and cancelled the reservation. They have now withheld about R17k ($965) in"penalties". Don't go near them!