I am employed by a community trust in East London, and our team has been dedicated to assisting a disabled woman who encountered a distressing situation after using Booking.com to reserve a hotel in Paris.
Upon their arrival in April, the woman and her sister-in-law were greeted by a woman who stated that the address they had booked was actually her private residence, not a hotel or apartment. When they attempted to contact the owner of the listing, their calls went unanswered. Local residents confirmed that the address was not a hotel and claimed to have witnessed others facing similar circumstances.
Eventually, the woman and her relative were forced to find alternative emergency accommodation, costing them £400, which far exceeded the £243 they had initially paid for the original reservation. When Booking.com refused to provide a refund, we intervened and approached her bank, Lloyds, for assistance. Initially, Lloyds agreed to initiate a cashback transaction. However, after Booking.com objected and allegedly presented evidence to substantiate the existence of the property, Lloyds retracted the refund, leaving the woman significantly out of pocket.
Our attempts to resolve the issue with the travel website have proven futile, leading us to seek external help. Can you offer any assistance?
MC, London
The above is a condensed version of a longer letter, highlighting the challenges faced by your client during her trip.
I reached out to Booking.com regarding this case, and they firmly maintained that the listing was genuine. Their statement insisted that “the property has successfully accommodated numerous guests before.”
However, this claim of success is contradicted by the negative reviews of the property she booked, where customers have reported various issues such as demands for extra payment and suspicions of scams.
Curiously, this case stands out due to the lack of positive reviews typically associated with fake listings. It seems we may never fully uncover the events of that day. Nevertheless, Booking.com has agreed to refund the £243 as a goodwill gesture.
I recommended that they also reimburse the additional £160 the woman was forced to spend on alternative accommodations, but they declined to do so.
Interestingly, since I intervened in this complaint, a banner has appeared on the website indicating that bookings for this particular property are currently not being accepted.
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