Apartment Provider (via Booking.com) charged me a £200 security deposit | Now refusing to refund it!

Anonymous868

I recently hired an apartment for 2-nights, via booking.com.

I paid for my reservation via booking, but the company which owns the apartment then sent me an email (the day before my trip) saying I needed to pay a security 'damage deposit' of £200 before I would be allowed to check-in to the property (payment through an external payment processor platform), which I subsequently paid via debit-card.

My stay in the property went fine with no issues.
I checked-out of the property by 10am, notified the host, and received an email back from them 2-hours later just thanking me for staying & wishing me a safe journey home.

Yesterday however when I emailed them asking what date I will receive my security deposit back, they replied saying:
 ''Oh didn't you receive our previous message?
We are keeping your deposit because one of the curtain rails apparently was loose/the hooks had come off, and so apparently needed to be replaced. 
Because there were some marks and stains on the carpet which meant it needed to be deep-cleaned (even though my booking price clearly states that it already included a £50 fee for professional cleaning of the property after I checked-out). 
Because I had a friend come visit me at the apartment on 1 of the evenings (not sleepover, just visited me socially for abit then left), but this friend wasn't ''a named guest on the booking''.
And because I used up all the linen & towels, thus leaving no towels for the next guests. (They actually said that | So during this coronavirus pandemic they are not removing & replacing towels between guests, unless the towels appear used)!


I have written back to them confirming that:

1) No, there was no message in the message log sent by them making any allegation of me causing any damage to the property.
The final/only message they sent, 2-hours after I checked-out, was thanking me for my stay.

2) That a friend of mine visiting me one evening, at the accommodation which I had booked for my holiday break, was a normal standard thing to be expected by people on leisure holiday stays; that I had not named them as a guest on the booking since they weren't ''staying at the property as a guest''; and that moreover that was of no actual relevance to them withholding my money for alleged damage to the property.

3) That I used the all towels provided at the apartment for me stay, during my stay there, as they were provided there for that specific purpose.
But the fact that they have now implied that they do not remove & replace all towels after each guest leaves, with fresh clean ones for the incoming new guest, is deeply worrying + a clear violation of the Covid-19 compliance guidelines.

4) Requested that they provide me with time & date stamped photographic evidence showing the state of the apartment before I checked-in / and then after I left (but before the next set of guests arrived later that day), to show this alleged damage which was caused during my stay.

5) Have also asked them to provide me with an itemized breakdown of the financial loss which they incurred as a result of this, in regards to the money they actually had to pay-out to fix this apparent damage, which exceeds the £50 cleaning fee which was already included as part of the booking price.


If they refused to / or unable to provide that evidence though for both those things, but still refuse to refund me my security deposit, what would be the best options I can take to get my money back please?

•I'm aware of ''debit-card chargebacks''. but not sure which of the available category reasons I should state to my bank when filling in the form to request a chargeback?
•Could file a Money-Claim via the small claims court, however as they are based the other side of the country to me, my train fare to the local court near them would be nearly £100 itself!
•I doubt booking.com would/could do anything, since the security deposit was paid via an external platform, directly to the apartment host company, so nothing to do with booking.com?


Thankyou inadvance

Wanderingpomm

Complain to booking.com immediately. 

This is blatent attempt to make extra cash, write them a letter before action and then file the court claim. You can claim your expenses from them I believe and at the moment a lot of cases are being heard via zoom so you may not have to travel anyway 

DoaM

As above, complaint to Booking ... then raise a chargeback claim - no cost to you and if it works this is the least hassle. The last resort should be LBA followed by MCOL.