Booking.com cancellation

sophie100

I have had a holiday booked for months with booking.com.  This holiday is primarily to get a week of respite for my elderly grandmother who is a full time carer for her husband.  The property was carefully selected due to her mobility needs.   I have paid the balance in full, ahead of time and we are due to travel on the 29th of May (4weeks time)

Yesterday I received a notification from Booking.com to advising that the property can no longer accommodate us and they have cancelled our booking! They then listed a hostel as a suitable alternative!! 

I am literally heartbroken, this booking has been what has got us through so many tough months as a family and we all need and deserve a break! Obviously being half term there are no alternatives and everything else is at best £500 more than we originally paid.

Has anyone had a similar experience of this? Should they be paying the difference as this is completely unfair?

I have used the so many times before and never had an issue but the more I have researched over night the more terrible customer service stories I have read.

[Deleted User]

sophie100 said:

 Should they be paying the difference as this is completely unfair?

No. They can no longer supply what you paid for so they should refund you the money.

Aylesbury_Duck

If the property is no longer available, you can't force them to supply what they can't supply.  'Loss of bargain' is a phrase sometimes mentioned in circumstances such as these, but I don't think it applies here.

McKneff

Look for a break before or after the original holiday ,
Which will probably be a lot more enjoyable for an old lady and companion than spending a week in among screaming kids etc. 
Look on it as an escape 

mattyprice4004

Booking.com are just an agent so they’re not responsible - they are just an intermediary. 

gettingtheresometime

In fairness all booking.com are probably seeing is your booking...not your grandmother who needs something specific.

have you looked either side of that week, which I have no doubt is dearer because it's whitsun week.

CKhalvashi

It may be worth contacting them by phone in this case as something specific is required.

Booking as an agent have responsibilities under the Equalities Act, and despite what they may say, they are involved in the supply of accommodation in the same way as any property agent, so that relevant legislation applies.

Diamandis

CKhalvashi said:

It may be worth contacting them by phone in this case as something specific is required.

Booking as an agent have responsibilities under the Equalities Act, and despite what they may say, they are involved in the supply of accommodation in the same way as any property agent, so that relevant legislation applies.

This is all irrelevant. The accommodation isn't available and they should be given a refund, the equalities act doesnt change that. 

lucy03

I'd contact booking.com with the more expensive alternative that you've found and ask if they'll consider funding that. I don't think that it's a legal right you can call on (you're just due a refund), but booking.com (and Expedia) do tend to have contracts which allow them to charge the original accommodation provider for additional costs where they've cancelled like this. That's certainly the case for hotels anyway, although maybe they have different arrangements for other forms of accommodation. If there's really no other nearby accommodation they might be more limited in what they can do, but I'd speak to booking.com on the phone anyway though, it's worth a try.