Guest house booking...

ELL2504

Hello, just after some advice or somebody to point me in the right direction. In March, I paid for 2 nights stay in a guest house/cottage, it was a place we have stayed in before and I booked direct through the owners website in full.  Booking is for this weekend (June)

I rang earlier today to confirm the booking and ask a question only to be told the previous owners have sold the property and the new owner is not running it as guest accommodation.  He told me the previous owners had told all guests that we had been transferred to different accommodation close by (I'd heard nothing from anybody so this was a huge shock!).   Upon hearing that I advised that I would want a refund as it was that property in particular we wanted to stay in.  He took my details and said he would contact the person dealing with the bookings and get back to me.  That was earlier this morning, I've tried again this afternoon for an update but went to voicemail.   I dont want to keep chasing, but at the same time I am feeling a bit nervous now that I am roughly £300 down.   

I paid on debit card, can I try charge back, how long would people wait? Thanks in advance..

eskbanker

ELL2504 said:

I booked direct through the owners website in full

[...]

He took my details and said he would contact the person dealing with the bookings

Just to be clear, is this website and phone number associated with the property, or its previous owners?

TELLIT01

If the property you booked is no longer available I would expect chargeback to be applicable.  From previous posts on a similar subject it seems you can only do chargeback on accommodation after the date of occupancy.  I may be wrong.

born_again

TELLIT01 said:

If the property you booked is no longer available I would expect chargeback to be applicable.  From previous posts on a similar subject it seems you can only do chargeback on accommodation after the date of occupancy.  I may be wrong.

Your not.

Question is just who was OP talking too?
Previous owners or whoever has moved into property?

PHK

born_again said:

TELLIT01 said:

If the property you booked is no longer available I would expect chargeback to be applicable.  From previous posts on a similar subject it seems you can only do chargeback on accommodation after the date of occupancy.  I may be wrong.

Your not.

Question is just who was OP talking too?
Previous owners or whoever has moved into property?

Yes, it’s a bit muddled at the moment. 

We’d need to know who the booking was made with and whether they were a company. (As they seem to have more than one property then I guess they are)

Whether the new owners have bought just the cottage or the whole business. And if the business whether they bought the liabilities of the business. 

ELL2504

Hi, thanks for replies. The cottage website is still online, I got the mobile number from the website today. The new owner answered it although he is not running it as a business. It's also on booking.com with a message to say no bookings currently been taken. I booked direct through cottage website..

ELL2504

Just to add they bought the whole business. It was a guest house with additional cottage, we booked cottage. The guesthouse and cottage are now not bookable and been used as a private residence by current owner.

Aylesbury_Duck

ELL2504 said:

Just to add they bought the whole business. It was a guest house with additional cottage, we booked cottage. The guesthouse and cottage are now not bookable and been used as a private residence by current owner.

Are you sure they bought the business?  If so, they are probably liable for the problem.  If they bought the property (and not the business) and are now living in it, I can't see they have any obligation to you.

ELL2504

I am ringing again this morning and if no luck contacting my bank. It is all muddled and in hindsight I was just so shocked (potentially if I hadn't rang with my question we would have driven nearly 3 hours with nowhere to stay!) I was a bit lost for words. He had all my details and booking details, so again access to business details and my details. The business website has literally been updated over night to say no current bookings and it will reopen in July?? My guess is as good as anybodies now...very upset at it all. :'(