Booked accommodation through Booking.com 5 months in advance for a stay in Melbourne over F1 weekend.
2 weeks in advance the property was reconfirmed via email and paid for($1, 280)
A few days later I tried to organise(ahead of time) a check-in/key collection point(as I had read reviews that this was an issue with this property) FYI- MELBOURNE SOUTHBANK BEAUTY SPOT is the property in question.
- 2 days later I received a text from the property saying that the booking will be cancelled - no reason given.
- I then contacted the property who(after some time) said that the current guest contracted covid and they had no option but to allow them to stay(this is now 7 days prior to check in date)
- I informed the property that covid rules in VIC say to quarantine 7 days, upon 7th day can leave without the need for testing and added that we would be happy to check in one day later to allow them to clean the room, to which they responded "we have already advised we can’t accommodate you for the 5 days of your stay"
- Booking.com gave written confirmation that they would help to relocate us and it would be at the expense of the property.
- They provided 2x alternate(like-for-like) options and asked us to select one. when I went to secure I noticed they were dates for the month following, NOT for our original stay.
- I was then told by booking.com that this is "absolutely not possible because it is a computer system and mistakes are not possible", to which I told them to check the link that they sent me to see for themselves. The response was "We don’t have to because we know that is not true"
- Went back to another booking.com agent who apologised and offered a larger property but in a different town altogether(one hour drive away), to which I pointed out was unsuitable.
- Booking.com then instructed us to arrange alternate accommodation and send through the invoice and apply for reimbursement, however being such late notice(and on F1 weekend), the only other options were in excess of$8k(6x times what we originally paid!)
- Asked booking.com for confirmation that the additional cost would be covered to which they said "you must pay first and then your application for reimbursement would be assessed"
- Asked numerous times to speak with a supervisor or team leader and was declined every time.
- Demanded to speak with a manager and was offered a callback. After one hour the phone rang for a couple of seconds and I wasn’t able to answer in time - tried to call them back but before I could even dial I received an email saying that the payment had been refunded and a "compensation" had been given "for any inconvenience"
- Checked the email and compensation amount -$120, which is obviously well short of the additional$7k for an alternate accommodation.
- Went back to booking.com and they advised that because I had "accepted" the compensation, they were not obliged to assist any further and left me out to dry.
- Requested again to speak with management - again declined.
- Asked for the email address to send through a request for reimbursement and was given a bogus address.
- Asked for email address to write a formal complaint and they told me that I basically have no grounds for complaint and that I need to be patient for the refund to be issued.
ALL of this is documented in webchat, text messages and screenshots, including booking.com subsequently telling me that what I was initially told was incorrect and they should never have offered to help in the first place!