Following about 100 guests traveling from all over the world to stay in a home that was never made available for rental by the owner, Booking.com is expressing regret and providing support.
Last month, 23 tourist groups totaling over 100 individuals knocked on the door of a private residence in north London intending to stay there as the BBC reports (Opens in a new window) . The owner of the home is a Gillian, who had never advertised her home for rent on the website of the internet travel company.
Arriving on July 4 and continuing until July 29, the tourists came from Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Los Angeles, and other regions of the UK. Every time, Gillian had to apologise and refuse them. That first day, Gillian decided to look into it after the first six tour groups knocked on her door. Her address was listed with pictures from another Chelsea home on Booking.com after a fast search. On July 5, she notified the business of this, but visitors persisted for another 24 days.
Booking.com didn’t remove the fraudulent listing until July 13 and, evidently, didn’t contact guests who had already made reservations at the hotel to advise them not to go. Even worse, when one of the travel agency’s clients called to inquire about the condition of the property before their arrival, they were informed that everything was in order. On July 29, that call was made.
“Scams are regrettably a battle many businesses are experiencing against unethical fraudsters attempting to take advantage, and it is something we are tackling front on,” a Booking.com representative said. We can confirm that this property has been entirely removed from our website, and a member of our customer service team is in contact with every customer to apologize and provide any assistance needed in relation to refunds, relocations, and additional fees, as well as to extend our sincere apologies to the homeowner.
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The business hasn’t clarified why it didn’t act right away to remove the listing, why it didn’t alert anyone who had reserved the property that it was a fraud, or why it kept telling consumers the property was ready to use when they inquired about it. When the BBC enquired about clarification, Booking.com declined to provide more information.
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