After a long morning of travelling to Bury, in Greater Manchester, and lugging around our cases and bags, my mum and I were more than ready to check into our rental house.
We booked the home through Booking.com for Mother’s Day weekend, March 14 to 15, so we could explore somewhere new together and spend time with my brother who is studying at university nearby.
The first red flag was the late check-in – with the host pushing back the time to 4pm, instead of 3pm, because of ‘a slight delay with the cleaner’.
‘Fine’, we agree, ‘at least it will be properly tidied for us’.
We kill some time sat outside the characterful Trackside pub, on platform two of the East Lancashire Railway station, and watch steam trains puff by.
But we couldn’t be more wrong.
We’re eventually sent the keycode and unlock the front door to find what seems to be, on the surface at least, a modern and well-furnished abode.
Things quickly take a turn when we first discover a club wristband thrown on the bath mat, and closer inspection reveals further horrors.
Despite having to wait for the cleaner to finish with the property, we find dirt, dust and even clumps of hair on the floor.
The wooden stairs are filthy, and the kitchen surfaces are covered in crumbs and sugar – clearly not wiped down.
My mum pulls back the sheets in disgust to find crumpled bedding that appears to have recently been slept in and then remade. One of the bed sheets even has dust and crumbs on.
She quickly sends a text to the host, outlining our disappointment and receives a reply within minutes.
We’re told we’re welcome to a refund if we want to leave, but the owner unhelpfully adds: ‘There’s nothing else I can do right now.’
She also insists the cleaner had changed the bedding and towels.
My mum accepts the offer.
In the meantime, I begin searching for hotels in the area in an attempt to save the weekend, which is already half over.
With limited options, we eventually settle for a nearby Premier Inn, and load our bags into an Uber, relieved to have resolved the situation.
We go on to enjoy the rest of the weekend and my mum makes sure to contact Booking.com to explain what has happened and request a refund.
A customer service agent tells us that they have contacted the property owner and ‘filed an official complaint against the accommodation’.
It sounds promising, until it becomes clear over the following days that Booking.com won’t refund my mum the £93.50 she coughed up for the stay unless the owner replies to them confirming everything.
This is despite us providing screenshots of our conversation with the host and proof of the state of the property.
Unsurprisingly, the owner seems to quickly disappear and doesn’t reply to Booking.com, or my mum’s attempts to get a refund over text message.
In the end, all Booking.com offers is an apology and an £11.69 voucher credited to my mum’s account.
‘We have tried to contact the property regarding your request for a full refund but unfortunately, we have not received any response from them,’ one message from Booking.com reads.
‘As we require written confirmation from the property to proceed with a full refund, we kindly ask that you contact the property directly and request that they provide us with written confirmation of the refund agreement.
‘Because we operate within specific partnership agreements, we have reached the absolute limit of the compensation we can facilitate.’
The eyeroll-inducing message continues: ‘Please believe that if it were within our direct power to provide more, we would do so without hesitation.
‘The £11.69 we previously provided remains our sincere effort to support you as much as our current policies allow.’
After further messages and phone calls with Booking.com, and unanswered messages to the host, my mum is left at a dead end – along with £93.50 out of pocket and memories of a disappointing Mother’s Day weekend.
However, on April 2, 2026, after the Daily Mail contacts Booking.com, my mum is finally informed she’ll be getting a full refund.
A Booking.com spokesperson said: ‘We were sorry to hear about this customer’s experience.
‘Properties that list their accommodation on our platform are responsible for their guest’s stay, and we can confirm that after our customer service team contacted the property owner they agreed to process a full refund.’
But she’s far from alone in her experience, as other customers have also reported having issues with the platform.
Back in 2023, hordes of Daily Mail readers wrote in to share their nightmares – from hosts demanding more money to refund struggles.
Sandra Whaley, from Shropshire, revealed how she had booked a twin room with her friend and explained how they were both in their 70s and ‘did not wish to share a bed’.
However, upon arrival they were given a double room instead and were told ‘no other rooms were available’.
She told the Daily Mail: ‘I rang Booking.com and was told we could stay there and have a small refund. I am still waiting.’
Another customer, Alan Frank, wrote in to share how he had booked a room in southern France and found it ‘derelict, with a scrawled phone number on the door’.
‘The proprietor said he had received no payment from Booking.com and we must pay again,’ he explained.
‘But Booking.com had charged my card. We declined and were kicked out. Booking.com refused to refund us the £115.’
Mr Nykola and Mrs Lorraine Hryziuk’s stay in Blackpool took a turn when they realised their booking ‘was not recorded’.
‘I rang Booking.com to be told the booking had not been completed. We stayed somewhere else, but have been charged for both hotels,’ they penned.
‘After 15 calls and 20 emails, Booking.com has still not refunded us.’
