A traveler experienced significant distress after Booking.com provided incorrect lockbox information for a rental property in Belfast, leading to them being locked out until 4:45 a.m. The booking, which cost £972 for three nights, was scheduled to begin on July 10.
The night before arrival, the traveler received lockbox instructions that indicated a different address than the one they believed they had booked. Attempts to contact the owner were unsuccessful. After several hours, Booking.com confirmed the initial address was incorrect and provided a new one. However, upon arrival at 11:30 p.m., the traveler could not locate the correct lockbox.
Assisted by a sympathetic night manager from a nearby Premier Inn, the traveler searched for hours. Eventually, a different set of check-in details appeared on the Booking.com app for an apartment across the building. With the hotel manager's help, the lockbox was finally opened, allowing access to the property at 4:45 a.m.
Initially, Booking.com offered a £100 goodwill gesture, which the traveler found inadequate. Following intervention, Booking.com refunded the cost of the first night, £324, in addition to the initial £100 gesture, acknowledging the "inconvenience" caused. A Booking.com spokesperson stated that the property is legitimate and the address discrepancy stemmed from an inaccurate map pin on the listing, with the host providing the correct address approximately 120 meters away. The company is working to rectify the listing information.
In a separate incident detailed in the notes, a reader was overcharged £54.80 for a Land Registry document that should have cost £7. The website, operating as "UK Land Registry" but run by a firm called Check Property, presented itself as an official government service. Although not a scam, the intermediary service charged significantly more than the official government portal. The reader's bank, Santander, initiated a chargeback, successfully retrieving the full amount after Check Property did not dispute the claim. Santander advised customers to ensure they are using official gov.uk websites for government services.