TripAdvisor must side with its customers when suppliers of accommodation break the rules

Too good to be true? You can claim up to £7,000 if your holiday property is “substantially misrepresented”
Too good to be true? You can claim up to £7,000 if your holiday property is “substantially misrepresented” Credit: GETTY
Stuart Hoyle writes

In June 2017 four of us booked “a simply beautiful residential house” in Gran Canaria for eight nights for a rental of €1,547 (£1,390) through TripAdvisor. We paid a deposit of €442. 

Two months prior to our arrival, the “homeowner”, Amy, told us she was no longer renting out the house. This was annoying but we accepted it and asked for our deposit to be returned. 

Amy said that if she cancelled the reservation she would have to pay TripAdvisor a cancellation fee of €170. She said she would find us an alternative and sent the details of a property advertised on Airbnb. We refused her offer. She then asked us to cancel the reservation, but that meant we would lose our deposit. We sent the message exchange to TripAdvisor as proof of the de facto cancellation and asked for our deposit back. TripAdvisor said it had “reached out to the property owner... and they confirmed they will no longer cancel”.

We were convinced we would get the replacement property but TripAdvisor said that if the house was not as expected we were covered by its payment protection policy. On arrival we were indeed given a replacement property and it was clear Amy had seriously misrepresented it. The house was dirty, poorly equipped and had not been renovated for many years. 

We complained to the handover agent and to TripAdvisor immediately. We requested that our balance be withheld while basic faults were rectified and asked for a reduction of €400 due to the downgrade. 

This led to harassing calls from Amy and her partner saying any reimbursement was unacceptable. We were told to pay up or leave.

We relayed these events to TripAdvisor, which proposed paying €100 to resolve the matter. Under duress we agreed. Minutes later we found another property on its site and asked to move there. We heard nothing back. Later, TripAdvisor sent a message saying the case was closed and we would be paid €100 in compensation.

We decided to get on with our holiday but after we returned we made claim under the payment protection policy. TripAdvisor has failed to respond despite reminders.

A trip to Gran Canaria was spoiled for one Telegraph reader
A trip to Gran Canaria was spoiled for one Telegraph reader Credit: GETTY
Gill Charlton replies

TripAdvisor’s Payment Protection policy says that you can claim up to £7,000 if the property is “substantially misrepresented” but its terms also say you cannot claim if you stay overnight, which you did. However, you did contact TripAdvisor on arrival and it should have been more helpful, as this was not the property you booked. 

Moreover, it was unacceptable for TripAdvisor to refuse a refund of your deposit earlier. The messages from Amy made it clear she was not going to provide the house you booked.

If TripAdvisor is renting holiday accommodation without doing any checks on suppliers, it must side with the customer in a case like this. 

TripAdvisor has now admitted that its customer service “fell short”. It accepts that when Mr Hoyle proved Amy was lying about providing the booked house, it should have activated his cover under its payment protection policy and given a refund of his deposit and assistance in finding another suitable property.

TripAdvisor has now permanently removed Amy from its site and has given Mr Hoyle a full refund.

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