How can I get my money back from Booking.com

[PlanetClaire76]

Hi all, posting here for traffic. I used accommodation in Nottingham that I booked through Booking.com. I paid for it using my paypal credit account.
The water supply in the bathroom was pitiful. It was very slow in the sink and stone cold. The shower was stone cold. As a result we could not have an adequate wash, shower, or wash our hair. The weekend was ruined.
The accommodation owners have not responded to my messages, nor Booking.com's messages. I tried to get a charge back through Paypal but they have refused. When you book accommodation with a bathroom there is an expectation that you will receive an adequate hot and cold water supply. We did not get this. I have argued this point with Paypal and they still refuse.
Does anybody have any advice on how else I could get my money back?
Thanks

Did you contact booking.com whilst you were at the accommodation? Or only once you got home?

Yes I contacted them via the Booking.com platform whilst I was there and received no response to the hot water problem.
Booking.com have also tried and got no response.

Were you just there for one night?

Yes, just the one night

Good luck. I’ve never managed to get anything out of them

I wouldn't expect my money back in these circumstances. Not having hot water is a nuisance, but you got what you paid for, a night of accommodation. I would write a review though and mention it there.

I stayed somewhere for one night where the hot water wasn't working they had an issue that just happened that day. It didn't occur to me to get a refund perhaps I should have but we still used the room and just had a cold wash/ shower that day.

You won't - they are fucking useless. In the middle of a dispute with them myself, it's been an absolute joke

I've stopped booking with them after they didn't refund us for a scam booking. My credit card company charged it back. I've been able to use my Genius price to haggle down when booking direct with hotels.

I would expect something back, maybe not the whole amount, but not having hot water is unacceptable.

What did the hotel do on the day to help? I've had the same issue on a previous occasion and the hotel apologised, but were waiting for the emergency plumber. I managed to cope with a cold shower for that one day, it wasn't the end of the world. They offered us a free meal that evening which we accepted and thought was fair enough. I think this kind of issue really needs to be dealt with at the time. I wouldn't have expected a refund for an unfortunate issue lasting one day.

You stayed one night and your whole weekend was ruined by a rubbish shower? Totally OTT. They should have given you a bit of money back but you don’t need a full refund, and I’m not sure you can force it either to be honest. Did you raise with them while still at the hotel?

The weekend was ruined because you didn't have the nous to boil the kettle (even hotel rooms have a kettle) and have a wash in the sink?

Get your best compo face on and get in the Daily Mail OP, that'll show 'em.

Inconvienient yes, but I wouldn't have let it "ruin" a weekend, especially if only there for one night . I'd have boiled a kettle and washed body and hair at the sink, in the same way I would if the boiler was broken at home.

Annoying if they won't respond and definitely worthy of a poor review for that alone.

Yes I did raise it at the time, but got no response. It wasn't a hotel, but a studio flat, with 3 stars.
I don't think it's an overeaction to say the weekend felt ruined. It was a big night out. It had been warm all day. Not being able to wash your hair & feeling hot, sticky and unclean does tend to put a dampener on how you feel.

But you can still wash, you did have a kettle and water. It's not how I'd choose to get ready, but once done, I don't think it would ruin the evening.

Then the cold water would have been ideal to wash in to cool you down after a warm day.

Or you could have boiled the kettle, or heated some water on the hob.

It's a complete overreaction and you had immediate solutions available to you.

You won't get a full refund if you didn't leave. Unfortunately that's the legal precedent, and Booking.com will stick to it rigidly.

They are a pain to go through and in this case; they may have only been a broker, so any further action may have to be against the actual owner... but it's not impossible to get money back. I got refunded from Booking.com after an Italian hotel decided to cancel our stay and close while we were driving from Italy to get there, but it took HOURS on the phone, and about two weeks of full-on effort.

Is there a number you can call? About a year ago I did after a trip where when we got to the accommodation, the owners never responded. We couldn’t get in (they were meant to greet us) and never answered the phone. I called Booking on our return and they put my on hold for a bit while they reached out to the owners, then came back to us with an excuse that they’d had an emergency, and gave us a full refund.

I shouldn't have to do this, I paid for a 3 star studio flat. The sink was so small you couldn't fit the kettle under the tap.
The shower took a few minutes for the water to come through once it was switched on. Managed to finally fill the kettle forva cup of tea by from the shower head. Absolute crap 😡

Wouldn't you put a mug under the tap to fill the kettle, rather than fill the kettle with the shower? Obviously no, you shouldn't have to but problem solving skills do seem a bit lacking.

I once booked an entire, very nice-looking apartment through booking.com. When we arrived it was actually one room in a shared apartment with no locks on the door, and shared kitchen/bathroom. It was a complete dump. I rang booking.com, sent messages etc and couldn’t get hold of anyone. We walked back out and booked a hotel for the weekend and I tried again the following week to sort a refund, to no avail. I never got a response. I am very wary of them now. I still use them occasionally but only use a credit card.

Nothing to do with not having problem solving skills, why are you assuming it is? We had arrangements for a certain time with other people. We haven't got the time to faff around like that, we'd have bern there all night. Don't be ridiculous.
Due to work committments we could not get there any earlier in anticipation of not having adequate water supply, that most people would expect to have when they arrive at their accommodation.
Obviously, some people on here think it's ok to accept this standard.
Anyway, I never posted om here to keep defending my own opinion on the accommodation. My op was asking if other pp had advice on how to obtain a refund.

the are the platform not the supplier so they will seek a partial refund on your behalf, it’s not coming from them. Write to the complaints department, I’ve found them good in the past but took 2-3 weeks to resolve a very similar issue. As for booking and not as described, again they will help if it’s genuinely misleading but not if you have misread it, they found be alternative accommodation at 8pm once when the hotel is booked (family room for 4) was basically a single room with 3 camp beds and bathroom not en suite.

I won't be using them again. I used Paypal to book. Paypal are supposed to offer buyer protection too. Needless to say I'll be leaving a very bad review across all platforms