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Cottages.com and Hoseasons are facing resistance from customers after holiday rentals have been cancelled or double-booked.
Britons who are staycationing in holiday rentals are furious at Cottages.com cancellations and have rallied on social media to vent their frustrations, according to the Daily Mail.
Britons say holiday rentals booked through Cottages.com and Hoseasons have been cancelled at the eleventh hour and then the accommodations have been double-booked to new customers, The Guardian reported. To further complicate the matter, furious travellers are having to wait for refunds.
Angry Cottages.com and Hoseasons customers have lit up social media with their rantings over holiday rentals, the Daily Mail reported.
One enraged customer of Hoseasons turned to Facebook to create a boycott group after her holiday rental was cancelled and she had trouble getting a refund of her money.
Sharon Thame, the creator of the “Boycott Hoseasons” Facebook group, told Nottinghamshire Live she gets messages from other annoyed customers every day.
“Then there’s been more incidents of double bookings and last-minute cancellations, even though travel is back on now,” Thame said. “People are turning up with children having travelled for miles, to find there’s someone in their cottage. I want to get them stopped.”
Another enraged customer, Andrea Kelly, told Nottinghamshire Live she booked a holiday rental in January and paid it in full in July.
Then she was notified a week before her travel date that the cottage was double booked with another family. Apparently, the cottage owner thought she had cancelled her booking.
Kelly was able to get help from her holiday rental company; Hoseasons explained that a percentage of bookings had been cancelled because of a system error.
Other disappointed Cottages.com and Hoseasons customers have complained about the terms and conditions on the websites, saying it makes the refund process nearly impossible, according to the Daily Mail. Some customers have received refunds, while others claim they have not received one, or they had to wait an unacceptable time to be refunded.
Frustrated consumers have been directed to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) by Which?. Problems have been noted about not being able to receive a refund after holiday rentals were cancelled.
According to Which?, they have searched the terms and conditions of Cottages.com and Hoseasons to help customers understand if they are entitled to a refund. Which? found terms that could be deemed unlawful under the Consumer Rights Act.
The Awaze Group, the parent company of Cottages.com and Hoseasons, has admitted they have seen “’unprecedented levels of demand” after the travel restrictions eased and bookings boomed, according to The Guardian.
Cottages.com announced it saw a 455% increase in holiday rental bookings in June. The booking boom caused technical issues on the website, thus the last minute cancellations and duplicate bookings.
The holiday rentals company apologised to customers who have been troubled by the booking issues, the Daily Mail reported.
They said the increased bookings demanded more capacity for their systems and they did not act to scale them as needed. As a result of the overload, duplicate bookings followed.
Following a statement earlier this year from the CMA, a spokesperson for the Awaze Group had said the companies have complied with the CMA and were working on resolving issued caused by the pandemic.
The spokesperson said Awaze Group had been given new rules to follow from the government and had expanded the options for customer support.
“We have apologised to those customers involved and are working with them to ensure they can rebook their holiday or receive a prompt cash refund,” a Cottages.com spokesperson told The Guardian. “We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused and ask if customers could bear with us while we resolve the issue.”
Did you book a holiday with Cottages.com or Hoseasons and encounter a cancellation or double booking? Tell us your story in the comments.
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2 thoughts onCottages.com, Hoseasons Face Backlash After Cancellations, Double Bookings
May 2022 – half term and this has just happened to me!!! Stranded until I managed to find somewhere else. Hoseasons have taken my money !!!
This is still happening. My holiday in may was cancelled today. Cottages.com said the owner had withdrawn from hoseasons and cancelled both bookings. The cottage is still listed and booked for that week. Funny. No attempt made at helping us rebook. Refund expected in 14 days. Very angry and hoping for done compensation/ response.