An Australian tourist’s trip of a lifetime was “soured” after she was refused a refund for her hotel room when it flooded.
Wendy Pinch stayed at the Hyde Park Boutique Hotel on October 3 when the incident occurred.
Ms Pinch had spent two years saving for the dream trip across Europe to mark her 60th birthday, as well as the 65th birthdays of the two friends travelling with her.
But after heavy rain, the group spotted water leaking through the ceiling of their ground-floor room and were forced to leave before midnight to find another hotel.
The group was told by Booking.com that they would receive a refund, which failed to materialise in their accounts for the remainder of the trip.
The booking site later acknowledged that Wendy’s experience "was not handled to the standard we strive for".
Ms Pinch first noticed the flooding when she was in the shower and "thought the girls were mucking around and they turned off the lights in the bathroom.”
She said, "I came out and there are buckets in the room and I was like, 'what's happening?' Then there's water dripping through the ceiling."
The hotel claimed it had signed off on a refund for Ms Pinch’s group, but could not process it because of problems with the payment system at Booking.com.
She explained that the flooding gradually got "worse and worse" and started coming from different parts of the bedroom.
"All of a sudden, I heard these other splashes, and so did the other girls, and we looked up and it was literally raining through the light switches."
Ms Pinch described how the situation became increasingly hazardous.
"I was reluctant to even pull my phone charger out of the plug socket,” She said, adding: “Water and electricity doesn't mix."
The hotel claimed the area was experiencing exceptionally heavy rainfall, and the drainage of their building was blocked by a neighbouring tree.
Ms Pinch said despite the best efforts of the hotel’s staff to help, she and her friends "were left cold, wet and tired".
The group were told there were no other available rooms in the hotel and were advised by Booking.com to find a replacement hotel and pay up front, and that a refund would be issued for their flooded room.
Ms Pinch lodged a request for a total of £368 from either the hotel or Booking.com, which covered the cost of the final night at the hotel, replacement accommodation, and an inconvenience fee for all three.
They finally managed to find a small room near Heathrow Airport after midnight, ahead of their Barcelona-bound flight the next morning.
Trying to secure the refund would prove to continue to be time-consuming throughout the remainder of their holiday.
"I'm not looking at the beautiful scenery out the window like I should be and enjoying my holiday," she explained.
"I'm constantly on the email to Booking.com or to the hotel, trying to sort this out."
According to Ms Pinch, both the hotel and Booking.com shifted responsibility between each other to authorise the refund.
What followed were weeks of back and forth, which "soured the rest of the holiday", and she was forced to continue trying to secure compensation on her journey home to Newcastle in New South Wales.
The hotel manager claimed they offered a "full refund for the unused final night" but since the room was booked via Booking.com, they were not able to legally process any refund until the process was initiated on Booking.com’s end.
BBC News says that after they contacted Booking.com Ms Pinch was offered a refund, which she says has now been processed.
A spokesperson for Booking.com said, "While the guest was provided with compensation for the inconvenience caused, we appreciate that this did not equate to the costs incurred.
"We are now processing a refund covering these additional expenses."
Ms Pinch said: “It should not have taken media involvement to get a result for this very dangerous incident, and all we went through that night,
"It certainly put a dampener on what was supposed to be a lovely last night in London."
