A wedding guest was left shocked when he found out the accommodation he had booked had actually been sold two years before.
John Yates, 46, forked out £105 for a one-night stay at what was advertised on Booking.com as a "large family house" in Clitheroe, Lancashire. He made the booking on May 14, just days before he was due to attend a nearby friend's wedding on May 18.
But a pre-stay call to confirm details turned sour when the owner revealed that he had sold the property two years ago.
Caught off guard, John ended up shelling out an extra £150 for a last-minute hotel room and is still waiting to get his money back for the phantom booking. John, who is employed by Sainsbury's and resides in Darwin near Blackburn, Lancashire, said: "I rang the gentleman a couple days before and he said he'd sold the property two years ago. The owner says he keeps ringing Booking.com but they won't take it off [the site]."
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John had planned to share the stay with his girlfriend, Katherine Fearnhead, 46, a dementia nurse. "She was panicking," he shared.
Forced to find alternative lodging, John paid £150 for a late reservation at the Foxfields Country Hotel in Clitheroe, yet he's still chasing the refund for the £105 spent on the non-existent house. Unbeknownst to him at the time of booking, the property had garnered a slew of negative reviews online.
The six reviews posted between December 2022 and July 2023, all rated the property one star. In these, the dwelling was depicted as a rat-infested, mouldy and unclean site with "sticky messes" staining the mattresses. "I didn't see the reviews, it would have changed my mind," confessed John, adding: "If I had turned up, I would have been in a right mess."
John confessed that he had been nonchalant about his investigation since he knew they wouldn't be spending much time there. His reasoning was, "It was a good price for the two of us and we would be out until two in the morning anyway."
Another review left on Booking.com, dated 20 July 2023, revealed a shocking discovery of a family residing at the property upon arrival.
Despite recounting the wedding at the nearby Hobbit Hill as "a brilliant time", John says he will ensure to peruse accommodation reviews going forward. He confirmed: "Normally I do check the reviews and always will do in future."
A spokesperson from Booking.com responded: "Accommodation providers are able to manage their room availability via our online system, and are responsible for ensuring all information is up to date, and while we investigate further we have suspended reservations at this property."
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