A man who claimed he had been "bullied" into cancelling a £550 hotel room was furious to discover the proprietor went on to re-advertise it for almost four times the original price.
Mick Heslop, from County Durham, booked rooms in Liverpool and Glasgow for three separate weekends in May, in preparation for the Eurovision song contest next year. Mick chose to go through Booking.com due to their free cancellation policy.
He chose the The Joker Boat, in Liverpool Marina, which had a rate of £550 at the time of booking. However he claimed that the owners got in contact with him on October 5, to tell him it was "not acceptable" to book three Saturdays with "potential Eurovision".
The Liverpool Echo reported that the message read: "Please cancel all bookings or pay for all of them. You cannot block dates in my accommodation with intention to cancel that stops other genuine bookings.
"If you cancel the other dates you've booked this date will also be cancelled."
In response, Mick told the owner he would not be cancelling, due to using Booking.com's free cancellation service. He was then told that the room was "not available to you for that night".
Mick decided to rebook at alternative accommodation, only to discover The Joker Boat was advertising his room for £2,495.
Speaking to The ECHO, Mick said: "When the messages first came through I wasn't sure it was real because of spelling mistakes, but then they kept messaging telling us to cancel and I wasn't having it. This is what Booking.com is all about.
"I have stayed in hundreds of hotels through Booking.com and booked three rooms for three weekends in Glasgow and didn't have any issues. I realised they weren't going to let it go so I found different accommodation for us and cancelled the booking.
"When I looked on their website they were trying to charge £2495 for the same room I booked for £550. It's well within their right to want some more money, and to be honest I probably would have paid it.
"But there's a difference between some more money and robbing people. My hotel bullied me to cancel the Eurovision evening booking."
Russell Keenan, one of the owners of The Joker Boat, responded to Mick's claims.
He said: "The Joker Boat Liverpool was booked on multiple dates over three weekends by a Mr Heslop. Cancellation rights are for people who genuinely book accommodation intending to use the accommodation, but for unforeseen personal circumstances have to cancel.
"Mr Heslop booked multiple dates with no intention of using them. Cancellations for small accommodation providers takes quite a lot of time to sort, it is not automatic.
"This costs time and money and importantly blocks these dates being booked by genuine people wanting to visit Liverpool city centre. When I communicated with Mr Heslop after his cancellations he became rude, abusive and threatening.
"As an accommodation provider I do not have to accept guests such as this. I cancelled his booking through booking.com."
Mick denied the claim he was abusive and threatening, and said he "only called The Joker Hotel scruffy after seeing a TripAdvisor review".
On the price increase, Russell said: "Once the date was freed I have increased the price for this prime date. That will help cover the costs around the year for the four staff for the boats, who are all paid above the living wage."
A spokesperson from Booking.com said: "At Booking.com we understand that there is huge interest and excitement around the Eurovision Song Contest coming to Liverpool in 2023. While hotels and other accommodations are in complete control of the availability and prices they list on Booking.com, if a customer does have any issues with a booking then our customer service team is available 24/7 to support.
"This is a great opportunity for properties in Liverpool to showcase their City and be part of ensuring all fans have a positive experience, which starts when they book their accommodation at a great rate. We always actively monitor for any fraudulent activity and can take action as needed, including suspending or removing a property from our platform."
