A man was left furious after claiming he was "bullied" into cancelling a £550 room he booked ahead of Eurovision 2023, which is now selling for £2,495.
Mick Heslop, from County Durham, booked a room on The Joker Boat, based in Liverpool Marina, for three weekends in May, in anticipation of coming to the city for the Eurovision song contest. He also booked a room for three separate weekends in Glasgow through Booking.com with their free cancellation policy.
The 37-year-old claimed the owners of The Joker Boat messaged him on October 5 telling him it was "not acceptable" to book three Saturdays with "potential Eurovision".
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The message, which has been seen by The ECHO said: "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."
The owner then warned: "If you cancel the other dates you've booked this date will also be cancelled."
Booking.com's terms and conditions for accommodation providers state they can specifically choose if they are included in the free cancellation policy, and can add a deposit or pre-payment option if they wish.
After telling the owner he would not be cancelling his reservation, due to using Booking.com's free cancellation service, The Joker Boat responded saying the boat "is not available to you for that night" and said Mick had "played a game".
Mick told The ECHO : "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 is 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, said: "I have two boats in the central Liverpool yacht club marina that are let as holiday boats. The Titanic Boat Liverpool was booked in September for the eventual Eurovision dates at the normal weekend price and that booking has been honoured.
"For The Joker Boat Liverpool this 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."
When asked about his tone when corresponding with the hotel manager, Mick denied the claim he was abusive and threatening, and said he "only called The Joker Hotel scruffy after seeing a TripAdvisor review".
The hotel manager went on to defend his decision to increase the price of the accommodation to £2,495.
He 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."
Mick wanted to come to Liverpool for Eurovision after watching the song contest with his family when he was younger. He added that he had always enjoyed watching the contest, even staying up until 4am last year just to watch it while he was on his honeymoon.
Mick has since been in touch with Booking.com, who said they would be contacting The Joker Boat following their "inappropriate ways in which the property has been responding".
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."
Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram has blasted hotels and businesses for 'grossly inflating' prices for rooms around the time of next year's Eurovision Song Contest. A look on Booking.com shows multiple single person rooms being priced up for well over £1,000 for the night of May 13.
Mayor Rotheram said: "It is so disappointing to see some businesses in our region, who have jumped at the chance to grossly inflate prices - with some even cancelling existing bookings, only to re-advertise the same thing at many times the previous price."
Mayor Rotheram said he "understands how the hotel industry operates" and that demand will be "unprecedented", but he said there must be a "measure of control" to this decision. He said he has called such behaviour out before such as when football fans have been ripped off for flights and accommodation.
The city region leader said he will be speaking to political colleagues about how to response and will make representations in the coming days.
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