Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Milica Cosic

Woman confused as tourists keep turning up at her home for Booking.com reservation

A woman has been left confused after tourists have repeatedly kept on turning up to a Booking.com reservation at her own flat.

Karin Arsenius, 37, has been left baffled as 20 unexpected travellers arrived at her property in Plumstead, south east London.

The family have revealed to the BBC that they have been left terrified as guests have come searching for a key safe inside her home.

They have had travellers turn up from Algeria, Canada, India and the US in the past couple of months.

Ms Arsenius has revealed that the family are now considering legal action, adding that the family "need it to stop somehow".

A spokesperson for Booking.com told The Mirror: 'We take safety and security very seriously, and every week, we facilitate millions of stays with the vast majority taking place with absolutely no problems' (AFP via Getty Images)

She added: "It is very frustrating."

The 37-year-old claims that the postcode on the street she lives on has been used for bookings by the travel's website, and her house in particular was used in one of the drop pins.

But, it turns out that users of the popular site had booked accommodation which is listed the address as a flat in Greenwich.

As a result of the confusion, Ms Arsenius revealed that she even made her living room into an accommodation for three students from Argentina, after they were unable to arrange a suitable stay for themselves for that night.

Speaking about this, the 37-year-old said: "They had nowhere to go and we tried all the the local hotels but everything was booked out.

"There was nothing free so in the end we said 'we're not comfortable with just letting you go out in the night so let's just make up some beds in the living room and you can just stay here'.

"But it shouldn't ever have got that far. It should have been taken care of, even if Booking.com is put out."

A spokesperson for Booking.com told The Mirror: "We take safety and security very seriously, and every week, we facilitate millions of stays with the vast majority taking place with absolutely no problems. Scams are unfortunately a battle many industries are facing against unscrupulous fraudsters looking to take advantage and it is something we are tackling head on.

"We have a number of robust security measures in place, but in the very rare instance there may be an issue with a specific property we always investigate immediately.

"We can confirm this property has been completely removed from our site and all customers affected were contacted by a member of our customer service team to apologise and offer any support required in relation to refunds, relocations and additional fees, and we of course extend our sincere apologies to the homeowner."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.