A holidaymaker was left 'screaming and wanting to go home' after claiming to find a dead mouse in her holiday home.
Chloe Hynd booked what she thought was a 'bright, airy' terraced house for her trip to Middlesbrough on May 31, but says she was hit by the smell of 'cigarette smoke, mould and pet hair' as soon as she walked in.
The 28-year-old then tried to settle in for the night with her dad, Michael, 60, but as he moved a chair, she claims they spotted the dead body of a rodent in the 'awful' property.
Social care worker Chloe 'squirmed' at the grisly find, before deciding to find an alternative hotel for the rest of her stay - despite already shelling out £208.
Chloe says she messaged the property managers Diamond Living Space and was 'appalled' by the customer service she received - while she claims to be still waiting for a refund from Booking.com more than three weeks later.
Diamond Living Space managing director has since admitted that 'there may have been a mouse' but that it was not 'put there on purpose' - and insisted Chloe was 'abusive' as she swore in her messages while complaining.
Booking.com said that the property owner had been 'unresponsive' when they had reached out to them and that they were now going to issue a full refund after being contacted by journalists.
Chloe, from Fife, Scotland, said: "I don't want someone else to go through this. It put a dampener on the holiday from the minute we opened the door.
"My dad moved a chair while trying to get the TV on. I glanced over to my dad then saw something on the floor.
"I did a double take and there it was - the dead mouse. I screamed.
"My whole body tensed up. I was so tense that night that I've actually hurt my back. I don't think I slept at all that night.
"My dad took photos of it then put it in the bin. There were no outside bins and we wanted to put the mouse outside.
"It made me feel really dirty. I wanted to go home. It put a huge dampener on the whole holiday.
"It's not something you expect. We were of the understanding as well that Booking.com should have a certain standard.
"I'm looking just to get the refund for the two nights or at least a partial one, or apology."
Chloe and her dad had planned the three-night trip to see The Killers, one of their favourite bands, and booked the property after thinking they had 'landed on their feet' with the price.
But she claims as soon as they arrived, the house 'made her squirm' - with the 'tired-looking' decor in contrast to the bright, airy pictures online.
Chloe said: "We looked on Booking.com as with it being the Jubilee weekend, a lot of major hotels were costing a lot of money.
"Looking through the photos, it seemed like we'd landed on our feet with a great deal.
"We were a 10-minute walk from the stadium and the shops were just around the corner. All the photos looked great - it looked so clean.
"When we opened the door, the smell hit us. This awful smell like a mixture of pet hairs, wet dog, really bad smoke and mould. Just general dirt.
"There was hair everywhere. I don't know if it was human hair or pet hair. It really made you squirm.
"The hallway was so tired looking - nothing like we had seen online.
"All the way through our meal, I was thinking I really didn't want to go back to the house.
"There were worn slippers under one of the beds. We checked under the beds to see if there were any more mice or signs of life and we were greeted with these worn slippers and mountains of dust.
"I thought it was appalling customer service. The listing is still live on the website."
Chloe then contacted Booking.com to complain and claims she was told they would reply when they had reached the owner - but is yet to hear back.
She then messaged Diamond Living Space management team via WhatsApp and claims a member of staff was 'extremely sarcastic', even appearing to make a 'cheeky' jibe at her profile picture.
Chloe said: "It was a three-bedroom plus a sofa bed. It was a huge sized property but that was the only good thing about it.
"I called Booking.com and sent them pictures of the house. I described how completely unsanitary it was.
"I was on to Booking.com for an hour and a half and they tried the owner. We had to spend even more and go to another hotel which was above the odds.
" Booking.com asked if we could send an email across to them and they'd keep on trying the owner. They still haven't got back to me.
"I started a conversation with the owner and asked for a refund. He instantly replied very cheekily saying 'have a nice day' and totally disregarding me - not wanting to chat about it all.
"It felt like being bullied. He was being extremely sarcastic. I still can't pinpoint what he means about looking at my profile picture. I'm just taking him as a nasty person."
When contacted for comment, the managing director of Diamond Living Space admitted 'there may have been a mouse' - before complaining Chloe swore in messages to him.
He said: "We manage the property, we don't own the property.
"It's a house. There may have been a mouse but that area in Middlesbrough, Costa Street, is a known area for mice to come into houses.
"We do everything possible to get rid of these problems but obviously it can't be helped sometimes. A mouse might have come in.
"Sometimes you have a gap between a stay, three or four days, and a guest comes in. There might be a mouse that came into the house and died, that can't be helped.
"It doesn't mean a cleaner's left it on purpose - that's the last thing a cleaner would do.
"Mrs Chloe was being very violent [with words] and abusive towards me - actually swearing at me. In return, I did say that message, that's nothing abusive but after she swore at me.
"I have not sent her a refund. Her refund is through Booking.com, not via us. Booking.com are the party that are in control of the payments and it's up to them to refund if they think there's sufficient enough evidence.
"At no point did I swear at her, or be abusive to her. I was very calm and collected. But at the same time, she swore at me several times in the message looking for a reaction."
A spokesperson for Booking.com said: "Our primary aim at Booking.com is to provide smooth and enjoyable experiences, so we were disappointed to hear about the customer's experience.
"We picked up the complaint with the property owner to advocate on the customer's behalf, but unfortunately they have been unresponsive. In this instance we will be processing a full refund and an additional gesture of goodwill."
