‘Twenty strangers came to our house after scammers mentioned it on Booking.com – we even had to spend the night there’: the family’s misery after tourists from all over the world turned up unexpectedly at their door
- 20 tourists came to the home of Karin Arsenius, 37, from South East London
- Her house appeared on Booking.com after ‘scammers’ put it on the website
A family fell victim to Booking.com scammers after 20 tourists arrived unexpectedly at their doorstep within a month thinking it was a vacation rental.
The strangers all arrived at the home of Karin Arsenius, 37, in Plumstead, south-east London, after scammers allegedly posted it on the accommodation booking website.
She is now considering legal action against Booking.com, which has since apologized and removed the ad after some guests tried to find a key safe in her house.
Ms Arsenius said unexpected visits from tourists – from countries such as Algeria, the US, Canada and India – must come to an end and that the situation is ‘very frustrating’.
She reportedly said her street’s postcode appeared to have been used for bookings on the travel website, with her home under it where a pin had fallen – and the full address appeared to be a flat in Greenwich.
Strangers arrived at the home of Karin Arsenius (pictured), 37, in Plumstead, south-east London after scammers reportedly posted it on holiday website Booking.com
Argentinian students Jessica, Natalia and Sabrina Salomé Schneider (right) had to spend more money booking another accommodation after they showed up at Ms Arsenius’ house on Saturday, May 27 after booking on Booking.com
Mrs. Arsenius had to accommodate three women who visited London from Argentina after they showed up at her house and couldn’t find another place for the night. BBC reports.
She made beds for the students in her living room for the women after they showed up around 8pm on Saturday, May 27.
The homeowner and her partner took them to the pub to try to resolve the matter with Booking.com, but they had failed to resolve it before midnight, which Ms Arsenius said was ‘shocking’.
She said all the local hotels were fully booked and she wasn’t comfortable leaving them sate anywhere, but said the website should have taken care of it.
College student Sabrina Salomé Schneider, 31, said coming home, rather than the vacation they’d been expecting, was a “nightmare.”
The strangers arrived at the home of Karin Arsenius, 37, in Plumstead, south-east London after scammers allegedly posted it on the holiday website
She told the BBC that they were still waiting for money from Booking.com and have spent even more money to find somewhere else to stay.
A consumer law expert, Lisa Webb of Which?, told the broadcaster that the company needs to ensure that people are protected and compensated, but also to ensure that these ‘scams’ do not appear on their website.
In a statement, Booking.com said: ‘We take safety and security very seriously, and every week we facilitate millions of stays, the vast majority of which are absolutely flawless.
Scams are unfortunately a battle that many industries face against unscrupulous fraudsters looking to profit and it is something we are cracking down on. We have some robust security measures in place, but in the very rare event that there is an issue with a specific property, we always investigate immediately.
‘We can confirm that this property has been completely removed from our site and all affected customers have been contacted by a member of our customer service team to apologize and provide all necessary support in relation to refunds, relocations and additional charges, and we are of course extending our sincere apologies to the homeowner.’