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A 100-year-old oak tree toppled over on the initial day of a vacation. Moments after James and his partner Andrew had finished breakfasting on the terrace, the massive tree smashed their table and chairs and damaged their rental car's windscreen.

The vacation home in Provence, France was covered by branches that broke the living room window and harmed the roof. "I was convinced the ceiling would collapse," James remembers. "If it had fallen moments earlier, we could have been seriously injured or fatally wounded."

If it had fallen minutes earlier we would have been critically hurt or fatally wounded

Emergency repairs took 24 hours after the host hauled the tree off the property, but the shaken couple worried the building might be structurally unsound and decided to reserve a hotel for the rest of their week-long stay.

The booking platform showed little concern. "We recognize this may have caused some inconvenience," stated the first of many identical automated messages before concluding the pending case with a upbeat "Stay safe. Be well."

The host displayed little concern. "All that happened was you experienced a loud sound and saw a tree lying on the terrace," she replied to the couple's refund request. "You have chosen to remember the worry and distress instead of cherishing a special memory."

Peak Season Vacation Problems Surface

Now that the peak travel period has concluded, countless travel nightmare accounts are coming to light.

Unfortunate travelers report being trapped inside or unable to enter their rental – if it was real – or abandoned at night in strange cities when it did not. Stories include dirty bedrooms, unsafe equipment and illegal sublets. One shared element connects these ruined holidays: they were booked through digital reservation services that refused refunds.

The expansion of rental platforms has led to a rise in travelers organizing their own holidays. These companies display worldwide property portfolios on their websites and guarantee to fulfill wanderlust on a budget.

Customer safeguards, however, have not caught up with their widespread use.

Regulatory Loopholes

Package-deal customers have legal recourse for holiday nightmares under consumer travel regulations, but those who book accommodation through online booking services find themselves reliant on their host's cooperation.

Some platforms promote additional protections, but your contract is with the person or business providing the accommodation.

James and Andrew had paid £931 for their week in the French cottage and when they felt too unsafe to return, ended up paying twice that for a hotel. They still await information about whether they are responsible for the broken rental car. Despite the platform's guarantee program to reimburse customers for serious problems, the company stated it was up to the host to agree a refund; the host claimed the determination was the platform's.

After two and a half months of identical automated messages in response to James's complaint, the platform declared the case had dragged on long enough and abruptly ended it. The host concluded that since repairs had cost her €5,000 (£4,350), she would not be offering a refund either. She proposed that instead the couple celebrate their survival and "turn the event into a beautiful story."

The platform finally issued a full refund along with a £500 voucher after questions were raised about its health and safety policies.

Trapped

Kim Pocock used a booking platform to reserve a flat for a weekend stay in Barcelona. She and her daughter were left trapped the property for the majority of their single full day in the city after a security lock on the front door failed.

"The host dispatched a repair person, who was could not to help," she states. "Finally they sent a locksmith who attempted for several hours to fix the lock from the outside. He had to buy a rope, which he tossed up to our window and we hoisted up a tool and tools. With us levering the lock from the inside and the locksmith banging it from the outside, we finally managed to extract it. It turned out loose screws had jammed the mechanism. By then it was almost 4pm."

We would have been at grave danger if there had been an emergency while we were trapped, yet the host faulted us for using the lock

Pocock asked for a complete reimbursement to compensate her ruined trip and the anxiety. The booking platform indicated this was at the decision of the host. The host not only refused, but withheld her €250 deposit to cover the new lock. The deposit was eventually returned by the platform but Pocock felt she was owed the €446 rental cost.

Another platform customer, Philip, was trapped outside the London flat he booked for £70 when, upon attempting to check in, he found the key safe empty. The owners told him they were overseas and could not help and suggested him to locate somewhere else for the night. He paid an extra £123 on a hotel room and has spent the following four months attempting in vain to get this reimbursed.

"The platform has essentially said that as the owner isn't responding to them there's nothing they can do," he says. "I don't understand how a business can function this way with no accountability. The additional frustration is that the property in question is still being listed on the platform."

The platform reimbursed both customers after involvement. The company verified the host who had locked Philip out of his rental had not responded to its questions. When asked why unscrupulous accommodation providers were not removed, it said customers should read guest feedback to ensure a property was "the right fit."

Rating Systems

Reviews do not always reveal the complete picture. A previous consumer report highlighted that one platform's standard setup was displaying reviews it considered "relevant." This means that it is simple for users to miss a recent deluge of reviews cautioning that a listing is a fraud or not available.

The platform responded that customers could easily organize reviews by the newest or lowest score so as to make their own choice on a property.

The same report stated that listings that had been multiple times reported as scams were not removed. The platform answered that it depended on hosts to follow its rules and ensure that availability was up to date.

Regulatory Grey Area

The issue for travelers who do not get what they expected is that their legal agreement is with the accommodation provider not the booking platform.

Major platforms promise to help find other accommodation in an crisis, but getting compensation for a interrupted stay is a more difficult struggle. Both tend to rely on the owner to do what's fair.

The sector needs more regulation, according to consumer protection experts. "Since online platforms effectively police themselves, the only course of action if the dispute continues is legal action," analysts say. "But against whom? As the contract is between you and the host you'd have to take legal action in their country."

They continue: "You could argue that the online marketplace failed to investigate your complaint thoroughly and try to sue them, but this is a grey area. Both companies are based abroad and have deep pockets."

Regulatory bodies say new customer safety legislation requires online platforms to "exercise professional diligence" in relation to consumer transactions promoted or made on their platforms.

A spokesperson says: "Government agencies are on the side of consumers and we have implemented strict new financial penalties for breaches of consumer law to safeguard people's money."

They added: "Businesses selling services to local consumers must comply with national law, and we have strengthened oversight authorities' powers to make sure they face substantial penalties if they do not."