ArcaMax

Q: I booked a room with two queen beds through Booking.com at a hotel in Brooklyn. I needed the queen beds, and the room was clearly advertised as such. However, when I checked in, the beds were obviously smaller. I later measured them to be approximately 50 inches wide, which is a full-sized bed, not a queen. To make matters worse, the room was disgusting. The sheets had grease stains, hair, and what looked like suspicious red stains.

I asked for a new room, but the second one was worse, featuring a clear splatter of red stains across the floor. I didn't feel safe or comfortable and left that night to find another hotel. I immediately contacted the hotel and Booking.com. The hotel denied my request for a full refund. Booking.com gave me the runaround for weeks and offered a mere $106 goodwill credit.

I disputed the charge on my credit card. Capital One initially credited the $922 charge, but then rebilled it after the merchant responded to the chargeback. I've sent all my photo and video proof to all three parties, yet I'm still out almost $1,000 for a service that I never used. What can I do to get my full refund? -- Rebekah Singleton, in Alexandria, Virginia

A: This is an infuriating bait-and-switch case compounded by a gross disregard for public health and safety. The hotel falsely advertised accommodations with two queen beds, then gave you a room with smaller beds and alarming, unsanitary conditions. Ugh.

Despite your exhaustive paper trail that documented multiple attempts to resolve the issue with the hotel and Booking.com, both companies refused a full refund. The hotel simply denied your photographic evidence, and Booking.com attempted to settle the matter with a meager credit, claiming that your valid health and safety concerns were merely a matter of opinion.

With the hotel refusing to budge, and Booking.com failing its duty to ensure accurate listings and customer satisfaction, your most direct path was to resubmit a dispute to Capital One, focusing on the contract violation of the room and bed size. This documented pattern of deceit and poor customer service should have ultimately won your chargeback. Incredibly, it didn't. Capital One sided with the hotel, claiming that you had "used" the services.

Could you have avoided this? Reviewing the hotel's ratings might have kept you away. It currently has 2.5 stars out of 5. (I asked you about this, and you said that at the time you booked, the reviews were "a mixed bag, but nothing completely egregious.")

In a situation like this, you can escalate your complaint to Booking.com. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of key Booking.com executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org. Or you could ask a consumer advocate for help. You chose door number two, and I reached out to Booking.com on your behalf to find out if it really planned to force you to pay $922 for these shoddy accommodations. The answer, thankfully, was "no."

"After a full review of the case, our customer service team has engaged directly with both the guest and the accommodation to resolve the situation," a representative told me. "Given the concerns raised around room conditions and the customer's overall experience, we've issued a full refund."

I asked Booking.com if the hotel would be removed from the platform, and it said that it'd work directly with the property to make improvements. I guess everyone deserves a second chance ... maybe.

========

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.

(c) 2026 Christopher Elliott

Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.