Risks of booking holidays online: We paid for one, got a completely different, worse hotel

Booking holidays online, especially through specialized portals that offer discounts if you book through them, can sometimes get complicated, writes the BH news agency Patria (NAP).

However, don't let that confuse you.

A reader of the news agency Patria had an unpleasant experience in Podgora. He booked a holiday for his parents at the Mediteran Hotel, but upon arrival, they were accommodated in the Minerva Hotel, which was nice and pleasant, but not as much as Mediteran. He said he had really hoped his parents would have an unforgettable holiday.

- The hotel had no justification, except that they didn't have rooms and that they would offer additional services, like a solarium, in return for the price difference. For people who are 60 years old and over, and who also have certain health conditions, a solarium was not much of a consolation – said this reader, who did not wish to reveal his name, but offered a confirmed reservation at the Mediteran Hotel as proof.

- When we made the online reservation, it stated that we should first check with the hotel if they had availability, which we did. The hotel told us they had rooms available and that we could buy a voucher and send them confirmation once we paid so they could confirm our reservation. We did everything, sent the voucher to the hotel, and they confirmed that the reservation was successfully completed.

However, when the parents arrived at the hotel, they were met with an unpleasant surprise. They were told that there had been some mistake in the system and that due to a lack of rooms, they had to transfer them to the Minerva Hotel, which is close to the Mediteran Hotel but nowhere near it in quality, and also much cheaper (a price difference of 300 KM).

As compensation, they were given parking, a tourist tax, and a few other things that they wouldn't use because they weren't interested – explains this reader. He adds that it was only on the second day that they called the agency and the hotel from Sarajevo to seek an explanation. He claims that both the agency and the hotel tried to convince them that their parents had received exactly what they needed and that they shouldn't worry about their enjoyment.

- We felt so stupid. Only when we threatened to give the whole story to the media did they offer to refund the difference in money. We are not satisfied with the solution, we are not interested in the money, but we did not want to complicate things further – claims this reader. He says he is aware that mistakes happen in business, but it is important to apologize to the guest for the oversight. He believes it is only right that for the inconvenience caused to the guest, you should offer more than what they paid for, not give them compensation in things they won't use, writes NAP.