Michaela C.

SCAM ALERT! We are disgusted at how booking.com handled a scam we recently went through on their site. They were not helpful, not perturbed and the scammers are still running deals on their site!
On Christmas day we arrive in Bloubergstrand, South Africa at the said location attached to the apartments called Ocean Sunset. We were very happy as the apartment building was beautiful and had a big pool and was beachfront as stated in the booking.com page and matched the original pictures. We were early and the agent said she would meet us at a later time to check in and give our keys. We proceeded to have Christmas Lunch.
At the last minute the agent called us to say the Location of our apartment was actually 20KM away in greenpoint. THIS IS NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR. (the agent tried to convince us the other apartment is better)
We had to pay a hefty bill for Uber to get to this other apartment. When we arrived we were shocked to find the apartment was actually situated on the outskirts of greenpoint, in the back of a dingy building, NOT ON A BEACH FRONT or anywhere near a leisurely beach and 20km from the location stated. The room looks like a staff quarters with a bunk bed, and could not possibly accommodate 3 adults. No aircon, no tv, no ventilation in the stuffy room, no kitchen, approximately 8 square meters and not the 35 we were promised. Furthermore the agent was staying in a room basically in our apartment!
The accommodation we were given did not have a beach front, did not have a sea view, did not have an indoor and outdoor pool, did not have a fitness center, BBG facilities or water sport as stated on the website as promised. The pictures did not match what we were given. The original pictures are just given to lure you in and think you are given a beach apartment.
When we tried to negotiate to go to the location in our contract, the agent stated that these apartments were double what we had paid and was booked up.
We were explaining this to booking.com to try resolve the situation. All they suggested is we get a refund of the accommodation and werent even helpful. Where were we to find accommodation so late on Christmas day? We had paid so much money for flights and were stuck in a city that was fully booked up over the Christmas season with nowhere to stay! (see attached pics of what we paid for, and what we got)