Scam in Portugal, revised

[TulasiPriya]

So, my post about the albergue in Portugal was removed because it violated the rule against "second-hand posts that bash businesses that can't give their side." Fair enough.

But I also think this is a safety and well-being issue, so I'm just posting again without naming the business.

There was an incident where the host of the albergue lied to a female pilgrim, saying that booking dot com "double-booked," and then tried to get the woman to go in a car to a private house. When the woman refused, she was accosted by the host and pressured to comply with their wishes. The pilgrim said that guests at the albergue where she eventually stayed said that this was a known scam. The albergue is presumably being reported to booking.

So, beware. If someone tells you that booking dot com is double-booked, be skeptical, and verify directly with their customer service. I don't think it's a good idea to get in a car with anyone you didn't hire yourself.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

I have had an experience where there was a double booking so it does happen.

I also have various experiences where the accommodation wasn't quite what I thought I'd booked. Almost all were positive, including staying in the home of a lady in Sarajevo when we were expecting to have a private room in a hostel.
I think being a bit open-minded helps. Just because it isn't quite well you expected doesn't make it a scam.
I was also amused by your description of the car in your first post. I suggest if you're fussy about the car that gives you a lift, you never travel to Greece!

 

[SabsP]

I have had an experience where there was a double booking so it does happen.

I also have various experiences where the accommodation wasn't quite what I thought I'd booked. Almost all were positive, including staying in the home of a lady in Sarajevo when we were expecting to have a private room in a hostel.
I think being a bit open-minded helps. Just because it isn't quite well you expected doesn't make it a scam.
I was also amused by your description of the car in your first post. I suggest if you're fussy about the car that gives you a lift, you never travel to Greece!

Indeed!

Before the first post got deleted I searched for the hotel. It got some quite good reviews and yes also some more negative ones. The same for the reviews on bookingdotcom.
All in all average score was 4.3 on 5.

Haha regarding the car. If you got a lift today from me in my Fiat 500 , you would have had second thoughts too ( long story ) .

 

[Flog]

I think being a bit open-minded helps. Just because it isn't quite well you expected doesn't make it a scam.

I didn't read the original post, but I agree..

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Years ago I stayed in a cheap rented room in Hania old town. I read the reviews.
One young couple were upset that when they showed up at 11pm the hostess had let the room to someone else. They did acknowledge that she found them another room in the same area.

Some people are never happy!

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

So, my post about the albergue in Portugal was removed...

I can't help feeling you're giving Portugal a bit of a "bum rap." Yes, it's on the Portuguese caminho, but the town where this happened is actually in Spain, in Galicia!

 

[Robo]

I had booked a well known and popular Hotel in St Jean, using booking.
The day before we arrived I got a message from the Hotel, saying they had cancelled our room, as they had a large group that needed it!
At the last minute we hunted around for something else….

 

[ShoshTrvls]

I agree that one should not just jump into a car with a stranger, particularly if something feels "off," But owners of accomodations along the camino often work with one another when there are problems with bookings. I had a situation on the Portugues where the people who were staying in an AirB&B I had booked in Pontevedra hadn't vacated the property. The owner of the AirB&B, upon realizing this when he went to change the sheets, etc., called around and found a pension that could take us for the night.

 

[Walkalong]

Sorry to learn of your experience.

When we arrived at a hostel/hotel to find that our reserved room (suite) had just been rented to a walk-in, the apologetic operator drove us to a private albergue where we shared dorm rooms with the most lovely people.

That day, and evening in particular, was a relaxing, wonderful, experience that we still occasionally reflect on.

Bom Caminho

 

[Corned Beef]

that bash businesses that can't give their side." Fair enough.

I can't see how this post allows the hotel the opportunity to 'give their side', Am I missing something?

 

[dreaming]

We booked an airport hotel in Iceland. The woman that picked us up said the one we booked was full so took us to another much better one for the same price. This was the best food we experienced in Iceland. The only problem was that it was nowhere near the bus station whereas the first one was.

 

[peregrino_tom]

I can't help feeling you're giving Portugal a bit of a "bum rap." Yes, it's on the Portuguese caminho, but the town where this happened is actually in Spain, in Galicia!

There's a lot that's wrong with the original post. It contains the kind of alarmist hearsay that's more at home on Facebook. The fact that the albergue involved is actually in Spain underlines this.

 

[Liica]

So, my post about the albergue in Portugal was removed because it violated the rule against "second-hand posts that bash businesses that can't give their side." Fair enough.

But I also think this is a safety and well-being issue, so I'm just posting again without naming the business.

There was an incident where the host of the albergue lied to a female pilgrim, saying that booking dot com "double-booked," and then tried to get the woman to go in a car to a private house. When the woman refused, she was accosted by the host and pressured to comply with their wishes. The pilgrim said that guests at the albergue where she eventually stayed said that this was a known scam. The albergue is presumably being reported to booking.

So, beware. If someone tells you that booking dot com is double-booked, be skeptical, and verify directly with their customer service. I don't think it's a good idea to get in a car with anyone you didn't hire yourself.

That happened to me and my husband when walking the Via Gebenensis (France). We found a note at the door saying we should call an x number. We called and the woman came to pick us up and took us to a private house. When we arrived at this house, a bunch of teenager were leaving the house. The bed was made up very fast, as if someone was sleeping there. The kitchen was a mess, food everywhere, used plates on the table, sink ... left over food on the fridge. Absolutely awful experience. I just could imagine it was a scam. As soon as the woman left, we left also. The booookking was canceled by the owner, so I could not even evaluate or warn others about the scam. Nobody deserves this!

 

[Kathar1na]

I, too, saw the original post where the establishment was named.

As others have already pointed out, it is in a town in Spain / Galicia and not in Portugal.

Also, it is a pension and not an albergue.

The claim that this is "a scam" appears to be that this establishment accepts bookings and then makes guests stay elsewhere and that this is not an unusual event due to unexpected circumstances but frequent practice.

I have no idea whether this is true. Looking at the reviews that are available online I found this comment from a month ago: "I understand that those of you who give a 5 star review do so because they did not send you to a room in a private house 50 m away, with people living there, where you enter through the kitchen, and where you do not have a key to open or shut your door. And a bathroom without walls. A whole picture. To run away, literally." (Translated from Italian).

 

[trecile]

I can't see how this post allows the hotel the opportunity to 'give their side', Am I missing something?

The original (deleted) post named the property, but this revised version does not.

 

[AnneO]

I had something like this happen this past summer. The place I had booked (directly with them and not on booking) had overbooked. They notified me of this some time in advance. They rebooked me at another nearby hostal, which actually was more expensive than the original. But I paid the original hostal the agreed upon price, they drove me to the new hostal, and they paid the higher price there.

I can’t speak to the OP’s situation, and I would certainly have thought differently if I were asked to stay at someone’s house, but I think we have to be careful about labeling anything unexpected as a scam. It might be but I think the vast majority of hospitaleros are doing everything they can to take care of pilgrims when things come up.

 

[Joynz]

So, my post about the albergue in Portugal was removed because it violated the rule against "second-hand posts that bash businesses that can't give their side." Fair enough.

But I also think this is a safety and well-being issue, so I'm just posting again without naming the business.

There was an incident where the host of the albergue lied to a female pilgrim, saying that booking dot com "double-booked," and then tried to get the woman to go in a car to a private house. When the woman refused, she was accosted by the host and pressured to comply with their wishes. The pilgrim said that guests at the albergue where she eventually stayed said that this was a known scam. The albergue is presumably being reported to booking.

So, beware. If someone tells you that booking dot com is double-booked, be skeptical, and verify directly with their customer service. I don't think it's a good idea to get in a car with anyone you didn't hire yourself.

Was this your experience or are you reporting someone else’s experience?

 

[Kathar1na]

We can doubt the story and we can believe it.

Since we don’t know where the property is and what it is called we can neither avoid it nor can we go there and write wonderful reviews. It does not help that the post is not a first hand experience.

I don’t think that Booking.com overbooks. As I understand it it is the property owner who manages their offer themselves on this OTA website. I personally would get suspicious if I were told about such “overbooking” by the OTA. Why not fess up that you as the owner made a mistake.

Mistakes are made, unexpected events happen. Property owners can communicate such changes to their customers through the same channel where the booking was made. Then the customer can decide whether to accept a new proposal for accommodation elsewhere or look for it themselves. In both cases, sometimes you get a better deal and sometimes it is not so good. Who doesn’t have such a story to tell, I certainly have. As this was a 1-star pension it could have gone either way …

 

[trecile]

Was this your experience or are you reporting someone else’s experience?

This was actually a second hand account of someone else's experience, which is why the OP is unable to answer specific questions, because they don't have all of the information.

This is why we discourage these kind of second hand reports.

In light of the unreliability of the story the thread is now closed.