Our agritourism owner gave us aggro

QAs my sister lives in Abruzzo, Italy, we decided to rent a house nearby over Easter. I found a three-bedroom agritourism property near Crecchio for £962 with Interhome, which was being advertised on Booking.com.

On arrival we were shown around by the owner, who did not speak English. My sister and her husband, who had driven us in two cars, asked in fluent Italian if they could stay for dinner. The owner initially said yes, then refused.

My sister left to collect my mother who was staying with her. When she returned, the owner said she and her husband were not to come near his property again. We were flabbergasted on hearing this, as these relatives were our means of transport. The owner and his wife became more and more hostile, accusing us of not booking for the correct number of occupants (Interhome initially made a mistake on our voucher but issued a corrected one) and of planning to have parties. My children began crying. I tried to calm everyone down but could not make myself understood.

The situation escalated as I held for a Booking.com agent and the owner called Interhome. The owner started talking of calling the police. He had our passports but would not check us in and demanded the keys back. His daughter, who spoke very basic English, said we must leave and Interhome would call us. That call never came.

I have been trying to get my money back without success. Can you help?

– Magda Forrest

A

Initially Interhome claimed, based on the owner’s testimony, that Mrs Forrest had turned up with 12 people. She robustly denied this. Interhome then offered £170 as a goodwill gesture. When this was refused, it said it would “strike a deal to increase the amount offered”.

At this point, Mrs Forrest wrote to me. Having read the correspondence, I felt that the Forrest family had been poorly treated both by the owner and the agents. I contacted Booking.com to see if it could resolve the complaint.

After investigating the issues raised, it agreed that this was not the standard of experience its customers should expect, and there had clearly been an error on the part of the villa owner. It has now apologised to Mrs Forrest and given her a full refund.

Booking.com says visitors to properties are allowed at the discretion of the owner. It suggests that customers contact the property manager directly with any such request prior to arrival.

No warm welcome: Crecchio, in central Italy, where our reader stayed to be near her family but fell foul of a misunderstanding