A Chinese tourist was left without accommodation during a recent trip to Russia when an online site accidentally booked his hotel in the wrong country.
The man thought he’d organised three nights accommodation via an online travel site in the Russian naval city of Vladivostok, but arrived at the property to find no such booking.
According to Inkstonenews.com, the man attempted to contact the travel platform Mafengwo through the app but was unable to reach customer service.
His friend back in Beijing jumped in to assist and quickly learned that the travel site had made a booking for him, but for a hotel with a similar name on the Greek resort island of Corfu.
An employee for the online booking platform offered the tourist two options – a $31 compensation or reimbursement for his cab ride to the hotel they’d booked.
Just to be clear, that’d be a taxi ride from Russia to Greece, which crosses six international borders and equates to six days of non-stop driving. Additionally, it’d cost around $12,000 to make the trip.
Unfortunately, the tourist was forced to return to Beijing as he didn’t have the extra time to take off work, nor did he have a visa for Greece.
The online travel site apologised for the misunderstanding and agreed to deliver on its promise of a $12,000 reimbursement.
“Although it was a misunderstanding caused by miscommunication, we are willing to show our utmost sincerity.”
Mafengwo
A free trip is excellent, but the tourist could’ve saved himself a whole lot of time and stress had he just booked straight through a Travel Agent.
- READ: “It’s impossible for Travel Agents to rip off clients”
- READ: Why travellers need to give their Agent the right information
- READ: Travel Agents book 60% of Aussies to Hawaii