Your problems: we want a refund for ill-starred trip to India

My wife and I decided to attend the 2025 Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, India, and built an 18-day trip around it, with three nights to be spent in Prayagraj. The Kumbh Mela is the biggest gathering of humanity in the world, and this one was the most important for 144 years because of planetary alignments, with more than 660 million visitors over 45 days.

In April 2024, I booked and paid 9,294 INR (£91.40) for accommodation through Booking.com for 2-5 February 2025 at the FabHotel New Shanti. I was surprised the hotel’s rates were still low, especially as the booking was cancellable (by me) free of charge up until midnight on 31 January 25. We were due to fly out to Delhi on 24 January. On 2 January I received an email from FabHotels saying my booking had been cancelled and a refund would be made in 5-7 working days. I received confirmation of this from Booking.com later that day. I hadn’t cancelled, so I called FabHotels – twice. Both agents were incredibly rude and the second said, bluntly, that they wouldn’t honour the booking as they could let the room for a lot more during the Mela.

Booking.com offered accommodation at another hotel and said it would pay the price difference of 14,226 INR or €160.47. However, this hotel was shown as two-star and had poor customer reviews, while the FabHotel New Shanti was shown as three-star with good reviews. I booked instead with Imperail House, another three-star FabHotel with good reviews, at a cost of 42,914 INR. I paid a 30% deposit of 12,875 INR (£122.61) immediately.

This time I was concerned by the unhelpfulness of FabHotels’ agents, so I searched for reviews of the company. The results were shocking, with 94% of Trustpilot reviews one star and 3% two star on a five-star scale. There were frequent reports of guests being turned away as they came to check in, despite having paid in full; and also of vermin, bloodstained sheets and rude staff. So I cancelled the Imperail House and booked a five-star hotel through another website.

I received emails from both FabHotels and Booking.com saying I would receive a full refund within 5-7 working days. I asked Booking.com to cover the 33,620 INR (£285) difference in cost between the two FabHotels. It said the fact that we had, ultimately, booked through another website made no difference, and simply asked me to supply the invoice with a zero balance after our stay.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go to plan as my wife and I both fell ill and we flew home six days earlier than planned, without going to the Kumbh Mela. Since our return, I’ve had many email exchanges and phone calls with contacted Booking.com many times. Finally, I was told that I would receive refunds of the two amounts FabHotels had charged, the 33,620 INR I’d been promised and €25 as compensation for the aggravation caused.

But now Booking.com has changed its mind, saying my booking doesn’t qualify as it was cancelled, or our visit was incomplete, and I haven’t received the money it promised.

FabHotels is a franchise chain of budget Indian hotels, and reviews vary from hotel to hotel, so it pays to check what previous guests have to say before you book. You paid £215 to FabHotel in total and the chain refunded £196 (exchange rate movements reduced the amount). On that basis, it might seem odd to expect a refund of the difference in full price for the two hotels from Booking.com, especially when you only paid a deposit for the second.

But you pointed out that the whole saga started when your original hotel booking through Booking.com was not honoured, and that Booking.com had agreed to pay the difference. I asked Booking.com to do what it had promised.

Booking.com said: “In situations where an accommodation is unable to fulfil a reservation, our partners are responsible for helping customers to find a suitable alternative – which happened in this case and the customer booked an alternative. According to our terms and conditions, we would refund the price difference of the alternative accommodation after a successful stay, which did not happen in this instance, as the customer subsequently cancelled this booking.”

However, in recognition of the inconvenience you suffered, it has now paid £310 to you – the difference in full hotel costs plus the €25 compensation.

Email your problems to Jill Insley at your.problems@observer.co.uk