This vacation rental is a complete nightmare. Why can't I get my money back?

My husband and I checked into a rental home in Branson, Mo., that we booked through Booking.com, for our seventh anniversary. It was a complete nightmare!

The whole place smelled of dog odor, there was dog poop in the unit and a grass pee pad that smelled of dog urine.

There were dog pee stains throughout the unit and the carpet looked like it hadn't been cleaned in years. There was dust all over and bugs in the bathtub.

There also was a spot of pee -- still wet! -- on the couch.

When we booked the unit, it never said it was dog friendly or I would have never rented it, because I have a pet allergy. We packed up our stuff and left to find a different place in the area to stay.

I've been going back and forth with Booking.com and Vacasa, the company through which it was rented, for the last three days, and they refuse to refund our stay. A local manager of the Vacasa rental unit claims there's nothing wrong with the property because they sent someone to clean up the mess. I disagree. I took photos and video of the place before we left for proof. Please help me get my money back from these scam artists!

Mary Brewer, Weldon Spring, Mo.

No one should have to stay in the rental unit you described.

The home, which you reserved on Booking.com and which was managed by Vacasa (a rental management platform) should have been clean when you checked in. Typically, when you check in and the unit hasn't been cleaned -- that happens sometimes -- the rental management company will send someone over to remedy the situation. But I believe there are cases in which a rental unit is unsalvageable. Examples of that include finding black mold, or a fire hazard or rodents -- or the powerful stench of animal urine

Yes, Vacasa could have cleaned the carpet and the bathtub, but if you have a dog allergy, there's no way it would have been enough. And as you note, neither Vacasa nor Booking.com ever indicated that the rental home was pet friendly -- which, for someone with an animal allergy, means "DO NOT RENT."

Ultimately, Booking.com is responsible for the quality of the unit. The company listed the home on its site, and your accommodations were not as described. I can see from your paper trail that you tried to resolve this through Vacasa and Booking.com, but neither company was stepping up to give you a refund.

A brief, polite appeal to one of the Booking.com executives, along with the photos and videos of the rental, might have fixed this problem for you. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the Booking.com customer service managers on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.

I contacted Booking.com on your behalf. A Booking.com representative noted that the property reserved had a review score of 5.7 out of 10, which is low -- the implication being that you should have known this wouldn't be the Ritz. It's a vacation rental in Branson.

"That being said, after investigating this case, Booking.com can completely understand that the cleanliness of the stay did not meet the customer’s expectations," the representative added. "We have reached out to the property on behalf of the guest and issued a full refund."

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him on his site.

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