Travel Troubleshooter: Branson rental is a complete nightmare with bugs and dog urine

Q: My husband and I checked into a rental home in Branson that we booked through Booking.com for our 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 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 I rented it from, for three days, and they refuse to refund our stay. A local Vacasa manager claims there’s nothing wrong with the property because they sent someone to clean up the mess, but I disagree. I took photos and videos of the place before we left for proof.

Please help me get my money back from these scam artists!

A: No one should have to stay in the rental unit you described. The home that you reserved on Booking.com, which was managed by Vacasa, should have been clean when you checked in.

Typically, when the unit hasn’t been cleaned, 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 this include finding black mold, a fire hazard, rodents — or the powerful stench of animal urine.

Yes, Vacasa could have cleaned the carpet and bathtub, but if you have a dog allergy, there’s no way it would have been enough.

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. You tried to resolve this with Vacasa and Booking.com, but neither stepped up to give you a refund.

I contacted Booking.com on your behalf. A Booking.com representative noted that the property 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 (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers. Contact him at chris@elliott.org or at elliottadvocacy.org/help.