Champneys Forest Mere Health Farm, Hampshire

I booked a honeymoon stay at Forest Mere through Booking.com, which promises flexibility as you can cancel your stay up to 24hrs before. However, when I tried to cancel this reservation (I decided to book direct with them on their website instead) I discovered that I a) had been charged for my booking.com reservation, when I didn't realise the payment was going to be taken in advance, and b) have not been refunded since cancelling, despite requesting it multiple times from both Booking.com and Champneys (2 weeks ago). This means I have effectively paid twice for the same stay and am currently £300 out of pocket!

It is not clear who is to blame in this scenario either, so I will be writing a review for Booking.com too.

This has now put a dampener on my upcoming honeymoon which we were so looking forward to. The actual stay may end up being nice, but going by the customer service I have received so far from Champneys Forest Mere (or lack thereof) I am not hopeful.