What happens if the holiday accommodation you booked is unavailable when you turn up? According to these readers, precisely nothing …

JK of Stockport and his family booked a week in Staithes, North Yorkshire through Sykes Cottages. They arrived to find the cottage already occupied. “The housekeeper told us the family who had booked the preceding week had decided to spend an extra night. Eventually, she said we could stay in another property but would have to be out by 11am the next day, could not use the master bedroom and would have to pay for the cleaning.

“Sykes was sympathetic but useless. We waited in the car in atrocious weather with two young children and a puppy for two hours while waiting for them to contact the owner. It was eventually confirmed we could stay the night in the other cottage without paying extra. We spent much of the next day waiting for the booked cottage to be cleaned. We lodged a complaint but have heard nothing since.”

KT of Bournemouth reserved an apartment in Budapest via Expedia, electing to pay on arrival. The booking was confirmed over the phone but, when she arrived, it had been cancelled. Nonetheless, £162 was debited from her card and the owner failed to respond to messages.

“Expedia claims they are just the booking agent and my bank says I cannot file a dispute because I don’t have written proof that the reservation was cancelled,” she says.

PD of Elstead, Surrey, paid Hotels.com £320 in advance for three nights in a French gite. He arrived to find it had been double booked. “We were left late at night with nowhere to stay,” he says. “Hotels.com admitted its error and offered us a £100 voucher, but three months on it has not refunded the £320.”

Sykes Cottages says that in JK’s “isolated issue” previous guests had booked through another agency and claims a “technical error” prevented his complaint reaching the “correct team”. Only after the Observer intervened did it refund the first night of his stay and offer a £175 voucher.

Expedia says KT should have contacted customer service when she was refused entry to her apartment. Its terms and conditions, however, are silent on procedure, nor was a helpline provided on the booking confirmation. It has now refunded the cost of the original booking and the difference in price between that and the emergency alternative.

Hotels.com says it had not been able to find an acceptable alternative for PB as it was high season and an “administrative error” prevented a refund. After media pressure it returned the cost of the gite, out-of-pocket expenses and added a £150 voucher as PB “didn’t have a great experience”.

If you need help email Anna Tims at your.problems@observer.co.uk or write to Your Problems, The Observer, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Include an address and phone number. Submission and publication are subject to our terms and conditions