A British couple paid about £1,500 for a villa in Positano on Italy's Amalfi Coast that turned out not to exist, after Booking.com's AI support chatbot told them a payment request was genuine, GB News reports.
Alfie Learmouth, 27, had booked the five-day trip to propose to his partner, Jordan Bland. The day before they left, the host asked for the full cost by bank transfer. He checked with the platform's chatbot, which said the request was legitimate. The next morning the booking was cancelled, supposedly because of a burst pipe. A local restaurant owner later told them another visitor had arrived with the same photos a month earlier.
Booking.com said it was processing a full refund and had removed the listing. The proposal still went ahead, despite the couple also losing their luggage on the flight out.
Source: GB News
