Booking.com review: never give your credit card details to booking.com 235

Joseph, sounds like you had the exact same problem I had. You did not receive a confirmation and were charged as a no show.
How can it be fair that you have to chase Booking.com for a confirmation email?
The confirmation when they take your credit card details is simply a web page with a unique reference for booking.com.
It is NOT an email from booking.com that you could use as a receipt.
Please post your experience as to how Booking.com proceeds, good or bad.
They make all the right noises on this forum, however an update as to the actual result is important in order to inform people as to the risk they are taking when they book with this company.

Hi Bora, i havnt recieved a refund, and it looks like im not going too either, i did email them to cancel andl post it on here, but it wont make a difference, theres so many complaints about the same thing, people not getting there confirmation emails of the booking, and the money being taken, people cancelling and the money still being taken, Booking.com ask for proof, How are you
going to have it when it was never sent in the first place, i did make a note of my booking number and even though i never recieved a confirmation email after giving my debit card details., still emailed and cancelled, but was told by Booking.com that i had not accessed my Acount, now, how would i know that when the correct information wasnt sent to me in the first place. I HAVE PROOF OF MY CANCELLATION EMAIL THAT I SENT, however that is not good enough, i stand by my comments and still say this is STEALING!

I too did not confirmation for a hotel booking in Avignon France booking . Com passed on my credit card details to the hotel
As a no show .
I had made other arrangements and am being charged for not going to the original enquiry hotel . Why would I make another booking if I had confirmation I had one.
Do not give booking . Com your credit card details as they are not safe or responsible people to deal with. Hopefully I may have blocked card charges in time.

My booking number is [protected], i also recieved an email from booking.com to say the complaint has been resolved?! By whom?! NOT ME! I will be taking to take this further, this is on going probelm not just with myself but many others who have also have money taken after bookings have been cancelled. You contact the hotel, they say its Booking.coms probelm, you email them and they say..we didnt recieve your email, even though i had it forwarded it to them, its a list of excuses and bad company policy out doing travellers by basicially stealing money from their bank accounts, even though you have tried to cancel!

the exact same thing that happened to BORA happened to me! i am furious with booking.com and had so many good experiences with them but this has really really really angered me. I also cancelled my reservation timely due to a change in my travel plans, but did not screen shot the page (my mistake, i usually do that for everything i book) --- it was DEFINITELY an EARLY cancellation and it was clearly stated that would NOTE be charged for this cancellation. But now I see the hotel charged the full fee! I will be calling booking.com to ask what on earth is going on. I am so upset i thought i could trust the site :(

i agree with all negative feeling towards booking.com, i booked a hotel in Blackpool in Jan 2013, then cancelled it 2 weeks later, i had been asked for my credit card details, but after emailing them to cancel, i didnt think anymore of it, but they took the money out of my bank account, even after cancelling, i have been emailing to no avail, and im being told, that my email didnt get there/i should of called! How rude. I have been in contact with the hotel, but they have told me the booking was still live and i was a noshow...even though i have cancelled, so im out of pocket, im so angry and will be warning friends and family not to use them, its a scam!

Mac from Booking.com team states 'Please note that when you make a reservation your credit card details are transferred via a secure connection.'
This is technically correct, your credit card details are transferred from your computer to Booking.com via a secure connection.
However Booking.com then send your credit card details to the hotel. At this point they have no control over who has access to those details, who the details are passed to and what charges are made on the card.
The hotel staff use the credit card details to charge the customer, not Booking.com.
If I am wrong on this, please explain booking.com ?

i booked and before the date that i allow to cancel i cancelled my recervation at the hotel. but unfortunetely my credit card charged for the first night 121 euro. when i call booking they told me that i never cancelled the booking and if i have evidence i have to sent to them (like screen save) thanks to God i save their anwer of cancelation and i sent it to them. but they said to me that their is not date on it. after that i found from my history the exact date of the cancelation with the time . but also they find stupid reason refuse to return my money back. pls help me. where i can complain officialy.

i had the same problem cancelled within the proper period and charged my credit card i want to complaint this can anybody help me?

i had the same problem with booking.com so the act like this to take money from us

I have used booking.com only twice and on both occasions my credit card was used fraudently shortly afterwards. These were the only times my card has ever been compromised. Fortunately, I spotted it quite quickly and was able to cancel my card both times before too much was spent and was reimbursed by my bank. However, it seems obvious to me that booking.com online is NOT a secure method of using a credit card. I will not be using this company again. KPS

Booking.com took deposit for my guesthouse booking, £67.80! and the guesthouse advised afterwards they don't do Amex. Where did my money went? Just sent an email to customer service, will see if I get response... probably next year! Laura

Further? What the point of your response if your not gonna fix anything. Total means total, total does not exclude tax and service charges. If you ment the room price you should just say the room prices is as such and then give total. And the fact that you don't even mention those wile taking my information makes you a crook, the fact that you respond to people's complaints does not mean your not. You don't care about these complaints the customer service girl said so. Please don't write a response If your just gonna respond and do what's financially feasable for you. ToTAL MEANS TOTAL...

WOW booking.com is not at all like the reservation as far as their values and business ethicists. Indian PALMS Vacation Club is the best, but Booking.com does not share their values. I so regret doing business through them and gave them my cc info. They have complaints from years ago up untill yesterday. Too bad I love the reservations or else I so wanted to cancel on them.
They don't send confirmations on the same day and hit you with extra charges later. Don't deal w them if you can they give American business ethics a bad name. Now real nervous any my cc info. Great job booking.com, you gave my vacation a great start by being so manipulative.

On 6 june 13 i had online booking hotel stay at Melaka through Booking.com
Price stated 2 days 2 night rated RM 3xx but the hotel charge us RM 6xx which is double the rated.
We had an argument but the receptionist said this Booking.com problem not hotel which public wrong price of selling.
We want this answer.

cc ntv 7
cc Tribunal

Regards,
TJ Lee
[protected]

Hi Sergejs, my booking number is [protected] .
I am very upset and this hasn't been dealt with any discretion or in an appropriate manner.
I look forward to hearing from you.

we booked hotel El Canario Boutique Hotel in Puerto Rico. At the end we arrived hotel was overbooked and they transfer us to "branch of El Canario Boutique Hotel" which in reality was completely different hotel. Just after 4 days when we booked same hotel where we had transferred - we realized that this is half price hotel of El Canario Boutique Hotel.
We tried to solve this issue with Booking.com and El Canario Boutique Hotel directly - but no refunds...

Booking.com is indeed a partner in FRAUD. My recent experience: I booked KARE SUITE NISANTASI thru Booking.com. Upon arrival, I found a "hotel" located in a maze of dark alleys. The Hotel had no sign that said KARE SUITE NISANTASI anywhere, just a door in a graffiti-covered blank wall. I "checked" out the second night because I felt unsafe in the neighborhood and the hotel. The hotel is NOT "in the fashionable area of Nisantasi" as is advertised on Booking.com. It is in a garment district where everything goes dark at 6 PM. The only people on the street are ragpickers sorting the discarded piles of fabric remnants. It was a good 500 meter walk from the nearest major street, thru dark and dirty alleys, to the "hotel". I felt unsafe.

The hotel advertises 24-hour reception. There was no reception. A young man took my passport information sitting on his bed in Apt. 1. Upon leaving, I had nowhere to "check out". I told the young man lounging about the front door that I was leaving.

The hotel has no business licenses anywheren on its walls. A normal hotel has them in the reception area. I am sure this hotel is an illegal and unlicensed enterprise. The other "guests" at the hotel were young men lounging on their beds who closed their doors when they saw me pass.

My room was a fourth floor walkup, up a narrow winding staircase. I looked for a fire escape, nonexistent.

There was NOTHING about this hotel that matched the hotel pictures or description that Booking.com advertises. An example, even though the hotel advertises as self-catering, my room had no tables of any kind: no bedside tables, no occasional tables, no tables at all.

When I complained to Booking.com, they told me that the hotel and reported me as a no-show and charged me the total room fee for the entire nine nights. And that I should sort it out with the hotel!
I would not have known about this hotel nor stayed there had Booking.com been the middleman to entice me to that hotel. Booking.com at least has the responsibility to provide their customers with what they advertise. Yet, they take no responsibility for what they advertise. This is called false advertising, and at least in the European Union and the USA meets the definition of FRAUD.

I

You have indeed been robbed by Booking.com. Booking.com receives a substantial fee from the hotels it advertises. Therefore, it is complicit in any fraud that the hotel is involved in. They are "an accessory to the crime".

Write to their CEO, Darren R. Huston
Booking.com B.V.
Remembrandt Square Office
Herengracht 597
1017 CE Amsterdam
Netherlands

As promised I am posting the results of my further dealing with booking.com.
Booking.com have sided with the hotel over me. At this stage I am accepting the loss of 625 Euros, I still feel like I have been robbed.
I repeat my earlier advice. For anyone thinking of using Booking.com - You may save some cash, but please be aware of the risk you are taking, they will hang you out to dry.

Hello Konstantina, my reference is [protected]. I have sent a message to you again this morning, and several times yesterday, however none of your unprofessional team has bothered to contact me in relation to this at all.
So all can see, I would like you to tell me ON THIS FORUM, what booking.com are going to do to adequately correct this issue.

Many Thanks.

I have only been arguing with them for about 4 days, but it was obvious from the onset as to how it was going to pan out! I have now told them that I am going to a) post a link to my complaint on facebook, b) contact BBC watchdog, and c) set up a free blog containing all of the correspondance between us!
It may only deter a few people from using them, but at least it is something, and it will make me feel better! I know 4 days is not long, but they were quick to dish out my details, so they should be quick to refund me.

I think that this is a standard response from Booking.com. This has happened to me twice. I too refused to contact the hotel direct and complained to Booking.com. They eventually sorted it out for me but it took about 4 weeks to resolve. You do not say how long ago contacted them but perhaps they need more time. I took a belt and braces approach and asked my Credit Card Company to dispute the payment on my behalf. Booking.com have now agreed to refund payment.

I too am in the process of being robbed by Booking.com! I cancelled a booking at the IBIS budget Luxumbourg, and recieved all the cancellation confirmations from Booking.com. They have basically blamed the hotel, and told me too ring the hotel with MY BANK DETAILS for a refund!
Naturally I have refused, and told booking.com that as my travel agent they should be working to resolve this issue...they have not replied yet!

Tal,
My booking number was [protected]. I appreciate you looking into this and I will post again to let people know what the end result is.
Thank you
Marty K

I am Verna Hiyao. The Booking.com advised in the website you can cancel the booking 3 days before. However, you will not notice that you have to cancel it at 0:00 hours which is completely impossible so your credit card will be charged! They are fraud. BEWARE Customers. I was charged with Php 42, 000 for their strategy. Then they will withhold any responsibility and will say you call hotel directly which is unreachable!

BEWARE!

I am the newest victim this month! They are robbers!

Hi andrej, booking number is [protected]. I was promised a response just this monday, and got nothing. Its been weeks and nothing but empty promises.

Im having a nightmare with them at the moment, over their so-called "100% cancellation guarantee". Booked corsica in early January, cancelled three weeks ago ( my booking was for june), and they are ignoring my emails regarding return of my deposit (30%), over £200!
Ive always used lastminute before who have been great. Booking.com on the other hand are a complete nightmare and I will be reporting them to trading standards if they dont get in touch within the week.

Beware if you are making a last minute booking with Booking.com, I am now 625 Euros out of pocket and feel like I have been robbed.

Booking.com simply pass on your credit card details to the hotel.
The hotel are then free to charge what they want.
If you have cause to dispute the charge, Booking.com will ask the hotel to refund the charge.
However, when the hotel gives an excuse for not refunding, then booking.com will send you a very nicely worded email saying that they have sided with the hotel.
The reason they do this is because they have no power to compel the hotel to make a refund.

I made a very late booking with Booking.com at 14.00hrs for a hotel for 5 nights in Lanzarote. The booking was for the same night.
The reason we had to book this hotel was a holiday disaster which is a whole other story.
I continually checked for a confirmation email for two hours.
Having received no confirmation email I rang the hotel at 16.00hrs and asked reception if they had heard from booking.com and if they were expecting us. The person who answered spoke good English and told me that they had no availability and were fully booked and that I was not booked in to stay.
On hearing this I made alternative arrangements as I required accommodation for the same night.

I finally received a confirmation email at 16.25hrs, this was two and a half hours after attempting the booking.

I checked my email the following day and found the confirmation email as well as a no-show email for the hotel telling me that I had been charged the full amount, 625 Euros.

The hotel accepted that I made a call to them but they also said that I did not give my details when I called and that this was the reason they had not confirmed the booking. This is both untrue and unbelievable.
Q. Why would I phone the hotel to confirm the booking and then not give my details?
A. I did give my details and the person who answered the phone did not take responsibility for their mistake.

The hotel also stated that they kept a security guard on till 4AM specially for me in case I arrived late. I supplied my phone number when making the booking.
Q. Why would they do this when they had my phone number and could have phoned me?
A. Because they knew that they could charge me the full amount regardless of whether I turned up or not as the T&C’s allowed them to do this and Booking.com had forwarded them my credit card details.

Unfortunately for me I cannot prove that I gave my details during the call to the hotel, I also cannot prove that they actually kept a security guard on duty.

These 2 reasons are why the hotel have refused to refund me the 625 euro no-show fee.
Booking.com have accepted the hotel’s word over mine.

Neither the hotel nor Booking.com have provided any explanation for the confirmation email being delayed by 2 and a half hours. They have simply ignored this fact.

I have now gotten a new credit card issued as I have so little faith in Booking.com and their systems.

For anyone thinking of using Booking.com - You may save some cash, but please be aware of the risk you are taking, they will hang you out to dry.

If you've been charged for a non provided service and you have proof of this (cancellation e-mails plus terms and conditions) you can ask the credit cards company to remove this charge. I've done this with flights, but I think this could be possible with hotels too. If you think you're right, try this way.
If the concern is about the credit card's number beeing stolen, ask your credit card provider if there is any insurance for charges made with a stolen number. Nowadays most companies have an insurance, and they refund charges made with stolen numbers (usually if you notice them no longer than 2 days after the wrongful charge).
Maybe booking.com should only give acces to the credit card number online and during the pre-stay and actual stay. After the stay, the credit card number should get unavailable for the hotel and only made available in case of damage of items in the hotel by the guest.

I booked a hotel in Istanbul with Booking.com. Checking my bank statement later, I noticed the hotel had taken some money from my account (£41). I called booking.com, they told me it's a card authorisation check and the money will be refunded in the next ten days. I waited 14 days, the money was not refunded. I called booking.com this time I was told that the money had been put back on the day the money was taken. I pointed out they were contradicting their first explanation. I was told i would have to send them a copy of bank statement to prove anything! I told them the obligation was with the hotel and that I'm not prepared to share my bank statement with anyone except my bank. In return the hotel sent two receipts - one for a payment and one for a cancelled payment. A sanity check with my bank- they confirmed that there was NO refund. Booking.com a cancelled payment is NOT a refund, please support me in this matter. I'm counting to ten at the moment, I get to ten on Friday. Then I really start complaining- so please sort it out now while I'm still smiling.

Hi alice

Thanks for your view. Can you do me favour I need Tax department website and tel No.
Your are very correct with your complain as per your view.

thanks motiani

motiani365@yahoo.com

Following my earlier post on this site I was contacted by Booking.com and they resolved the problem to my complete satisfaction. They have restored my faith in booking with them, and I look forward to many toublefree transactions in the near future. I am happy to recommend their site once again.

Finally Booking.com helped me and cancel my reservation.

Thanks,

I made a non-refundable reservation through booking.com, then I received an email from them to update the visa details because it is not valid, thus I updated the details and received the same message again!. the hotel raised the total amount from US$ 545
to US$ 629.50 within two days only of my reservation date as well as my reservation on 12th Feb. 2013!. this is not my problem when the hotel didn't know how to charge my visa moreover I raised this issue to my bank to check if they blocked my visa but everything was ok.

I sent two emails to booking.com in order to help me to cancel my reservation but they didn't answer and I dont want to pay the difference in the price.
Booking number: [protected]

Best regards,

I have used Booking.com many times without problem. However recently I had to cancel a booking with a Hotel in Thailand. I had booked using their Free cancellation Policy. The Hotel still charged my Credit Card so I complained to Booking.com. They contacted the Hotel who refunded my money but due to a change in exchange rates I received less back than I paid. I contacted Booking.com Customer "care" and they told me that I would have to contact the Hotel in Bangkok direct as this was "out of their control" The Customer Care Dept could not have cared less. I contacted them again and they ignored my e-mail totally. Very poor customer service.

In addition - you inform your guest that you want to get on the bottom of this which is pure non-sense! Your customers service is very arrogant and never take no for an answer! Can you be a bit sincere and show consideration to your victimes?!?

Booking.com Team - You have a very bad customer handling. Customer cancels booking and your system does not provide cancellation reference. Customer thought that cancellation is completed but then they are charged for those nights. Booking.com will insist that cancellation was not done and customer has no right to complaint and must settle the cancelled days. This is pure robbery!

Again, why has booking.com not answered the question about faxing all your credit card details to the hotel/travel firm ? this cant / is not secure ... and nearly must be illegal ?

can booking.com respond please