Booking.com
reviews and complaints

Booked an apartment for a long weekend in September 2022. on arrival we were unable to enter the apartment. the pin number wouldn't work. we went to a restaurant to eat and drink still trying to contact the owner. the owner did not respond. in the end our phones died and we had to sleep in the car overnight. the next day we were able to re charge our phones on a local cafe and booking.com found us alternative accommodation. we are very upset at having to sleep in the car - we are both in our 60's with dodgy knees. the apartment was double booked and this in not acceptable

Mali Mali - false advertising // very disappointed
Stayed at Mali Mali from the 4th Jan - 7th Jan
They state game viewing available, yet the only vehicle available is broken and needs repairs. There is nothing to do at Mali Mali other than sit by a dirty pool.

Rooms: Mattress is a thin foam on a cement base VERY VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.
Pictures on the website is clearly false/old.. ARC OLD! The paint has faded and looks old.
So many Stairs, not suitable for old people or people with Back/knee problems
NOT A LODGE, More like a B&B advertising false, none of below available directly from the lodge, have to drive far distances to get any of the below services.

Rooms really of poor standard, broken table/dressers. Decking outside the room broken/lose, lose stones, I personally fell and injured myself, I have photos, and videos
Limited packing space, not worthy of R2000 per night stay, I wouldnt even give Mali Mali a 1 Star. Breakfast portions are very small, cannot even offer a filter coffee ONLY a packet of coffee milk/sugar/coffee this coffee is full of preservatives. What about the people who do not take sugar or milk?

Stayed 3 Nights ONLY.. instead of the 7 night stay!
Malaria Area, yet they have a pond & 3x non-working water fountains full of stagnant water that is a maleria mosquito breeding ground!
The Activities are as follows: (NOT AVAILABLE DIRECTLY FROM "LODGE"
Bush Walk (Ndlovumzi Nature Reserve)
Game Drive (Ndlovumzi Nature Reserve)
Big 5 Game Drive
Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre
Blyde Canyon Boat Safari
Wildlife Quad Bike Ride (approximately 80min)
Wildlife Quad Bike Ride Passenger
Graskop Gorge Package 1
Graskop Gorge Package 2
Graskop Gorge Big Swing Add On
Elephant Interaction
Kruger Park Day Drive (1 to 7 People)
Flying Safari 10min
Flying Safari 20min
Flying Safari 30min
Flying Safari 60min
Flying Safari Blyde Canyon 60min
Flying Safari Hoedspruit, Blyde, Graskop & Back
Helicopter Ride (1 to 4 people)
Hot Air Balloon Ride
Spa Treatments For The Ladies:
Swedish Massage 60 min
Deep Tissue Massage 60min
Aromatherapy Massage 60min
Destress Back, Neck & Shoulder Massage
Hot Stone Massage
Couples Massage
Face Treatment 45min
African Head Massage 30min
Hand & Foot Massage 30min

The only good thing about the stay was the couple/Hosts whom had only been at the lodge in a working capacity for less than a week, they went out of their way to make our stay as pleasant as they could. "lodge" didnt even have tupperware for a picnic breakfast takeaway! Thank You Chantelle & Sinjin for your hospitality!

Please also note that I have been charged R210 for dinner, Desert was supposed to be included yet we didnt even receive a desert on either 2 occasions of making use of your restaurant!

I booked a return flight with booking.com to LHR from Melbourne in August of 2022. Part of the outbound journey was cancelled by Royal Brunei airlines, which meant I had to rebook the outbound part of my trip directly with another airline.

Booking.com said I was eligible for a refund and confirmed as much in an email to me. However, I have now been waiting since August of 2022 for my refund. Booking.com says the refund is down to Royal Brunei airlines and Royal Brunei says the refund will come from Booking.com. I have repeatedly contacted both parties but I'm getting nowhere.

18/11/2022. MCO - SAPPHIRE FALLS
We booked a taxi from airport, specifically asking for a car seat for a one year old
On arrival at MCO, the taxi company phoned to check timing. I then asked him to confirm a car seat and he said no but he would go and get one, half an hour later he arrived with no car seat. You can imagine our distress at not being able to secure our grandchild in a proper seat for the 40 minute journey

We paid extra to make sure we had the right travel option and are disappointed that this did not happen.
This is my second message on this subject
I am looking for compensation for this failure.
I look forward to hearing from you.

I wish to lodge a formal complaint re a recent booking we had with Collinade Hotel London (London Elizabeth Hotel)

Our accommodation was for 19 nights. Booking no 2920.193.725.
Amount Eng2701.74.
To be paid at Property.
Hotel debited our account on 29th September, we queried but no answer
We accepted this
On arrival 12th November we were charged the usual eng50 holding fee which was Ok

Upon checked our account the next day we were charged the further amount for accomodation duplicating the dealing.

We immediately asked the hotel for a refund which they said would be in our account the next day
Despite asking for the next 19 days nothing, we had to go to our bank.
The matter is still not resolved.

This hotel should not be allowed to trade with reputable companies they are obviously using our funds illegally as they dont belong to them.

I am reporting this to you as I dont want to see other people being caught up they same way.
I have sent several messages to you but no reply.
I hope this matter can be resolved as it has left a bad taste and makes us loath to deal with you in future.

Have been a customer for many years.

I booked a flight for Jan 2,2023 to attend a conference in Boston for 6 am to arrive at 1 pm so that I could pick up my rental car Abdul drive for an hour to Worcester Massachusetts to check into my room by 5 pm. The conference was rescheduled for January 9th so I called to reschedule the flight but the rep rescheduled the flight for 2:45 pm and I arrive in Boston at 7:45 pm but I would have missed my rental and my check in at 5 pm for my hotel room. I had to purchase another ticket to get to worechester Massachusetts on time. The customer service reps from booking.com all read me the same script with no resolution and I have not gotten any refund. I was told for an entire week that the call to listen to the audio was escalated and no one called me back. Horrible customer service. U never use this site they leave there customers stranded and do not care

We arrived at our pre-paid stay after a horrendously long journey via the tunnel on 27th December at Gites du Villiers in Saint Josse France. It was 8pm at night (I had sent a message to the property to say we would be later than planned). We have two dogs and it was torrential rain. We found the property - BEHIND LOCKED GATES. I repeatedly rang the number given and just kept getting an anwerphone message. Eventually a French man from across the road came to us and said the property had shut down and that we weren't the first people this had happened to.

We went and found a hotel (one tiny bedroom - I had booked a house at Gites du Villiers).

To my absolute horror, I received an email from BOOKING.com in the early hours of 28th December saying the host had cancelled our booking/could no longer accommodate us, and suggested an alternative hotel...

This is simply sub-standard service and I expect more - such as an explanation as to why it is still possible to book Gites du Villiers (suggesting other people will be treated as shoddily as we have been).

I am absolutely outraged - I am a Genius 2 level member and have used you for years, but sadly I am nervous about ever booking through you again.

I booked an apartment in Rome for February 2023 in November 2022. The booking was non-refundable.

In January I was told that the property had made an error in the price and it would now cost me double to stay there or I could cancel. Booking.com cancelled this without my authority and told me there was nothing they could do. They wouldn't put me through to a manager or offer any incentive to re-book.

I had spoke to the property several times since my reservation and at no time did they mention anything about the price.

If I have agreed to a non-refundable price then the host should also be bound by the same and honour the price I have paid also.

The service I received from booking.com has been awful and would not recommend at all.

I have a confirmed reservation for two people for the dates of 05/01/2023 to 07/01/2023 at 260 Golden Mile Beach B&B (St Helena bay). We attempted to check into the guest house at 13:45 today, January 5, 2023, only to discover that no one was present and that we had been locked out.

I repeatedly tried to call the number ([protected]), but each time the phone just rang and went to voicemail. More than four hours went by while we waited outside the property, but no one arrived. I asked the neighbor next door, but they were also guests and had no idea who owned the property.

At 18h00, I decided to leave the guest house and go to the local South African Police Station to obtain an affidavit stating that I had been at 260 Golden Mile Beach B&B (St Helena Bay) and was unable to gain access to the property.

Please find the affidavit, a screenshot of the calls, and photos taken at the property attached.

Booking.com finance department have accused me of not paying commission invoices since September. They have been successfully using the direct debit from my bank account until then. There has been no fault from our side, the bank account is active and in credit. When the issue first arose I did as customer service asked and reinstated the same bank for the direct debit and paid the first outstanding invoice by direct bank transfer.

Booking.com have still not acnowledged this payment despite sending them screenshots of proof of payment and continue to send threats. I have tried to pay the two subsequent invoices by bank transfer but my bank does not recognise their bank details to match with their account holder name. I have tried using their exact instruction and varied it with spaces in every way I can.
I have spoken to Customer Services several times. They continue to be polite, apologise, admit they cannot speak to finance themselves only pass on our messages. I cannot find a way to directly contact Finance either.

I am close retirement age and am having to use my pension money now as Booking.com have cut off my ability to advertise on their website due to this issue which is no fault of my own. I have offered to pay by credit card customer services assured me that they would send alternative ways to pay but they still send the same robotic email with the bank information which is not allowing me to pay. I have lost business now close to £5,000.00.

I am a host and have not been paid out by booking.com since my first guest checked out on 20 Dec 2022. I have brought this to their attention via many messages. A different agent responds to me saying that i should be patient. Policy states, hosts are paid out within 10 days. this period has gone.

i had a further booking, these guests checked out on 29th Dec and i am deeply concerned that i wont be paid out for this booking. In total I am due 10 nights.

I have threatened them with attorneys but without any support on their side. Please advise - what is the next step i can take to escalate the matter.

Made a booking thru Booking.com for two nights for a two bed appartment from 28 December until 30 December at Sun City Vacation Club, however on arrival at Sun City Vacation Club I was informed that I had been scammed and that they do not deal thru Booking.com. Booking.com are therefore flighting accommodation for which they have no right to do so. I have thus paid R12 240 for accommodation which was not provided.

Note I have tried loading the confirmation email and receipt but to no avail.

We made reservations at Aeolian ranch - paid money. On the 29 dec when we went to check in - the owner started talking to my minor daughter seated in the car without our presence or permission. Even though we assured them that only two people will stay in the room, they called us “we dont let homeless people in “ and did not let us stay. The place is a dump - unhygienic, congested with mess all over - we were just stuck and had made the reservation. the owners were very rude and did not honor their commitment yo provide room.

Booked a room in the Hilton the same day I send to booking.com a copy of Hilton website for $60 less I requested to match that price or cancel the reservation .

They replied that the booking is for 1 person I send agin with 2 P for the same price. They didn’t reply.

The only emails I received from them is that it’s non refundable booking and they send a request to the Hilton hotel to cancel the reservation.

I checked with the Hilton they didn’t send any request for cancellation.

The day that I checked in I checked again the Hilton website and it was the same price for one or two people.

They are blocking the emails so I cannot send them anything.

They simply don’t stand behind their guarantee for price Match.

The day before I checked into the house, the price for accommodation was deducted from my bank account. When I arrived, I did a quick inspection with the host's representative, but was not overly satisfied with what I saw. Nevertheless, my family members arrived at the same time, so I took the keys and the rep left.

On closer review and inspection this is what I observed:

1) Cats roaming around (4) with free access to the house. This was never mentioned during booking and my wife is allergic to cats;

2) Broken down ceilings and Eaves;

3) a swimming pool that had not be cleaned for months and was caked with Algae and thousands of insects;

4) Mould and insects in the rooms;

5) Carpets that looked like they had not been cleaned for months;

6) Used Face masks and unsavoury objects left in cupboards.

There is a lot more to mention, so I have uploaded photos to show more detail of the unhygienic conditions. The videos are a bit large to upload.

Needless to say, I contacted the owner and asked for a refund - which he did call centre and all they did was say they would speak to the owner. I telephoned the Booking.com Customer Service and expected them to investigate. All they did was contact the owner and got his side of the story. They never asked me to provide the evidence.

Hello, here you find my message I sent to booking.com so you can understand what's the complaint about.

My name is Odai al-Shorafat, on 08.05.2022 I rented a car from Sofia, Bulgaria with the company named Gold rent a Car, phone number: +[protected] via Booking.com.

Booking number: [protected]

The car I rented via booking, from this company was a Fiat Punto with the registration number: CB 6684 TE. The car was rented for one day and delivered intact, the way we received it. Attached you can find a video with the car at the moment we gave it back.

The rental company kept 511,29 eur as deposit and it was supposed to be paid back in within 30 days. Unfortunately, we never received those money back although we complained several time to booking and also to the rental company. Recently we tried to reach the company again to ask about the deposit but apparently the company doesn't exist anymore.

They refused to send us money back from the deposit, sending to booking.com pictures with another car damaged that wasn't our car. I need some answers from booking.com being the intermediate between me (your customer) and the rental company.

I want a prove of the car I drove that time being damaged with the date to make sure nothing happened after that and the same registration numbers.

If that cannot be proved the only option remained for me is to open a case in the court for fraud and collaboration between rental cars and booking to keep people's money from their deposit. I would like to believe that's not true and that why today I'm sending you again this message. The costs of the process in the court will be more than the deposit I lost but according to the law your company must pay everything and also penalties for my lost time.

I'm asking kindly to check again the case and to fix this issue because your company should be responsible for the mistakes happened. If you need any other information please let me know and all the informations will be provided for you!

Booked a flight from Johannesburg to Manchester. Flight included 2 Schegen stops. 1 in Frankfurt and the other in Brussels. Booking.com had NO disclaimer, confirmation, statement note or any kind of information stating anything about a transit visa. Only found out during check-in. Emailed them and they keep asking me for the original information which is in the first 3 emails I've sent already. I have evidence of all communication with them and I still get no response. There's NO COMMUNICATION. NO SERVICE DELIVERY. THIS COMPANY IS A SCAM.

I had Covid called the Booking.com/Gotogate about cancelation. It was a horrible experience. I had to educate the representative on Covid guidelines. Sent the required documents on June 9, 2022. I received a confirmation update the on the status of my refund. The last correspondence I received was in October 2022. I called in November, manager attempted to call me back on November 26, 2022. I called to set up a call back time on November 27, 2022, after my work hours. No call back in two weeks or correspondence. I called on December 16, 2022; I explained my frustrations and asked for a supervisor to call me. On December 18,2022, I received a text saying a manger try to call. This was not true because the phone is by me. I called Gotogate, the agent and I got disconnected and he called me back. I can't understand why a supervisor hasn't returned my call. I

- The images shared in Booking are a 20% of what really is: The place is a patio with a caravan and a 1single room 15m2 cabin with no more than a microwave and plastic glasses.

- When one reads the word “Inn” on a location name you expect a pub/restaurant with rooms to rent where food is available. Not what we found.

- We didn’t meet the owner in any moment. Only a couple of messages in Booking to ask for the Wi-Fi. Not a giving a dawn about how our stay was or if we needed something. Zero customer service.

- Room: 1single room 15m2 cabin. A ugly table covered with an old plastic tablecloth, microwave, kettle, and tiny noisy fridge both connected to a multiple plug left up the table, like in a construction place, quite dangerous. The coffe was in a rancid pot, the sugar on a yellowish plastic Tupperware like the ones of take away, No milk, so we don’t even could have a coffee or tea. See photos.

- In the same table, 5cm from the microwave and kettle somebody left the fire extinguisher like it was a bottle instead of in the wall, where there’s an emergency sign that points to an empty space. Next security tool, the smoke detector, is LITERALLY on the table instead of on the ceiling where by law should be. See photos.

- Bathroom: We arrived Saturday lunch time and there was NO TOILET PAPER. Sunday when we left still nobody cared to put back. What to say about Covid measures and basic hygiene? Only a used bar of soap to share with everybody. No individual shampoo, or gel.. We saw a lonely tooth paste tube and a half gel bottle we assumed somebody left. The shower had a huge hole that instead of repaired was covered by a white plastic. Disgusting. See photos.

- What about “The kitchen”? Nowhere to be found

Booked flight to Singapore for May 16, 2022. Singapore Airlines 33FCAG confirmation. Customer Reference number 40-[protected]. Expected to loose outgoing flight due to terms of cancellation. Were told we would receive a refund for the return flight for June 9th, 2022. It has been (7) months with no refund. We have called Customer Service multiple times and are told the they must get approval from Singapore Airlines each time we ask. There is no way to escalate this issue. Customer Service stonewalls us each time. No other booking agency has been this way!