Booking.com

Booked non existent apartment.
1 out of 5, reviewed on Jul 07, 2015
We have used Booking.com many times but we have been scammed.
In May we booked an apartment through them for a week in London in October. A few days after booking we received an official looking booking and introduction letter from the Apartment owners. That asked if we needed airport transfers etc. Two days letter we received another email from the owners asking for early payment. As we had b ooked through Booking.com I thought all was legit. We paid. A month later I decided to check our accommodation. I could not find it on Booking.com. I checked the website and email address from our welcoming email and found it did not exist. The address given on Bookin.com exists but it is for a private apartment. I rang Booking.com and alerted them to the fact that I have booked a non existent apartment. Later that week I received a cancellation letter saying I have cancelled the booking but they had waived the cancellation fee which we should have been billed for. I rang again and said how could there be a cancellation fee when there is no apartment. I requested full repayment of monies that I had paid. I forwarded a copy of the letter from my bank stating that the money is not traceable or retrievable. Booking.com then said they have sent off my letter to their accounts department for possible refund. 3 weeks later and more phone calls still nothing. Booking.com should have checked the apartment out before allowing them to be on their site. Here's hoping for refund.

I booked my vacations on Booking.com to go to Euro Disney with my family. 2 days before my trip an agent called me to tell me that my reservation was cancelled because of problems with the hotel. She told me they were looking for a similar hotel/price in the same area. Unfortunately all they could find was a hotel more than 25 km far from the previous one, without public transportation near the hotel and more expensive than the first one. Also, they didn’t have availability for my full stay so I had to stay the last night in a different hotel in another city. On top, I was charged parking fee and a supplementary pet fee (that the first hotel didn’t charge). I made the complaint to Booking.com customer service requesting the reimbursement for the parking and the supplementary pet charge and I never receive an answer. The customer service of Booking.com is completely useless.

I have booked accommodation on Booking.com for a holiday in July after months of research and 6 months ahead before our holiday to be safe and to take advantage of the cheap prices.
The Hotel that I booked via Booking.com cancelled my booking a month prior to my holiday due to some renovations happening there at the time. I have to mention that July is the peak of the high season in Greece with prices going up by at least 200 Euros for decent places. I called Booking.com who told me clearly that the process is: they contact the hotel and ask hotel if they can suggest any alternative accommodation. I asked the customer representative, what would happen if the hotel they find will be more expensive than what I originally booked because I have spent hours again looking for a decent place to stay, but all the well priced options have been booked out. He said to me, don’t worry, if the new hotel will be more expensive, we will cover the costs, but first we need to contact the previous hotel and ask them to offer an alternative. So they did, then they sent me(from booking.com not the first hotel) 3 alternative options, which were totally NOT suitable and definitely didn’t meet any of the criteria that was placed before when booking the first hotel. After the 3 cheap hotels they offered, I thought I should mention that there is alternative accommodation that can be booked, but now, because we waited for so long with emails back and forward, the cheaper options I have found later(which were already more expensive than the original option) are now gone as well and the only hotel that is left is the one with 210 Euros extra on top what I have originally booked for. Then, suddenly, booking.com wrote me that they are able to cover anything that has a difference of under 100 Euros. Which would have been REALLY good to know a week ago when those hotels with under 100 Euros difference were still available! Now, the only place that is left is the one with the 210 Euros and guess who will need to cover the additional 110 Euros- that’s right- me the customer!
This whole story is to LET PEOPLE KNOW that booking.com policy is to cover up to 100 Euros on any alternative accommodation in case yours was cancelled by the Hotel.
So DON’T WAIT FOR BOOKING.COM ALTERNATIVE CHEAP SUGGESTIONS THAT WOULDN’T MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS! Book something ASAP yourself as you will miss out on hotels you like AND WILL BE OUT OF POCKET thanks to Booking.com procedures. Apparently, when speaking to them second and last time, I was meant to know to mention the alternative Hotel that I had in mind. That’s when they specifically told me that THEY will deal with everything and I shouldn’t be worried about anything at all as its all will be covered by Booking.com – NOT.
Don’t get tricked! Be aware, don’t sit and wait, book what you like if its just a little bit more expensive and then ask for the difference to be covered by Booking.com.
Hope this helps someone.
A VERY unhappy customer that has to throw 110 Euros to the bin now because of how Booking.com operates.

I booked two rooms in a hotel in Thailand, the rooms were very very bad and I mentioned this to Booking.com who investigated this and replied as a gesture of goodwill they were going to compensate me the room price. Since then they fail to answer any contact requests via there "customer services"

Booking.com case [protected] Customer Service Team: Muslim Ibrahimi

I reserved a hotel in San Francisco 6 months in advance. The advertisement said that I could book now and pay later. The full amount ($1200) was charged to my card immediately. The reservation also stated that I could not cancel or make changes. Two months after booking, I received an email stating that the hotel canceled my reservation. In order to receive a refund, I would need to provide a bank statement showing that I had been charged for the stay. I have provided this twice with all personal bank information blocked out and only the last digits of the card info and the actual charge showing. Booking.com still insists that this is not enough proof to provide a refund. I asked that they contact the hotel directly to confirm the charge and amount, and they are unwilling to do so. I will not use this site again for travel.

I have booked a hotel room for coming October via booking.com. When I book the hotel, there is a "pay now" and "non-refundable" terms because booking.com claims this is the best price to book this hotel now. I believe and therefore paid the full fare.
However, just 3 weeks after I paid, I found the price for same stays at booking.com further reduced by CHF$300 (i.e. the price vary by 43% just in 3 weeks)! I called booking.com to claim for the "best price guarantee" but was rejected due to the "non-refundable" term!

I made a booking at a guset house with bookings.com. The guest house then took a 50% Deposit off my account immediately. 1 week later my bank account was debited with 2 transactions. My account was used at 2 companies to buy French perfume. The only people who had my bank card details was bookings.com and the guest house. Bookings.com is not even interested to assist me with this. Do not trust bookings.com with your bank details. Do not use them. This has left a very sour taste in my mouth.
these are the transactions 3/26/2015 INVOICE MAP March 21, [protected] ****** 5632 WWW.DIPTYQUEPARIS.COM LONDON W1U GBR / £ 208.00
03/24/2015 INVOICE MAP March 22, 2015 ****** 5632 PIRATE MEMO PARIS FRA / € 173.00
I think Bookings.com and the guest house needs to be investigated

My advice to anyone is never book with booking.com. They recently cancelled my booking for a hotel in Rome stating my bank had declined the payment and therefore my deposit had been lost. When I checked with my bank, they hadn't even attempted to take the final payment. Turns out there was an error and they entered my expire date wrong. I had at least 10 emails from them each stating something different. I was shouted at and called a liar by one of the customer service agent called Rebecca. They told me they had reinstated my booking but told the hotel it was cancelled and couldn't be reinstated unless I repaid the deposit and all costs in full. It took 3 days and hours of time on the phone and in the end they still refused to take any ownership of the problem. I would never use this company again. They are dishonest and their actions border on fraud.

Booking.com don’t responsible for customer’s credit card data. They provide your credit card data to the hotels. It is very unsecure to book via Booking.com.
I have booked hotel in Israel. The hotel charged my card $150 as full amount for my staying in that hotel.
After several days I received cancellation letter from Booking.com. They described me that Booking.com had some problems with the hotel. At the same time the hotel charged my card again for $200. Without any reason.
To my request to Booking.com to resolve this problem or compensate my expenses they proposed me to deal with my bank or with the hotel directly. My bank can’t return my money. In the end I lost $350.

Booking.com is running flawed system as far as reservations are concerned.
IE. you are able to book dates/rooms without any obligation and from Hotel Extranet https://admin.booking.com/hotel/hoteladmin/?lang=en you are not able not cancel reservations which are neither confirmed nor deposit payed, thus leaving number of rooms which are booked for certain period.

This is perfect opportunity for fraudsters and/or competitors to request booking for as many rooms as they can, using bogus aliases and/or email addresses, thus leaving your property marked as fully-booked!

Further to that, Booking.com is unable to cancel some of the dubious booking on direct request, yet recommending to wait and report as NO-SHOW(s). As a consequence properties are left with high-season dates marked as booked and becoming available only after NO-SHOW reported.

Ridiculous

Booking .com charged me for a free cancellation hotel reservation that was cancelled. I have been traumatized by this and I need to find a way to get my refund. The reservation is for April and the policy states that if one cancels 7 days prior to arrival, no fees will be charged. I called their office when I realized that I had been charged, but the man that picked the phone told me that 7 days until arrival means I cannot cancel before 7 days.

Recently went on a vacation, booked the room through Booking.com, and when we got there we actually had a different room than we thought due to their translation error (from Italian). What should have taken 5 minutes, turned into an hour. Room we actually had was missing key amenities. It was a nightmare.

E-mailed the site to let them know about it, and first person from customer service, Eitan Kirstein, gave a response that showed my e-mail explaining what happened wasn't even read.

Responded to first e-mail, got a response from a different person, Chiara Brianese, with multiple lies, and deflection of the error to the hotel, who was clearly not at fault. To top it off, one of the lies was roughly, 'we can provide you a 50 EU voucher for your inconvenience', which after 2 e-mails, I have yet to hear back on.

All in all, we were lucky we had a room at all considering the entire area was sold out for the weekend. This company is an absolutely pathetic when it comes to customer service, and takes no responsibility for their screw-ups . If you don't want to deal with issues and would like your reservation to be correct, do not use these clowns.

I stayed at the Costa Centrale between & 7th and 12th January 2015. I booked with Booking.com. When I arrived at the accomodation I was informed that my credit card details were only used for a reservation and I was to pay on checking out. On the 12th I went to pay and was told that the card machine was broke so I went to an ATM and drew out the cash required and paid with no receipt . I got home to find my credit card bill with the payment for hotel. I informed Booking.com and despite numerous emails and them telling me that the hotel had admitted it and told me eventually would be refunded on 27th January . They have since asked for my bank details that was 5 days ago and now they are not responding to my emails . I am appalled at the unprofessional manner that its being handled or more not being handled

It was a big mistake to make reservation through booking.com, i was in a hurry and did a reservation through booking.com from my mobile. I hadnt expected that it would be such a trouble.

Also hotel was not like in photos as well - but i really dont care how spam hotel is. I paid as cash in hotel and did my stay for 3 nights. Anyway, after a few days my bank officer called me due to continuos charges from my credit card. I had used that credit card only at booking.com. I firstly called hotel and asked it to hotel manager - they refused about charges and they confirmed that i paid as cash and no problem at all in the hotel. Then i called booking.com several times but it was annoying, all the time different person and silly responses. I was charged 1250 €, 2640 € and 3400 € charges from my credit card conitiniously in same day.

It was a nightmare for me. My bank officer applied for chargeback, i hope i ll get back the money soon. But, surely it was my last reservation at booking.com . I will not use their service and i ll tell everybody that i know who spam they are doing.

I've contacted Booking.com at [protected] between 17:16-18:00 hours on January 13, 2015 after I found out from the bank that I've been charged (which I was not really aware until 16:53 hours on January 13, 2015).

After I've explained what happened to the staff on duty, she said she will try to contact the hotel immediately and as expected she told me the hotel refused to refund the cancellation fee. She passed me to one of the supervisor on duty, this supervisor said to me "everyone interprets the cancellation policy differently". I may not be a Harvard graduate or CEO but I cannot agree with her comment. From my professional experience as a web content administrator for one of the largest tour operators in Malaysia, I explained to her the current cancellation policy is misleading and confusing. I will never book a room with Booking.com if I know I will be penalized if I cancel the booking more than two months (exactly 79 days) before check-in date.

Both the staff and supervisor agreed with me.

Then, the supervisor said maybe the staffs at the hotel could have went home by that time and she promised she will contact the hotel again the next day and will update me on the progress. I've been waiting until now and it's almost midnight but I've yet to hear from Booking.com, totally no reply to the email that I've sent to them on January 13, 2015.

I've been a loyal customer of Booking.com since 2010 / 2011, Booking.com has been my favorite travel partner, recommended Booking.com to everyone that I know, even told a friend that I wish to work with Booking.com, and I've a trip on January 23, 2015 (booked rooms with Booking.com).. now I just feel extremely disappointed.

Booking.com are refusing to honour their Best Price Guarantee (despite me finding an IDENTICAL quote £200 cheaper with Expedia) because they say their Terms and Conditions do not accept my claim.

I have asked them to clarify the specific 'term or condition' they are referring to, but they will not. I have read their Terms and Conditions document and my claim matches the criteria perfectly. In-fact, when I phoned their customer service advisor, she agreed over the phone that both quotes were identical. So how can they get away with denying my claim?!

Be warned...Best Price Guarantee is a gimic...

Booked two nights at booking.com for a cabin at June Lake, CA. We decided to stay a third night so we went to the office to inquire. Found out the room goes for $195 per night. Booking.com charged $225 for the room. I believed in the price guarantee so I didn't bother to search for a lower price online. Turns out, the website for the hotel clearly states the room I rented goes for $195 a had I rented the cabin from their website. I would have saved myself $30 per night. I am glad I only got scammed for $60. I got the third night for $195. Looks like booking.com pays the owner of the hotel $195 and then pockets the extra $30 dollars they up charged.. So sad to see this company is still in business. We all need to tell our friends and family they are deceptive and misleading. Now I fear I might have been charged twice due to reading other complaints. Now I have to waste time monitoring my credit card for this. Stay clear from booking.com. Learn from our mistakes. I feel like such a fool.

We signed up with booking.com to help get additional business, thinking I'll
get on their site for those people that use booking.com and it will add to the organic traffic, tripadvisor, etc. what happened was they put their booking button plus Priceline on our Tripadvisor direct connect page, essentially stealing bookings that would have come directly to website. The only way to get the buttons off is to cancel the relationship with booking .com. I'm sure the agreement allows them to do this but I still feel it is a sneaky way of getting commissions they don't realy earn.
Needless to say we are canceling our association with booking.com.
Additionally I am going quit booking with booking.com on my personal trips. Right now I have 13 nights of rooms booked in Spain for a Feb. trip that I will cancel and either book directly with the hotel or change hotels.

I had made a booking in the month of august 2014 @ hotel makkah grand coral saudi arabia through booking.com for 2 x two bedroom apartments. . The booking was confirmed by booking.com
Recently i have received a mail saying that the hotel has overbooked their accommodation for the dates of my stay.
This is not acceptable at all and therefore i have decided to take legal action against the company booking.com in the indian courts.

I was charged twice for a booking .The owner was unconcerned and refused to refund despite providing my bank statement details clearly stating his mistake. I rang booking.com as the booking was made via their website They continue to advertise his hotel on their website and said I have to wait 7 days for any refund to be processed on their part if he still refuses to acknowledge his error. I have bank charges due to this and am really amazed by both parties reluctance to apologize or protect other customers from this poor customer service and theft