Booking.com
reviews and complaints

Hello all,

I recently tried to book a hotel room for the night, at Booking.com (see below link), around 11am on the 20/02/2018.

https://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/guest-house-ellipse.en-gb.html

Hidden in the fine print on this page is a £20 'service' charge, and an entrance charge of £0-£50 depending on check-in time.
In my case that would be an extra +50%-+175% cost, on my £39 room.

The fine print is 9 screens down from the top of the page, making them very hard to spot.
In particular there were adverts of nearby attractions between the fine print and the main price, which suggested to this user of the website that there was no fine print (working on the assumption that fine print is more important than attractions).

The hotel refused to cancel the booking when my attention was drawn to these fees, with a cancellation fee of 75% of the original booking cost (which booking.com did manage to bargain down to 50%).

This has damaged my trust in Booking.com's prices, since there are other hotels around the £40 price point in the general area, which I would have gone to if I had easy access to all the facts.
Booking.com also refuse to let me make a guest review to warn other customers of these hard to find fees, if I cancel.

My desired resolution is to get the fee for the cancellation back, and be able to make a review warning other booking.com users of the fees in the T&Cs.
The booking number is [protected].

Best Regards;

David F

I made a booking in July for the Townhouse Hotel in Miami. I was unaware that my credit card had been the victim of attempted fraud and blocked for online activity. My booking was accepted and I looked forward to a stay at this lovely hotel where I had stayed before.
A while late I was sent a new card with a different number and didn't even consider that I needed to amend my hotel booking details.
I picked up an email from booking.com at 7 00 pm that day before I flew to Miami telling me my booking was cancelled. I then had to hastily arrange alternative accommodation in Miami, which I did, albeit in a much less salubrious hotel.
Why was I not given the chance to resolve the situation, which I could have easily done? you had all my details including my phone number.
My whole trip was nearly completely messed up becuase of this. I spoke to some other people who had the same issue regarding a credit card but were called by their booking agent and were able to resolve their issue.
I would be interested to hear your comments about my experience and what you propose to do to regain my confidence in using your "services" again.
Andrew Elburn

I double booked the hotel reservation for my upcoming trip because there was a glitch on the website that I got a blank page after I submitted my first booking request. When I realized the mistake and called the customer service for refund for one of the bookings. They first refused to admit sth. was wrong with their system then the manager (called Abdel) of the customer service started to INTEGRATE me by asking various of questions to put the fault at me. When I pointed out that he should not try to put words into my mouth as that did not help to solve the issue. He responded back "when did I say that I am going to put words into your mouth?" I have never ever encountered anyone who is that bad mannered and unprofessional. I have to say there is also discrimination in this case. As the manager knew from my accent that English is not my first language, that's why he could be so rude by saying the above. I will never recommend anyone to use this website!

I have make few complaints about copyright on booking.com but seems booking.com not paying any attention. One of condominium unit owner using condominium name to sell her unit on booking.com site and customer though this condominium is as a hotel apartment. It's happening in Bangkok. the Condominium name is Diamond Sukhumvit, located at Sukhumvit Road, Sukhumvit Soi 48/3. We urge booking.com to remove this Diamond Sukhumvit from their site.
If it's can't solve by Booking.com, Diamond Sukhumvit management team will take legal action.
Hope Booking.com will solve it as soon as possible regarding copyright issue.

I booked a homestay in Malaysia through booking.com in Dec 2017. The unit was horrible and I complaint to booking.com and asked for compensation. However this is the reply I got :

' Dear Hy Lee,

Thank you for choosing Booking.com.

We are writing to you regarding your reservation [protected] at Holiday Homestay Penang @ Batu Ferringhi, check-in date 2017-12-12, and check-out date 2017-12-14.

We have further reviewed your photos and we agree that you should be given a better compensation. We would like to offer you monetary compensation and refund you 140.00 MYR. Please confirm your acceptance of this offer by replying to this email, and we will arrange the refund as quickly as possible.

Please understand that the conditions of the accommodation are beyond the controls of Booking.com. The accommodation is solely responsible for the upkeep of the place. Currently, this is the best offer that we offer to you as compensation.

In future, we recommend that you carefully read the reviews of the property and do take note of the review score of the accommodation that you will be booking so that you can manage your expectations. Currently, the review score of this accommodation is 6.4 / 10.

If you are adamant about seeking a full refund, please contact the accommodation directly.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions.

Kind regards,

--
Suffian Sani
Booking.com Customer Service Team
Kind regards, '

She seems like saying the fault was my?

I have been charged an exorbitant amount on my credit card for a hotel in Amsterdam.

$588.00 has been charged to my credit card for a hotel in Amsterdam on the 27 Dec.

On the 27 Dec I was in Sydney Australia.

I have never been to Amsterdam, nor will I visit any time soon.

It was a Go Mastercard credit card.

27 DEC 2017 HOTEL ON BOOKING.COM AMSTERDAM NLD, $588.00

Please rectify this as soon as possible

On 18 December 2017 I booked for vacation at Mount Sheba a Forever Lodge 3-star hotel for the dates 19th to 21st December. The system generated wrong dates after making a payment of R4250. And subsequently tried to change to correct date and declined. i tried several times until i cancel the application. I need a refund, this was not my fault and its insane to pay such amount and claim there is no refund . Please arrange for repayment.

Confirmation number: [protected] PIN code: 2587 녆

Cancelled

I booked for a total of 5 persons, from January 12-15 for a group (5 rooms). I received confirmation on the reservations, then an e-mail of the credit card update, informing the hotel is waiting on the 12th January for the guests arrival. Only to found out that our confirmation / bookings are not in Rose Rayhaan by Rotana (Dubai) hotel's system! The hotel updated their system with our booking just right there and there, able to accommodate only 2 guest and no longer available rooms for the 3 guests. The guests were exhausted and could have taken rest, instead were forced to find another hotel to accommodate them.
booking no.: [protected] and [protected]

This is the third time Booking.com has completely lied in their ads about property they book. We were devastated when we arrived in a hideous room in Rio Maggiori Italy, with no electricity a dirty shared bathroom and bitten all night by bugs. We paid a higher than average rate for what was advertised as a room with a large balcony overlooking the ocean (which was also supposed to be "steps" to the beach) and instead were led for half-an-hour up a high hill into a tangle of bushes and dark overgrowth to find what I think was a storeroom. Second time we arrived in the middle of the night and were told that our dogs were not allowed to stay even though it was advertised as pet friendly by Booking.com. We spent hours going around looking for a room and finally found one a town away at 3:00 a..m This time they advertised a hotel in Fox Hills as Culver City even showing pictures of the center of town as if that is where it is located and naming all the places "nearby" . Not even close, its probably a 20 minute drive to Culver City. Further they advertised "parking available" but neglected to mention that it's $26 per night. Also it said the room came with breakfast but when they sent the confirmation it added that breakfast would cost $13.75 per person. What a scam!
I was actually unaware that I was even using them because I had logged onto Kyayk and didn't know that I was transferred to their site. I will be more careful in the future to avoid them and warn others to avoid them too. There are other travel booking sites that actually advertise accurately so you are not overcharged for shabby rooms in far away or dangerous areas when you think you are getting a nice room in a nice area with the amenities they say you're getting. They are a bunch of crooks. Beware.

I made a booking for Hotel with Booking.com. I arrived to Hotel Horizon Abuja Nigeria on December 17 to spend 3 nights. the reception said they had no record of my booking. i presented a copy of my reservation. They declined to accept and went on to charge me double the rate. Booking.com are impossible to communicate with and i was left with no hotel that first night. I was furious and would never again make any reservations with Booking.com

I got my confirmation of booking via email on the 28.11.2017 15:59 from booking.com:

Buchungsnummer
1309.307.926

When I arrived at the hotel they told me that the hotel is fully booked and that they can't give me a hotel room. They also said that booking.com was giving by mistake to me this confirmation?
It was too late for me to find another hotel as all were booked so I was screwed this night.
I was more than angry about this and I will never again book through booking.com.

Thanks booking.com!

I booked from 10 to 30 january via booking. In summit hotel .
Confirmation number :[protected]

I had a free cancelation booking before 8 january and i found surprisingly the hotel charged me today 6th of january 249 dirhams? The conditions of the reservation was to pay at property and the credit card was to ensure that i will pay. Plus i was guaranteed a free cancelation.

I canceled the entire booking later on thinking something went wrong, and sent them an email asking for a refund. So they answered that they have the right to withdraw one night! This was never mentioned in the reservation, plus i wasnt asked before they use the credit card!
I find this totally unacceptable
I made another reservation as my visa has the info of the hotel
Kindly advice and i would like to have my money back
Best regards
Nirmeen el sayyad

The advert for the accomodation was that booking could be made without any payment.However;as soon as the booking was made, the establishment kept bombarding me with e mails for payment. The deposit was paid and subsequently before l could book in on the 29th of December 2017, the balance was paid. I had to also pay for a cleaning service of R 250.00, which according to the website was a daily cleaning fee. When l subsequently asked about cleaning services, l was advised that the cleaning takes place after we book out. No cleaning detergents or implements were neither left for this purpose. I was also advised that a damages deposit of R 1000.00 was to be paid on booking in 29th December. When we arrived at the establishment, reception was not aware of our booking and after much fumbling the owner sent her maid to hand over the keys. I was under the impression that the deposit would be debited to my account, as many establishments do but the maid informed me that cash was needed. I informed her that l would go to the ATM and withdraw cash.l subsequently did withdraw the cash and sent the owner a message at 19.30 that l had been to the ATM amd have the damage deposit and someone could fetch it. However, by 12 H00 the following day no one had arrived for the deposit and we had to leave to a function. Earlier that morning l had opened to burglar guard gate only to find it falling off from the top end and the bottom was practically falling.l called my son who thought it better to leave the gate against the wall as it was very windy and the gate could have fallen over the balcony and caused much more serious damage. I immediately called the owner and informed her of this. She promised to send someone over to assess the gate and l assume that it was done after we had left on 30th December 2017. On the 31st prior to booking out, her maid again came to demand the deposit, which l paid.l was then informed that we are responsible for the repairs of the gate, which l denied as l was travelling with my two sons and niece and they had not ledt the apartment prior to me leaving on the 30th. The owner, Ms Mitasha Kanjee informed me that she would forward a quote and then remit the balance of my deposit after 3 to 4 days. She has to date failed to revert either with a quote or the balance of my deposit. She has since refused to take my calls nor has she answered my e mails. Booking dot com needs to verify credentials of people using their facility as it is clear Ms Kanjee does not operate from an ethical and professional manner. Kindly assist to get the courtesy of a response from her. Ms S.Pillay

Dear resolver group,

I booked an apartment in Vienna Heart of Vienna "Opera House" Studio and for my surprise they charged me without my consent for additional 48€

I did all the screenshots while booking the apartment, and nowhere was any such fee mentioned.
I feel scammed!
I already wrote to the apartment owner about asking to refund my booking because their fee wasn't included during the booking procedure

I expect to have my booking cancelled with full refund and Booking app to prevent such scamming from happening again

The additional fee is not included in the important details, only the fee for smoking in the apartment 300€

Thank you
Best regards,
[removed]

Dear Sirs,

I proceeded to book a classic double room for 2 guests on the booking.com website yesterday, 3rd January 2018, before confirming the booking I was given a breakdown of the hotel details. I proceeded with the booking once I checked the details, and confirmed that I was happy with the non-refundable cancellation policy and we were to pay at the property.

Upon receiving the confirmation email, I scrolled down to ensure all details were correct. At this point I noticed that the confirmation email stated 'single use'. I have evidence that the confirmation page on the website does not state 'single use'.

I contacted booking.com immediately to advise them. I spoke to a very helpful gentle, Joshua. Joshua contacted the hotel whilst I was on hold, however, the reservation department was closed until this morning. Joshua told me to call back in the morning, so that is what I did. I spoke to a very unhelpful lady called Megan Pay. She advised me that the hotel are prepared to add an extra guest to the room but at an additional cost of €160.00. I am not prepared to pay this as the website is very unclear.

I am also unable to cancel as the cancellation fee is the full amount. I also found on the website that I can book directly with the hotel for cheaper, however, I would have to pay upfront. That is not possible at this time.

I really need a response as soon as possible before I pass this matter on to my Solicitor to deal with.

Please see attached evidence that the confirmation on booking.com did not state 'single use' whilst I was booking.

I look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency.

Kind regards,

Mollie Ellerman
On behalf of Anthony Ellerman

Confirmation number: [protected]
Pin code: 4613
Your booking has been successfully cancelled for free
Dear stephanie la,
We can confirm that your reservation at huahin beach luxury condominium has been cancelled. you don't need to take further action, but if you have any queries for the property, their contact details are: +[protected].
Huahin beach luxury condominium
Khao tao, thailand cancelled
Phone: +[protected]
Email property
Check-in monday 1 january 2018
Check-out thursday 4 january 2018
Terms of cancellation cost
Huahin beach luxury condominium has agreed to waive the cancellation fee on this occasion. you will not be charged for this cancellation.
Total cancellation cost: thb 13000 thb 0

The hotel has not refunded me in full even though I have received confirmation above.

Please help refund me asap because I want to close this out asap

Its not fair to customers to have to chase their refunds.

No one at customer. [protected]@booking.com is helping me about this refund and I am extremely disappointed because I have used your website many times.

I will contact better business bureau to resolve this if you are unable to assist thanks.

I am trying to cancel a reservation and the hotel (riff hotel chelsea ny) is trying to charge me $200.00, the cancellation is well within 24hrs, can booking.com assist me in this? the cancellation was made due to the hotel being so dirty and the health risk to my four young kids.
Confirmation number: [protected]
Pin code: 2078
Riff hotel chelsea ny [protected]

I am sending you a complaint from me regarding the Ramada Encore Ribalta hotel not refund me a sum despite although there is a free cancellation on the grounds and they said to me that i should inform your esteemed company.
More over that the rooms are not identical to the international standards and the rooms very tightness
then I referring the balcony they said that it is on the top floor when i go there I did not even find a chair to sit on it
So the name of this hotel was exploited by them and its not classification five stars and the quality of the food presented is not varied and they said it for show only
As a result of all these circumstances
I requested for cancellation the reservation.

Confirmation Number: [protected]
Please raise this complaint with your officials

Regards

Ahmed shoukri

On 26DEC2017 (us eastern) saw a charge from booking.com for a hotel in Europe. I proceeded to call my bank and report fraud and cancel the card. My fiance, who's card number was stolen then called bookings customer care. They said they would see about canceling it and call back. They took her name and number, along with her email to send the original conformation email. That email was in italian. The next day, we called and was told that they never contacted the hotel but would now and would call us back. Today, 28DEC2017 (EST), we called again. This time she was told that the hotel won't cancel and if they do, we owe the cancellation fee, plus a 200 dollar fee to bookings. She got off the phone and I called. I spoke to Hercules, who told me the email, name and phone number are hers now, so it's not fraud any more. He also informed me that they remote accessed my "IP address" and it will match.

So now it's not only identity theft and fraud, but your company is profiting from the fraud. This is unacceptable. I have already filed with the European better business bureau. And to have your company be complicit in frauding anyone is reprehensible.

Sir, i booked a room 3 days ago as planned to reach here(Dwarka).
When i reached dwarka. I went to hotel they told me that booking.com guys could do anything it doesn't mean that we will give you room. And they talk in many disrespectful manner and due to these we took hotel in other room it cost us much more than oir budget..

Regards
Shivraj soyal
[protected]