Booking.com
reviews and complaints

On 16th May 2017 i made a hotel booking online for 2 adults and 2 children to stay at the Hotel Palm Beach in Benidorm for 2 nights (13th-15th July) and paid 387.60 euros on my credit card. (£344.51). Incidentally on the same day i telephoned Booking.Com to confirm and clarify this booking as my email confirmation said (2 adults, 2 children (up to 0 years of age)..which i felt was confusing so rang to confirm my family booking which was confirmed as a firm booking for a family of FOUR!

Upon arriving at the hotel at approximately 14.15 pm on July 13th 2017 with my family i tried to check in at reception...and here starts the problems!

I was rudely told that my booking was for TWO ADULTS ONLY!...no children at all...
I was told by the very rude and abrupt hotel reception lady that she simply could not and would not allow the 4 of us to stay at the hotel.
I showed the lady all my documents and she showed me the documents she had..all from Booking.com.
It appears my documents show 2 adults + 2 children and the hotel documents show 2 Adults only. All documents provided to each party from Booking.Com.

I was told that the error clearly was with Booking.Com and the staff member provided me with a phone number to call them and i was asked to sort it out myself and to leave the hotel reception desk immediately as i was in the way!

Upon contacting Booking.Com over the telephone i was told that there was no error...that the 4 of us had been booked in correctly and that the hotel was at fault.
Despite my pleas for the hotel to speak to Booking.Com over the phone and vice versa both parties declined and said it was my problem to sort out.

After TWO HOURS on the telephone with clearly no one accepting fault i was given a take it or leave it offer...if i wanted my family to stay with me and wanted all of us to sleep under the same roof i had no choice but to pay for a 2 bedroom apartment in the adjacent building the Don Jorge at an extra cost to me of 232.80 euros. The alternative, i was bluntly told, was to go home. I was also told on no account would i be given any refund for the original family hotel room i had previously booked

This was our silver wedding anniversary day and we wanted to travel to Benidorm to be with our family and on the same evening a "surprise" meal was arranged with other family members and friends. The day/night was ruined!

After getting upset and pleading with the hotel and Booking.Com to sort it out we were getting nowhere and our first vacation day was drawing to an end. We felt we had no choice but to accept the adjacent apartment room and pay the extra money for it.

So in total for a 2 night stay we paid 620.40 euros instead of the original agreed 387.60 euros.

The Don Jorge was nothing more than a youth hostel, filled with stag/hen parties and young party animals. We never slept either night. The rooms were disgusting and indeed filthy in areas...mouldy bathroom, excrement on the walls, damp walls, holes in floor, rusty cooker and damaged patio doors! We complained to security guards who said this hotel was renowned for rowdy behaviour and they were doing their best to stop the rowdy behaviour but were limited as to what to do. One guard was on his way to the 34th floor to speak to a group of youths that were throwing beer glasses down onto the floor below! Perhaps that gives you an idea of the type of place we stayed!

All in all a total disappointment and upsetting experience on what should have been a happy milestone experience.

I am writing to ask for a full refund on this booking ref [protected] of 620.40 euros.

The booking error was not my error. The shabby, filthy apartment was not up to standard and the service i have received was below expectation and simply unacceptable.

I booked a family room in a 4 star hotel for 2 adults AND 2 children and that is what i paid for and received confirmation for and did NOT receive at all.

I am the innocent party here and feel i am made to be the go between between the hotel and the Booking company. I hope you both can resolve my concerns and issues between you but feel i do not need to get involved and as my booking was made with Booking.Com it is you that should deal with my concerns and issue me with a full refund.

I book an apartment in February to stay at Portland on the Columbia vacation rentals at end of July. The day that we were suppose to arrive and stay there I received an email at 2:07am saying that they had some major issues going on and the apartment that we were suppose to stay in was inhabitable and that they were going to process a full refund right away. I emailed them back immediately and let them know how much of a hardship this was going to be being that we were on a very limited amount of cash for our trip and being that we had to find another place to stay it was going to put a damper on our trip. I asked how quickly our refund was going to be processed so that we could use those funds towards a new place to stay. I never got a response back and we still do not have our refund. I have made multiple attempts to contact them such as email, text, and by phone. Anyway that i have tried to contact them I have received no correspondence whatsoever. This is very unprofessional. It would be nice to receive something even if it's something I may not be happy with.

Booked my room through booking.com. when arrived to the room the room I booked looked nothing like the pictures I viewed online. The bathroom door completely came off hinges when I went to shut it. The bathtub was full of rust. There was one air conditioning that was in wall to cool the entire family room (2 rooms, bathroom, and kitchen area). The room stayed so hot, it was cooler outside than it was in the room at night. Headboards was all scratched up, holes in the walls that was not repaired. When I tried to complain to manager, all the management could say was sorry that you are not satisfied. Will never book a room at vicking ever again, even if it is the last hotel on the beach available.

80 Hampton Rd. Morris, Illinois (Days Inn)

We are having a horrible experience. We made a complaint to management, nothing was done. The parking lot is flooded, my wife and I are here for a wedding.

The elevator has people stuck in it, we got stuck earlier today luckily it opened. We came back and there are people stuck in the elevator again. We are on the third floor, my wife does not walk well and especially on stairs. the elevator and the hallways, room smells like marijuana.

We have not been accommodated a first level room. We would like our money back, this is not being handled well by management.

Confirmation code 1148.057.464, pin 3935.

I made a booking to stay in Navona penthouse, one bedroom apartment, after booking I saw on my confirmation that it said the host will contact me before taking all the money so I saw no need to go to the bank straight away to put the rest of the money in I needed. it did also say that a prepayment would be taken at any time, as I already had most of the money in there I thought there would be enough to cover a prepayment and as it said the host would contact me I did not expect the full amount to go out. I was surprised then to realise that they had taken all the money out on the 11th July. I called up the customer support team on the 12th July and spoke to a lady who also seemed very surprised that all the money had been taken out of my account without being contacted. whilst doing this I was logged on to my account and it was saying I was a genius member, not knowing what this is I asked and the lady confirmed I was a genius member and told me what it was, as I had booked the hotel when I wasn't logged on I asked if I would have got it cheaper for a genius member, I was informed that apartment was not included in genius, so I left it at that. the lady said she would email the host and I was expecting an email or some form of confirmation. after about a week I logged back on to my account to see if I had had a message, but I hadn't but I did notice I wasn't a genius member anymore, so I rang on the 19th July and spoke to Damian, he didn't know why I wasn't a genius member anymore but as I had changed by email address when booking the apartment he said it could have been something to do with that, I gave him my other email address and he could see the previous bookings I had made, he also said that I could have 3 email addresses added to my account, so far the phonecall had taken half an hour and I had to go as I had to go to work. I pointed out several times what I would like him to do, 1- find out why I wasn't a genius member anymore, 2-find out what was happening with my previous complaint as I had not heard anything and 3- tell me how to add additional email addresses to my account. the email I got back from him said it was because you had to have 5 bookings within the last 2 years, there was nothing about either of my other 2 points. So today, the 21st July I rang again and asked to speak to a manager, I spoke to Gilaine P, and I have never been so frustrated and angry in my life (after over an hour on the phone I was left literally crying from her appalling attitude). I first mentioned how it said on my confirmation that I would get contacted by the host, she said I was ignoring the second sentence, I asked if I should have ignored the first, and she kept saying how that was an option the host had, it does not say its an option, I have it clearly in black and white that the host was going to contact me, she would not listen to what I was saying and very very rude and just kept repeating the same lines again and again, I asked to speak to someone in the complaints department, she refused and said I didn't have a complaint, I asked for her to put this through as a complaint, all she said was that she would add it to my notes, I said I wanted to speak to someone else, she said she was the highest person there. I then brought up the issue of Damian not answering all my queries in the email, she said she could go through it now, I said I wanted to know why it wasn't addressed in my email, she said Damian must have forgotten, she said she was a 'forward thinking' person and didn't want to look back at what had happened. so ok I said, show me how, I went to setting as she said and she said there would be an add button by my email address, there wasn't and she kept talking to me like I was stupid and must not be seeing it, in the end I had to screen print what I was seeing and email it to my booking so she could see it, she then put me on hold for quite a while and when she came back asked me where I was based, I said the UK, and she started to say some accounts couldn't have more than one email address, I asked why and she just kept going on about how some couldn't have 3, I then asked why I wasn't told this and she said that maybe there was an update going through the account or something like that, I'm sorry I cant remember exactly what she said, I was getting infuriated with her conduct by now, anyway she could not give me a straight answer. I then pointed out that I was previously given wrong information, she said no and how I was misunderstanding, some accounts could only have one email address, yes I said, and I was told mine could have 3 but it could only have 1, wrong information, yes or no, no you are misunderstanding. so I moved on to point number 3- why was I shown on my account and told by the person I spoke to on the 12th July that I was a genius member, only to look at the account again a week later and not to be a genius member, her response was that I have never been a genius member, I asked why I was shown to be and told by the person on the phone that I was a genius member, she just kept repeating that I wasn't one, she just kept going round and round in circles and arguing with me, basically calling me a liar, I said she could listen to the call from the 12th to prove it, she said only the training and quality control have access to listen to the calls and they wont listen to one just because I said to. I then asked for a subject access request, she said she didn't know what I was talking about, I explained what it was, she said if I wanted to take legal action I could, I said I didn't want to take legal action I just wanted a subject access request, we went round and round like this for quite a while, in fact the whole phone call was going round and round and I'm at a loss at what to do now. today is the first time in my life I have ever felt angry enough to punch something, does your company not know what customer service is, I have worked in a call centre for 11 years now and had I behaved like the manager had done today I would have been fired, where was any kind of attitude of help, I cant believe that she would not even register a complaint as 'I had nothing to complain about' I think you will find that is not correct. now I don't know what to do, I'm meant to be going to Rome in 2 months, if I don't I will lose all my money, if I do vie still lost money, either way I'm feeling miserable and horrible and cant forget this experience.

The details below are the following:

Pin no. 8571
Reservation no. [protected]
Email address: [protected]@gmail.com
Accomodation name: Hotel de l' Europe Belleville
Location: Paris, France
Check in date: July 17, 2017
Check out date: July 24, 2017
Status: Cancelled
Date Booked: June 5, 2017
Date Cancelled: June 5, 2017
They deducted in my card in their POS twice(2x):

June 05, 2017 17, 024.87 PHP
July 07, 2017 5, 239.14 PHP

I have been complaining to booking.com but they never give attention, they replied to my email and call twice, and they even told me that the hotel already returned the refund, but they did not, no refund at all, I tried explaining to them but I found no answers now, no refund.

Booking [protected] pin 2903
Booked 29th March, 2017
Cancelled 5th April, 2017

We made this booking on 29th March, 2017 for Southern Cross Serviced Apartments in Melbourne, Australia for 16th-19th July, 2017
Due to medical issues also requiring an operation in July I phoned booking.com on 5th April to cancel this booking as I cannot afford holiday and operation - I did not take notice of the person I spoke to
I was therefore very surprised to see a charge of $727.76 on our credit card on Tues 11th July, 2017 total $ for the accommodation which I had previously cancelled.
The problem is that our cancellation was not processed and there is no record that I did in fact cancel. In the end if its not in the computer nothing can be done, yet the booking cancellation was requested but obviously not entered correctly or at all. There is nothing I can do about proving this. We are now in the position of not only trying to afford medical costs and operation costs but also of paying $727.76 for a holiday we didn't get to take because of a cancellation which wasn't processed. Unfortunately booking.com has totally passed this off to the Southern Cross Serviced apartments saying that they charged the amount because the booking was not cancelled which is true as booking.com did not process the cancellation on their computer.
So disappointed and we won't be using booking.com in the future and will deal directly with accommodation provider.

I made a booking via yourselves for the weekend of 16th June 2017 for the above establishment. The facility did not make provision of credit or debit card facilities and I had to do and EFT transfer of the accomodation and deposit fee. The deposit fee which I paid was R 1000.00. I was told that I would be reimbursed the deposit within seven days. Despite several messages and e mails, I have still not been reimbursed the deposit fee. The company have made several excuses for the non - payment, even so far as blaming Nedbank for not accepting their transfer. I am an attorney and operate a business and trust account with Nedbank and all eft transfers were processed.

Booking dot com must be aware of the establishments they recommend to their Clients, as this service provider's customer care is very poor. Even on the day we booked in, we were not provided with any towels. Instead we found a bucket containing dirty towels soaking. They do not make use of a reception area where we could fetch towels or Guest services. Instead we were assisted by the security guard, who gave us pool towels to use.

Reservation [protected] at La Maison d'Hoursentut for August 28th to Aug 31st 2017 made on 30th April.
We had to pay $285 AUD to secure this booking when we made it .
The booking was cancelled on Friday 14/7/17.
The wording suggests that I requested a cancellation which is completely fabricated.
I have emailed 3 times to get some communication going without any response, evaporated into the ether !

I anmol singh from india (Delhi), through your esteemed website booking.com, I would like to bring your kind attention towards the cheating or fraud going on your site.
I booked 3 rooms for 2 night stay at nirvana lodge and lounge mussoorie (India) from 13th august to 15th august. As your website also confirmed the booking and provide the booking number also that is 1006.448.480 and pin code is 6793.
When I call at the property for confirmation about the rooms they simply said that they have cancel the booking without informing me.
At the time of booking also it's written there no need to pay at the time of booking, payment has to be made at the time of arrival.

I have already arranged the travelling expenses and even paid them advanced for the travelling car, that to be not refunded.

It's that way to deal with your coustomer/client, the client already made arrangement and your hotel tell him that they cancel the booking.

Kindly look to this matter positively and reply me back with a positive answer as soon as possible.
Hope so that I will get justice.

Thanking you
Anmol singh
Delhi, india
Telephone: +91 [protected]

This apartment rental is a scam and I have the moral duty to tell in detail my experience. Here are some of the highlights:

- checkin was unacceptable. The arrangement was that somebody would meet us at the apartment with the keys. For two times I communicated my estimated time of arrival to help the process. However, when we arrived at the location, nobody was there. We started to call our contacts (Issac and Monica) but no one replied. We left dozens of messages to their voicemail, called the hotline several times, but nothing happened. After a few hours a guy came with the key. We were lucky! Some other colleagues did not receive any room, despite their were already charged the full amount of 2500 dollars, and eventually they had to find another hotel!

- We entered in the apartment, there were no bed sheets for two people, no shower gel, no shampoo. Even toilet paper was about to end. For a 320 dollar per night fee we were expecting more.

- We called the contacts to have a spare key (we were two paying guests). Nobody answered, so we could not enter or leave the apartment independently for the whole stay.

- The worst part was the cockroaches (over a inch long) we found in the bed, in the shower, in the kitchen. The place was infested with them. I slept very uncomfortably with the idea of these insects crawling on my body. I can send photos upon request.

- We wanted to have some info about the gym and the swimming pool, which we couldn't find, although they were listed as facilities. Of course we called the contacts several times with no answer.

- We called and sent an email asking how to do the checkout and how to receive an invoice. Nobody replied. Eventually we just left the keys in the house and we left without locking the main door.

Overall, I think this is the worst experience I had from an hotel booked in Booking.com, and I strongly believe this place should not appear on booking.com or on any other website. There is nobody to ask info or to interact with

I did reservation1037209066. for hotel in Egypt for holiday for my family for 10 days before 35 days and by mistake I enter another card number instead of mine and i did not see the small note about cancellation fees

When I realize the mistake I wrote to booking.com & call but every time telling me that hotel don't want to return the payment even it's not legal payment and I offer them paying 5 % as compensation or even more and they refuse as they draw the full amount and even my reservation still not began (29/7/2017), , , I try long time so hotel can fill the place but no hope but no help from the hotel or booking.com
I'm disappointed as full amount is more than 2000 dollar and they withdraw from someone else account without his permission and every cent is costly for me and I need a help

Best regards

Ahmed E

[protected]@yahoo.com

Booking number: [protected] booked by: kalina pavlova
Dear sir or madam,

Villa san blas in cusco booked for the period 13-15 july was overbooked. They sent one of our clients is another hotel, didn't provide the rooms we booked (For example provided double room instead of twin for 2 strangers) and accommodate one of the persons in a small room for concierge.

This is absolutely unacceptable and we kindly ask you for assistance over the matter.

Look forward to your prompt reply,
Kalina

Dear Cutomer Service Officer
Booking.com
I had booked 02 rooms at the Bodrum Oscar Hotel on July 06, 2017 at 11.11 am( Pakistan Standard time) with free cancellation till July 10, 2017. I cancelled my booking immediately after 08 minutes as I got a better option on Booking.com.
Bodrum Oscar Hotel has charged US$ 137.97 from my Credit Card # [protected] on July 06, 2017 by their GM, Mr Anil Ozel, unlawfully as my booking had a free cancellation till 10th July, 2017.

Kindly look into this matter and my amount may be reimbursed/returned so as to avoid me taking any legal remedy in this regard.

Best regards
Muhammad Arif
Karachi
Pakistan
Ph # +[protected]

Poor service from booking.com
After paying to secure an apartment in Camden, London,  I communicated with booking.com and with the 'host' repeatedly to try and get the exact location (google maps couldn't find it with the address provided) and where to collect keys. I never got a satisfactory response to numerous emails or phone messages before my departure. When I arrived in Camden I spent two hours searching the area where the apartment should have been. I knocked on doors, got waiters in a pub to re-google the address, etc. No one  had ever heard of the apartment block. One man had lived in the street for 10 years and had not heard about the London Lux Randolph apartments. Needless to say, at great expense and at 10pm I eventually checked into the closest Holiday Inn.  After numerous emails to booking.com I eventually received a written undertaking that I will be reimbursed but there has to date been no sign of the money and no response to three emails sent this week making enquiries. Needless to say, I will never use booking.com again. 

Dear Booking,

I would like to file a complaint about my stay in the property booked via Booking.com.

Name: Green Garden Apartments (Tallinn, Estonia)
Date: 03.07.2017 - 05.07.2017
Confirmation number: [protected]
PIN code: 7948

Description of problem: When me and my parents had arrived to the property, the host was obviously drunk. We could smell it, and she could barely speaking, and hiding her eyes with sunglasses. She let us wait until 17:00, although check-in hours were 13:00-17:00, and we arrived earlier than 17:00. I´m sure when I called her that we are at the address, she didn´t have prepared rooms, so she rather let us wait one hour. Bed sheets weren´t ready, and she told us that her worker didn´t do it and they are still wet. Meanwhile, when I was with her alone she admitted that she is drunk and laughed. The worst was when we got into the bathroom in the basement. In the small room in front of the bathroom were some used towels on the sofa, what was weird. But in the bathroom in the area of the shower was VOMIT on the floor. It was disgusting to find it in the place where you should be for 2 nights and have a shower there and overall you paid for it. I told the host to clean it immediately, while we will go out for dinner. When we came back, it was still there. Second time I got really angry, and then she cleaned it while she was still drunk, but it was still disgusting to have shower there. She was saying something like she has some workers and she told them not to do anything in that house, maybe she meant some party, I don´t know. She was blaming everybody else but never took responsibility for it.
We changed 5 accommodations during our 8-day trip, and this one was the most expensive, but it was the worst. Anyway, it never happened to me before, even the cheapest accommodation was clean, because the host was responsible!
I was thinking how somebody like this can offer accommodation and service on portal like Booking.com.
In the attachment you can see pictures of the bathroom in the state how we found it. It was unacceptable, even more when I was with my parents which are not traveling a lot and they don´t deserve this to experience.

I think that the host should be warned and get some kind of ultimatum. I don´t want this to happen to other guests.
I would be also glad to get a refund at least 50% of the whole price we paid.

Thank you in advance for taking this complaint into consideration

Sona Geciova from Slovak Republic

Booking.com - Booking Number: [protected]

Reference: Reservation at The Blue Ball Inn, Countisbury, Lynton.
2 nights Friday 23 June – Sunday 25 June 2017

Dear Booking.com

We would like to bring to you attention that we didn't actually stay any nights at the Blue Ball Inn as
once we arrived – we discovered that the Inn is dog friendly….

When we say dog friendly – we don't mean a doggy bowl by the door and maybe a friendly dog wandering around the garden and possibly panting by the fireplace -

No

We mean dogs in the guest bedroom, in the bath and in the bed!

This is confirmed by the A4 laminate in the guestroom, welcoming guests and their dogs in to the rooms, plus the odd stain on the carpet, dog hairs on the skirting board and in the bath.

We had absolutely no idea that the Inn was this dog friendly let alone 'sharing a bed and dare I say, a bath with your dog' ! eeeek...

Consequently we checked out an hour after arriving as apart from being very disappointed, my allergies overtook my face, my eyes and my breathing – leaving me rather unwell.

We therefore had to make alternative arrangements incurring additional financial implication and inconvenience.

May I suggest you amend your description of the Inn and make people aware of the dog situation ?

The Manager charged us the sum of £80 incl VAT for one night – therefore we would appreciate a refund as a gesture of goodwill on your part.

Thank you for your attention

Christopher Hall
[protected]@gmail.com

Attached
1. Original booking confirmation and charge
2. Charge for 1 night

I would like to make a complain because I went online and I clicked change booking and it gave me the option FREE that's why I did change it! Unfortunately I lost my flight that day and I sent email explaining what's happened and than when I was Online IN my Booking it gave me option to change that, there was nothing saying i had to pay DOUBLE! And it was £0 for this transaction, so how can you explain that? Why they give the option to change IN your existence booking and after that charge you for the same hotel twice? I am so disappointed with booking.com me and my family we are cliente of booking.com but after that I don't really know!
I would like explanation why I have to pay for something I didn't use?
Thanks
Ivanir r de Landes

Your receipt and theirs both said that breakfast was included so when we went to get it in the morning there was no breakfast and no one was at the desk to ask and we had to be on our way so I just sent an email to them and they said that they are in transition sorry and my card would be credited back for the breakfast charge and now that I am home to look at my statement they credited me back $5 what a joke! I have been using booking with good results but I feel you need to keep them honest and stop ripping people off.

Tom Nettlebeck

I booked 2 hotels for a bridal shower evening, and then we decided not to go and cancelled them. I guess one was cancelled and not the other-I was under the impression that both were. I received no email notification of the upcoming hotel stay-which normally, I do. I had up until the day of to cancel at no cost. I had NO IDEA the reservation still existed. I was charged just under 1000$. I contacted Booking.com, who contacted the hotel directly, and said nothing could be done. I contacted the hotel directly and they reduced t by half and said Booking.com should supply the rest since it was their issue and not the hotel's. Booking would not help me in any way. I tried to speak with a manager and was denied. They would not even listen to me! I am complaining about this bad customer service. I am complaining about the lack of consistencies with the websites notifications. I can't believe that a company that I have used so much in the passed is not willing to help when a loyal customer needs it! I have had 500 dollars just gone form my account for no good reason! And even at that I cannot speak with a manager?! I willnot be using Booking.com again unless they can assist me with this matter!