Booking.com
Reviews and Complaints

I am compelled to share my extremely disappointing experience with Booking.com regarding my booking reference 40-*******8. This situation has not only caused me significant stress but has also led to substantial financial losses.

Denial of Boarding:
On 24 June 2024, I was denied boarding at London Heathrow Airport due to the absence of a valid ESTA. I was instructed by the airline to contact the agent through whom I booked my ticket for further assistance.

Inadequate Customer Service:
During my initial call to Booking.com on the same day, I spoke with an agent named ***. To my dismay, I was not informed that my entire journey was canceled due to the "no-show" status marked by the airline. Instead, I was misled into thinking I could still catch my connecting flights.

I made multiple attempts to clarify the situation and initiate a refund for my unused tickets on 25th June, and also raised my complain for refund both via calls and a complain made on 15th July but customer service agents, consistently failed to provide accurate information or resolve my issues. The lack of support was both frustrating and exhausting. The complaint made on 15th July was never responded.

Failed Refund Process:
Despite my persistent efforts, it wasn't until 26 September 2024 that I was told my refund request was acknowledged. However, I received only a partial refund of GBP 386.22 on 02 October 2024. I incurred additional expenses exceeding GBP 2000 due to alternative travel arrangements that I had to make as a direct result of Booking.com’s mishandling of my case.

Inadequate Response from Customer Service:
I recently received a response from a senior customer service representative, stating that no enquiry on my delayed refund and no response on the compliant made on 15th July and directly addressed that no full refund is possible and that I should be satisfied with the minimal refund provided. This is unacceptable considering the distress and financial burden I have endured due to their incompetence.

Seeking Legal Advice
Given the circumstances, I am now seeking legal advice regarding my rights as a consumer and the appropriate steps to take to recover my losses. I strongly advise anyone considering booking through Booking.com to think twice, as their customer service has proven to be inadequate, and they appear unwilling to take responsibility for the issues that arise.

I hope my experience serves as a warning to others and encourages Booking.com to improve their customer service practices and resolve complaints in a timely and fair manner.

Booked accommodation in London. Paid 1 month prior to check-in. Received no code for keylock. Contacted both accommodation company and Booking.com up until day of check-in for details. On morning of check-in, booked alternative accommodation through Booking.com again, because we did not want to arrive in London with no accommodation. Brand new flat in Notting Hill has been sent emails to cancel the original booking, so that it will trigger a full refund to me. They have not replied, yet Booking.com will still take bookings for that property. Is that ethical?

I recently had an awful experience with both Booking.com and the accommodation they listed, Haven of Trees. Upon arriving, we were met with an absolute nightmare: the shower was covered in sewage, there were no towels, the entire place was filthy, and the room smelled terrible. It was completely uninhabitable, so we had no choice but to leave and find another place to stay at the last minute.We contacted Booking.com immediately, seeking support and a refund. The initial response was frustratingly dismissive. They claimed to have spoken with the owners of the accommodation, who supposedly refused a refund. However, after pressing further, they admitted that they hadn't actually managed to contact the owners because all calls went straight to voicemail. Despite this, Booking.com still decided against processing our refund because we had booked a "non-refundable" rate.It's incredibly disappointing that Booking.com doesn’t take responsibility for the quality of the accommodations they list. We paid for a place to stay and instead got a health hazard. The fact that Booking.com wouldn’t refund us despite the situation being completely out of our control makes them unreliable and untrustworthy.Over the course of 10 days, I spoke with three different customer service representatives, sent multiple messages through their chat system, and provided photo evidence of the disgusting conditions. Their final response? A £21 voucher as "compensation" for an accommodation that cost £167 and left us scrambling to book another place at £330. There was no meaningful compensation for the stress and financial burden they caused us.This experience was beyond disappointing. I will not be using Booking.com again, and I urge others to think twice before booking through them. The lack of accountability and poor customer service is simply unacceptable.

As someone who has explored various travel options, I must say that Booking.com has its ups and downs. While some users have praised the ease of booking and great deals, others have faced challenges with customer service, cancellations, and unexpected charges. It's essential to read the fine print and be cautious when booking through them. Despite some positive experiences, it seems that Booking.com still has room for improvement to ensure a consistently positive customer experience.

ONLY put 5 so it would be read. I used booking.com a few times and had no issues, however... Last month for me and my husbands anniversary we booked a place for a few nights. While out to dinner on our first night we received a phone call from a different hotel asking us when we would be arriving. I had never even heard of and never received any confirmation emails about. I received multiple reminders about the hotel we did book but not ONE about this other hotel we supposedly booked the same weekend as the other. We ended up paying $200 for the first night at the place we were not even staying at... needless to say I was very frustrated and when I called booking.com they would not do anything about it. They said on there end that they sent a confirmation email. We looked on both my husband and my email history & spam up till the day that I supposedly booked the other hotel and there was NO email confirmation about it nor were their any reminders like for the hotel I actually did book. Not use this site you will loose time and money you work hard for!

Stayed at Tourist & Resort Hotel Cappadocia, booked through Booking.com. This Hotel classified as Four Star but the treatment we received was 5 star. My partner and I would like to thank, the house maid, the reception staff, the breakfast staff, the chef (who make the most amazing omelettes), and the doorman, and last but not least the manager, who made our stay the greatest part of our world trip. We arrived tired at 05:30 in the morning a car (driven by doorman) picked us up from the bus station and took us to the hotel, reception seeing how tired we were gave us a room immediately, while the doorman carried our two heavy bags upstairs to our room, and we were invited to have breakfast after a short sleep, everything thereafter was just as perfect. Cannot recommend this place enough. I would also recommend that any tours, ballon rides be booked through the hotel manager, he speaks perfect English, and did not rip us off, in fact he was cheaper than quotes we received from local agencies we got quotes from. Dates stayed 13/7/15 to 17/7/15 inclusive. From an Australia traveller couple

I was pleased with getting a hotel reservation in Tennessee using booking.com: good price, no problems. I went through PayPal; everything was tidy. I then discovered a foreign transaction fee assessed by BOA. I was informed that if I use my BOA card from a company located outside of the U. S (booking.com), I will have to pay a foreign transaction fee. BOA added a designation to my PayPal transaction with "NLD." I am told by a BOA associate that NLD stands for "Never Land." I didn't catch the designation for "D."

The folks at BOA graciously waived the fee this time; I think because I am a long-standing member. I did some research and discovered that the HQ of booking.com is located in the Netherlands, hence, "foreign!". If I use anything related to booking.com in the future and use my BOA card, I will be assessed a foreign transaction fee, and so will you if that is your preferred credit card. The fee was minimal, but for me, it was the principle of the matter. BOA may be a trendsetter or following behind someone else. I am retired and living in Tennessee, and I thought I would inform others of what I just discovered.

I stayed at Barmston beach. Park Dean, I had a beautiful caravan great kitchen with big fridge and freezer spacious living room may only complaint would be that the double mattress had seen better days was sprung, I was in Rowan Vale, 4. I must point out that I stayed there mon'17th, may till 21st, 2021. But until now had no Internet, so maybe the mattress has been sorted out the living room with 32inc dvd combo flatscreen & proper so
Sofa & separate chairs had a door separating the kitchen & the kitchen also had a separating door from the bed rooms one with two single beds and the double with on suite & the bathroom with bath&shower, more like I home than a caravan facilities were very good & it's a five minute walk to the beach at the back of the park, you can walk along the beach to Bridlington in about an hour a lovely walk that brings you to bridlington Spar, I recommend that you can safe money on meals if you don't bring your own food to cookby using the Blackbull Pub in the village about 8-10, walk away from the park. Much cheaper for family meals and very friendly staff, As are the staff at the park I can't fault them!, Nice quiet place during my stay, Looking forward to using Barmston Beach Holiday Park Again!

I have been a member of booking.com for almost 4 years. I travelled a lot for my business and leisure with my family. Each time I booked thru this website is smooth, the photo in website and actual condition is correct all the time.

One time in Nov 2016, my family and I went to Sicily, Italy for 3 days. Booked a hotel one month in advance. Picked a Villa location is beach front. Arrived in The Villa, greeted by the owner and his wife. They speak only Italian. My husband and I speak little Italian. They tried to explained to us that there was a small huricane hit The Villa 2 nights before we arrived, therefore, our room is a mess. He recommended me to another Villa own by his friend. Arrived in new Villa but I do not like it. It is not beach front and no linen and pillows ready. I've called booking.com and she called the owner of the Villa trying to solve the issue. She called me again and offered me different Villa with similar situation (beach front, kitchen ready, etc). She also able to full refunded my money from previous booking.

I think this is very profesional customer service who would go out of her way tried to call me and villa's owner to solve problems of all parties.

Booking.com can count on me as their customer.

My experience with Booking.com's customer service was handled in a very professional and timely manner. I accidentally booked a hotel in SF that I was not intending to retreat at online and while trying to undo it, I confirmed it! I didn't realize it until I had received an email with a confirmation number followed by my computer error. On the website, if I had done it, a cancellation fee would apply if reservation was to be cancelled and I just did not feel good about it. I immediately called the hotel and explained the situation and they were not able to cancel my reservation, I would have to contact Booking.com. I reached representative ERIC and I cannot be more thankful for his understanding and going out of his way to cancel and waive the fee for me! I was put on hold for about 10 mins and ERIC came back on to apologize for the wait and explained to me that he had to contact three agencies to get them to cancel the reservation without any fee. I was ecstatic and thanked him for going above and beyond! Such a genuine representative! Although the hotel was not for me, I definitely will be using Booking.com for the one I'll be SURE of this time. And I'll book it properly! (: thank you again, ERIC! We need more people like you in this business!

We have used Booking.com on many occasions. We travelled to over 35 countries and we are pretty fair in our reviews as we're an elderly couple. I am also a very senior contributor for Trip Advisor.
We stayed in Hotel Sentral in KL Malaysia about a week ago. Prior to that we had a fantastic 12 days in Subang Jaya ( 4 nights at Grand Dorsett), 4 nights in White Lodge Langkawi, 4 nights in Noordin Mews Penang. We only picked Hotel Sentral because of it's proximity to K
L Sentral. After the first night my wife was bitten by something and she was breaking out in rashes. I went to a Chemist nearby and explained the symptoms and he got me the medication from 1 spot in the front of the counter for bed bug bites. The location of the hotel is good and so are the staff. Breakfast was also OK but who would like to be bitten by bed bugs while on holiday. My wife wrote an honest review but Booking.com did not publish it. Even the Hotel Management apologized to my wife but not Booking.com. I would advise people to desert them in droves. They are dishonest. I read a review on Agoda where a customer complained about the same problem and got a refund. I would strongly recommend people who are travelling not to use Booking.com and also Sentral Hotel. After 10 days my wife has still not recovered.

I recently had an extraordinary experience with Booking.com's Transport Department, all thanks to a wonderful individual named Isah. Facing unexpected delays with my flight, I found myself in a bit of a predicament regarding my taxi booking. It was during this stressful time that Isah stepped in, not just as a representative, but as a beacon of support and understanding.

From the moment I reached out, Isah was there to calm my nerves, reassuring me that I was in safe hands. He went above and beyond to accommodate my situation, ensuring that my taxi booking was rescheduled seamlessly amidst the chaos of travel hiccups. His empathy, professionalism, and unwavering dedication to helping me navigate through these difficulties were nothing short of remarkable.

Isah's exceptional service and the assurance that "he will do whatever he can to help" truly set a new standard for customer care. It's rare to encounter someone so committed to the well-being and satisfaction of customers. This experience not only alleviated my stress but also reinforced my trust in Booking.com's services.

To Isah and the entire Transport Department at Booking.com: thank you for turning a potentially disruptive travel setback into a testament to outstanding customer service. Your efforts are sincerely appreciated, and I look forward to relying on your services in my future travels. Isah, you are a true asset to your team, and your dedication deserves the highest praise.

Booked a room and 10 hrs later tried to cancel
1st problem automated system had no choice for customer to cancel so picked 1st option got no where with operator 2ed choice again not the right choice but she did transfer us to the right department, where I was told right away to calm down, I was a bit excited to get the right department after being on hold for almost 45 min altogether and was talking fast because I was cut off once already, so I slowed my talk then I was told to stop talking and listen to her! That's when I had enough I asked to speak to a supervisor, I was never transferred, I told her she needs to listen to my request to cancel, she informed me that I can and would have to pay a hundred dollar penalty when the room only cost $106 I asked again to speak to a supervisor she then told me she would speak to the supervisor and get back to me this went back-and-forth for quite a while the total phone time was two hours and 10 minutes in the end the hotel manager agreed to cancel our reservation because it was less than 24 hours but booking.com had no intentions of cancelling it and if it wasn't for me to keep pushing for a supervisor or the manager of the hotel we booked through we would've been stuck with that reservation so disappointed with the customer service in the way the people speak to customers and keep in mind we went through three different operators all of them had bad attitudes I'm going to file a complaint with them, it's a good thing all calls are recorded I'll just show the bad customer service I would never use them again I don't care how cheap they are I'll pay an extra $25 and go with a reputable company

We have used booking.com to book accommodation for our 6 week trip to USA and Canada. We have found one hotel in Newark that makes untrue statements and as this was the first we booked for our trip we did foolishly book the cheapest option which has cost us ?112 to cancel both bookings! I was hopeful that if I contacted booking.com and told them how undisclosed extra charges learnt from an email to this hotel had forced us to cancel that they would help not wanting this type of hotel on their site? But after reading many posts on this site about the very poor customer service you have all received I do wonder if I too should cancel all bookings with booking.com and book personally myself? So if a booking.com customer service rep wants to reply and satisfactory deal with my concerns please do! As at present I am far than happy with booking.com!

I always speak as I find. So my advice to all the people that post complaining on this Booking.Com site is when contacted and requested to supply your booking numbers? Do it if you haven't done so yet? I did using the email address supplied? One day later I received an email reply from Booking.Com customer service telling me they had contacted the hotel direct and due to my concerns and circumstances the hotel have decided there would not be any cancellation fees made for cancelling my booking. So as far as I am concerned Booking.Com do care about their guests booking rooms with them and will step in to assist if you need them?
So we are now happy to leave all our booked accommodation in their capable hands for our road trip as I now know they will be there if I do need them all I have to do is ask!

Customer service is nice and short wait, however they are not too bright. My hotel reservation was never sent to hotel and i almost was not able to get a room. I called booking.com customer service and the agent was able to get me in a room. Few hours after i checked into room i got notification that I cancelled my room and would be refunded. I checked bank account and i was refunded. This is a mistake because I am in a room agent promised to pay them. Now who knows whats gonna happen. I contacted booking.com customer service again and after being on hold I got disconnected.

First off, I didnt get notice that my reservation - made at booking.com - was actually Priceline.com. I went onto Booking.com to view my upcoming trip in May and was unable to locate it. It was quite an adventure to locate it and I began feeling very uncomfortable about the situation. So much to the point that I decided to cancel. I notified the representative, who asked why I wanted to cancel. EXCUSE ME? Why do I have to get permission from him to cancel a reservation six months out? Then, as he was looking at whether I can cancel, I informed my partner that I feel like this is a scam. The representative immediately asked why Im calling it a scam. I was on the call/chat for over an hour and had to call back because my $410 refund was confirmed (with email) for only $228. NEVER AGAIN!

Its very unfortunate that I have to write this review on Booking.com.Ive used the website multiple times to book places to stay for vacations, however, this is my last time using them. I booked a hotel for a 4-day Memphis vacation. I decided to cancel the two rooms I booked because I found another hotel that had a better deal/location. I canceled well within the free cancellation period. I thought everything was good to go. NOPE! Once the check-in date came first I was charged for both rooms, was refunded, then charged for one of the rooms. I went back and forth between calling and emailing both the hotel and Booking.com. NO ONE WANTED TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! Booking.com lied after their little investigation and said the hotel never charged me. Then they said that the amount charged was just a hold.The transaction was pending and then cleared! How it that a hold? Anyway I ended up resolving it with the hotels help (THEY ended up calling booking.com to get it sorted out). I guess Booking.com cares more about keeping their business with the hotels than their own customers. Booking.com really needs to work on their communication between their website and the hotel. I did exactly what was instructed in order to avoid getting charged, but ended up getting charged anyway due to poor communication and service from Booking.com. *** learned! What an unnecessary headache and frustration after a great vacation. I will not be using them again. For others, call the hotel to make sure Booking.com did what they were supposed to! Cause they sure wont.

Booking has gone downhill. I've used the service for years but this latest experience has ended that. I booked "Dream Luxury" in downtown *** for the Memorial Day weekend. It turns out, the apartment is in a building that does not allow AirBnB type rentals. We literally had to sneak in. Here are the instructions we received (as we were driving to ***):Please Do not mention AIRBNB to anyone in the building do to a private property , because im under corporate lease if they find out there will be a $199 fee for your background check because the required me to do that , and you will be responsible for it .Please be aware this is not a Hotel its a Resident living , any confusion that you have please contact me directly xxxxxxxxxxx do not go to the leasing office . My policies is very strictly . If something happen due to a guest going to the leasing office for instructions , you will not have any refund !Check in instructions ***if you have any questions please come directly to me***Parking is not free. Due to Downtown location there is slim to no free parking. Drive to ***. Parking Garage, Guest parking is from floor1-7 Please park in the 6th floor near the elevator, and you will see a big gate open , in the left side before the gate you will see fire extinguisher box, open it you will find the the key fob inside, if there is no gate open to enter please take the elevator you see in the garage to 1st floor down, make a the left and right to the leasing office, scan it to the door to open, entered take the elevator is on the left down to 5th floor . Make a right and walk down until you see unit is 507. The door key under the floor mat in front of the door .Please do not answer any questions for anyone in the apartment *** Leave your luggage in the car , and pick up after check in***Please contact me directly @ xxxxxxxxxxx if you have any question or concerns. Booking still allows this listing.

The staff interactions were pleasant. We did not stay here because the rooms were overbooked. We used booking.com to reserve one room as we were driving , as coming into town. We arrived (WE WERE THERE IN PERSON) and the staff though apologetic and nice reported they did not have a room for us. She reported she had to cancel the reservation. Key word I heard was HAD. TURNS OUT THEY DID NOT INFORM BOOKING.COM. We did not call booking.com about this, but right away through booking.com reserved at a different hotel in ***. *** did not charge us for the room BUT BOOKING.COM did. Concerns and WHAT TO DO IS BELOW:Weary traveler if a hotel is reserved through a middleman/agent like booking.com and especially if the hotel overbooked and THEY cancel your reservation do this:1. ask why room not available 2. get name of person at hotel you are communicating with 3. CALL BOOKING AGENT (middleman) RIGHT THEN AND THERE AND PLACE STAFF ON PHONE. INFORM (in this case booking.com) booking agent you are there and room not available so this reservation needs cancelled. Make sure they know you are there, not a no show, and hotel had to cancel not you.4. Get the booking.com agent name.5. Then go immediately to the site (in my case a downloaded app for booking.com) AND send a message to customer service , with all details of what transpired. This is so names and interactions and times are in Writing. 6. The next morning check the site (in this case booking.com) make sure this reservation shows it WAS CANCELLED. If not reflected cancelled ie reservation still open THEN CALL, call customer service right away, CONTACT THEM BEFORE THE CHECK OUT TIME WOULD HAVE BEEN.Then hopefully you will not be charged by booking.com.

Delores Shelton booked a room at Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Auburn AL on May 8, 2024. Delores canceled the booking with the hotel Last week. The person at the hotel desk told her she had to contact Booking.com to

get a refund. To this instant she has been unable to reach them by phone or email.

Please respond.

Harvey Shelton. Deloress's husband

I made a reservation at Wingate by Wyndham Miami Airport, I am at room 406. I have just noticed that the room has not been properly prepared, the bed sheets have not been changed, the carpet is not clean. The only person at the hotel says that he is full and he brought me clean sheets, but I had to do the bed. I will have to stay in a room that has not been prepared for a new guest, this has never happened to me before, can you please help me. I tried to call in the international number provided in the confirmation email but the waiting time is over 10 minutes

one amount of $543.05
second amount of $546.21 has ben charged to my credit card
date of stay- 01/06/24 to 07/06/24
Please rectify this and refund the second amount to my credit card
Hexagon International Hotels and Vila and Spa
Nadi Airport Fiji
Tin Number-[protected]
Invoice number-52788
Arrived-01/06/24
Departed- 07/06/24
Room 507
Jack Kumar
PH- [protected]
jack.[protected]@hotmail.com

We booked guest house on 04/05/24 until 05/05/24 and when we reached their we were told it is cancelled.we travelled to celebrate our marriage anniversary in london about 40 miles and cancellation at the last moment put us in awkward situation whether to find any accomodation in night time as it was too late to find new property esp. London is expensive.when we called booking.com we were told that we cancelled and refunded you but no compensation was offered for the time lost and our otger arrangements were affected as we had to return back to our home.the experience was not good one and no apologies from booking.com

I have 2 Delta Ecredits through Booking.com that are set to expire 6/1/24; I was trying to book a future trip to Brazil with my mother in October, but there's NOT ONE Delta flight going to Brazil. Spain, Italy, Florida, and California, HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! Trying to reach a live representative without a booking number, which is completely ridiculous. I feel like I'm being scammed. Also, the reason I have these 2 Delta credits is because last year I booked a package to Italy, I immediately called to try to adjust the # of nights at the hotel but that wasn't possible, I told the rep to cancel everything, I mean it's a package, he only cancelled the hotel. I do take responsibility for not checking the cancellation email, but I called them just so they can listen to the call and that got me nowhere, just more agita. My mother and I have accepted that we are going to be out 2K (1K each ticket). I've called everyone I can and it's not getting me anywhere.

I want to make a complaint about a fraud that happened with Booking.com and a host. I was searching for a place to stay in on Booking.com. On April 27th, I found an apartment on their website. It said I should contact the host to check if it's available. I did as told and got a message from Booking.com that they sent my message to the host. Then, I saw a note on the listing that said to book the apartment, I should message the host on WhatsApp with the number given.

I messaged the host on WhatsApp, and a person named said the apartment was ready to book and that Booking.com would email me the details and booking steps. She mentioned her company was Era Immobilier. Soon after, I got an email from Booking.com with instructions to book the apartment. It told me to wire $1,800 for a 5-day rental to a bank account they provided. I thought it was odd to wire money, so I called Booking.com customer service. They told me to follow the email instructions, so I sent the money.

I kept talking to the host on WhatsApp, and after I sent the money, she asked for a screenshot of the transaction. She said she would send me a receipt and a contract the next day. I got a receipt but no contract. I kept asking for it, but she said it was still being made. While waiting, I asked about other properties for the second part of my trip in Nice. She showed me some and gave me prices. When I showed interest, she asked for a $1,000 deposit and $1,300 for the rental. But she wanted me to wire it to a different account. I got suspicious and told her I wanted everything done through Booking.com and wouldn't pay for the second place until I got the first contract. She got angry and demanded an extra $2,200, or she'd keep all my money.

We messaged a lot, and then she stopped replying. I contacted Booking.com, and they said they had no record of my reservation or messages. I showed them all the emails and the listing. They said the messages weren't from them but would look into it. I got a few emails from Booking.com saying they couldn't help because the transaction wasn't with them.

I also told my bank, CHASE, about it and they suggested I report it to ComplaintsBoard.com for cyber-fraud. I filed the report right away. I have all the emails from Booking.com, messages with the host, and information about ERA Immobilier. When I called ERA Immobilier, they said they were in a legal issue with Booking.com for listing their properties without permission. They also said they only sell properties, not rent them.

I'm worried because Booking.com hasn't fixed this fraud even though the property and host are on their site. It's troubling that they do business in America without checking if listings are real. They don't have a proper customer service to handle these problems, so I keep having to explain my story. It's been a week, and there's no solution or refund for my money.

I have rent car via booking.com

The provider didn’t give me the car

Made me book the same car with higher price same day same time with the promise of full refund

Booking.com is being ignorant didn’t even contact the provider just telling me no on the service they never provided

It’s like going to a restaurant you booked in advance they dont serve you food and force you to pay! That’s booking.com