Booking.com
Reviews and Complaints

I have previously booked with booking.com on a fully refundable basis, however when booking a 2 week holiday it was a considerable amount more to book on this basis, due to this I decided to book with the view that if we cancelled we would be liable for the full amount of the booking and was happy with this. When I went through to process the reservation, I was given the option to Pay Now and save $691.70 or Pay later as per booking conditions. I then proceeded to read the conditions to see what the time frame was on the pay later. I eventually had to speak to Booking.com after speaking with the property who told me any none cancellation booking is charged upfront, this is extremely confusing and misleading as the options advertised are pay now and save or pay later, when in fact if you click the pay later option you don't save and are in fact charged by the property at exactly the same time as the pay now option.

As a consumer I am extremely annoyed and concerned at how misleading this information on booking.com is and I feel many people will be confused and charged extra by taking the pay later option when in fact they could save money and have payment taken at the same time as the pay now option.

I made a reservation through booking.com and I had to cancel the reservation due to covid exposure and having a bad cough. The representative who took my request told me that she had spoken with the property owner who agreed to give me a full refund. ( I have copies of all my messages). I did not even check into the property, only to find out that the reservation was not even cancelled and no refund was issued. I have been communicating with booking.com over a dozen times with lousy customer and even "made up as they go" rules, only to be told that the representative who originally told me that the reservation was successfully cancelled and to expect a full refund, gave me bad information. They refuse to honor the original message and refused to reimburse me. The name of the representative who told me that the cancellation and refund would be issued is Jeryl C. The name of the very rude and sarcastic person who would not honor the reimbursement is named Alex. I would in no way do business with booking.com again.

A plannned trip to SLC was cancelled I made repeated attempts to contact booking.com with no success They have now since charged my paypal account 183.25 We never checked in as the trip was cancelled I was in an endless loop with their answer bot. there contact page was useless as there are only set catagorys you can ask them about none of which addressed my problem

I would like to submit an official complaint concerning how my reservation was handled as it resulted in me almost spending the night in the street outside! I was staying at 'Henrys sleeping' in Ulm, Germany from Tue 26th to Fri 29th Apri 2022. When I checked in on the evening of the 26th I was provided with a key which was renderred obsolete on the 28th because the property chose to change all the locks in the building, including the after hours entrance. As a result I was unable to enter the building and was forced to book another room at another hotel on the morning of the 29th in order to avoid sleeping in the street outside! I called Booking.com to report what had happended to me on the evening of 28th at 23:45 pm CET and the operator, after trying to call the hotel repeatedly the operator said there was nothing they could do for me and I should try to stay safe! There was nothing safe about my situation, especially considering I am a Genius Level 2 customer with more than 10 stays with Booking.com. The hotel did not take all measures necessary to provide me with replacement keys. They tried calling me twice at 8pm on the day that they changed the locks (!) but I was out for dinner with colleagues and thus I was unable to reply. The next day they also claimed to have had problems contacting me by email to warn me that the locks were going to be changed but it turns out they were emailing the wrong email address. And it is extraordinary how they managed to get the wrong email address considering I provided a filled out electronic registration form with all of my details when requested by email. Finally, I contacted Booking.com to follow up after I checked out and Booking.com tried to tell me that there is nothing they can do because they need to be respectful of the hotel owner but I guess there is no provision anymore for protecting the customer who actually spent money trying to avoid spending the night in the street outside?!

I have attached the text messages between the host and I. I have also attached a copy of their billing policy listed on the confirmation email received, per your website. a more detailed explanation of complaints listed in the provided texts.

The host was great at first!

Complaints:

1. they called wanting payment in full on April 6th. Our trip was scheduled for June 13.

2. per the booking confirmation, and booking.com website there was not policy stating it had to be paid until we started the stay.

3. They were understanding at first, but pesky.

4. Then the hateful, unprofessional, rude comments, and pestering started.

5. when she called 5/3 (the agreed upon date for payment) i was unable to take the call due to being at work. She then started texting me. "is the no response thing again meaning u arent able to make payment today or u dont know what to say? or meetings"

I explicitly told her that I was no longer interested in renting from them, to cancel my reservations, and the precise reasons why. "Patty" was rude in her comments, snarky, untruthful, and was trying to railroad me into paying, because she demanded it.

Later in messages they revealed that they were not patty. "Patty is nicer than i am."

When i asked who i was talking with they simply indicated that they were the owner. Would not give the name.

I later told them to leave me alone, because they kept sending harassing messages. They continued to send another one. In my next message i said "please leave me alone!" Still another message was sent.

I feel harassed by this/these individual(s), and that they are fraudulent. i feel like they were just trying to get money out of me.

I had called both the hotel and booking.com and got an email that said the refund will be issued 1-12 business days for the hotel cancellation. 15 business comes no refund back to my paypal account. Called booking.com customers service again and again to find out what date and refund transaction number. I only provided the email the date the refund issue and told to call the bank. Looked at the paypal account there no trace of the refund. Booking.com keeps giving us a run around avoiding providing the refund transaction statement or id so I can call my bank to inquiry of the refund. I spent weeks trying to get refund back, but only get to dead end with customer service in india that keeps apology for not able to do [censored].. Please people and the public out there in the world, do not use booking.com for any service. It is a scam. There are many other people had this bad experience and gave up on trying to get the refund back. But i'm determining to have booking.com to change their business practice on honesty. If you own booking.com stocks sell them. It will not be there for long if they continue this scamming business practice.

This is the message I sent to the Four Queens today regarding mreservation confirm#2178.596.389 Pin# 3612. I have to say that not being able to physically speak to someone made the incident harder to attempt to fix. The Booking Agents finally got it solved on the level that they got a room, but they did not fix the situation of not honoring our paid in full reservation. My husband ended up in a first floor room with none of the requests being fu;llfilled and an hour and a half wait. No apology or consideration for their uncalled for treatment. I personally will not book at this hotel ever again. I use booking.com as I trust you. I have used it to book hotels all,over the world and NEVER had an experience like this. Please investigate the workings of hotels like this as it only gives negative vibes to your company as well. Thanks, Joanne Shimpock

Message to Four Queens

I am writing to tell you how very disappointed I am as a Booking.com customer with your hotel. I booked a south tower premium room with 2 queen beds non smoking. I did not pay for a room to be determined when I arrived! I prepaid before arrival in full. I made sure my husband was listed as a guest so he could check himself in. As it turns out, your staff would not let him check in as he did not reserve the room and I did not come with him. The easiest thing would have been to have me add a credit card with his name in my account from home. Of course that was too easy for your staff so a big ordeal transpired with your staff, my husband, me, and Booking .com. . When the dust settled an hour and a half later, my husband was offered a smoking room or a non-smoking room on the first floor. There was no specific room according to my booking available. I had specifically paid to have a specific room designated for my stay not picked on arrival. So none of my requests for my accommodation for my reservation made and paid for on January 24,2022 were honored as paid for. Not only was our booking totally messed up but my husband and my son in law were not even offered some type of compensation such as dinner or drinks to make up for the stress and problems caused by this incident. I surely hope this is not your normal management as it gives you a negative impression. I personally will never stay at the Four Queens and will tell my fellow friends as well. At the very least an apology should have been made for all the inconvenience. Thank you Joanne Shimpock reservation2178.596.389 pin #3612.

Hi. I wanted to let booking.com know about this property in Coolangatta, Queensland.

I booked part of our holiday in Noosa through photos on booking.com. The first place was immaculate.

The second part of our journey was to Greenmount Resort, 3 Hill Street Coolangatta.

What a difference. This grandfather complex, yes I mean old, has alot of issues.

Firstly, the lift isn't working at all. We are on the fourth floor in room 408. I was assisted all the way up with our luggage. Hats off to the staff who work here. Friendly and knowledgeable etc. I have major back issues so getting downstairs will be fun. See attached report so you know how stairs affect me. The staff had the nouse to email us a few days beforehand to let us know about the lift, but as a peak travel time due to school holidays, I was concerned we would end up on the street. I am ona disability pension because of this.

The room is not quite what is advertised. Take a look at the photos to see what I mean.

Whoops. Just killed the second spider. Not sure what's been biting my daughter. Have a look at these.

I am writing to lodge an official complaint for being first, mislead and then disrespectfully treated by the Booking.com authorized representative/s.

Reservation no. [protected] at apartment 2A Hton in Rome.

I reserved an apartment in the central part of Rome on Wednesday, April 20 for 7 days starting May 11 until May 18.

Booking.com offered the payment choice “Pay at the property” which I clicked on, and CLEARLY showed the statement “Your card won’t be charged, we only need your card details to guarantee your booking,” see screenshot below.

However, my credit card was charged within 2 minutes. How dare you do that? This is the most outrageous breach of contract you are making with potential users and at the same time using Unfair and Deceptive practice which should disqualify you from operating online service.

To make things worse, following my booking I contacted the property owner and she said they have changed their mind and will not have property available for short lets. She said she will cancel it.

After I waited for Booking.com to cancel my booking and return my money, I contacted Booking.com and asked for an explanation on why did I end up having no money and no place to stay?

I had the most bizarre exchange with Booking.com rep, who kept talking to me

like I am an idiot, repeating like a robot the talking points and “I am sorry” without really meaning it, and taking NO RESPONSIBILITY on behalf of Booking.com first for

a) straight forward LYING about not charging Credit Card, second

b) that my money will reach my bank in 10 -12 days – making it total of SEVENTEEN DAYS - of my money floating somewhere, and third

c) for not offering me a discount on other available properties as those that were within the price range, were of course gone within five days it took Booking.com to unravel this mess.

Having taken my money INSTANTLY and failing to let me know immediately that apartment I booked was cancelled, Booking.com effectively blocked me from seeking another solution with other decent companies like Hotels.com etc.

I believe that the least Booking.com should do is to secure an apartment for me in the similar area of Rome for 11-18 May, 2022, absorb the difference in price as any large and decent company would do and charge me the same amount of money they took from my credit card.

Milena Perisic

I bought an airline ticket through booking.com flight which I had to cancel few hours later. The booking.com agent I talked to sent me an email (attached) containing information regarding the cancellation fee since we got disconnected during the call. The cancellation fee the agent mentioned was 108$, but later they are now charging me 560$ for the same ticket. This is kind of robbing since I talked with the airline they said within 24 hours, they do not usually impose penalties.

Your Reference [protected]

This taxi was booked to collect us from New York but did not turn up.

We went through immigration, quite Busy, when looking for the driver he was not there, waited for him to show but after 1 hour no joy. Then had to take yellow cab( long wait ) the service says he will wait 45 mins after flight. Very Disappointed. At least I would my money back

I bought 3 tickets for a hop-on hop-off tour in NYC on Thursday, April 14.

Firstly, the directions on the confirmation link "get directions" took us to a completely different location that stated on the confirmation.

Secondly, when we got to the location listed on the confirmation there were no busses in sight. We waited for a while and even spoke to an NYPD officer who told us that the business was no longer in business.

thirdly, there was no business address or contact information for the business

and when we tried contacting Booking no one responded until 4/5 days later

fourthly, we had to purchase tickets to a different tour at twice the price

Lastly, Booking.com refuses to refund our money - they claimed the business said that they are operational.

This is the last time I will ever use Booking.com

1) [protected]@gmail.com

2)Treebo Trend South Avenue Pondicherry

3)16/04/22 to 17/04/22

In booking. Com have tried booking of above mentioned place which seems to made payment to process without contact details. In which the payment made of 3512/- but not booked... After this I made a mail to booking. Com... They replied within 3-5 working days payment will be reflected back in your account. Yet I didn't get payment and the customer support whom I texted him now for two to three times doesn't reply.

Dear Booking.com,

I had booked Air-ticket on 23 March 2022 due to emergency travel of my in-laws. The flight booked was connection flight via Abu Dhabi.

Bahrain to Abu Dhabi by Gulf Air and Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram by Air India Express. We had reached Airport on time.

On reaching the Etihad Airways counter, they refuse to issue boarding pass due to fact that they have no tie-up with Air India Express. As per Etihad counter staff, they are not able to get Air India Express flight details in their system. I hope this is due to tie-up problem with the carriers.

We contacted Air India Express and confirmed the ticket booking. They have booking in their system from Abu Dhabi to Thiruvananthapuram. They send us the booking details by email too.

We showed the details to Etihad counter that we have connection flight from Abdu Dhabi and confirmation details. But they said, if you have Visa to Abu Dhabi, we can issue boarding pass. Which is practically not possible at that time.

Due to last minute, purchase of new flight ticket, arranging money and above all the tension and mental pressure was beyond its limit. The gate closed already when we reach to the flight entry gate and with the kindness they let us to travel.

Finally purchased a high value ticket and travelled.

Dear Booking.com, I need to get compensation on this loss.

I request your complete attention this regard and earliest reply.

Regards

Arunkumar S

00973-[protected]

Booking.com gives your credit card info in PLAIN TEXT to the hotel. Anyone working at the hotel can then use your credit card for fraudulent purposes.

I stayed at the Hotel Ponce De Leon on 4/15. They showed me a printout from booking.com.with my credit card info on it. The entire number was shown...not just the last 4 digits.

This procedure of sending hotels credit card info unencrypted needs to be changed.

While searching booking.com I booked oyo property 81833 , hotel red rose at bagaluru for three adults (01 room) with break fast from 09.04.2022 to 11.04.2022.

On 04.04.2022 i received confirmation mail regarding hotel booking for total amount of rs 5668.15

As advised through confirmation mail i paid partial amount of rs 3196.67 on 05.04.2022 So that my booking will confirmed.

But when i reached hotel on 09.04.2022 at 08:30 pm i was not allowed to check in citing reason that rooms are not available.

Person at reception told me to contact OYO and we will be shifted to some other hotel and further advised to cancel booking then he will do something.

I have no option other than to look for another hotel. Just imagine at night i am looking for another hotel . Then i cancelled this booking. A message recd regarding refund of rs 1065 via upi id and this amount is also not credited to my account.

My question is that why rs 2131 is deducted from my advance payment .

You are requested to look into the matter and refund my full advance of rs 3196.67 other wise i will go to court.

I can also provide the taxi no and time which i hired from airport to hotel red rose OYO 81833.

Hoping for positive response.

Thanks

Bhupendra singh bisht

I have been trying to get a refund from Booking.com for over two years now. In Feb 2020 I booked a hotel in Paris for a stay scheduled or later on in March 2020. As it got a little closer to the date Covid-19 meant that emergency travel restrictions were suddenly in place and I couldn't leave my country to holiday in Paris. I cancelled the booking and Booking.com sent me confirmation of the cancellation with zero charge. The hotel, however, still took the payment from a credit card that must have been supplied to them by booking.com.

Since then I have continued to try and make contact with the hotel and with booking.com to receive a refund. Booking.com asked me to email them proof of purchase/bank statement etc which I have done, and now I cannot even get through to them on the phone as they are saying they no longer recognise my confirmation number for the booking.

Due to illness, I was not staying 3d night, very hard for me to get my refund, "partner EXTENDED STAY AMERICA SUITES" was unhelpful with this, please credit my card from this locale or respond with justification for not doing so, thank you, PAUL SIVERTSEN if this is too short, let me tell you about your arcane procedures' and how they are set up for the customer to always loose

Thursday 14th April 22 4.00pm

arrived at the apartment to find that the description was rather misleading. but hey that's often the case and the place was relatively cheap so not too much of a surprise there.

however on the path leading to the apartment's front door first I came across broken glass followed by overgrown weeds and some rubbish lying in there. not a great 1st impression. next while looking for some extra blanket a piece of the wardrobe wooden frame fell off hitting me on the head. after taking a closer look the piece of wood was rotten and full of termites. this is only my first couple of hours in this Airbnb and I dread what will come out next and whether I will be sharing the accommodation with hordes of cockroaches. The apartment is clean enough but there are several holes in the various wooden frames and indeed i wonder what other wildlife i am likely to encounter. I do not wish to alter my accommodation plans at this late stage as i am already in Cyprus and have nowhere else to go to at such short notice.

Confirmation number

2183.724.782

PIN code

1046

Owner sells single bed bedroom with baby/child matress under the single bed as a twin bedroom.

At the date of arrival, impossible to cancel since everything's booked furing carnival time imn Rio de Janeiro.

After hours of talking, the owner installed an adult matress in this tiny bedroom which makes it almost impossible to open the door any more.

He asked me to input no show in booking.com since he "reconfigurated" the room. Idiotic crook. I did notm of course and, on the opposite, informed Booking.com about this scam after leaving that place.

Booking.com customer service, in a surprising and ridiculous way, finally told that I can not be repaid anything since the crook owner does not want.