Booking.com
Reviews and Complaints

I will never book again from Booking.com !.

I made reservation Stranger Tides Hostel (in kotor) 12th of july . And my dates were between 2-4th of september. All My reservations were confirmed by the way ! .and they sent me an e-mail on 31th of july. They asked me to cancel my reservation because they were mistakes about price. I never saw or heard something like that. And l cancelled it. Because l thought l still have time l can check other hostels. And l made another reservation from Rooms Ana hostel (in kotor again) on that night. And when l was waiting for my flight on airport (28th of august) Rooms Ana sent me an e-mail. They said there is a mistakes about price and l have to pay double . I was totally shocked because l was starting to my trip on that day from Belgrade . I didn't reply on that time and l came to Belgrade with my sister. And we found Hotel Yolostel for our staying. There was a guy in there and l gave my booking prints for my confirmed reservation and he phoned to owner lady and she asked me on phone and guess what ? She told me that l can't see you reservation on my calendar . And l said but l have application of booking l can show you my reservation for 24€ . And she said no that's not possible for double room. You can't stay for that price. So this is the THIRD HOSTEL like that. l was reaaaally pissed off. And we had backpacks we couldn't walk around for another hostel like that . We agreed to stay for 48€ in a dorm for 8 people. And l was really angry because of that situation. And we just stayed in Belgrade for 3 days. The hotel in macedonia didn't send an e-mail to me while our stay in Belgrade but l was afraid of that situation so l just cancelled that night. And l checked for the other hostels in kotor and macedonia and they were all expensive .That's why l had to cancel my trip for 11 days. And l'll never book a hotel from booking again.l sent an e-mail to them with all my evidences(screenshots of e-mails and so on) and l'm waiting for a reply.

Hi All,

I have booked a hotel in New York for 2 night stay. When I booked the Family Suite i did not realized that it did not had kitchen and also did not realize the booking i made was non refundable. Since my parents are too old and they cant take food from outside hotel. Within an 30 mins of my booking i contacted the property and bookings.com and both asked me to contact each other. I again contacted less than 14 hours and requesting to cancel the hotel for free of cost or provide me the options to book a room with kitchen. Both of my options are rejected. For my parents its a one time wish to see New York and now it looks like its going to be very tough for them to survive without having home made food. I accept there is a fault from my side for not looking the property details properly. But I made the request withon 30 mins and one more request is less than 14 hrs. This is really disappointing and caused mental worry for this trip.

I booked a villa from Orlando Supreme Vacation Homes from Booking.com. They charged my credit cardUSD1204 for prepayment. I cancelled in free cancelation period and I never got a refund. They never answer messages or phone calls. Booking.com also never answers. When I searched for the company I found that it's just a scam.
Booking.com is just full of scammers and fraud. This is my only awful experience on the net.

I need to stay 1 night in Playa del Ingles from Jan 22 to Jan 23 2018, and booked 1 appartment in Maritim Playa Hotel. The description says it is over a pub. Now I am told it is over a discoteque! I just need a place to sleep that one night. With a discoteque I expect no sleep is possible. Please help me get a refund of the 110 euros. I'm a regular customer of Booking.com and not used to being misled like this. Here is the answer I got from the hotel:

On 2017-08-30, Maritim Playa wrote

Hello Arne
I see your reservation...Low Cost Room over the Discoteque?
This romos are in the 1-2 Floor over the Disco. So i am sorry, but we can`t change it to the upper floor in our Superior Rooms.

I hope for a quick cancellation and refund due to being misled by the wrong information on your webpage. A pub is not a discoteque...

Best regards,
Arne H Larsen

On July 24, 2017, I booked a hotel for August 4th same year. I had up to the 31st of July to cancel for free. I cancelled the hotel the two days later on July 26 in which I have the email that was sent to me. My confirmation for this booking is [protected] and my pin number 3888. I received an email on July 26th stating that my booking was canceled free of charge. The hotel was City Studios in Myrtle Beach, SC.

On Aug 3th, I noticed a pending charge on my bank account in the amount of 299.22. I immediately called the hotel and they stated that it was an oversight and they never cancelled my transaction in there system. I was then told that it would take 5 to 7 business days to receive my refund. I never got my refund I kept calling booking and the hotel and I was told that it would take 7-15 business days to receive the funds on my account. I stressed to multiple people the strain that this was putting on my account. It was now been almost a month and I have still not received my refund. This is frustrating and my bank account as been very inconvenience at no fault of my own for almost a month now.

I would like my refund, but I want to also be accommodate for the inconvenience of all of this. This is upsetting and I have been calling and calling and I get told to wait more and more days.

I booked accommodation (Cozy Veneto in Rome) from 17th July to 23rd July. The price for accommodation was 540 eur, plus 30 eur cleaning fee.

On the confirmation (number 1131.548.464) is clearly stated that the price with all charged included is 570 eur and the final price shown includes taxes set by local governments or fees set by the properties themselves.
On my arrival 17th July I was charged additional 42 eur city tax (as indicated in Rental agreement with "My Extra Home" who are managing the property).

I contacted "My Extra Home" and they replied that 42 eur they charged is a local government tax, but what I had on booking.com confirmation is VAT.

In my opinion this is cheating and misleading advertising of property on booking.com. If the confirmation specifies that the local government tax is included in the price, but on arrival I am charged another tax by local government then it is double taxation.

I sent a message to booking.com trying to clarify the issue, but received no answer from them. This is a clear indication that booking.com has no interest of resolving the double taxation matter.

Hello,

I am currently travelling in Spain and booked all my hotels through booking.com. I have been planning my trip for months and have been updating my reservation because I can with the free cancellation policy. I have been so excited to travel that I would be checking for places to go, things to do and where to eat for weeks before departing.

I know for a fact, that before before leaving, I had all my hotels booked and organized. Everything was in the same place and I was able to see day by day where I was staying on the great app Booking.com.

Everything went great until my first night in Barcelona, on August 21st at 12AM, I receive an email about a No-Show for hotel that I had cancelled months ago! I know for a fact that I did not book 2 hotels for the same night in the same city and that I had cancelled the reservation on June 23rd and since then, it never appeared in my bookings until that night. I was so aggrevated that I spent my night trying to speak to a reliable agent over the phone. I waited 45 minutes on hold before speaking to the first agent and she just started reading my the cancellation policy, and when I started to explain the situation, she just hung up on me.

So I called again, now I was speaking to a different girl, apparently called Emily, and all I could hear was the 2 of them laughing in the background. it seemed like she knew exactly who I was and why I was calling for. To save the trouble, her lazy mouth just confirmed me that I will not be charged, started laughing again and hung up.

The next day, I receive an e-mail asking me how my stay was at Catalonia Roma. Obviously, I said that I did not stay there and a few hours later, an agent emailed me to ask about the situation but only offered a 25$ goodwill gesture. The hotel charged me 175$.

I am claiming a refund from Booking.com of 175$ due to the flaws of their system (not registration my cancellation) and due to the lack of professionalism from their employees.

I tried to book a hotel with booking.com for the price that I found on another web site ($126 vs.168).

After they looked up the information on line I was told that I had to book with them first. I did this.

I called back into Booking .com that I would have to book this hotel with hem at the higher price and then after the stay they would refund the money. I tried to explain that this was not acceptable as I would not know if the paperwork that I sent them is acceptable. They could possibly find a minor difference in the room booking requirements and hence not give me the refund.

The agent I spoke to, Zee, would not give me an idea or any other further information. I requested to speak with her supervisor. She asked why and I explained that their refund policy was not clear or acceptable.

She then disconnected me.

Obviously I will not use this company again as I did in the past and I advise others not to deal with them also.

Ref. [protected]

We choise bay breeze for location very close to oakland airport and quiet area near coliseum.
(On the web I see : 4, 8 km from oakland airport) the real distance is more than 8 miles... Quiet area near coliseum? Motel is in a very hugly street so dangerous especially in the evening. A lot of "strange people everywhere" the reception is protected by
Gun resistant glass! Now I can undertand the reason why!
We pass a very unsafe night with a lot of people walking up and down and sambody knok our door...
We aere traveling with 4 kids!
For this reasons and for real distance we do not delivery our 2 cars to reach the airport instead of take a taxi so we spend one day more reantal.

—
Ref. [protected] stay hotel waikiki

I reserved on feb 2th 2017
I choise this hotel for location, and nice new rooms
(White... With blue decorations, e nice orange armchair... I saw in web.

When I arrive the hotel looks very very different

Location was ok but the hotel was very very old. I ask to see the rooms before check in but they refuse to show us the rooms..
After a long journey we accept to check in.
The rooms was old as the reception.
The family room was with 1 queen bed + 1 sofa bed (120 cm) very hard to sleep for 2 persons.
I complain with the manager and she and the give to us un extra single bed (Free of charge)
But they change all the pictures on the web so we cannot
Complain for old room instead of new rooms.

Please would you mind check the pictures on your web on february.
The rates are interesting and I could accept the accommodation in old room wheather I know in advance!.in this case I buy something different.

—

Ref. [protected]
Grant hotel in very well located.
Very nice picture on the web in the reality is a very old hotel
Not very cleaned in fact there is a bad smell starting from the hall.
The breakfast included is
Automatic machine for coffee and tee
And just some croissant on the reception desk.
We had croissant just on the departure day.
So we ask for refund for real service and unitilized real continental breakfast wich is usually different.

—
[protected]
[protected]

Motels with a very small rooms and we found towels just for 3 persons.

—

Dear booking.com managers
In my opinion is very important to do a double check about the hotels on you web site.
I usually book my holidays on your web but I don't know in the future.

Thanks for your reply
Paola

Dear Sir or Madame,
I would like to make an official complaint about Hotel Venezia in Prague where I booked my stay through your website.
The booking was made on 18th August, booking number [removed], PIN [removed].
I booked an economy double room with bathroom as described on the website.
I arrived on the 23rd August and meant to stay for 1 night.
The room was of such a low standard that I couldn’t believe my eyes. The receptionist told me that they had some problems with the laundry and that somebody would come to make the beds at 5 o’clock. At least I could see what the duvets and pillows looked like. Dirty, stained, shabby, old just horrible. Same as the mattresses the filthy carpet, some old dirty sofa… When I later complained to the receptionist about it she replied that it will be ok, because there was no bedding yet but they would COVER it later when the laundry comes. So apparently it’s ok to have dirty bedding as long as its covered and you can’t see it. The best was still to come though. She told me to follow her to the bathroom in the corridor. This is not what I expected or what I agreed to. I was travelling with my 4-year-old son and I wasn't going to leave him in the room alone at night when I wanted to go to the bathroom or wake him up and take him with me, not mentioning the fact that I would be scared to leave the room even if I was on my own. The room was in a corridor that could be locked (it looked like a former apartment with a main door) but it was dark and filthy and there were other doors which I couldn’t know who had keys from or where they led. However, we went to see the bathroom and my jaw dropped! Never ever in my life have I seen anything like that in a hotel. Dirty shower with mould around the tiles and tub and the shower curtain must have been at least 10 years old judging by it’s brown colour and a 20 centimetre wide stripe of dirt at the bottom of it.
When I said that I wanted my room to be changed or my money back the receptionist suggested changing the shower curtain and said that as we were staying just one night they wouldn’t give us a better room. They don’ t give nice en suite rooms to people who stay only for a short period of time. Well it should be mentioned on their websites that they divide the customers into several groups according to how much money they bring into their business and the customers who stay only shortly are not even worthy getting a clean room.
For me it works a little differently. For the first time I might just come for a short trip and if I like the place I may come again for longer and even recommend the place. I wouldn't mind simple furnishing what I absolutely require though is cleanliness especially coming with a child.
The hotel took money out of my account even before my stay (on 21st August) and they refused to return my money as the booking was not refundable. Well, I see that this a way to protect the hotels if somebody makes a booking and doesn’t turn up but in this case we did check in and if the hotel met some basic standards and met what was written in the description of the room we would have stayed. How is it fair that I still have to pay even though the fault was on the side of the hotel by not having provided what was promised and expected? In my opinion the hotel failed to deliver and therefore I shouldn’t be charged. If booking a room is taken as a sort of a contract between the two parties and, if we look away from the cleanliness, and just take into consideration the fact that we didn't have a bathroom in the room, for me they broke the contract.
Apart from other things it was also difficult to speak with the receptionist as she didn't speak Czech very well.
I contacted one of your employees who was trying to help, he spoke with the manager but he wasn't bothered at all.
So I would like to know how you protect the customer in cases like this one. It caused me a lot of aggravation. We arrived in the afternoon and had to look quickly for a different place to stay which caused a lot of stress to both me and my little boy. Not mentioning the extra cost.
Please, tell me how to proceed in this matter and how to get my money back. It’ s not a fortune but I don’ t want to leave my money to somebody who doesn't deserve it!

I trust you will follow this through and I expect to get a positive outcome.

Thank you for your attention.

[removed]
[removed]
+420 xxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Madame/Sirs,
I want to draw you attention to an incident concerning my future reservation for April 2018 in Los Angeles. As I have stayed previously at the same apartment (Ginosi FiGaro), which I found adequate and very well located, I booked this place well in advance through booking.com for our next stay during an international congress. However, after a couple of months after booking I received the following email:

'We are contacting you regarding your reservation in 1361 S Flower St, Los Angeles 90015. We regret to inform you that due to unforeseen circumstances at the property, we need to relocate you to a one bedroom apartment at 634 S Bixel street, Los Angeles 90017.
The new property is approximately 2.5 kilometers from the original apartment... '

This is clearly improper. If there is change of an agreement, it is a case of negotiation, not one-way announcement. There is no mention of any price, compensation, or pricing, for that matter. Furthermore, if I am not mistaken, the originally booked apartment type seems to be right now available at the original place - and at a higher price, too.

This kind of conduct is bound to have consequences. First, naturally, the ill-treated customer will hardly ever even consider re-booking or recommending this accommodation again after such an event. Second, this may unnecessarily throw negative light on the mediator, booking.com, at the same time. Furthermore, if such an uncertainty after will become a more widespread practice, the customers will increasingly make double/triple etc. bookings to make sure that they will not end up in trouble or inferior positions during e.g. high season etc. which would cause unnecessary problems to accommodation providers.

I think booking.com should be aware of this sort of activity and correspondence.

Dear Sir/Madam

Complaint Feedback on Quy Hung Hotel, 20 Dang Thi Nhu, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Check-in date: 26 August 2017 Check-out date: 29 August 2017

Confirmation Number:[protected]
Pin code: 2106

For your information, I went to check-in to stay at the hotel but was told that the room I have booked were ALREADY sold to another customer, i.e. there was no room available for me to stay at the hotel. Therefore, I have to find other place to stay.

Therefore, I hope Booking.com WILL NOT CHARGE ME with respect to the above booking.

Thank you very much

Best Regards

Mariam Ibrahim

Confirmation Number: [protected]
PIN code: 2106

On Wed, Aug 16, 2017 at 11:15 PM, Booking.com wrote:

Confirmation Number: [protected]
PIN code: 2106
It’s almost time for your trip!
Are you ready for your upcoming trip in 10 days?

FREE Cancellation for this reservation is available until August 19, exclusively. After that, you will be charged to cancel.
Manage booking
Paperless confirmation

Quy Hung Hotel
20 Dang Thi Nhu, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
+[protected]
Check-in Date: Check-out Date:
Sat, Aug 26, 2017 - from 14:00 Tue, Aug 29, 2017 - until 12:00

Booking ref - [protected]
I have waited almost a week from a reply from a hotel via booking.com. All I have had is an automated response stating that they are waiting for an answer from the hotel. I deliver customer service training and you can really tell how good a company is at customer service when you have an issue. It is so difficult to find how to complain apart from using the message service via the booking you have made for which you only get an automated response. I have emailed customer.[protected]@booking.com but get an automated delivery failure response. So I have resorted to using this website.
I have been loyal to Booking.com for a few years now as I find their website easy to use and have always been happy with the choice of my hotels. However, I have booked a hotel in Spain for September - free cancellation and the hotel charged me £45 with charges from my bank, they then credited my account but I am now 33 pence out of pocket. 33 pence is not a lot of money but it is the principle. The hotel replied saying they were just checking that my card works so why didn't they just take £1? I am now apprehensive in using free cancellation in future as on booking.com it clearly states that your card details are just for securing the booking and that I won't be charged. Please see below my correspondence to date. I haven't received any customer service from booking.com and no-one personally has responded to my complaint. I am really disappointed.

Thank you for sending us your request.We are waiting for a response from Diana Park regarding your request, and will be in touch with you again when we hear from them.
Request: Hi there. Further to my message sent to you on Sunday 20 August, I have still not received a response. Please tell me how I can make a formal complaint as it is not clear on booking.com website. Again please refund my 33 pence which I should never have been charged in the first place. Thank you for sending us your request.Diana Park has been informed on your behalf. Please note that your request is not guaranteed until the accommodation has confirmed it. Request: Hi there I have booked your hotel with free cancellation through booking.com. I now have a problem as I had been charged by you, then credited but I am out of pocket by 33 pence. You replied to my message through booking.com to say you were just checking that my card worked and had not taken any money but you clearly have. If you just need to check why didn't you debit £1 not £45 and I have been charged my my bank. Please see below. 15 Aug 17 NON-STG PURCH FEE DEB 0.50 Click enter to display the details of the transaction 15 Aug 17 NON-STG TRANS FEE DEB 1.36 Click enter to display the details of the transaction 15 Aug 17 OH HOTELS DIANA PA DEB 45.60 and this is what was credited back to my account minus 33 pence. 14 Aug 17 NON-STG PURCH FEE COR 0.50 Click enter to display the details of the transaction 14 Aug 17 NON-STG TRANS FEE COR 1.35 Click enter to display the details of the transaction 14 Aug 17 OH HOTELS DIANA PA COR 45.28 You have charged me 33 pence. Of course it is the principle and not the money for why I want this money refunded to my account as soon as possible. You should never have taken the money from my account in the first place which of course has incurred charges. I would like an answer as to why this has happened as on your website it is clearly stated that 'don't worry we only need your card to secure your reservation, you won't be charge'. Well this clearly hasn't happened in this case. I don't understand why the hotel had to check that my card worked. This is extremely worrying and I am apprehensive about using free cancellation in future. Please return my 33 pence as soon as possible and once you have done so, please delete my card details from your system so you don't use my card again. I look forward to hearing from you. Best wishes Yasmin

Having seen the avert on booking.com we made a reservation at the Amsterdam Hostel Saphati. We booked for our son to stay for three nights using a debit card. Although it stated that you have to pay in full when you get there, it didn't state that they don't except full payment by debit card and that he had to pay cash. It also stated on the advert that breakfast was "continental". When going to have break his breakfast, all my son could see was bread! We know it was a Hostel and is a good thing to have for the younger persons. But, in the end we found this advert by booking, com very misleading.

I booked to stay at The Macdonald Chain, Swan Hotel in Grasmere, The Lake Disrtrict, UK for July 25 2017 and booked a non-refundable night which included my dog. Nowhere in the advertising did it say that I would be paying a £15 extra charge. I was then sent an email about a surcharge for the dog which I at first missed and paid for my stay however on the same day I caught the email about the dog and contacted the hotel directly saying I wanted to cancel as it was too much extra money. The Hotel sent an unhelpful email saying it was non-refundable and to contact Booking.com even though they had requested details of my card during our communication. However as I had set off on my hiking trip I did not receive the email, I was doing the Coast to Coast walk across England and internet signal was not always possible. On my return I discovered I had been charged £95.90 when I did not stay at the hotel and had clearly told hotel management that I would not be staying because of the dog-surcharge. I admit I missed the email about this but it was so confusing as I was receiving communication from Booking.com and The Swan Hotel and yet when I tried to sort out the issue the Hotel simply passed me on .
I have copies of all the emails received from both parties.

My Boyfriend booked a hotel in Prince George we had planed on arriving around 11 however we arrived at 1130 only to find out that the hotel room had been given away to people who wanted to stay more than one night. We then tried to find another hotel but there wasn't any so we had to sleep in our car.
august 17th 2017
just for it to be known that I had to sleep in the car
Name Barry Wardstrom

Hotel taken payment twice, I have sent bank statements, it's been 3 weeks now and I'm still waiting to be reimbursed. I've contacted booking.com nearly every day... I'm still waiting in a credit card link... it's really stressing me out and when I spoke to them today it could still take up to 10 days before I receive my reimbursement . Which will incur me further charges from my cc company ... that I can't afford. Please help.

I used booking.com to book all my hotels for recently travel from Aug 5 to Aug 13. Once I got home, I found there is an unknown charge-a hotel in my credit card statement on Aug 12. I called hotel, they said this was the room charge, I told them I never booked their hotel and never stayed there. They said they got a booking which under my name. They suggested to contact booking.com. It is very hard to find the right email address on the website, never mention there is no phone number. So I sent them an email on Aug 15, waited, never got reply. I sent them another email on Aug 21, again there is no reply. What kind of customer service in this company?

I and my wife travelled to Japan from 5 to 11 August 2017. Before our departure, we reserved the hotel “Tengu Onsen Asama Sanso” in Karuizawa for the night of 10 August 2017. It was booked under my wife’s name “Yumi Matsumoto”.

During our trip in Japan, there was a typhoon and 2 days before 10 August 2017 (i.e. 7 August 2017), we had called booking.com that as we were in Northern Japan at that time and we foresee that we might having difficulty in reaching the hotel on 10 August 2017 due to the weather and traffic conditions.

However, the reply from the staff of booking.com was that “the typhoon will be over and you can’t cancel the booking, etc.” I told them that it would be dangerous for us to drive there in view of the situation as well as who could be sure about the progress of a typhoon but the message I received was it’s none of booking.com’s business.

At the same time, I was told by the hotel that it didn’t allow us to cancel the booking. I needed to go there as I’ve already made the booking no matter what the situation was. I felt very unhappy at that time and indeed, I tried to go there on 10 August 2017 but still, because of the rainy and windy weather, I could not make it.

I and my wife been using booking.com for a long time and I guess you can check it from the previous transactions. I indeed felt much disappointed at your staff’s attitude as well as the indifferent manner of booking.com in considering my situation. Whether you are going to refund or not is not a matter because I will publicize what I had experienced with booking.com to all the travel blogs, web sites, etc. to let all people knows how caring your company is.

I've reserved through Booking.com an appartement in 7eptember - Chueca Apartments, in Madrid, with check-in on 2017-08-04 and check-out on 2017-08-06 (reservation nr. [protected]). It was a non-refundable reservation. We chose the place because the announcement in Booking.com said "pets accepted". However, it was a mistake because they didn't accepted pets. 7eptember - Chueca Apartments contacted us and told us that they wouldn't charge for the cancellation. But they've charged the whole amount: €320.
We have proofs, namely emails, of all that is hereby exposed.

Summary:

1. 7eptember canceled the reservation. We have print screen from our Booking app with the phrase "Annulée par l'établissement" that means canceled by the host;

2. The announce in Booking was wrong: it said that they accept pets, but they don't. 7eptember's collaborator Ms. Ana recognized it was a mistake and told us that they wouldn't charge any reservation fees (we have the emails exchanged with 7eptember through Booking);

3. Hence, legally 7eptember can't charge for a service they don't provide. It's like reserving a 5* hotel and then find out it was 4*. Either by mistake or deliberate intention to deceive the client, the hotel wouldn't be able to demand any payment. This example applies to 7eptember. They can't charge for something they don't provide;

4. 7eptember mislead us twice: with Booking announcement saying they accept pets and when they've assured us, in writing, that they wouldn't charge us anything;

5. As an example: in the same day we've booked through Booking the Hotel Catalonia Goya, in Madrid. When we arrived they told us that they couldn't accept 2 pets. It was a non refundable reservation. Nonetheless, they didn't charged us;

6. On 03 August 2017 17:29 we've canceled the reservation by email;

7. On 03 August 2017 17:47 Booking acknowledges our cancellation by email;

8. What happened after this is a erroneous procedure by 7eptember and/or Booking. We've canceled, so neither of them should insist on forcing us to uncancel the reservation. That's hard selling without ethics, surely not allowed by Booking standards nor Spanish laws/regulations;

9. On the same day we've told 7eptember by email "We won't be able to arrive today to Madrid. We'll arrive tomorrow. I'll
tell you the time when I have a prevision" because Ms Ana kindly told us, in a previous phone call, that maybe she could suggest another place for us to stay;

10. On the same phone call we've told 7eptember that we were travelling by car, hence unable to constantly pick up the phone or check mails. We were at ease because we've already canceled directly with 7eptember and with Booking.

11. We've already presented a complaint to Booking but they say that 7eptember charged us according to their policy, hence we are not entitled to the refund of the reservation.