Booking.com
Reviews and Complaints

28/04/17- 01/05/17
Elephant Lodge- 71 Marcia Road, Southwark, London

When we first arrived at elephant lodge me and my friend were a bit on edge, after the reviews on trip adviser, but decided to still give it ago. We arrived on the Friday at around 10 .p.M. The guy seemed nice showed us to the room and took my name for payment and that was all that was said. First impressions of the room were not great the rooms looked nothing like they are shown on trip adviser which for one is false advertising, as it is not what we booked, the place was filthy, the bed was stained all over, dirt all on skirting boards, and window sill. We also saw that it was £10 if we wanted the room cleaned, but it should be clean before we even get there! We then went out for a couple of drinks, when returning back to elephant Lodge we found that we could not get in with the key given and was as if someone had locked it on the inside, at this point we were not happy we were 2 young girls locked outside at around 1a.M. And was not told of any curfews, we rang multiple times but no answer. Luckily had friends staying in the same area so had to get an umber to threes and stop with them. The next morning when we tried to ring him again he finally answered with no explanation as to why the door was locked and asked why we didn't ring him when we did multiple times. We then asked if there was a curfew so we didn't get locked out again, he told us he would ask a colleague and get back to us and he did not do that, and then continued to ignore our calls. We did get in that Saturday night when we first walked in there was a couple sat on the stairs asleep with there stuff all over, just seeing them like that made me feel unsafe we quickly ran to the room, in the morning around 6am we were unfortunately woken up by others who seemed to live there slamming doors and running up and down the stairs, also someone tried to get in our room, which made me feel really uncomfortable. We decided we had, enough we decided to check out that day and stay with our friends who luckily had a spare bed! We did not see the manager once throughout our stay to ask how it was! Severely disappointed!

I would like a refund as for 1. We only stayed there one night as we got locked out the first night 2. It is filthy and I have pictures to prove 3. It is not what we booked it looks nothing like the photos on booking.com

Hope this can get resolved.

Thank you
Kara

I had booked two nights through booking.com in Austin, Tx. When I arrived the first night the hotel had no record of me in their computer system. I showed her my confirmation email from booking.com and they were able to get me a room anyway. She told me that booking.com had called them and told the hotel they relocated me to a different hotel for the second night because they were overbooked and had no rooms for my second night. I called booking.com and they said they had no record of this. To me this is highly unprofessional from both the hotel (best wester plus Austin central) and booking.com. No one ever tried contacting me and I had to show up to the hotel to find out I didn't have a room at the hotel I booked weeks in advance for for either night. They were just putting the blame on each other. While I was on the phone with booking.com they booked me a super 8 hotel in Austin, Tx for the second night which I was already upset with but the best western plus had no rooms. When I went to checkout the next day the best western plus said they did have me in a room for that night so I stayed there and booking.com cancelled my reservation at the super 8. A week later I see a $143 charge on my credit card for a Rodeway Inn in Austin for the night that I stayed at the Best Western Plus. When I called booking.com to dispute this they flat out told me there was nothing they could do about it because they never made that reservation and they do not have my credit card information to give to the hotel that it must have been Best Western Plus when they relocated me. This seems ridiculous to me because I have to give my credit card information when booking the hotel on the booking.com website. I then spoke to the Best Western Plus and they have no record of giving my credit card information to Rodeway Inn and making a reservation for me. Well someone did and someone is lying to me about it and it cost me a $143 charge to my credit card. When speaking to both places they both told there is nothing they can do for me because neither one made the reservation. Well I certainly did not make the reservation and never gave them my credit card information. Needless to say I will never use booking.com again or a Best Western Plus and it is extremely unprofessional to just blow off someone like me who has this charge from somewhere and say you didn't do it and just blame each other. Both will be reported.

Dear Sir,
Although Booking.com guarantees the lowest room rate, I was overcharged over $700-HK for the my reservation of a garden view deluxe room in Le Meridien Chiang Rai Resort for 5 nights from July 3 to 8, 2017. If booked the room of the same type for the same period through Ctrip, the charge would only be $3142 (tax and breakfast included) while Booking.com charged me $3903-HK for the same service. I made a request to their Customer Service Centre for reducing the charge or cancelling my reservation, but is was rejected. It is unfair for me to pay so much more for the same service as I could only learn the terms for the guaranty of lowest room rate after I have made the booking. In future, I would think twice before using service of Booking.com and advise my friends to be careful in making a reservation with Booking.com. My booking No. is [protected] and my email is [protected]@yahoo.com
Regards,
Hau Wang HO

I made a booking in March, the payment was decline with my card, an i received another link to process my payment, paid with a different card, got a notification from my bank, but I was told that my payment was not revived, I had to pay cash at the hotel. I have been requesting assistance from booking.com to reimburse, but they keep asking my bank statement which i did 4 times now, but they cant help. Really disappointed.

I did a reservation with booking.com
it was for 2 nights and payment at hotel
before I checked in I decided to cancell it. Althogh the hotel shouldn't get my card information but they transacted the first night which is acceptable. The problem is at the second day the hotel again transacted my card for the second night! What is the legal action I can take against booking.com?

I would like to report a data breach using my bank details.

My husband made a reservation using our booking.com account where my bank details are stored. (this was authorised)
When completing the booking the email address added for confirmation was incorrect ( even though we were logged in to our own account)
When we logged into our account on Sunday to check where we were staying there was no reference to a booking for 30/05/2017
We tried to call you but we couldn't get through
We have then gone on to book direct and stayed at Hotel Noir at a charge of £85.00

The lady I spoke to this morning said it was our fault for putting the incorrect email address in which granted part of that I may accept. (she was very rude)
But the booking was made logged into my account so when I logged into this on Sunday and there was no reference there, to me there's no booking. If my bank details are being used there should be a reference to the booking ?

Yet my bank details have been charged £59.99 for not showing. If we saw the booking in the account it was booked on, then we would have shown to the reservation.
I understand the fact the confirmation email address was incorrect however the bank details on our account have been used to bill so there SHOULD have been reference to that booking in there)
I feel there has been a breach of security regarding my bank details as if the booking wasn't made on that account how were my details charged, If they were made on that account why was it not visible?

I was on the phone waiting to speak to someone who knew how the system worked but I was also very rudely hung up on.
The lady I spoke to called the hotel spoke to someone called Geoff and has advised they will not refund the charge but going off how she spoke to me I am not surprised that was the answer to her either.

I am seeking the refund of £59.99 as the account used to pay for this had no reference to a booking thus we cannot be held responsible for the no-show. As I have said already if the booking was visible on the account we would have been there.

I do not want to speak to an advisor as my experience already for this is totally below standard. I would appreciate email communication from a manager confirming the arrangement of the refund ASAP.

They are cheaters. I booked a room in Green hill cottage from booking.com for 2 days. They shown a different room in their website. And once I visited their (Rishikesh). They gave a different, a lower category room. I reached their in evening 8.00 p.m and I have no time to back out or to argue with hotel manager. Even the management is not good.
I suggest you all, never ever book anything with booking.com. They are fraud.

Booking.com is committing fraud in billing customers for cancellation of rooms that they never use; they are trying to hide this fraud by stating that their site clearly explains their policies-which it does not.

Do not book through Booking.com

Here is my experience:

I booked a room online thinking it was in the town (Jasper, AB) that I was visiting, when in fact the hotel was much farther away but still came up on the web page (Hinton, AB). Quickly realizing my mistake I called within five minutes and cancelled the room directly through the hotel and through Booking.com. I was told by the front desk agent that my credit card would not be charged. A month later my card was charged. I contacted the hotel and the agent stated that I was identified as a "no show" and charged for the hotel room. I explained my mistake and the Manager stated I would need to contact Booking.com again to reverse the charge. He did not have a 1-800 number and there was no 1-800 number on the Booking.com site. I contacted the hotel again and was given a 1-866 number to call Booking.com. It took a while for the agent to pull up my cancellation, call the hotel, and then get back to me regarding how the charge would be reversed in 8-10 days.

On the cancellation receipt through Booking.com it stated $95.00 for cancellation. So they are billing people fraudulently to cancel their reservations. When there is no service provided there should never be a charge. This is a scam site and nobody should ever book with Booking.com.

The Booking.com site does not state anything about paying for cancellations/no shows. This is the worst kind of scam possible as the Hotels are then stating "oh we can't do anything you booked through Booking.com".

This is not ok and a lawyer should file a Mass Tourte lawsuit against this company.

I booked 'Mystic Valley Resort' located in Igatpuri for 3 rooms through booking.com website on April 12, 2017 for April 29 to May 1. I get a confirmation mail with booking confirmation mail with id:[protected] and PIN code: 1131.

On Apr 29, 2017 I land at the property travelling from Mumbai with my family and at the reception I am informed that they have never received any booking on my behalf from booking.com. Here I would want to mention that my family member includes a 4 year old kid, a senior citizen and a 7 month pregnant lady among others.

I contact booking.com and they very coolly give me an option of a Hotel Narmada.
I would want to highlight certain points here:
As per Booking.com website FAQ excerpt:

How do I know my reservation is confirmed?
As soon as you have completed the booking process the confirmation page appears. We also email a copy of this confirmation to you. Your confirmation includes all of your reservation details, as well as a booking number and your PIN code. Your booking number and PIN code will only be needed if you contact Customer Service. You can also access your confirmation online, see details of your reservation, or make changes to your booking at anytime by visiting your account and going to the ‘My Bookings’ page.

Then if my booking is confirmed, as per above excerpt how can the hotel cancel it. Secondly, if after booking it on booking.com I still need hotel confirmation why do I need booking.com, I can do it on hotel website itself.

To check this again in evening I booked a property 'Beautiful Bungalow' in Lonavala which showed available on booking.com. I get confirmation also for it. But I called to property to cross check and was informed there is no availabilty. If they are booked how come it shows available on booking.com and if booked through website how can a hotel cancel it or just deny it.

After Booking.com offered us a lousy replacement of 'Hotel Narmada', I get my booking cancellation mail from 'Mystic Valley Resort'. If they never got my confirmation how did they cancel it.

It was a pathetic experience and would request all readers to book on hotel website directly or if still they want to book through booking.com then please get a confirmation mail from property

If you are new to booking.com to list your house for vacation rental be very careful their policies are ridicules
anybody from anywhere can book your house without paying anything, you cannot cancel it, your calendar is blocked for those dates, you have to Waite and see if the guest is going to show up or not!, if you cancel they might charge you for guest replacement fee! soooo you as a home owners are screwed, i called the costumer service, they seem very lost and confused and because of that they are rude, anyways, finally in costumer service told me that I'm new and it will takes time to build relationship, my respond was it's fumy how anybody can just book my property without paying anything and I have to Waite and see if they will show up, ! what kind of stupid policy is that? finally they agreed to send a representative to my property for verification, after more than 10 e mails back and forward with booking REP Alyssia Santiago we made appointment, I had to re arrange few other appointments to visit Alyssa
LOL, she never showed up,
the bottom line is I'm renting my property for 3 years now and i have used more than 10 websites to promote or rent it but booking.com policies are so unfair and ridicules can be very damaging, in the first week of my registration I had 4 bookings only one was for real other 3 fake ones which i brought to their attention even i made the costumer service to call the number provided by the guest to prove it's a fake booking, guess what ? even though after it was obvious for them that it was fake, yet they told me I cannot cancel, if i do i might have to pay fees to booking.com and still my calendar was blocked,
I read lots of complaints that guests they had from booking.com in here I'm not sure what is the purpose of booking.com in insisting to make guest and home owners very unsatisfied
STAY AWAY FROM BOOKING.COM
I can backup everything been said here
regards

MIKE .P

Dear booking.com
I have received cancellation from booking.com, but not from the hotel. I am a very current member of aarp and I don't like where this type of booking is going. I have every intention of getting my money back!. The web site is miss-leading and I photo shot all of the instructions. I plan to make booking.com appear on the local and national news about this practice of taking money that in not theirs. Please don't think for a moment that you have won. I will expose this company and its network of hotels to the local and nationally how I was deceived and told I will not get my refund back from this hotel, after making a reservation 120 days in advance and cancelling it the same day. I don't care how long it takes my plan is to expose this practice of saying my card will be charged until check in day.

Urgent urgent urgent
I was booking in hotel leonardo royal berlin alexsandrplaz a triple delux room including bteakfast for 5 nights 25.4.17 - 30.4.17. The guests in this room are : me, my wife and my 12 years grandauther. I was surpised to realize that the shawer and the bathroom of the room are opened without door. It impossible for me and my grandauter to share this kind of room. It was not written in your room description. I did not pay more then 1000 euro fot such a room. I insist to get another room fitting my needs.
In your room description was clearly stated that it includes sauna without mentioning that it cost money (and it costs). I am asking you to intervent and garantee that I will get the room I have paid for it according booking.com description! The booking no. Is : 1110.933.579 pin codr 1817

Thomas sarosy #1637.775.221 pin code:6822
Complaint: doubletree suites by hilton philadelphia west
My booking for april 22 one night at double tree hilton west philadelphia was mishandled. on line I signed/clicked for a 2 room suite w/ 2 beds and a sofa bed for max capacity 5 people non refundable. the initial sale rate was $112 for the suite but I clicked down 2 boxes for the above criteria for $126, final charge $139.44.
I spoke on the telephone with a representative to make sure that I was doing this properly. I knew more than she did regards to the size of the 2 beds. proceeded to call double tree direct with little help because of the booking going through a “.com”, but confirmed the bed size was a king. two stikes so far with assistance.
I also sent notes (messages) with both the on-line booking method and to the hotel to make sure that the two (2) beds in the bedroom are at least double size if not king. if that message option is going to be presented and offered it should have been read acted upon before arrival indicating a mix-up with the booking.
In detail; the on-line booking page had visuals next to the box to be eventually checked had 2 beds and 1 sofa bed, those associated icons displayed below. how can I go wrong?

.. and I clicked the 3rd row down of non-refundable * (see right)
To declare for at least 5 adults (reality of 4 only) which increased
The price from$112 to $126.
The red us$138 figures in the example box (to the right) was not
the displayed amounts for the booking in question. us$126 was.

Upon arrival the suite had a bedroom with only one bed with a sofa bed in the other room. the front desk refused to address the situation saying that, my problem was with the “.com”.
This bad experience of not getting the booking that I signed up for was accentuated with an uncomfortable stay, tight quarters, nighttime harassment and incomplete bedding accessories.
Fyi, their front desk was rude and dismissive to me, which will also be dealt with, and they certainly despise the booking company’s role in this transaction. so, I had nowhere to go to that afternoon for assistance or correction.
Ibrahim asked what I wanted? well, what I wanted was for this not to happen and get the booking that was offered and was accepted but in reality …, so now in my state of dissatisfaction with the booking agent and the hotel, how about a rate adjustment for my troubles and an apology?

I booked the room 3 weeks ago at André Gill Hotel, Paris via website Booking.com which ad was saying that I could cancel that reservation 48 hours in advance for free and that I could pay at the hotel directly when I arrive. I had to cancel that reservation 72 hours in advance and I noticed at that moment that they took the money from my account from the very first day of my booking (£144). Plus the cancellation email explains that this money was not refundable. I was surprised because I had been using this website for years without any problem. They now just pass your card details to the hotel and take no responsibility for it. I called the hotel and they said that this money is not refundable even though the room is already booked for someone else after I cancelled.
So never trust booking.com by giving your bank details, find a trustworthy hotel yourself.

Dear whom it may concern,

I wish to make a formal complaint about the "hotel" called MJB Norwich The Lodge Hotel. This place was FAR from being a hotel! As we arrived at the building, the front door was open as the lock was broken. The lock on our room was also broken and wouldn't even shut. The Photos on booking.com do NOT match with how the room actually looked AT ALL. I have attached photos of how the room and hotel ACTUALLY looked when we arrived.

The Room was absolutely disgusting, it was not clean at all, the windows were boarded up, the light in the bathroom didn't work, the bed was a tiny thin metal bed (nothing like the picture!) and there was ONLY a tiny heater which would of definetly been needed because it was freezing in the room! We could not stay there as we felt unsafe because the door wouldn't shut. We then had to check ourselves into a different hotel and therefore had to pay double the amount.

I am requesting a full reimbursment from Booking.com as we didn't stay in the room as it was unfit for purpose.
Your company put 2 young women in a vunerable position and as you can imagine, it made our stay in Norwich very stressful.
I also had to pay £15 for parking even though we didn't stay there. I am trying to get that refunded too.

My Booking Reference is:
[protected]
We were booked to stay from Thursday 20th April until Saturday the 22nd April.
The Booking was under my Name: Claire-Marie Kenny.

Please get in contact with me at: [protected]@icloud.com or call me on [protected].
I would be very grateful if this could be sorted out ASAP.

Many Thanks,
Claire-Marie Kenny

I booked a hotel via www.booking.com website and it said that it was possible to cancel reservation for free. I was planning a vacation but wasn't sure. I am a very busy person and have a lot of work and that was not the first time when I had to cancel my entire vacation because of my job.
So I contacted Booking and tried to cancel my reservation and they asked me to pay a cancellation fee!
I was shocked because I was told that cancellation was free. Their rep refused to cancel until I pay, so I had to, because they didn't leave me no other choice. I will never use them again! Terrible service!

As when I started using your service, it is because you mentioned it is free cancellation . At the beginning of my booking on this hotel, I clicked the free cancellation and we now need to charge 30% for cancellation now !This is mean that we cannot cancel for the booking.

We choose to use your web site as you promised free cancellation, and the hotel web site need to charge . This is your promise, not because of the hotel . If you mentioned from the very beginning that you need to charge for cancellation, we will not book with you!

This is a very bad experience with you and the hotel . We are not canceling at the last minute, it is 2.5 months before we go!

I booked the Castle Rock Hotel in Branson. Was told that the room had a kitchen and would sleep 8. However when I got there I was given a regular room and it cost me over $50 more than the other guest in the same room. I am very upset and want a full refund. They didn't even have employees for the restaurant. Terrible experience with booking.com and the hotel.

Dear boking,

As when I started using your service, it is because you mentioned it is free cancellation . At the beginning of my booking on this hotel, I clicked the free cancellation and we now need to charge 30% for cancellation now !This is mean that we cannot cancel for the booking.

We choose to use your web site as you promised free cancellation, and the hotel web site need to charge . This is your promise, not because of the hotel . If you mentioned from the very beginning that you need to charge for cancellation, we will not book with you!

This is a very bad experience with you and the hotel . We are not canceling at the last minute, it is 2.5 months before we go!

Very disappointed

Mandy

I booked a hotel room in Venice with yourselves back In February only to be told 4 weeks before travelling that the booking was not going to honored, and offering an alternative miles from where I wanted to stay.

I went and looked for myself as you obviously weren't trying very hard and came up with one that although not as nice as the one I had booked initially at least was in the same area.

Upon booking the other hotel I received a mail within a couple of hours from the original hotel saying our booking was fine and would be honored. Now I can't cancel the other hotel without being charged the entire amount for the 4 days I booked.

I booked through you, you should have double checked your facts before telling me I had lost my booking, and at least take some responsibility for the error instead of blaming it all on the hotel.