“Covid19 Profiteers.
3rd Party had Seized my VISA CARD USA to charge €1250 even as the Netherlands refusing to allow Americans to enter. I was in the middle of trying to get a January 2021 months long reservation change - USA VISACARD emails + text me "Fraudulent Activity Alert" Card Suspended.
Next step is to get INTERPOL on these Netherlands-based Covid19 Profiteers.”
“Covid19 Profiteers and they and their properties know that USA continues to be banned from entering the Netherlands.
They insist that it's actually a cancellation - NOT a Pandemic. They are blacklisted on VISACARD USA.
Their Scam is illegally booking Americans and then secretly charging 1/2 fees.”
“booked 2 hotel rooms for April 24 hotel obviously closed due to covid. Booking.com said to speak to hotel said we were a no-show and to contact hotel. Hotel said entitled to refund but as booked through booking.com have to get refund through them. Tried calling them booking number and pin not recognised so don't get to speak to anyone and they have not responded to 4 emails. Very angry”
“I had a booking for a hotel in Lisbon through booking.com in May of this year, for obvious reasons that had to be cancelled. I contacted booking.com and the hotel (both through booking.com and directly) in April to cancel my reservation and then for the next 6 weeks kept contacting booking.com and the hotel to make sure my reservation was cancelled and that I would receive a refund for my reservation under the booking.com rules at the time. I was even told that I would receive a refund and that the hotel should have processed this already, and we were just waiting for the hotel to confirm if this has been done yet.
I had booked this holiday in November (pre-pandemic) and had paid for the non-refundable booking as this was cheaper. I could cancel my reservation if the hotel accepted my reservation. In the six weeks before my reservation, the hotel did not respond to any communications from me asking for my reservation to be cancelled. I have since discovered this is because the hotel was closed during this time (and at the time of my reservation) in line with the Portuguese government’s lockdown rules.
Despite the hotel being closed, booking.com have refused to give me a refund (or even provide me with their vouchers to cover the money that I have lost) since it is for the hotel to provide the refund and they solely act as an intermediary. The hotel have not responded to any communications since April and even though they are now re-open, there is never anyone available to speak to in order to process the refund.
I have spent the last 4 months complaining to booking.com and the hotel, but they have been beyond useless and are refusing to return my money or even offer vouchers to cover the fact that a hotel has kept my money despite being closed at the time of the reservation. Throughout all of this, the hotel is still advertising on booking.com’s website and taking bookings (and were doing so throughout the pandemic when they were closed!). The only advice from booking.com is to keep contacting the hotel, even though I am sure we all agree 4 months of chasing is enough time, or to cancel through my insurance which does not cover pandemics, as well they know.
All I want is my money back, or even a voucher so we can put this whole shenanigan to bed, but it seems that booking.com should change it’s name to booking.con and wave goodbye to any shred of the good reputation they have left.
As you can tell, I am thoroughly disgusted with their behaviour throughout, do not book through booking.com, they do not care about you despite being in the midst of a pandemic!”
“Got a room booked, got the confirmation email and confirmation number; hotel called us rudely and told us they were at capacity and our res was cancelled. Called Booking.com and they told us, tough luck. They aren’t like an actual travel site that books a swath of rooms, the hotel uses them as free advertising. So the hotel made the mistake and Booking.com did nothing. They helped us cancel our reservation. Never going to use this site again and will tell friends and family that Booking.com and Vermillion, SD Holiday Inn Express is bad business. Shame on you Booking.com for not doing ANYTHING.”
“Up until covid I had relatively good experiences using booking.com. I had reserved a hotel via this service (INNIT ROOMS OCEAN BREEZE) for July with a free cancellation policy and no prepayment - When everything shut down in March, the hotel took the full value of the booking in early April - when I cancelled at the end of April, I got an email saying it will take up to 2 months to issue a refund - fair enough.... over 4 months later, emails to both Booking and the hotel directly and still nothing. Hotel is saying they basically will not refund and best bet to go to Booking but impossible to get any communication or response from them. Appalling customer service. I will never book though booking.com again. I understand these are difficult times but the decency of at least an email or a call to advice on next steps, progress or alternatives....”
“They cancelled my booking and never refunded me, then they lied deliberately to gain time and never paid.
I booked an hotel in Rome through booking.com in March 2020. I was told the hotel was closed due to the lock-down in Italy in March, and that I would get a refund. Since then, booking.com and the hotel have been refusing to refund me. I've contacted Booking.com by phone on March 24th, 26th, April 29th, May 24th. In every phone call I was told I would get the refund in 8 working days, even asking me for my bank details, which I provided. In my last phone call in May the costumer service worker said they would instead ask to the hotel to refund me, and they cc'd me in that email. The hotel never answered and when I emailed the hotel directly, they refused to refund me and stated I should contact Booking.con instead. In the meantime, booking.com has cut me off from being able to call them, they never answered my messages or emails, and now my confirmation number and pin is "not recognised" anymore. In sum, they lie and cheat you deliberately so they don't have to comply with their refund policy. This company is a SCAM. Beware of your money and contact the hotels directly.”
“SCAM - Stay away - They keep your money! Forewarned is forearmed.
Incredible: booked with cancel free extra rate. Cancelled before the terms, no money back. Shame on you!”
“Ne réservez rien avec eux, j'ai annulé une réservation dans les temps, et cela fais 3 mois qu'ils nous ballade pour le remboursement. Ils oublie qu'ils ne sont pas les seuls à proposer des hôtels donc aller voir la concurrence”
“DO NOT I REPEAT DO NOT BOOK WITH THEM! I book a home for $1900 for the weekend. 3 days before I was flying it THEY!!! Cancel and said my apologise we double booked. Then sent me a message stating it's a $500 cancellation fee even though it was they're fault!! I have yet to see any of the money. Did I mention I been emailing and calling with no closer. Ping Pong game to keep my money!”
“Disgusting company. Refusing to refund any of of our £2300 holiday in Majorca because of covid-19, despite easyJet cancelling our flights. I am looking for every travel website I can find to warn people DO NOT USE. This company is parasites and is using the global pandemic to make a profit.”
“I booked a Villa and paid a deposit of €650 which is fully refundable, had to cancel due to Covid and surprise surprise the villa owner said i hadnt paid, had to send proof of payment, was then offered a voucher however opted for refund, now being told refund will take a month with no reason for this, booking.com now washing their hands of any help even though they recommend the villa. I know I will be robbed of my €650, do not use booking.com”
“I booked two 5-bedroom Villas (The Crest, Almancil, Portugal) on 3rd August 2019 for travel in June 2020. Deposit paid was about AU$1,500 - fully refundable. Canceled in March due to COVID. Repeatedly ask for a refund but they send me the same link to a form to provide a statement as proof of deposit paid. I have done this three times now. Today I got the message
"Thank you for sending us the statement with your proof of charge. However, the payments team will not be able to move forward without a more recent statement. Do you have a more recently dated bank statement with the charge from the hotel? "
How do they expect me to magic a more recent statement?
Now - I'm not a gynaecologist, but.....you know the rest.
Never using booking.com again.”
“Booking.com promised me a refund of my hotel that was cancelled due to Corona , not of my doing , the hotel cancelled my booking ,!,,,, that was weeks ago and they ignore any requests to resolve the issue of my refund , I am having to put in a dispute via my bank , dont use this site , they are great when it’s in their favour , but not good at advocating for their customers ,,,,”
“Complete scam artists. Booking.com are refusing all refunds in light of Covid-19 whilst the likes of Air BnB are returning customers deposits caused by this pandemic. What is worse is that we have a deposit down and the final installment is due tomorrow and Booking.com are trying to string it out and stall in the hope we allow the booking to continue into tomorrow and debit our account for the remaining 1025euros which we know will be non refundable. We even had them on the phone yesterday confirm that the booking would be cancelled and refund issued to later deny the conversation happened and put in writing that no such deposit would be refunded and we should continue on with the booking and let tomorrow's payment go out. I would expect such underhand tactics from scammers but scammers get shut down. Why are Booking.com allowed to continue to operate on the web?”
“Hi, Just a word of caution if you use or plan to use booking.com or are considering staying at Apartment Hyde Park Clifton Surry Hills NSW. I'm totally disappointed with their total lack of customer service. I cancelled an accommodation booking with Apartment Hyde Park on 19/03/2020 which was "within the allowed penalty free cancellation period" and to date, 6 weeks later I still have not received a refund. This properties refund policy clearly states a complete refund in 30 days of cancellation. The property has advised that the refund has been paid, which is totally untrue as at 29/04/2020. I've contacted booking.com multiple times by email and phone seeking assistance with this matter and all they have done is referred me back to the accommodation provider, which "just goes nowhere". Both the property manager and booking.com have lied, misled and brushed me off ( I have lost around $800). I note that the property is still taking bookings on the booking.com website in spite of booking.com being aware of this matter..? They both lack credibility as service providers.”
“I booked an accommodation in Lisbon for 28th to 30th of April 2020. Due to the corona virus my flights have been cancelled. The reservation was made at Portugal Ways Culture Guest House in Lisbon. I sent couple of emails regarding a refund due to the current situation requesting a refund however no answer received from the Guest house and no refund has been made. I contacted many times Booking.com requesting a refund for the accommodation. A refund will not be made.This was the first and the last time I booked anything through Booking.com. In situation like when everyone is trying to stay safe with no clarity what is going to happen, you guys are taking peoples money and not refunding it clearly shows how greedy you are. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY USING BOOING.COM AND PORTUGAL WAYS CULTURE GUEST HOUSE. They do not refund money and do not care about any circumstances. Will never use it again. Do not recommend at all.”
“Stay clear of them to book short breaks. They are refusing to help to get hotel costs back from hotel in Italy as obviously couldn’t go due to Covid. They say the hotel is still available therefore cancellation policy does not apply. Shocking.”
Booking.com promotes itself as one who makes it easier for everyone to experience the world. However, when issues emerge Booking.com is just gone.
12 March was a dark day in history as there was an official statement which confirmed the pandemic status. As a result, Booking took first measures by publishing some information on their website that in case of official travel restrictions it would be possible to get a restitution even when the booking is non-refundable. It looked too good, to be true…
27 March was the day that Ireland went into lockdown (the airport was not operating anymore and everyone who wandered more than 2 km off their residence address could face legal prosecution). Due to this, I looked on Booking.com if I could apply for a restitution. The advise on the website was to get in touch first with the third party. This what I have done with a copy to Booking.com as wrong contact information has been provided. The number that was given by Boooking.com is only reachable if you have an Irish sim card. Until today I got no response from Booking.com and the communication with third party has been unprofessional and unpleasant.
The third party has done everything in their power to deny at every cost the refund. That is to say: they refused to give information on Covid-19, no clarity if we could proceed with the 27th April booking, invoices were drafted in such a way that we could not get a restitution from our insurance. In short, every time they were just hiding behind the non-refundable policy.
To solve this affair, we have tried to contact Booking.com. On the website and their Facebook Messenger there was no human reaction at all. When you try to call them and provide them with the correct information you get disconnected by a robot. The only option was a public on their Facebook page. After almost 3 weeks we got a reply. The essence of this message was that there are no travel restrictions to Ireland and the booking can proceed as usual. There was no way to reply on this email. I again explained that I can confirm from my personal experience that Ireland is totally lock. Until now (5 days no response whatsoever).
If you are in the same situation or you agree with me that Booking.com should be held accountable, please share this message.”
