“We booked a unit through Booking.com (Reservation #6646.295.434) and had one of the worst travel experiences we’ve ever had. For two full days, the bathroom had no cold water at all – only scalding hot water, making it impossible to shower or even wash our hands safely. This is a basic necessity, and the unit was completely uninhabitable.
In addition, the apartment was missing promised amenities like a washing machine and hair dryer. The couch was covered in large dirt stains, and the host was unresponsive, not even providing the correct Wi-Fi password until 24 hours after we checked in.
We called Booking.com multiple times, hoping they’d step in. They acknowledged the problem and said they sent a complaint to the owner — but did absolutely nothing meaningful to help us. The only action taken was putting a blanket over the dirty couch and sending the Wi-Fi code. The water issue was ignored.
We asked Booking.com to cancel the reservation and refund us. They told us we had to wait 8 hours for the owner to “approve” it — while we were still unable to shower and had important business meetings the next morning. Unacceptable.
This experience was stressful, unhealthy, and completely mismanaged, and Booking.com’s support was useless. They failed to protect us as customers and allowed the host to get away with false advertising and unsafe conditions.
We are seeking a full refund and compensation, and we’ll never trust Booking.com the same way again. Be careful — when things go wrong, you’re on your own.”
“Does not respond and actual fix a legitimate complaint. They cannot fathom their third party hotel site might be lying. Left hotel when comforter was not replaced since it had dried blood stains.
There was no sea view as promised in Batumi, Georgia and no receipt given (would only take cash).
They have lost a long time customer.”
“Flight got cancelled by airline been waiting a month for refund. Rang Turkish Airlines today they confirmed refund was issued few weeks back. When I ring customer service in the Philippines they say the same thing we escalated it give 24 hr a manager will call you still waiting for manager to call its been 4 weeks now.”
“I made flight booking with booking.com and the airline cancelled the flight and marked it as non-operational. I have been following up with booking.com for refund as airlines cancelled the flights but customer service is no help at all. All they say is wait for few more days and keep following up but they give me same vague answers. My thousands of dollars are on stake as it was booked for international flight for 4 travelers. Any idea on how to deal with this refund process?”
“I booked and then canceled a flight, and was informed that I would receive a certain refund amount, but in reality, I received much less. When I contacted them, they kept asking me to wait week after week without providing any clear explanation. This platform handles issues very poorly. I will never come back here again. I don’t want to lose money unfairly.”
“They cancelled my booking a few hours ago for no reason. I held for 45min on the first call , 26min on the second call and 52 min on the 3rd talking to the staff was like talking to a robots NO ONE wanted to help they were rude, unfriendly and unhelpful. I had paid 100% so waiting to see if i get my refund . Very disappointing”
“I am beyond frustrated and disappointed with my experience using Booking.com. I booked a hotel in Florida for my family vacation and paid through the Klarna app, which shows the payment was successfully processed and already paid to Booking.
However, I never received any confirmation from Booking.com — no email, no reservation number, nothing. I contacted Booking support, and they confirmed there is no reservation under my name, even though they already received my payment through Klarna.
Meanwhile, I’m with my family trying to enjoy our vacation, but hotel prices are going up every day, and Booking is holding my money without giving me any service. This situation has caused unnecessary stress, ruined part of our trip, and completely broke my trust in Booking.com.
I do not recommend using this platform, especially when booking with Klarna. You risk losing both your money and your vacation.”
“Do not book through Booking.com. The host switched me to a completely different property upon arrival, which is a direct violation of Booking.com’s own policies. I was charged in full for a place I never stayed in, and Booking.com has been completely unhelpful in securing a refund. Extremely disappointing experience from both the host and the platform.”
“We had a problem with a property that we booked via booking.com. At check in, despite the 9.2 rating (!) it was so bad we decided to not stay. We paid the property cancellation fee and found better accommodation. Booking.com then charged us the same cancellation fee. I asked for a refund of the second charge. A week later I am so frustrated with the lack of useful response from customer service that I have turned the matter over to my credit card company to resolve. I clearly laid out the problem several times via chat and email. Responses were all off point, my chat was cancelled for inactivity after just 24 hours, the claim form won’t open because it said I was late responding ( I responded in a few hours - well within the 10 day window). I got an email asking me to rate customer service before I got any other response. As of today, a week later, my request for a new claim form has been ignored, emails I sent have bounced and the simple issue of double billing for cancellation has not been addressed. Nightmare and it’s quite a lot of money at stake”
“The host in question has been reported for fraud, as they have consistently failed to provide any form of contact or service after receipt of payment. In addition, fraudulent mediation by Booking.com itself has been reported. The platform was demonstrably aware of the fact that the host is consistently unavailable, and yet the accommodation in question was actively and visibly offered on their website.
Booking.com has thus deliberately taken the risk that consumers would pay for a service that they knew could not be provided. Booking subsequently failed to offer an adequate solution or refund of the amount paid, thereby breaching their duty of care and possibly even violating regulations on unfair commercial practices.
This approach is unacceptable and undermines trust in platform services. Consumers may expect a platform such as Booking.com to take action against unreliable providers and not to continue to deliberately facilitate them.
Booking has not failed to comply with the basic obligation to fully refund paid and undelivered services. This is contrary to European consumer law, Dutch civil law on breach of contract (Article 6:74 of the Dutch Civil Code), and fundamental principles of reasonableness and fairness”
“VERY BAD REFUND PROCESS. AVOID BOOKING.
Bookings refund process sucks. We had reason to cancel a booking because of a wrong location in Greece and within minutes rebooked a different location. It has been almost a month and we are getting the run around but no refund.”
“Booking.com failed to honor their own price match policy. I emailed every detail hoping it would be an easy process instead I meet with lies and deceit. I was promised a refund which never came. After a week I finally gotten someone on the phone to discuss my refund but I was only met with booking.com credit that was worth less than half of my refund. Calling my bank in the morning to report this fraud. I cancelled all my future trips with booking.com and going straight to the competitor.”
“False information on their website as far as location. Unfair refund policies and terrible customer service. Almost impossible to reach an actual person. I will be deleting the app and advising everyone that I know to do the same.”
“I generally have a very positive experience with Booking.com – it’s my preferred platform among all major travel sites. I book up to 15 trips a year, both for business and leisure, and appreciate how user-friendly, transparent, and reliable the system is.
However, there are moments that deeply disappoint me and shake my trust. One such case was a recent booking in Rome for a surprise birthday trip. Upon arrival, the property Cancelleriadieci matched the photos only at first glance – but the whole apartment, specially the bathroom had a strong, unhealthy smell and visible black mold, which poses serious health risks.
We contacted both, the hotel Cancelleriadieci and Booking.com immediately, expecting support in such a clear-cut case. Unfortunately, we received no sufficient help, no full refund, and – even more concerning – the property remains listed at a relatively high price. Despite sending photos, calling customer support, writing a review, and following up multiple times, the issue was not taken seriously.
Even more worrying: similar feedback and photos were submitted to Booking.com by another guest over a year ago, and the issue clearly remains unresolved. This suggests that Booking.com has chosen to ignore repeated warnings about a serious health risk.
In addition, large pieces of paint fell from the bathroom ceiling.
We called booking.com, asked for refund from hotel and left. Hotel people promised to call back, but they never did. Booking.com sent us some tiny refund - it felt like it was meant just to silence us. The fact is clear - we did not get full refund.
This experience is confusing and disappointing, especially because Booking.com usually provides excellent service. It’s frustrating that in a situation involving health hazards and clear evidence, the platform seems to ignore its own values of trust and safety. I hope this feedback helps Booking.com improve how it handles critical issues.
Merit Miller”
“For weeks, I waited with no updates. My withdrawal never arrived, and somehow, my account showed zero balance. I was panicking—until I got in touch with the contact in my bio. Mrs. Mercy and her team were incredible. They traced the issue and got my money back. Frustrating experience, but I’m thankful for their help.”
“For weeks, I waited with no updates. My withdrawal never arrived, and somehow, my account showed zero balance. I was panicking—until I got in touch with the contact in my bio. Mrs. Mercy and her team were incredible. They traced the issue and got my money back. Frustrating experience, but I’m thankful for their help.”
“This place has been horrible to me I’ve been hung up on numerous times, been lied to even and haven’t been able to speak to one supervisor that works there and I’ve been trying for a week now!! Idk for me I’ve never felt so disrespected by a place and how they almost try to gas light you it’s weird just be cautious”
“Booked a hotel which was quite expensive and the price offered was the same as the hotel website but i thought i would book through booking.com to collect points and as i was offered a free taxi ride to the hotel. but got disappointed as i had to wait for like 1.5 hours and the taxi never showed up, tried to call them and sent them many messages but no one replied, the airport tourist info desk told me that booking.com taxi drivers never show up, i think it was a fake offer just to get you to book through them, which i don't think i will do again..
not recommended!
i have always booked directly at hotel websites as i always get a better price, but that time i was mistaken to choose booking.com”
