Booking.com issues and how to complain to get a refund and or redress

For full detailed guide on the issues regarding Booking.com, such as scams, non existent accommodation, leaked data and how to prevent issues and how to complain to get a refund, see Booking.com complaints – How to complain, escalate & get a refund.

 

Complaining about Booking.com case study in the media

You may have seen the ITV Tonight programme on 2 December 2021 about complaining. Part of the programme was a story about how I helped Olivia and Bella get their money back from Booking.com. (I regularly comment in the media on consumer issues. See consumer rights expert media appearances and commentary.)

Given the time allowed for the segment, we could not cover the whole saga! Here, in all its glory, is what happened. It was one of the most frustrating cases with which I have ever been involved. It is certainly up there with Virgin Media for being one of the poorest companies at communication.

I do believe, being the cynical “cow” that I am, that some businesses think that providing such appalling service will just put people off. Because, in reality, it does. However, it just makes me more determined.

I then got involved.

Booking.com booking

Olivia and her friend Bella booked a property in Albufeira for two nights. They paid for this in full on Booking.com and received confirmation that same day. They also had a reminder email about the upcoming trip on Sunday 15^th August. On Thursday 17^th August they flew to Portugal as planned, leaving East Midlands Airport at 7:00am.

They arrived in Portugal on time, went through all the necessary checks and then got a taxi to the hotel arriving around 12:10. When trying to check in they were advised that it was too early and they could leave their cases behind reception and make use of the hotel facilities.

Booking.com problems started – cancelled booking with no notice

At 13:50 (ten minutes before check-in) they received an email from Booking.com to inform them that the hotel reservation had been cancelled. This email came with no explanation nor an apology. Bella and Olivia sat by the pool frightened, as they were now alone in a foreign country with no accommodation, not knowing what to do as Booking.com had offered no assistance.

At reception they were told that the hotel had informed Booking.com at the time of booking and that the reservation should have been cancelled immediately at that point.

After finally getting through to Booking.com customer service, they explained their situation and were immediately cut off. Frustrated and scared, they contacted Booking.com a second time, and spoke with a woman who said, “I am in Japan and it is midnight, I don’t know what you want me to do.”

Alternative hotels were out of their budget, so they decided to find a flight home.

Return home due to Booking.com failure and lack of support

Due to the COVID regulations for entering England, they had to have a negative test taken within 72 hours of departure. The test that they did before leaving was quickly running out of time to ensure they were eligible for entry into the UK.

Bella and Olivia recall:

“There was only one remaining flight back to the UK which took off at around 7:00pm, if we couldn’t book and make it on that flight, they would have been on the streets in Portugal!”

Left with no choice, the flight was booked at 16.00 and they had to quickly get a taxi to the airport to ensure they boarded the flight.

They took the flight home and calculated their financial losses, made up of the loss of their hotel and all consequential losses which are the result of the failure by Booking.com.

Total costs incurred due to booking.com’s mistakes

• Hotel Cost £189.44 on 07/08/2021
• Antigen tests to travel out (Covid-19) – £58
• Day 2 PCR tests (medicines online) – £98
• Pre booked test for out in Portugal to be able to return home – £36.16
• Breakfast at the airport – £19.87
• Taxi to the hotel – €42 / £36
• Taxi back to the airport – €42 / £36
• Food at the airport – €15/12.87
• Flights out (Ryanair) – £43.33
• Original flights back (Jet2) – £65
• Early flights back (Ryanair) – £280.58
• Total = £ 875.25

Complaining to Booking.com got partial refund

The pair received just £187.75 from Booking.com on 18/08/2021.

All requests for anything else had been ignored, which is where I came in.

The Complaining Cow brings complaining plan of action against Booking.com

It is slightly more complicated complaining to a company outside of the EU since the UK left the EU due to different cross border laws. However, we still had a number of options available. The first step was to escalate the issue by writing to the CEO, finding his details on Booking.com CEO at CEOemail.com

I helped Olivia write to the CEO stating that Booking.com were in breach of the EU Directive 2005/29/EC by providing services with defects. They had incurred costs as a direct result of Booking.com’s failures, in addition to disappointment, stress, anxiety and worry.

Expectations of Booking.com

We expected to receive the total of £685.81 which was incurred as a direct result of Booking.com’s failures.. I also advised requesting redress for their stress, anxiety, and inconvenience caused, plus a full explanation and an apology for everything that happened.

I advised threatening legal action. (This can be complicated cross border, although help is available. See Taking legal action cross border below).

Oliva sent the email with all the attachments to the CEO on 23/09/21.

The sorry saga of communication complaining to Booking.com began…

On the 27 September 2021 someone from the customer service team replied asking for more information, most of which was already in the email to which they were replying. Olivia clicked “reply”, providing the information already provided and the email she got in response was bizarre. Really bizarre. It said that the email address to which she had written (she had clicked “reply” remember) was no longer in use!

So, Olivia forwarded everything again to the CEO. She did not get an immediate reply.

Threatening legal action against Booking.com

We decided it was time to play hard ball. On 6 October 2021 Olivia sent a further email with “Email before action” in the subject line.

Unsurprisingly, that got their attention. But the situation remained bizarre. The “CS Senior Guest Specialist” replied saying that they would refund the accommodation costs. It is hard to understand what part of the email she read and what she didn’t, seeing as the email said that the accommodation had been refunded and it was everything else that was being requested.

So, later that day Olivia replied again with all the correspondence. Yet again. (We are on the fifth email at this point). Was there another bizarre response? Yup. This time the reply said that they didn’t have access to the original complaint. Remember, everything has been attached to every single email, so it is not possible that they didn’t have access because they replied to the email with it!

To say that this was frustrating would be an understatement. The sixth email went off informing the “specialist” that further action would be taken should a satisfactory response not be received.

Bizarre response number 4? Yup. This one was from someone who apologized and provided a link to the legal team. This was a clear attempt to fob off the complaint to another department.

We decided to ignore that one. So Olivia asked the “specialist” how she could respond to the complaint without having all the relevant information that was attached! Unsurprisingly the “specialist” couldn’t answer this question but asked for receipts. 🙄

Sigh. So Olivia sent the evidence of expenditure. Again. In case you are losing count that’s our eighth email.

Something got through! Hurrah! Nope, not really. We are now onto another respondent who told Olivia she had received the refund for the accommodation. Sigh, we had told them that already, more than once. She asked what Olivia wanted. So Olivia responded with another email, the ninth, explaining exactly what was expected, plus a reasonable amount for the appalling service received. Again.

Result from complaining to Booking.com!

I had told Olivia to ignore all calls for the reasons shown in this article why you should complain in writing

An email then followed outlining that Booking.com would be providing £500 to Olivia.

So, eventually a good result, I always get there in the end but usually it’s one or two emails. Not NINE!

Booking.com response

A spokesperson for Booking.com said:

At Booking.com our primary aim is to enable smooth and enjoyable travel experiences for all of our customers, which has unfortunately not happened on this occasion. In the majority of cases where an accommodation partner is unable to accommodate a guest due to overbooking, we are able to rectify that immediately, including offering full support with relocation and will be investigating why that did not happen on this occasion.”

Why Booking.com customer service is so difficult

How many people would have just given up after the initial refund?

How many of those who continued would have given up after the first and second emails, all the way through to the final one?!

Some companies rely on consumers not knowing their consumer rights and/or just giving up.

Perseverance and a clear written evidence trail can improve your chances of resolution, although a refund or compensation is not guaranteed.

See Booking.com complaints – How to complain, escalate & get a refund.

Have you experienced difficulties with Booking.com?

Please do share your experiences in the comments but do not share any personal information.

Please note that I will not be able to provide any further help to the detailed substantial information on Booking.com complaints – How to complain, escalate & get a refund.

I receive weekly queries about Booking.com. The advice is always the same, without exception. Booking.com is an awful company for customer service. As you will see from the case study I had to keep on. I will not be able to take on any cases complaining to Booking.com.

Please add your story to the comments section if you wish to raise awareness. You can only follow the advice above and keep on particularly in reference to the legal threat and action. I will not be able to do  ANYTHING more/different to the above in terms of process of complaining. There is no exception to this so please do not email with ANY queries about Booking.com as I will refer you back to this page. Sorry but there is masses of free advice here and you need to follow it!

How to prevent and deal with problems with holiday lets

I was on ITV Anglia on the 20th April 2018 talking about a bad experience someone had with using an online holiday letting website and how you can protect yourself. I am regularly in the media talking about travel and other consumer issues. See Helen Dewdney – Consumer Rights Expert & Media Commentator for more details.

Further help with holidays and flights

 

For more information, stories, laws and advice see All you need to know about booking/complaining about holidays/flights

 

 

Purchase and download Holiday, flight and event complaint templates

Further help with complaining effectively

For more advice, tips, information and template letters covering holidays and more: GET THE BOOK! How To Complain: The ESSENTIAL Consumer Guide to Getting REFUNDS, Redress and RESULTS!

 

 

 

 

Want to get better at complaining? See 101 Habits of an Effective Complainer

 

 

 

 

Save yourself time and effort finding the laws and wording a letter of complaint. Purchase and download a template, fill in your details and get that redress

 

 

Free consumer advice help you get a refund?

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