To warn you about booking.com

They're both crap really aren't they, Airbnb and booking.com.
Both have a habit of cancelling at short notice (6 days before in my case, with 3 toddlers 🤨) or selling non existent properties: Airbnb with the added bonus of being complicit in social housing subletting and turning family homes and neighbourhoods into holiday parks.

Just book a hotel, man. Houses are for housing.

2 years ago Booking.com offered me a refund for one night in a dreadful hotel. I accepted that offer, STFU & got on with my holiday.

Booking.com never sent me that refund, I never recieved it. I chased them up - crickets.

I won't use them again.

Absolutely, always book directly with airlines. I rarely book tours or cars through booking.com, only accomodation and I havent encountered major issues because I exercise due caution.

I've got more cautious recently now that it is flooded with apartments. It seems flimsier somehow and I don't feel very safe on it. I avoid Airbnb to try and reduce the negative impact of my travel but it's now quite hard to avoid apartment stuff on booking.com as well.

I have not used booking.com in a while. There are issues with them paying some owners.

I usually have a look on booking.com and Airbnb. Then Google the name of the place and book direct with the property owner or independent agent. The price usually works out cheaper and much better service.

I love the Copthorne Tara. In the '80s it was a more luxurious hotel (when it the Aer Lingus Tara), and some bits are a bit '80s still, but it's still very good.

TBF, I have been refunded quite quickly for cancelled bookings on Booking despite all the complaints I have read about the site online. These were not non-refundable bookings however. My last "iffy" experience renting an apartment in Budapest with a washing machine that didnt work - I was warned about this on the day of check in, the agent arrived with an electrician the next day, they offered to do take my washing to their home when the machine couldnt be repaired (I refused!) and looked up a nearby laundromat and offered to pay for my washing (again I refused). I really couldnt complain about a small matter like that when the property agents were so helpful.

I booked a stay with them in July 2023 for a glamping experience at the Silverstone formula 1. Turned up and there were no glamping facilities at all.
Turns out it was a scam hundreds of people left in a field with no place to stay , no facilities at all. Made contact with booking.com who could not have been less interested.
managed to get a refund from my credit card company.
havent booked with booking.com since

I think it has changed recently I have noticed a whole lot of frankly suspect listings recently. Also had a couple of experiences last year one was fine (just moved accommodation but wasn’t an issue) second the villa owner accused us of damage we didn’t do and charged us money

I also have compared it and it is often more expensive than going to the source (although does allow to pay when you get there which can help) and have been booking directly a lot more

Customer service is non existent - but they must be awareness I haven’t booked once a month I get a cash back of up to £85 if I make a booking I have not had before!

I’ve never had a problem with booking.com. I’ve booked some lovely apartments on there. Always been clean on arrival and I leave them clean as well. I always get insurance just in case we have to cancel at last minute.

I know someone whose credit card refunded the money when booking.com would not. The card company took the money back from booking.com

I won't touch them with a bargepole after turning up overseas to find my booking had been cancelled while I was on the plane. The alternative accommodation was 35 miles away with no public transport links and they washed their hands of me as that was their duty of care sorted.
If I ever spot something I like the look of, I then book it directly with the hotel. Much better value and usually room at the other end.

I use Booking.com fairly frequently and exercise a lot of caution because they put in some pretty unrealistic "new property" deals with pretty low prices and no reviews. I think these places don't exist and are bait. The hotels are fine on booking.com but the private apartment deals should be approached with a lot of caution.

Only ever used booking.com, never had a problem, and I've used them to book accommodation in the UK, Europe and Australia. I think you've just been unlucky

I find booking.com a crap site to find accommodation. You have to wade through endless crappy looking apartments, they all look totally unprofessional.

On the flip side of this I've had a horrendous experience with an AirBnb, when we checked in to our property (in another country) fairly late and in the middle of nowhere. Discovered it was filthy and I mean absolutely filthy, the kitchen was not fit for humans, had a very dangerous issue with the electrics (that we provided evidence of) and worst, there was a random man coming into the property to use the "kitchen".
We spent most of the night trying to speak to Airbnb but had no choice to stay as there was literally no other options nearby. My husband stayed awake all night to ensure me and child were safe.
Initially Airbnb accused of us going to the wrong property - like what the actual fuck?! Then said we were lying, then basically just said there wasn't really anything they could do and eventually offered a partial refund.

I was absolutely gobsmacked. We sent through about 20 photos that proved we were not making anything up and they didn't give a shit.

Unfortunately I am not in the UK so no Section 75. By the time I opposed the transaction it was too late, and the transaction itself "wasn't fraudulent".

It was a non-refundable booking but the HOST cancelled withing 24h so should have refunded the deposit. Booking.com were precisely no help.

You could have got a refund from your card merchant in those circumstances @holrosea either under Section 75 or as a chargeback. I think you have a few years to do this, so you might still be able to get it back now.

Was the booking 'non-refundable'?

booking.com is an absolute rip-off merchant.

I once booked and paid for an apartment in Italy, deposit of 272 EUR immediately debited from my card. A day later the host cancelled and booking.com told me I'd be refunded.

I was never refunded.

I spent months calling an Italian number with no answer, I spent hours calling booking.com's customer service who continually referred me to the non-responsive Italian vendor. They said that they are only a platform and the sale/deposit/refund is entirely between myself and the vendor.

Eventually they said the vendor had withdrawn from the platform, only the exact same apaprtments were up under a new name like "vendor II".

DO NO SPEND YOUR MONEY ON BOOKING.COM

We've used booking.com for years with no issue

My DS is currently having difficulties with a well-known holiday rental company where the owner has cancelled the booking, so it can happen on any platform

We've had no problems so far - we recently did a driving holiday, so staying only one or two nights in 10 different places and booked all accommodation through them. Everything worked out really well. We even changed our itinerary mid way and could cancel and rebook. Yes you pay a bit more to have the cancellation but that's fair enough if you want the flexibility.

I arrived at a guesthouse in a foreign country to discover there was no reception and nobody to check me in. By the time booking.com found me an alternative, I’d made my own arrangements. It was a complete nightmare as I was travelling alone.

There’s literally no reason to book flights with booking.com or any other platform rather than directly with the airline. You are so much better off having your contract with the airline that is actually operating the flights rather than with a third party if anything goes wrong / gets cancelled.

Airlines are strictly regulated and have to refund you promptly.