Booking.com grrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Corneliawildthing]

Hi I'm currently trying to contact Booking.com to arrange a refund as travel to the country I was hoping to visit has been cancelled. I have tried phoning repeated times, held for ages then been told to phone back later. I have also tried all options in their "help centre" and "live chat" which consist of FAQs and an automated reply. Every other company I've dealt with has coronavirus messages on their pages.
Does anyone know how on earth you get in touch with an actual human being with this company?

I’m in the same boat 🙄

I think with anything like that at the moment it is going to just be a case of being patient. The staff are going to be run ragged trying to deal with the demand

You don't need to speak to anyone. You just need to message your hotel/ apartment direct and say due to the current restrictions ie restricted travel due to corona you would like to cancel your booking as per booking.com guidelines.
Then the 'host' can apply directly for you to be refunded, but they cant do this without your written permission. You can also click ' request refund' button for further clarification.

As long as the area is in an actual officially restricted zone you will be refunded.

When i say message directly, i mean via the booking.com website

I had problems with a Booking.com reservation in the summer that they suddenly cancelled. I concluded that their email system was manned by robots or somebody pasting huge chunks of standard paragraphs.

This link is aimed at property owners, but this might be the place to look first:
partner.booking.com/en-gb/community/booking-advice-and-updates/important-information-regarding-coronavirus-march-10-2020

I don't think the US banning mainland European tourists helped matters.