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Original poster

Booking.com angst- am I being scammed or is this genuine?

20 replies

crackofdoom · 24/03/2023 12:36

We are due to stay in a holiday apartment in Rome for 4 days over the Easter weekend, which I booked through booking.com a couple of months ago. The payment agreement was that we pay upon arrival. I have also booked a couple of other places to stay through booking.com for this trip, all using the same debit card.

I received a message from them this morning saying that there was an issue with my debit card, followed by a slew of messages from the host, all demanding that I resolve the problem immediately, or I'll lose the booking.

The host says she hasn't received the CVC for my debit card, so can't verify the card. She wants me to give it to her via email/ text, today. I have resubmitted my card to booking.com, but there is no box on the online form to enter my CVC. So far booking.com haven't replied to my email, which is super helpful. Meanwhile, I'm supposed to be driving up to a work event somewhere with dodgy signal, I'm already late, and this is stressing me the fuck out.

Could the host be attempting a scam? Is this booking.com being flaky?? I don't fancy trying to rebook accommodation in Rome on one of the busiest weekends of the year!

OP posts:
MadeForThis · 24/03/2023 12:39

I would wait to hear back from booking.com. Just tell the hotel you have updated the card on the site. Keep all messages through the site so booking.con can see what's happening.

Drywhitefruitycidergin · 24/03/2023 12:39

Good to be cautious, but It could be a glitch in their system. I had the same message this week for a booking I have this weekend (major multinational chain) & when I went in to app the same message was there. I just reentered same card details & it's fine.

PammieDooveOrangeJoof · 24/03/2023 12:42

If the agreement is pay upon arrival why are they trying to process your payment now?

Whataretheodds · 24/03/2023 12:45

Do not send money via bank transfer if requested - that's a known scam

Original poster
crackofdoom · 24/03/2023 19:35

Thanks for all your advice, people. Despite calling booking.com and the person I spoke to saying they would sort it, there is still no resolution 🤦‍♀️. It's a small holiday apartment run by a private individual, and I'm wondering if the problem is that they haven't encountered a debit- as opposed to a credit- card before. She is still adamant she wants my CVC number, I'm still saying this has to come via booking.com and I'm not giving it to her privately, and the woman on the phone at booking.com has just fobbed us off with platitudes, basically.

OP posts:
Stravawindow · 24/03/2023 19:56

Can you change your account to use a credit card rather than your debit card? Don’t send any details direct. Your 3 digits should be encrypted I think so no one should be able to read/get hold of those.

Caspianberg · 24/03/2023 20:00

Can you pay on arrival via booking?

we have a place on there, and they take money from guests 30 days before arrival I think, and then we get paid via booking after guests leave ( 1-14 days after). We, as hosts have nothing to do with the payment details, that’s what booking handles.

whodafucisalice · 24/03/2023 20:01

Ring your bank and ask their advice.

Crikeyalmighty · 24/03/2023 20:16

I'm a fan of booking.com but not for Italy. It's the only country I've ever had problems with it. Italians don't seem to have got the idea of not paying till you arrive. They immediately try and debit the whole amount . We have got into the habit of using a card that has no money on it available. - and you always then get a message saying your card was invalid. It isn't invalid - you just can't take any money off it!! I don't book for Italy unless I am prepared to pay in full .

Crikeyalmighty · 24/03/2023 20:20

And when you book with booking.com you have to give card details to validate at time of booking , along with your CVC - or the booking just doesn't go through- so like @Greenestgreen says I am wondering if this is indeed a scam and the missing link they don't have is the CVC

So1invictus · 24/03/2023 20:24

I'm in Italy and use Booking for everything. Always pay on arrival and always with a debit. Never had an issue and definitely never had any correspondence other than "anything you need?" from the hosts.
I'd sit very tight on this and let Booking advise. Sounds like a scam to me. (not from Booking)

BlackForestCake · 24/03/2023 20:56

Scam. No reputable hospitality business treats customers like that.

When you get multiple messages, aggressive in tone and threatening to cancel on you, it’s a scammer or a letting agent.

justasmalltownmum · 24/03/2023 21:06

Scam

Decorhate · 24/03/2023 21:25

When I booked a place in Rome through booking.com I had a slight issue in that my card expired between making the booking & arriving. I got a message from the accommodation & all I had to do was update my card details on booking.com. I did not have to send them to the owner.

symphonyseven · 24/03/2023 21:46

Definite scam

Original poster
crackofdoom · 25/03/2023 13:04

Yeah, I'm totally not sending her my CVC.

The jury's still out on whether it's a scam or whether she just doesn't get how it works- I lived in Italy for a long time, I do get they do things differently there- BUT THEN WHY THE FUCK ACCEPT PAY ON ARRIVAL BOOKINGS ANYWAY?!

I had been having normal communications with her up to this point- although it does strike me as significant, in retrospect, that she couldn't tell me what buses there were from the nearest station to the property- she just linked me to a public transport page. Or maybe not 🤔

It might be better if this booking gets cancelled, might it not, even if it means I have to book somewhere more expensive...

OP posts:
Mañanarama · 25/03/2023 13:07

I’d book somewhere else now, and see what booking.com have to say. You don’t give anyone your CVC, that’s just ridiculous.

I’d be too worried about turning up to find no accommodation and would probably cancel.

Original poster
crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 00:15

So, I'm home now. Had a think. My last communication from booking.com was an email apologising for the inconvenience and saying they'd sent me a link to update my card details and CVC. Link never arrived 🤔

Meanwhile, I looked at the accommodation details again, and saw they only had one review, a glowing 10/10. Another 🤔 moment there....damn, how did I slip up on that one!

So...I am worrying about that accommodation. A lot. So much so that I booked somewhere else, on AirBnB ( for a lot more money, at this point! 😬).

I emailed the original host and told her she's better off cancelling the booking. It's past the point of free cancellation, theoretically. So, technically, I have done a Bad Thing. I don't know if there's going to be any way she can charge me the cancellation fee- I hope not!! I guess I should email booking.com with all evidence of why I'm taking this course of action, but honestly they have been so fucking useless so far!! Honestly, now I'm home and have access to my laptop, I can see that booking.com's security guidance clearly says "DO NOT GIVE CREDIT CARD DETAILS OVER PHONE OR EMAIL TO THE HOST!" , but twice I have told them over the phone that the host was asking me to do precisely that, and their only response was "mmmmkay" 🙄.

OP posts:
Original poster
crackofdoom · 27/03/2023 00:16

*security guidance

OP posts:
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