Just been completely screwed by booking.com

[BookingDotComAreTwats]

I am furious. I used the booking.com website months ago to book 2 twin rooms for 4 adults. £600 for 2 nights (it's in the centre of major European city). Got the confirmation. Just phoned the hotel to double check that the rooms are twin beds as the people concerned can't/won't share beds, but I've been told that the reservation had come through as 2 queens. Hotel won't change the rooms and will only provide put up beds for another 240 euros or I can pay 200 more to upgrade to room types with twin beds.

Booking.com have told me that a twin bed room is just a 'special' request and it's tough shit.
I have been through the booking process again on their website and next to the room type if gives you the option to choose twin beds. Nowhere does it say "ha - this is a joke - you only get twin rooms if you pay to upgrade - 200 more smackers please!"
I will never book with them again.

From what I understand, the hotel can't do anything about a third party reservation so while they may be sympathetic, their hands are probably tied.

You need to keep on at booking.com. Like you, I wouldn't expect a booking for a twin room to be a 'request'.

L

Oops.

Ypur confirmation says Preference not Guarantee. Tbh I think you ought to have rung the hotel direct as soon as you got the confirmation to guarantee it. All they can see is that you would "prefer" it.

Superbreak was similar but they always stated that they could only request a twin room and it was never guaranteed. So happy to use them or booking.com when I'm in a couple but never if I'm travelling with a friend (who is often of the opposite sex and we don't mind sharing a room but nothing else).

Always book with a hotel directly if you want anything other than a double in my experience. And I've rarely encountered any hotel that won't match the booking.com price if you mention you've seen it online and it's cheaper than their standard tariff.

I'm no help op but fwiw I'm really grateful that you posted. I was going to use booking.com today to book a weekend away. Presuming this 'request' caveat covers their ass both ways around, I don't want to spend our first weekend away alone together in years in a twin room. I'll just phone the hotel direct.

Sounds very frustrating OP, and I hope you get some resolution. A double room booking would make me think that there was a double bed, not twins, and I agree with others that a preference is something you'd like rather than a requirement. However that should have been clear in the original description of the room (I always look at the pictures too).

I use booking.com for all my work related travel, have never had an issue and haven't found that others staying nearby have got better deals. I do tend to put in special request which has generally meant that I've got emails directly from the hotels/apartment owners before the trip. But I may well have been lucky.

Am I right in thinking your double room is just 1 queen bed in the room?

That's not even a proper double!

I looked at booking.com this year and realised a lot that rooms described a double despite me asking for twins. I'm suspicious by nature so didn't book them!

But your booking on that page clearly states double room and choice of twin beds. It's the same way CP operates too.

Imo its often the other way abroad - book a double and get twins!

What's the benefit of going through these third parties?

I don't use booking.com anymore since they cancelled a booking of mine about 3 weeks before I was meant to visit a city, stating the hotel could no longer accommodate guests. Fine, whatever, it can happen, but the thing that pissed me off was that they in no way helped me get similar alternative accommodation in a similar area or at a similar price. Because it was now so much nearer to the time of the tip the accommodation costs were so much higher. I had to book (with a differetn company) outside of the city centre and it cost me more.

Hang on OP, did you say that Booking. Com requested 'Queen but twin if possible'? How do you know that, did the hotel tell you? Because if so that is not what BDC T&Cs state. They state they are not responsible if a preference is not adhered to by the supplier (hotel). But this isn't what happened by the sounds of it.

I've used them quite a lot and never had a problem. Difference is that I always choose the cancellable option even if it's a bit more expensive as I organise our holidays quite far in advance and like to have the flexibility.

I am naughty though and will recheck the prices nearer the time and cancel then book direct through the hotel if it's cheaper.

I'm not sure its the booking engines fault if people don't pay deposits on time or the hotel decides to rehome them. Also if its a private apartment booking in a complex it's usually obvious through the description and the reviews.

Ring them again OP or start a Twitter feed about it. Social media may get this one resolved.

How is a queen bed not a proper double? It's a larger bed than a standard double bed.

Using a third party booking site is a quick way to look at multiple options in an area and are often cheaper than booking directly. Plus you can make multiple bookings using the same booking system, so it can be easier. I also like that I can reserve without paying until closer to my stay without cost. Very similar to looking at flight booking sites really. It's always worth checking on the hotels own site to see if you are getting a good deal.

@Judashascomeintosomemoney

In the email OP has posted it is under special requirements. On their website they do say they can't guarantee special requirements.

Thanks for the heads-up!

I use booking.com and have used them all over Europe and even worldwide and have never had a problem. I think they're brilliant, sorry OP!

However, I'm a bit of a cynic so I never ever leave anything to chance. For instance, I'm using them in a few weeks, it's in a busy european city and I've requested parking. (much like your twin beds, it's a request not a definite booked). I will ring the day before to confirm this and not leave it to chance. Ditto any other special requests. It's always worked for me that way.

Just as an aside... a queen sized bed is enormous, could two people really not cope with that for the sake of saving £200?

Roussette sharing a bed with anyone other than DH would spoil the break for me- I'd probably refuse to go, or else I'd pay the extra.

OP did ring the hotel to confirm, so fingers crossed a little pressure on booking.com will encourage them to change the booking. I nearly did a similar thing a few weeks ago - the listing was a bit ambiguous, i rung the hotel and was advised it was a double with no option of it being a twin so I didn't book.

I use booking.com.
I find the hotels that are near the place in want to be, read the reviews normally supplemented by Trip advisor, chose the hotel. Then contact the hotel directly. Or go via a different booking site.

I don't quite trust them.

I booked with booking.com and was screwed too. It was a premier inn family room I booked. Everything on my booking said 1 adult 2 children. All details correct on their page, the email and the receipt.

When I turned up they gave us a room for 2 people.

Premier Inn were ace and sorted it. On complaintsto booking. com I was told that the booking was
family room, one adult, 2 children, single use.

Apparently single use there meant on, y one person was booked in for the room.

I got nowhere!

Yes, rookiemare I get what you're saying but it's not a two week holiday, it's only a 2 night break. Personally I would just suck it up for two nights... have a few drinks, flop into the huge queen sized bed and next minute it's morning!
Just my opinion of course

There have been several stories about the flakiness of booking.com in Guardian Money recently - mainly about their refusal to honour their cancellation policy. There were so many complaints, they ended up doing a big round-up of them. Admittedly, some people did say they'd always used the site and never had a problem, but plenty had been treated very shabbily.

Maybe worth getting on to them, OP?

Their reply to my complaint email:

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience or disappointment this situation caused. We appreciate your feedback as it helps us improve our services. Thank you for taking the time to notify us.
We would like to let you know that your bed preferences were registered on the reservation as special requests. This can be seen in the initial confirmation email that you received when your reservation was made on 12 Jun 2017. Please check for this information under the section 'Special Requests'.
As per our terms and conditions, no request is guaranteed until it is confirmed by the property.

If a hotel can't guarantee you a specific type of room, how on earth can a 3rd party website?

It's never guaranteed, even when you go through a hotel. They do their best and 90% of them time you get the type of room you've requested. But hotels overbook sometimes (because people cancel a room 24hr before arrival).

You always need to speak with hotel directly and explain you will need to cancel altogether if they don't have the room you need, so they put a note in your reservations and try to accommodate your needs.

I am so annoyed about the how misleading their website it that I am going to take this to small claims court. They should not be able to offer bed choice as part of the booking process and not flag up that this is a 'special request' at that point. They should have the information about it being a special request at the point you make the choice, not on the bottom of the next page in the small print.

That's an interesting article Halsall. What I would say about the site is that generally they offer a lot of options and you need to be careful that a) you select the right number of people in the top level choice as often they have double rooms for single occupancy b) you select cancellable if its needed - they used to have a thing wher you had to tick the cancellable box when booking otherwise it wasn't included- I think they've stopped that now and c) check with th hotel if there is anything specific you need prior to booking.

I have to say I like it as an alternative to Airbnb who seem to charge huge management fees and have inflexible cancellation policies.

As the owner of a small B&B can I beg people to book direct with their accommodation!

The big OTAs like booking . com, expedia, tripadvisor et al charge huge amounts of commission - 15% is standard, but this can go up to 35% during periods of high demand, i.e. Hogmanay in Edinburgh or London when the marathon is on. This means we have to increase our room rates to cover the commissions (10% commission across the travel industry was standard for years - when you had actual people doing the work of finding your accommodation/flights etc, why there is a need to up the commission so much when it's mostly algorithms doing the work is beyond me).

Also, a friend who runs a guest house in a very popular tourist area is pulling her hair out because people are booking 2-3 different places with the OTA's for the same night, turning up in the city, seeing which accommodation meets their needs (is more central/close to restaurants etc) then cancelling all but one of them at the last minute leaving her with empty rooms.

When you book through an OTA, we don't get paid by them until 2 weeks after the end of the month in which you stayed - so if your booking is for 2nd July, we get paid mid August.

We've also had a spate of chancers booking through OTA's claiming the booking is for 1 person then 2 people turn up. It's difficult to resolve/get the extra money via the booking company.

So please, if you can, book direct with the accommodation - you'll probably get a cheaper rate, and you have more comeback if it's the accommodation who's buggered up your booking.