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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Or is booking.com?

59 replies

fairynick · 06/08/2021 10:57

I’ve had a nightmare.
I was meant to go camping in Cornwall next week but after seeing loads of things online about how dear it is and raining etc, I decided to look at holidays abroad instead because they can often work out cheaper.
I found a ridiculously cheap all inclusive hotel on booking.com, I’m a level 1 member or whatever so sometimes there’s good discounts. I also thought because it was last minute there’s often really good deals.
I booked but didn’t pay, payment is due to come out on Wednesday.
I received a confirmation email with the price, and I also rang up customer services to reconfirm the booking was made properly and also to clear up the price. The customer service agent confirmed the price, the booking etc and said I was good to go.
I then spent £175 on flights after being given the all clear.
Woke up this morning to an email from booking.com to say that there was an obvious error in the cost of the reservation and if I want to keep it they need to hear from me within two hours so that they can let me know the new cost (this email was sent at 3am). They have said that as per their terms and conditions if a price is an obvious error they don’t have to stick by it basically.
I have replied arguing that it it clearly wasn’t an “obvious” error, as they say, as I didn’t pick up on it, their app didn’t pick up on it, their confirmation email didn’t pick up on it, and their own member of staff didn’t pick up on it. It therefore does not break terms and conditions and they should honour the price. I’m just waiting for a response.
If they don’t honour the price and double it or whatever, then I won’t be able to afford to go. I am now in bits at having wasted £175 on flights, and looking at other hotels I don’t think I’d be able to afford them either. Wishing I didn’t bother.

OP posts:
Orchidflower1 · 18/08/2021 06:22

@fairynick sorry to hear about your troubles with booking.

Do you happen to have the phone number for them? I’ve been charged for a booking that they aren’t able to confirm- no reference etc. Just keep getting automated replies from bots when I contact customer services🤬

garlictwist · 18/08/2021 06:28

I had a similar issue with Air Bnb.

I used the "map" function to find accommodation that was near where I wanted to be. I booked it and then found out the accommodation was actually in London (wrong end of the country!) but had been misplaced on the map.

They refused to refund me as they said it was my error.

Notagardener · 18/08/2021 06:33

Bad experience with them. Original apartment became unavailable so we paid for new one. DH had to give them the bank details again to get refund. He missed a digit. When they and he realised they still refused to transfer the money back to us. Over £1000 down the drain.

Guavaf1sh · 18/08/2021 07:05

I use booking.com a lot. I might not now - I feel bad on your behalf

Oilyoilyoilgob · 18/08/2021 07:15

They emailed me after a booking to say my account was locked due to security reasons. Two calls and various web hats later and they wouldn’t give me a reason why, even when I asked if my account had been hacked. I had to cancel my debit card I’d used the night before to secure my booking.

I then rang the hotel up to check the reservation to be told my room wasn’t available on those dates anyway-they said booking.com had made an error but I luckily rebooked another room direct with them.

Booking never emailed from their security team as promised, fobbed me off and I’m still locked out of my account! All very odd but because they never got back to me, and my worry that my account was compromised I’ll never use them again (even if they unlock my account 😁)

newnortherner111 · 18/08/2021 07:17

Hope you had a lovely holiday OP.

AtlasPine · 18/08/2021 07:25

I hate this company. While I was booking online they took my money but then said an error had occurred during the process of booking and the booking hadn’t gone through. They wouldn’t refund for four weeks. (They said three). Nor would they sort out the booking for me. The booking I HAD PAID FOR.

Luckily I had enough money to rebook directly with the hotel anyway (for 20% less as it happens). Eventually my money taken by booking.com came back. It was a cheap Ian room in the uk for one night but what if it had been a big family holiday I’d saved for months to raise the funds for and couldn’t find another similar pile of dosh?

I would always advise people to find the hotel you fancy staying at online and then contact it to book directly. That way you have an email from the hotel itself confirming accommodation. And it was cheaper in my case.

AChickenCalledDaal · 18/08/2021 07:29

@BritWifeInUSA

If you haven’t paid, there’s no contract and no obligation on their part to sell to you at that price. It’s the same as if you saw a pair of shoes with a £2 price tag on them and you get to the till and the clerk says “£30, please” because they had the wrong price tag. No advertised price is an obligation for the seller to sell at that price.

Regarding your flights, that’s no concern of theirs that you bought something else from s different company in anticipation of being able to buy something from them. Back to the shoes analogy, it would be of no concern to the shoe shop that you had already bought the matching handbag.

Probably not what you want to hear but this is the outcome you need to prepare yourself for.

Except in this case, the clerk effectively said "yeah, that's right they are £2" and then chased the OP down the street two days later for the extra £28 after she'd already bought the matching handbag.

Hope the new hotel is nice, OP.

Orchidflower1 · 18/08/2021 14:51

@Oilyoilyoilgob

They emailed me after a booking to say my account was locked due to security reasons. Two calls and various web hats later and they wouldn’t give me a reason why, even when I asked if my account had been hacked. I had to cancel my debit card I’d used the night before to secure my booking.

I then rang the hotel up to check the reservation to be told my room wasn’t available on those dates anyway-they said booking.com had made an error but I luckily rebooked another room direct with them.

Booking never emailed from their security team as promised, fobbed me off and I’m still locked out of my account! All very odd but because they never got back to me, and my worry that my account was compromised I’ll never use them again (even if they unlock my account 😁)

This is what has happened to me. Awaiting my refund. I have however contacted my bank and they’ve said if it’s not funded by x date I can log a fraud claim against them which will mean a police report and action fraud contacting the. I shall never, ever use them again. To the point I’d rather pay more and go with someone else. That’s how much I hate them. Hate is a strong word, I rarely use it. I hate booking.com
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