How are booking.com getting away with this??

[insecure738]

Me and my ex booked a holiday last June. We booked a hotel on booking.com, and we were due to go in September. There was no pre-payment, you pay at the property.

We split up that month and we cancelled - 3 months before the holiday. I got a confirmation email saying that it was within the window, that I won’t be charged.

Come September, I have £500 taken out of my account. It took me weeks to try and get it back, they kept saying they’ll “look into it” and kept asking for evidence even though I sent the screenshots multiple times. They then tried to tell me it was from another booking reference, which was untrue as I only had one booking on my account.

Anyway I finally got my money back from my bank Barclays in November who said they’d investigate it.
This morning, I had it taken out of my account again, as apparently Booking.com rejected the case. Barclays said they can’t do anymore about it.

So I’ve had £500 taken out, I’m now in my overdraft, and I am already struggling with bills and rent.

How do I even go about doing this?! I know I can go through citizens advice but it’ll take weeks and I quite frankly can’t afford to live at the moment :(

I use booking.com loads and have never had a problem cancelling a stay. Have you contacted the place you booked to make sure it wasn't used by your ex

"Pay on arrival" doesn't mean you can cancel any time with no penalty. I suggest you check the terms of the original booking

But, if Booking.com previously confirmed there was nothing to pay, they should honour that

And I have used them heaps of times without difficulty

Intriguing! How do you go about this?

Is it possible there is a ither booking on your card, if not your Booking.com account?

Absolutely dreadful company! I had over 50 bookings with them over the years and in 2019 booked accommodation with them for May 2020 when we were all locked down with covid. The booking was for my brother and family after he had just come through some aggressive cancer treatment and wanted to treat them.
Called them and was asked rather than claim on insurance would I take a voucher for 18 months and if not used in that can have full refund.
Accepted this as travel was so badly hit.
Unfortunately my brothers health detiorated and no longer could travel so at the 18 months requested refund. Sent them a copy of the voucher stating terms and they point blank refused...were total robots.
I remain at the loss of €900 and after 6 months of chasing had to give up as was making me ill!

Did you actually cancel the reservation you had made when you broke up or just presume you wouldn't be charged if you didn't travel?

It usually means you cancel up to 24 hours before.

I’ve used booking.com to book accommodation about 50 times as well as cancelling (within the window) another 50 times. Never had an issue.

@Blossomtoes you can sometimes cancel up to 24 hours before travel, but only if you have booked a "free cancellation" option. That's a separate issue from whether you pay up front / on arrival

It doesn't sound like it if you got a confirmation email that you'd cancelled, but 'pay at the property' doesn't always mean no cancellation charges so I'd double check the original booking terms.

I booked a hotel through booking.com just the other day for October; it's pay at the property but we're committed from mid-August, if we cancel after that point they can still charge us the full amount.

I think you’ll find it’s exactly the same issue but it’s too boring to be worth arguing about.

@Blossomtoes It's not the same issue though. 'Pay at the property' is not the same as 'Free cancellation up to 24 hours before'.

Per my previous post, I booked a pay at the property for next October, but if we cancel after mid-August they have the right to charge us 100%.

As the OP has said she had an emailing confirming no cancellation charge then it doesn't sound like what's happened here, but worth checking (and worth other people knowing, so as not to get caught out).

I use Booking.com a lot though as there is such a choice of accommodation on the site but I have a real love/hate relationship with them.
The best thing to do is look on the site for hotel ideas then when you find one you like book with the hotel direct. It is usually much cheaper that way.

@isthisit83.
i just have a pre paid MasterCard - the type that you put money on
I don’t keep any money on it and use it for stuff like booking hotels where they just require a valid credit card

they aren’t taking any money off the card at that point so it’s doesn’t matter that there is no money on the card

Is it? I always look, but it's never cheaper. Often it's more on the hotel's own website.

I've used it loads - cancelled, rearranged several times and never had a problem.

Used it for European holidays.

Not sure why you would be charged if you were within the free cancellation period

Not really.

I have to pay at the hotel we have booked. My card is on file. I can cancel it a few days before. If I don't cancel it and don't turn up, I get charged.

Speak with hotel? Surely the money would have been paid to them

We booked a hotel in north London before an exam. Pre paid turned up and the hotel said it had never had our reservation. Would never use booking.com again

I use booking.com a lot and regularly cancel, change booking etc.

I wonder was it the actual hotel who deducted the money from your account.

We split up that month and we cancelled - 3 months before the holiday. I got a confirmation email saying that it was within the window, that I won’t be charged.
Come September, I have £500 taken out of my account. It took me weeks to try and get it back, they kept saying they’ll “look into it” and kept asking for evidence even though I sent the screenshots multiple times. They then tried to tell me it was from another booking reference, which was untrue as I only had one booking on my account

Well - either it was within the free cancellation period or it wasn't.

Do you have the email and the original booking details? Everytime I cancel I get an email telling me the details - when I book, it explains the cancellation costs and time.

If you're correct, they are at fault
If not, then you are incorrect

Not about the OP but about rates on booking.com vs hotel own rates.

Often hotels have to agree that they won’t undercut booking.com rates as part of getting listed there. So their website rates have to be the same or higher. But if you email or call them they will usually be happy to beat or at least match the booking.com rate. They’d prefer you book directly with them.

Having worked in the industry and having a bit of an idea how their system works, that sounds more like the hotel's error than booking.com's error. Their systems are usually fully integrated with the hotel's system. They can't just 'not send it through'.

And me. Used them loads of times and been. Also reserved and cancelled quite a few times with no problem either.