In October, I booked an apartment near New York through Booking.com for travel in February, paying £441. Two days later the reservation was cancelled, with no further explanation.
Customer services told me it was a “technical issue”, and that we are not the only ones affected. I was advised to find an alternative and, rather shockingly, that it would not be refunding me the money we had paid, and that I would have to take it up with the bank and dispute the transaction.
I again queried this in December and was again told that the website was not legally obliged to offer an alternative, or a refund. I couldn’t believe it.
JS, Dublin
To facilitate a booking which is then cancelled, and to refuse to enact the refund, is extraordinary. We asked the Amsterdam-based Booking.com to investigate and it has put your experience down to a “one-off” error.
It has refunded you the original payment and says it is supporting you in finding an alternative place to stay. We know that Booking.com makes thousands of trouble-free reservations each day, but complaints about the service have shot up recently. The promise of a free cancellation option which later turns out not to exist, is the main one.
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