I’m glad the regulator is at least taking an interest.
Sadly this is just how large corporations work in 2026. Say what you will about booking dot com, but all of these middle man companies are the same.
Like if you’re an uber driver or door dasher or airbnb host, the company is always gushing with platitudes about how you’re a valued partner, until something goes wrong. At that point there’s no one to talk to and you very quickly discover that they hold all the cards. As in: if you build a business “partnered” with a much larger corporation, you are entirely at their mercy in any kind of dispute.
They will not seek a balanced, fair, or reasonable outcome because they know that you don’t have any choice but to accept what they offer.
I’ve dealt with booking.com. Sent pics of what was clearly a homeless flophouse and not a vacation rental.
Customer service: were denying your refund claim because the manager says what you said and the pics you sent are not true.
Uff I never had a bad experience with them, I got my refund very quickly the only time I had a major issue but I’ve not used them in a while
Lately I check these “discount hotel” websites and then check directly with the hotel to get a price match. They usually do with Priceline, agoda, booking, experian and hotels.com
„The room I booked said sea view and own bathroom. The one I got the key for has a shared bathroom outside and there’s a wall outside the window. Also, it hasn’t been cleaned. There’s nobody here and they don’t answer the phone“ Booking.com human, after arguing with their moronic AI for a while: I am sorry, all I can offer you is a 10% refund.
Straight up charge back. Then sue them for fraud.
Booked a place for relatives to stay nearby. Found out an hour beforehand they had double booked. We had to scramble and find something last minute, ended up splitting the booking between two places to cover our dates, and spent almost double what we budgeted for.
Booking offered a $20 credit on a future reservation. Will never use them again.
Funny. I have a property on booking.com, so I also know the other side. They love to tell the host that they are liable to pay for the alternate accommodation booking gives the guests in case of double bookings. This is actually my second biggest fear as a host, to get a huge hotel bill during peak season if for some reason a double booking slips through. It’s right after people burning the place down.
Never use them, or expedia or the others. Book direct always.
They take a hefty commission.
But I’m level 3 genius!
I use booking all the time. When looking for a hotel et search via booking then make reservations through the hotel website directly.
Sometimes we’ll use it for smaller places like bed n breakfast places because that’s how they operate.
But we never had any problems with them.
I’ve been burned by booking .com as well. They are massive assholes and I won’t ever use them again.
