Booking.com

Booking.com has a very aggressive booking procedure. Once they have your credit card, they will keep hounding you. And, if you leave the site without logging off, they automatically book & charge your card for a booking that you had been looking at. Once, I got double booked for the same hotel. Had to call hotel to cancel because booking.com has no live service agents to talk to.

I have used booking.com for many years without a problem. But after a BAD experience with Jacó Lodge in Costa Rica, I learned that when a hotel capriciously cancels a reservation, the offended customer cannot leave a review on Booking.com, a very convenient escape method for a bad hotel. I guess I will now use Booking.com only for searching and will use hotels.com or Expedia or TripAdvisor or actual hotel websites for making reservations

I have used Booking.com for years booking both international and domestic hotels. But recently it seems that unless you book it immediately when you see a good price, within minutes that price can change substantially. I went to another competitors site and got the same original price that I had seen on Booking.com that had increased $25 while I checked with my traveling partner to see if it met their needs.
I tried to call booking.com to give them a chance to meet their original price, seeing how I had a picture of the offer, and there is absolutely no way of getting to talk to a human being unless you already have a booking number to reference. They will no longer be my number one pick for a hotel reservations.

After two confirmation emails from Booking.com, one of which was the day prior to our check-in, an 11 hour drive, and pre-payment of our room, we were informed the hotel did not have a reservation, they were full, and could do nothing. Trying to get Booking.com customer service on the phone was difficult, and we left multiple messages for customer service. The chat feature said I'd hear something within 24 hours. Meanwhile, I was out $1500 and we needed to pay for another room that night. A week later, we finally received notice that our reservation had been cancelled by the property, and we would be receiving a refund. They were apologetic on behalf of the property and offered to pay any overages, which was good. But they were not easy to reach in the moments I needed them.

If you are thinking of using Booking.com then think carefully. Hotel prices are higher than the open market. Customer Service is appalling, 2 weeks in and I am still chasing for a refund after changing hotels in Istanbul due to bad treatment, second one not booked through Booking.com. Cancellation is more challenging than a hike on a Saturday. The "genius level" is a scam, no matter how many times you book, you get nothing other than "you are one step away from loyalty". Prefer direct hotel booking or TripAdvisor at least you know what you're getting.

I had a pleasant experience with book. I will continue to use it, but be AWARE they have terrible customer service that purposely disconnects from you. If you use the site make sure you review your bookings before confirming, because you're on you're own.

I've used this site because it offers airline points and good prices. However, I've found twice that properties penalize you for going through 3rd Party sites. (ie. The Hard Rock Cancun refused to put our rooms together, give us a true Ocean View (looking at a pipe), or accommodate any requests because I had not booked directly with them). The hard part is when you complain. You get thrust into a Dantesque Inferno where every request is answered with "contact the property." I'm starting to feel Booking.com is like the Wizard of Oz. There's one little man in the Netherlands, automating responses from his parents' basement. If they have live people to ever help anyone, I've never encountered them -- and I've tried. So my instinct now is to go straight to a site unless there's some other incentive. Also I realized the same properties often show up cheaper on VRBO.

I always used booking.com after I burnt from airbnb. The booking issue when occoured were soled by the customer service (cancellation). Not all provided information accurate (payment type). We sometimes had issue with check in, but always get in at the end. Till now - we booked hotel in India (OYO hotels chain) - they are not accepting tourist as they are missing government approval for that. We booked one month upfront, but no one informed us untill we came to the reception that our stay was cancelled by the hotel. Now it started to be interenting with the customer service - always somebody else answering with false promises, no help, different blame...the end - even though I informed booking.com it is still available to book the hotel, no info there. They are claiming for page information is responsible only accommodation what opening gate to scams.

Well, yes, it is a nice site that gives you a lot of options! You can book anything you want, from your phone app within a minute if you have money))))) But the thing is that if you go to the site of the hotels and airlines or rent a car companies directly-you might be surprised with the price, as it will be much lower! So always double-check!

Update - Booking.com responded that they are contacting the hotel to try and process a refund - As I pushed the button to book, my company informed me that I would not be able to take my vacation. I canceled within an hour of the booking, would have done it sooner but it was impossible to get back on the site. And they are charging me the full amount for my booking. I realize this is their policy but it was such a short period of time. You would think they would be more flexible with that. I would rather pay more and have better customer service for my future hotel bookings.

I have booked many times with booking.com. Their website is very helpful and clear to use. However, if a problem arises it is very difficult to talk to someone, or almost impossible. It happened to me only once, and I was very upset with the service

Twice I tried to get a price match for 2 different trips over a years time. This time I sent the link as requested for the same stay and room. They said they were not able to see the link I sent. Or the site. I am very disappointed that they dont even offer a complimentary discount after spending 55 minutes on the phone with them.

Abandoned by Booking.com in Kefalonia. We had a specific room booked in Sami, with seaviews, for which we paid a premium rate, and we got an inferior room out the back - no seaview
When I contacted Booking.com, they said the best thing to do, would be to leave a bad review. When I asked Booking.com to at least mediate a partial compensation for the difference of cot between the two rooms. THEY DID NOTHING
When I left a bad review and disparaged Booking.com for their indifference towards my circumstance, their mediators took down my review.
Booking.com - NEVER AGAIN

This hotel does not live up to the review rating or photos online. Probably the hotel did look like the photos at one time. It was basically clean, but the property is in need of updates, and there was no attention to detail. The first room we were shown smelled of cigarettes. Outside of all the rooms (not just smoking rooms) on posts were cigarette receptacles. The room we ended up staying in was okay, but the sheets were worn, and the furniture was stained and scuffed. The carpet did appear okay and everything worked. The bathroom appeared clean at first, but there was mold around the soap holder and under the rim of the commode. The walls were somewhat thin, and we occasionally heard other people. The outside was not as clean as the photos either; the sidewalks and parking lot were dirty. The pool was closed due to Covid I guess, although other places have opened theirs. There were picnic tables in the courtyard, but they did not appear as clean or new as the pictures. Breakfast was okay. We knew it was to be cold foods, basically grab and go. The location was convenient, near the highway but not in the best of neighborhoods. Some of the occupants appeared "shady," perhaps long-term residents. One person even had had a shelf for plants, etc. outside her door. For the price, I should not have expected better, but the rating should not have been a 7 out of 10. I doubt that the hotel meets Wyndham standards. There was no one at first at the front desk when we arrived, and no one was there the next morning when we left. It was all right for one night's sleep, but I don't think I would book here again.

The staff interactions were pleasant. We did not stay here because the rooms were overbooked. We used booking.com to reserve one room as we were driving, as coming into town. We arrived (WE WERE THERE IN PERSON) and the staff though apologetic and nice reported they did not have a room for us.

She reported she had to cancel the reservation. Key word I heard was HAD. TURNS OUT THEY DID NOT INFORM BOOKING.COM. We did not call booking.com about this, but right away through booking.com reserved at a different hotel in Florence. Florence Inn did not charge us for the room BUT BOOKING.COM did. Concerns and WHAT TO DO IS BELOW:

Weary traveler if a hotel is reserved through a middleman/agent like booking.com and especially if the hotel overbooked and THEY cancel your reservation do this:
1. Ask why room not available
2. Get name of person at hotel you are communicating with
3. CALL BOOKING AGENT (middleman) RIGHT THEN AND THERE AND PLACE STAFF ON PHONE. INFORM (in this case booking.com) booking agent you are there and room not available so this reservation needs cancelled. Make sure they know you are there, not a no show, and hotel had to cancel not you.
4. Get the booking.com agent name.
5. Then go immediately to the site (in my case a downloaded app for booking.com) AND send a message to customer service, with all details of what transpired. This is so names and interactions and times are in Writing.
6. The next morning check the site (in this case booking.com) make sure this reservation shows it WAS CANCELLED. If not reflected cancelled ie reservation still open THEN CALL, call customer service right away, CONTACT THEM BEFORE THE CHECK OUT TIME WOULD HAVE BEEN.

Then hopefully you will not be charged by booking.com.

Dear, Booking, you should really do something about your page and system and everything. Because when you came out, it was really something else, now, look at your prices? When you check AirBnb you can find much cheaper rooms that look even better than the hotel. So please, I am your customer for such a long time, but if you now going to do anything, then sorry I will quit.

Booking.com took my money BEFORE the got damn booking was confirmed and now they claim they will be holding my money for 7-12 days. What a fuggin joke. Here I am hyped af to travel and now they hold my money... go fug yourselves honestly. I even read that others have the same issues and you are not willing to help. Shame on you honestly what a peice of... company. I am never using you again if you don't send back my money. And that's a shame cause I am going on a backpacker trip. Its the whole damn reason I booked in the first place. You're horrible

Not a fan of this website. I hate their reservation templates, they are really confusing and messy, it is hard to find information needed quickly, because information is not well organized. The website itself is quite easy to use, however it does not offer you the cheapest prices, they put at least 10% on top of the existing price.

They could improve their site but you can still find nice deals. Still I feel like airbnb has more to offer.

Many problems later, a new booking.com local business partner local rep was appointed - we met and he has been something of a revelation - solving several unwarranted over-bookings, helping with cancellations and policies etc. So, to redress the balance from last year, our local rep has transformed the dinosaur face of booking.com into something a bit cuddlier we can work with - not ideal, costs a fortune in commissions but at least we can be listened to and amend errors. Thank you rep (wish we could name him!)

The site shows lots hotels but fail tell you local taxes and other charges the hotel tell you when you get there.
They also fail tell you on the time of booking that if you cancel immediately after booking they will charge you almost haft the booking cost.
Sadly this has nothing do with the hotels. Use the site then call the hotel direct yourself. Best service.

I mistakenly put in the wrong date and realized it five minutes after booking. Try to get them on the phone- good luck. Very poor service. This whole non-refundable pricing is a scam.
After a week I was given a phone number by the hotel to contact Booking.com. I called- got a live person who conducted a cancellation with the hotel for my extra night stay. Easy. Okay so Booking.com gets another shot at redemption. Based on this I raised my rating to Three stars- but still Buyer beware.

I've been using booking.com for long time, I never found any problems. They are ok but not the cheapest. I switched to Agoda and I recommend it to others.