Kathleen C.

I somehow ended up booking a room with this detestable company even though I was on the website for the actual hotel, it was like a bait and switch practice. Anyway, booked a room then saw another room in the exact same price/amenities category (it was a $1.13 difference in price to be exact) that had a king size bed. The room I had booked was supposed to have a king size bed but after I booked it the drop down option was double or XL-double which wasn't in the description. So this other room is available for $1.13 more according to the hotels website. I call to make sure it's available and it is but they said I should go through booking.com so I don't get double billed. So I call booking. Lies and tell them the situation, all sounds nice and simple. The first person I spoke to called the hotel to verify that the room was in fact available because he wasn't seeing it (I had it it reserved which it would hold for like 15 minutes) the hotel confirmed that it was available and I could switch then out no problem... for $30. I asked what the charge was for and I was told it was an "upgrade" charge from the hotel. I explained that I wasn't upgrading, I was literally getting the same amenities but being guaranteed the size bed I wanted hence the whopping $1.13 difference. So I called the hotel to injuire about the charge and they said they don't charge guests to change rooms, even if I did switch to a completely different room (which I wasn't) and that the fee was being added on by booking.com. So I called them back and got a lady this time and explained to her that I was getting 2 different stories and need some clarification. She said she had to call the hotel, again, and inquire about the room being available, again, so I waited on hold. She came back and told me that same thing that the first gentleman told me that the hotel was tacking on the fee to switch rooms. I explained to her that I had just spoken with the hotel and they said they didn't charge for switching rooms. Long story short I made 2 more calls to the hotel and 2 more calls back to booking.com and asked to speak to a manager because I was getting different stories from the two companies and had already spoken to the customer service manager at the hotel in question who again confirmed they did not charge for room changes. When I asked for a manager I was told by the person who answered the phone she would "manage my account" which didn't help me one bit because all she wanted to do was call the hotel again and tell me they were charging me a fee. When i persisted on speaking with a manager I was hung up on! Mind you I was still being a nice Christian woman at this time but my paitence was getting thin as it was very clear to me that booking.com was blatently lying to me each time I called. So I asked about cancelling my reservation with them and working with the hotel directly and they said sure I could do that. So I asked another stupid question and inquired about the cancellation fee (because I made the reservation on run same day i was checking in) and I was told (and I quote) "we don't charge you cancellation fees, the hotel does". So gullible me says ok I'll call the hotel... again. Guess what? They weren't going to charge me for cancelling one reservation just to make another. So I called booking back again and was again lied to and told that booking doesn't implement ANY FEES and if I was charged a cancellation fee it was coming from the hotel. That was the last lie I could take and I snapped. I asked the moron on the other end of the phone what purpose they served if everything was done by the hotel and she said they offered a service. A service that does what? Overcharges customers, lies to them repeatedly and then hangs up them. They are a $#*!ty company that I am working on filing a class action lawsuit against since any fee they try to charge me is clearly falseified since they don't charge customers anything, only the hotels do. Never do business with these crooks, I haven't a clue how they are still in business.