Booking.com Reviews 

DON'T DO IT.

Booked flights on Booking.com. never received an email. No sign of it on my account. BUT money pending on my credit card. Rang them next day, they told me if I wanted to go ahead it would be an extra £100 as it all depends on the price of the flight when the third party agent books it. Asked to cancel. They said they could not cancel from their end I would have to contact my credit card and ask them to void the transaction. Messaged customer services through the app.

5 days later the transaction is still pending on my credit card so I can't lodge a chargeback yet. Still no email. Still nothing on Booking.com. No response to my message.

Had to book the flights direct with the airline which is what I should have done in the first place. Lesson learnt.

DON'T DO IT.

Terrible customer service. Do not book with booking.com because if issues arise with the booking they shift blame to property and hang up on you/end live chats to avoid actually helping you with the booking you make on their system. Could not recommend less!

I have used Booking.com for years and have never felt the need to leave a negative review, but after this experience I don't think I can justify using the platform again.

My issue wasn't with Thrifty—it was with the information presented on the Booking.com booking page and the way the situation was handled afterwards.

Immediately before making payment, the booking page stated that a debit or credit card in the main driver's name was required. Based on that information, I reasonably believed my Visa debit card would be accepted. It wasn't until I arrived at Milan Malpensa Airport, after a long flight and ready to start my holiday, that I was told only a physical credit card in the main driver's name would be accepted. The vehicle was refused, leaving me scrambling to find an alternative at the last minute. The whole situation resulted in significant financial loss and unnecessary stress at the beginning of what should have been an enjoyable holiday.

What disappointed me the most was Booking.com's response while I was standing at the rental counter. I contacted Customer Service through the Booking.com app immediately, explained the situation and specifically asked for the matter to be escalated. That never happened. Instead, I was simply told there was nothing they could do. No one attempted to contact the rental provider, no one explored whether there were any alternative options, and no effort was made to see whether the booking could be amended or the registered driver changed. I was left to sort everything out myself while standing at the rental counter.

The complaints process over the following week was equally frustrating. I was passed between multiple customer service representatives, many of whom asked me to provide the same information, screenshots and supporting documents that I had already submitted. It felt like each new person was starting from scratch instead of reviewing the existing correspondence.

To make matters worse, I was repeatedly instructed to lodge a Customer Relations case through the Booking.com portal, despite explaining that the option simply wasn't available on my booking. Each time I was directed back to the portal, only to reach the same dead end. Eventually I was told to contact the Customer Relations team directly by email instead.

The final outcome was disappointing. Rather than addressing why the booking page stated that a debit or credit card was required, or acknowledging the lack of support provided when I contacted Customer Service during the incident, Booking.com relied solely on the detailed terms and conditions and closed the case.

I understand that terms and conditions are important, but customers also rely on the key information presented immediately before payment. In my view, that information was misleading and directly influenced my decision to proceed with the booking.

Mistakes can happen. What matters is how a company responds when they do. Unfortunately, I experienced poor communication, no meaningful escalation when I needed help most, and a complaints process that felt unnecessarily difficult from beginning to end.

Based on this experience, I won't be using Booking.com again.

I have been a loyal Booking.com customer for many years, but this has been my worst experience.
I booked an accommodation because it was advertised at a specific location, which was also shown in the Booking.com app and on my payment confirmation. After my booking was confirmed, I was instructed to stay at a completely different address in a different neighbourhood.
The location was one of the main reasons I chose this accommodation. Had the actual address been disclosed from the beginning, I would never have made the reservation.
The actual neighbourhood felt significantly less safe than the area I had booked. During my stay I experienced a threatening situation, which made me feel very uncomfortable. This was completely different from what I expected based on the advertised location.
I tried to resolve the issue through the Booking.com app and spent more than two hours on the phone with customer service. I was passed from one department to another, one call was disconnected, and in the end I was simply told that nothing could be done unless the property agreed to a refund.
Despite providing clear evidence that the advertised location differed from the accommodation provided, Booking.com did not take responsibility or offer a meaningful solution.
This experience has seriously damaged my trust in Booking.com. I expected the company to stand behind the accuracy of its listings and support its customers when something goes wrong. Unfortunately, that did not happen.
Unless this matter is resolved appropriately, I will seriously reconsider using Booking.com for my future business and personal travel.

I used Booking.com to rent a car through Dollar car rental, and had bad experiences with both. Booking assured me that I would be reimbursed the delta of cost when Dollar failed to deliver a pre-paid car that had been reserved weeks in advance (along with about 25 other people in line at their John Wayne airport location). After months of follow up with Booking.com and repeated non-action on their part, they finally said it was on me to chase Dollar down to get a refund. Good luck on that. Very poor customer service, failure to deliver on promises made, and what I can only describe as apathetic interest in their follow through on an issue encountered using their service. Won't use Booking.com again, and certainly won't use Dollar car rental again. Recommend using another service with better reviews. Booking.com fully deserves the crappy reviews they've gotten including this one.

Disgusting company. Booking.com took money from my account stating I was a no show. I stayed I paid cash, I called booking.com and informed them when hotel cancelled booking because I paid in cash, they reassured me that cancellation payment would not be taken, yet they did. They have admitted in writing that they should not have taken the money. Yet they wont pay me back!! My advice do not book through them.

Booking.com used to be a great platform years ago. But it has become too capitalistic, with generating revenues the prime objective. No live person to talk to. Extremely poor customer support. Lots of ways to trick you into prepaying for booking, and extremely poor description when charges appear on your credit card statement. I will consider twice or even three times before booking with them again going forward.

DO NOT BOOK RUN.
I found this nice place for my family vacation on booking. com
I called PREMIER COZY CABIN in bushkill, PA
5 days before my vacation and found out the place is sold and now has a new owner and unable to stay at anymore.

Had reservations, all venues cancelled due to smoke in Ontario. How can you be charged for a room you have no access to because of the government. Booking. com is putting it on the hotel, the hotel is pointing back at Booking. Residence and Conference Centre London Ontario

Worst experience as we miss to include our baby during booking and ask them to help but they keep on suggesting to call fly Dubai seems like they don’t want to take any responsibility after selling tickets they just want to give everything on us and we wanted to cancel the flight and they said that we can just claim tax money and we bought 2 way and for both way just giving tax only Where as they charge us full amount and the reason I choose booking due to refund policy where as policy doesn’t seem like helpful.it is just a trap for you to take that flight any way and doesn’t have any solution for your infant baby and we told them all seniro but still they were not helpful at all and we cancel them and we booked from fly dubai direct where we loss our 3000 aed and end of the day flight keeps on delaying

I booked and paid in full for a two-bedroom apartment in Portugal months before my trip. Two days before check-in, the host requested passport copies and a €150 security deposit before releasing the access details. I provided everything immediately but never received the check-in instructions.

After repeated calls and messages with no response, I discovered the company listed on Booking.com no longer managed the property. Booking.com said they had not been informed and offered a refund, but by then a local festival had pushed accommodation prices far beyond what I had originally paid. As my refund was not immediately available, I couldn’t afford alternative accommodation and was forced to sleep and live like a homeless person.

While Booking.com refunded the booking, the experience completely ruined my holiday and caused unnecessary stress and hardship. I expected Booking.com to ensure properties listed on its platform were accurately managed and to provide meaningful assistance when things went wrong. A refund alone did not make up for what I experienced.

Do not trust anything that booking.com staff tell you..they all lie. I will not be using this site again.

My booking was cancelled by the provider and I spoke to multiple individuals who encouraged me to book different accommodation stating that I would be refunded the difference.

But I did not get a refund; I got ‘credits’ to my ‘wallet’.

So basically, the people working there lied to me.

No information that i need to be x time before to check in.
Get to the airport, they say this company (The airline) is more strict, and there is nothing we can do.
I need this information from booking.com or i will follow the norm.

Bad experience - booked an expensive stay , then cancelled , booking was eligible for free cancellation . 16 days passed , however have not received any refund

I’ve used Booking.com many times for flights and hotels with great results. Recently, I had to cancel a business class flight to Shanghai shortly after booking. Despite seeing some mixed reviews online about refunds, my experience was seamless! My cancellation was approved right away, and the refund was credited back to my account in less than 48 hours.

It shows sound management and fantastic customer support. I’m thoroughly impressed and will gladly book with them again!

When I reserved air b&b, booking.com offered free taxi from airport. Tonight I tried to use it as I travel tomorrow, however,option deactivated for some reason I don't understand.

I booked a stay in Shanghai through Booking.com. On arrival, before check-in, the exterior and communal areas of the property were in very poor condition, well below the listing photos. I told the host I wanted to cancel, and Booking.com's own app confirmed the cancellation was free of charge.
Payment for the stay had been requested privately by the host, via WeChat/Alipay, outside of Booking.com's platform something Booking.com confirmed to me was expected practice for this property. WeChat/Alipay is used only in China. The host confirmed by message that he would issue a full refund, and separately asked that I not leave a bad review. Once I returned to the UK and followed up, he stopped responding entirely, and Booking.com has since told me they have also been unable to reach him for weeks.
I raised a claim with Booking.com and provided extensive documentation: bank statements, official Weixin Pay transaction confirmations showing the merchant, dates, amounts and currency paid, WeChat communication between me and the host. Over several weeks, Booking.com repeatedly changed what they said they needed: first querying the currency shown, then the merchant name, and finally demanding a screenshot showing the host's WeChat ID directly above the message thread something WeChat's own app does not support for this type of contact. You only have the name above the WeChat message thread. This was accepted as a reason to decline the refund entirely.
At every stage I provided everything requested, promptly and in full. Booking.com's position ultimately came down to a documentation format an app cannot produce, rather than any genuine dispute about the facts of the case.
I would urge any customer to think carefully about the level of buyer protection actually available when a payment issue arises with a property booked through Booking.com, particularly where off-platform payment is involved.

Absolutely appalling customer service from Booking.com.

We arrived in London to discover that our pre-booked accommodation was unavailable, leaving us stranded with two friends and a disabled adult. We then spent around seven hours trying to contact Booking.com while desperately searching for somewhere else to stay.

We were instructed to book alternative accommodation and were told that Booking.com would reimburse the difference. Relying on that assurance, I paid an additional £728 on my credit card because we had no other option.

Only afterwards was I told that the reimbursement would be issued as Booking.com Wallet credits instead of returning the money I had actually spent. That was never mentioned before I incurred the expense.

Since then, I have spent over four hours on the phone trying to resolve the issue. I repeatedly asked for my complaint to be escalated to a supervisor, but this was refused. On multiple occasions, my calls were simply disconnected instead.

Booking.com has repeatedly referred to vague “industry regulations” to justify refusing a cash reimbursement, yet has been unable to explain what those regulations are or why they prevent them from honouring the agreement made by their own representative.

A company shows its true colours when something goes wrong. Booking.com left us stranded, failed to honour the reimbursement they promised, refused to escalate my complaint, and repeatedly disconnected my calls. I will never use Booking.com again and cannot recommend them based on this experience.

They show on the reservation that you will get a free taxi. I have a screenshot as proof. With the place and the dates. It’s all under my name and they still don’t provide it to me. They tell me I made the reservation from a 3rd party while i made it throughout them 😂 They are just scamming people it’s crazy

My reservation was cancelled after check-in time, through no fault of my own. I had to find and pay for alternative accommodation myself. After more than 10 calls and over 20 hours of my own time, Booking.com finally approved a refund of the price difference.

My proof of payment was rejected twice on formatting grounds. The hotel's invoice was rejected because it did not show a zero balance in Booking.com's preferred layout — the hotel confirmed it is a system-generated document they cannot change, and it clearly states the accommodation was paid in full. My bank statement was then rejected for not displaying a currency symbol, even though the amount matched the invoice exactly.

When the reimbursement was finally approved, it was issued as Wallet credit rather than refunded to my registered credit card — money I paid out of my own pocket, returned in a form restricted to their platform and subject to an expiry date. On a later call I was told a case had been opened asking the finance team to transfer it back to my card, and that I would hear back within five business days. When I escalated and spoke with their management team, that commitment was withdrawn and the money stays in the Booking.com Wallet.

Multiple calls also ended after more than thirty minutes on hold, with the line going silent and nobody responding when I spoke.

Hotels and banks do not format their documents to Booking.com's internal specifications, and rejecting valid proof on technicalities — then returning out-of-pocket money as store credit — is not a reasonable way to treat a customer whose booking was cancelled through their platform. Finally, no goodwill gesture of any kind was offered for the time and stress involved; the request for a goodwill gesture was declined outright by the management team on the call.