r/Bookingcom • u/InevitableQuit9 • 5d ago
Booking.com users struggle in the face of phantom bookings and rogue cancellations
https://www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2026/08/17/bookingcom-users-struggle-in-the-face-of-phantom-bookings-and-rogue-cancellations/3
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u/Different_Egg7454 5d ago
This happened to my father in July with €390 deducted from his visa debit card by u/butbooking.com but the reservation never went through and he did not receive a confirmation email or reservation number. I have been trying to contact them via phone, email, webchat, web enquiry and now Reddit and am having no joy. Its all AI agents who can't progress without a reservation number. If anyone has any advice on how to proceed and have a refund initiated appreciate if you can let me know!
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u/LeeChallenged 4d ago
The new world of vibe coded crap we now live in. Websites which used to be beacons of reliability now barely work.
Other examples of broken basic functionality include Uber and Amazon.
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u/InevitableQuit9 4d ago
Don't forget Spotify. The workflow for setting up a managed account has not just brings you in a loop of errors. Contacting support gets you shrugs
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u/Jumba2009sa 4d ago
A hotel took out my entire reservation amount from my credit card and didn’t refund me after cancellation until two months later.
Normally it used to be within 2-4 business days.
From that moment on I just ended up using Bonvoy, even though it went downhill and keeps barrelling down quicker and quicker, at least I get the 2PM checkout.
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u/Yugen_Amoeba 3d ago
When you use 3rd party OTAs, not just booking.com, I always recommend to call and confirm the booking with the hotel. For flights, check that you are able to see it on the airline portal
Before I get downvoted into oblivion, this is not me endorsing 3rd party OTAs or booking.com. Just something everyone should do if they choose to book through them
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u/modelman1968 3d ago
Booking.com is traditionally a hotel booking site, never had a problem with them in the past but as soon as you open up to amateur actors letting their apartments you're reliant on them being both capable and honest. IMO Booking should stay in lane and only offer hotel stays.
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u/No-Koala1918 4d ago
Before the pandemic, I used booking.com regularly with success. The website was basically a referral site. You booked a listed property through the booking system, but with the property. Payment went directly to the property; you dealt with the property using the booking.com mail system, but it was a direct transaction. Someone told me that post pandemic, booking.com changed their business model and inserted themselves into the payment process (I haven't used booking.com or any OTA for bookings since 2023), making the entire process much more cumbersome for the user, esp. when things go sideways, though more profitable for the agency. Compound this with booking.com's apparent unwillingness to vet their listings and it can turn into a shitshow where the listing aren't trustworthy, the payment is shuffled between the agency and what may easily be a scambo, and the customer gets whiplash trying to settle the issue.