Check out our latest communities fighting
AI scams on Reddit and Facebook

business logo of Booking.com

Booking.com

1.2

On SmartCustomer, businesses may not offer incentives or pay to remove reviews. Learn more about our Review Guidelines.

How would you rate Booking.com?
grey stargrey stargrey stargrey stargrey star

Booking.com Reviews Summary

The overall reputation of the company reflects significant dissatisfaction among customers, primarily due to inadequate customer service and a lack of accountability. Many reviews highlight issues such as harsh refund policies, unresponsive support, and problems with fraudulent listings, leading to frustrations over lost funds and unresolved complaints. While some customers appreciate the variety of accommodations offered, the overwhelming sentiment indicates a lack of trust in the company's commitment to customer satisfaction. To improve its reputation, the company must enhance its customer service responsiveness and take greater responsibility for the listings it promotes.

This summary is generated by AI, based on text from customer reviews

service
1,844
value
1,682
shipping
700
returns
1,068
quality
1,450
This company does not typically respond to reviews

We monitor reviews for authenticity

GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Catherine M.
Unfollow Catherine M.
Share Review
Report Review

Villa Edem
September 11, 2023

Limenas Thassos Island. A very quiet Villa set in an olive grove, the grounds are well kept and the pool is very clean. Rooms ample space for a couple or single person and includes garden or pool facing balcony, rooftop terrace with sunbeds ( basic) Plenty of wardrobe space and hangers, kitchenette, kettle, kitchenware and two plate stove, fridge, shower unit, towels and hairdryer and a lovely balcony. Security box, helpful and friendly management, close to amenities, bus station, ferry and beaches within walking distance of Vournelis, Papias and Tarsanas. Will stay here again.

Date of experience: September 10, 2023
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Rae V.
Unfollow Rae V.
Share Review
Report Review

Do not trust this site
September 10, 2023

I was supposed to be going away this weekend. I booked a static caravan via Booking.com two months ago. The day before I was due to travel I realised I had not received any check in instructions. I tried to message the property but the message would not go through so I contacted Booking.com's customer service to be informed that they had terminated their contract with the caravan's owner 4 weeks previously. I had not been notified. I asked if they could transfer me to another caravan - there was one available - and was told they did not have the facility to do this. The only way I could book that alternative caravan would be to make a new booking and pay the full amount upfront. This new caravan was 300 pound more than my current booking. In addition booking.com had taken payment for my current booking within the last week - AFTER they knew that the contract had been terminated. They told me a refund can take up to 12 days. I did not have the money to make a new booking as they already had taken payment. They were not interested and did not want to help just repeatedly said sorry despite the fact that 'sorry' wasn't going to fix my issue. I asked to be put through to a senior service representative who did not want to help me at all just kept telling me they had 'offered me alternative accommodation' what he failed to mention was that I would have to pay for this upfront and again I did not have the money AND the 'alternative' they offered me was in NO WAY comparable to what I had booked. I had reserved a 3 bedroom static caravan, pet friendly with Wi-Fi. They offered me one room in a B&B with a shared bathroom and no pets.
I have used booking.com for may years and thought my loyalty would be recognised. I have future bookings with them that I am now looking to book direct with the hotels instead. One booking is for New York and I am now nervous that I could arrive in a foreign country to find that my accommodation no longer exists. Do not trust them for any important trips unless you can afford higher priced last minute alternatives out of your own pocket. As a result of this I am sat at home writing this rather than away on the holiday I had been looking forward to.

Date of experience: September 10, 2023
Nigeria
2 reviews
1 helpful vote
Follow Patricia O.
Unfollow Patricia O.
Share Review
Report Review

I asked my younger brother to go to Lagos and Review a Hotel called Rollace at 46/48 Awoniyi Elemo Street, Airport Rd, Ajao Estate, Lagos, and the owner of the property told my brother that he was going to kill him if he didn't leave the property, my brother informed me that these properties don't inform these people that booking.com pays them for every reservation made from their website, this situation traumatized my younger brother and he hasn't left the house in almost 2 months, these businesses in Nigeria are the worst and I would ask that every cancel Rollace Hotel from their visiting list because it is an awful place to visit.

Date of experience: September 10, 2023
Louisiana
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Delores J.
Unfollow Delores J.
Share Review
Report Review

Refund
September 9, 2023

Cancel days before my trip told them had cars problems canceled but months has pass no refund and cannot get nobody on phone are email me back

Date of experience: September 9, 2023
Australia
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Sao T.
Unfollow Sao T.
Share Review
Report Review

I feel like this is the scam, they show the price around 400AUD and after I booked they charged me double, please check the photos that I attached below. You can see that date and the price and you can contact Hotel to see if this is true or not.
I booked my accomodation since January for this coming December. One Hotel really annoy me, the price that they show on booking.com is not match with the price that Hotel send to my email after booking with booking.com and they just said this is the price and if i am not satisfied i can just cancel it.
The HOtel name is Mount Fuji Panorama Glamping
When i booked it with booking.com they said just around 400AUD for 2 nights, but the hotel send me the received for 775AUD. I send email to *******@booking.com and it just said this email no more available. I have no choice so i have to cancel it. But now I feel like I need the aplologize from both hotel and booking.com but I couldn't find a way.
I had tried to contact booking.com in different ways but at the end they just reply " this message is from untrusted sender"

Date of experience: September 9, 2023
Connecticut
2 reviews
0 helpful votes
Follow Toni S.
Unfollow Toni S.
Share Review
Report Review

They do not give refunds!
September 9, 2023

I paid for three hotel rooms for me and my kids and my grandchildren. One of my grandkids woke up with a fever so they quickly packed up their room and checked out and I asked for a refund and was told I had to do that through Booking.com because that's who I booked through to get through. The Booking.com is impossible. You cannot speak to anyone they were only text or email with him, and they would not refund me even though that Hotel was able to book that hotel room for another night i'm the only one out money

Date of experience: September 9, 2023
Italy
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Scarlett L.
Unfollow Scarlett L.
Share Review
Report Review

We booked a hotel through Booking.com. And the room turned out to be the opposite of what it described. Instead of a "spacious" room, we were put into a cramp one. We were lucky not getting any bruises while shuffling in narrow space. Can't believe how Booking.com can allow such false description on their site to mislead customers.
When we called Booking.com. To raise the issue of confusing payment policies, one of the representatives was rude and impatient and cut us off. When we called back, she didn't even answer the call. Can't help feeling that Booking.com abuses its popularity and does not do enough to protect its customers. Its only concern is not to upset the hoteliers. Upgrading membership is just a hook to get you into booking more hotels like the one we stayed. Our trust on Booking.com is now very low and we'll avoid it as much as we can when booking hotels.

Date of experience: September 9, 2023
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Rachel M.
Unfollow Rachel M.
Share Review
Report Review

Booked our room last week. 2 hours before we leave get a call the hotel does not have our room. So after getting the runaround for 2 hours booking.com said we can set you up at another location. Hmmm this hotel was about 1 star and we had booked a 2 room suite but they were trying to put us in a 1 room for 6 people. So I repeat do not use booking.com

Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Canada
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Dave G.
Unfollow Dave G.
Share Review
Report Review

This Company is a scam. Scam Alert. Please don't use this company. Absolutely the worst experience, Horrible customer service. PLEASE DONT TRUST THEM!

Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Connecticut
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Ms. A.
Unfollow Ms. A.
Share Review
Report Review

I booked a non-refundable room in error. I realized my error and cancelled the room. Because it was a non-refundable room I did not get a refund. FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES.
I could understand just about any other circumstances of cancelling, but FOUR AND A HALF MINUTES.
I wish I could chose ZERO Stars. $200 is more than half my weekly pay, it is amazing how they never make a mistake, or is it they hope someone else does to pay for theirs.

Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Pennsylvania
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow David L.
Unfollow David L.
Share Review
Report Review

Total Scam
September 8, 2023

Made a hotel reservation through Booking, cancelled it through Booking, 3 days later reservation is still in place and I would have been charged a cancellation fee had I not caught the error. DO NOT USE BOOKING.COM

Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Iowa
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow rich v.
Unfollow rich v.
Share Review
Report Review

ZERO customer service
September 8, 2023

Do NOT use booking.com. I booked a room through this company to attend an event in town, the event was cancelled, I contacted the hotel, and they said I could cancel no problem and I would not be charged. However, booking.com is still trying to charge but but at the same time they're claiming it isn't THEM charging me, it's the hotel even though the hotel said don't worry, no charge. I have no idea if I'm going to be charged, and there's no way on the booking.com site to contact them. Everything that seems like reaching out to customer service is a dead end or an error message that says "your help center time has expired." the only real messages go to the hotel, which I have already spoken with several times and I feel like I'm now annoying them.

Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Greece
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Kevin F.
Unfollow Kevin F.
Share Review
Report Review

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

Date of experience: September 8, 2023
Ohio
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Patricia R.
Unfollow Patricia R.
Share Review
Report Review

Cancelled reservations
September 8, 2023

We booked hotels through this outfit for stays in New Zealand and Iceland on two separate trips in the past year. On both occasions, 48 hours before check in, Booking.com notified us that our reservation was due to be cancelled because our credit card was invalid. We contacted the credit card company to find out why the claim was rejected, and they told us that no one from the hotel or Booking.com had ever contacted them about entering a charge. We had notified the credit card company prior to our trips that we would be out of the country and making charges within a certain time frame. The credit card company told us that this was noted on our account and there should not be any problems. Booking cancelled our reservations both times. Both times we attempted to contact Booking to straighten this out, but got no response. Needless to say, we were able to use the same card they rejected for purchases continuously during our trip, and never had one other issue. We will NEVER make reservations through this company again, and will relate our experiences to all of our traveling friends (they are numerous) and recommend that they also boycott this company. I wish that there were a way to give them a zero instead of a one rating, because they did nothing to help us with our trip.

Date of experience: September 7, 2023
Texas
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Kit E.
Unfollow Kit E.
Share Review
Report Review

Anytime you go through a 3rd party like Booking.com and Expedia - the actual hotel cannot make any changes. And then, if you need an extra date or a cancel an extra date, the hotel cannot do that on their end. You have to go through their site - and their site will charge the hotel still - even if you made the reservation 5 minutes ago. They will still charge the hotel. That means that in my case - I double checked the date and times and still made a mistake. The booking said "no refunds" so they literally charged me full price for a mistake I made 5 minutes ago. The hotel said they would happily have made the change but the 3rd party sites are strict regarding their edits. So my advice is to stay away from Booking, Expedia, Travelocity, and all 3rd party travel sites. ALL OF THEM.

Date of experience: September 7, 2023
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Olga P.
Unfollow Olga P.
Share Review
Report Review

I booked a hotel with 'free cancellation' but my card was immediately charged the full price of my stay while there was no inf at the booking that the booking would require full price deposit. When I reached out to the hotel they said that they would refund if I canceled. I immediately canceled the reservation as I did not like the fact that they had hidden this inf at the point of booking. While I still had 3 weeks before the 'free cancellation' deadline my card was fully charged and it took me 2 months and a lot of correspondence both with the hotel and the booking.com to receive the refund.

Date of experience: September 7, 2023
GB
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Rosalind C.
Unfollow Rosalind C.
Share Review
Report Review

This is a continuation of my previous review about booking the Hotel Semiramis Poolside Hotel in Crete. We paid for this booking in advance. The hotel cancelled on us due to overbooking, we were offered two alternative hotels at no extra cost. We decided not to accept this offer because the alternatives looked very grotty and didn't include the halfboard that we originally booked. They told us that we could have a full refund for the cancelation of the hotel so we accepted this option and booked with Airbnb. They also agreed to a refund for the difference in price. We have only just received the refund for the difference in price but there are still no signs of a refund for the hotel. They keep asking me for the same information which they require for the refund, which I have provided them many times and still no refund. They expect our bank to refund us the hotel booking.
I think that they have a whole gang of people working at Booking.com and some selected hotels and banks, where they keep people's refunds and probably steal client's bookings, making it look like an overbooking problem. BE VERY CAREFUL WITH THIS COMPANY AND WITH THIS HOTEL

Date of experience: September 7, 2023
California
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Lucy S.
Unfollow Lucy S.
Share Review
Report Review

1. First impression disappointed. 2. Location too far from hotel area 3. Pool is tiny. 4.Next to trashy bar

Date of experience: September 6, 2023
Croatia
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Maja A.
Unfollow Maja A.
Share Review
Report Review

Since 20 years my family renting appartments in Croatia. We stil work with same agencies we worked from the beginning. Few years ago we decided to work with booking.com too. It was the worst experience ever in our renting history.

Date of experience: September 6, 2023
Utah
1 review
0 helpful votes
Follow Christine J.
Unfollow Christine J.
Share Review
Report Review

Horrible
September 7, 2023

I never leave reviews! If i could put 0 stars, i would! This is a Horrible company. Dont waste your time or money. I mistakenly booked a hotel room for the wrong date. My family was on vacation and needed a room for the drive home the next day. I meant to book it for 7/24/23, but once we arrived at the hotel, I realized I had made the reservation for 8/24/23. Less than 24 hours after booking, the hotel canceled our reservation and we called booking.com. They told us they would refund the money if they got confirmation from the hotel. I have called booking.com 10 times now and we still do not have our money back o er a month later! $500 They are holding on to! I finally disputed the charge with my credit card company... we'll see how it goes, but I don't think I'll see that money again. I will NEVER use this company again!

Date of experience: September 6, 2023

From the business

Booking.com provides online bookings of hotels, resorts, hostels, and other travel accommodations around the world. The site attempts to separate itself from rival reservation sites by offering deals and its own hotel reviews. Booking.com is a subsidiary of Priceline.com, a publicly traded company (Nasdaq: PCLN).


booking.com
Founded in 1996
Amsterdam, CA, Netherlands
+1177
See all photos