How should a traveller report that his/her (reserved) accommodation is refused by the proprietor on booking.com?

10/5/2022 5:02:09 AM

To give some background to the other excellent answer…

Normally, hotels are doing a 2-way trade with booking platforms like Booking.com. The hotel gets a valuable booking, and in exchange they must give to the platform:

  • Fees, which are effectively a sales commission or referral fee.
  • Grant a high level of consumer protection to the customer, who is, after all, also the platform’s customer. Therefore also:
  • Payment is handled through the platform
  • Payment is delayed for awhile so the customer has time to get home and report problems.
  • ALL messaging must be done through the platform, so it can be logged and used to resolve disputes.

Naturally hotels enjoy the referrals but dislike holding up their end of the bargain.

So that’s why they’re trying to "pull you off the platform" and get you to deal direct. Even a legit hotel would like to be paid faster. However, this also degrades your options if they do rip you off, which is why this maneuver is favored by scammy hotels.

It’s also conceivable that the hotel’s email was hacked, or that a fake hotel was loaded onto booking.com, and the direct payment would go entirely to literal scammers.

10/4/2022 6:41:48 PM

This is probably some sort of scam, though probably a mild one. First check that the person who contacted you knows the details of your accommodation. If so they probably are the property owner.

The most likely scam is that they will try to persuade you to cancel your booking and promise that they can set you up with alternate accommodation without using Booking.com. This may be just an attempt to avoid paying Booking.com its commission (still a scam) but it may be worse. Even if they say "This is just so I don’t have to pay Booking.com" doesn’t mean they won’t also try to scam you. In fact if they are prepared to scam Booking.com they are probably prepared to scam you too. This "new accommodation" may be much worse than the advertised one. It may not exist. Or when you get there they may charge you all sorts of extra charges, which you are no longer protected against because you didn’t book through Booking.com. The original accommodation may or may not have ever existed and may or may not have been available.

Contact the proprietor through Booking.com. Ask about the message you received. Maybe it is not them. If it is, do further communication through Booking.com. Don’t reply to other forms of communication except to say you will talk to them only through Booking.com. Don’t listen to their excuses as to why they don’t want to do that.

Do not cancel the booking. The proprietor is able to cancel the booking themselves if they need to. That way you won’t be charged and it will be clear who made the cancellation. There is no need for them to ask you to do it.

Report the communication to Booking.com Proprietors are not supposed to contact you except through Booking.com, at least partly to prevent this sort of scam. Reply to the proprietor and tell them to go through the cancellation process with Booking.com. Do not accept any reasons from them as to why they shouldn’t do this. Just keep telling them to go through Booking.com. Send every communication you get to Booking.com.

Arrange yourself alternate accommodation. Do it through a reputable booking site. Do not accept any offers of alternative accommodation from the person who contacted you. Don’t listen when they tell you it will be cheaper if you do it through them.

Given your report Booking.com will likely not charge you for the cancelled accommodation. If they do, complain to them and dispute the charges.

Don’t visit the location. What would be the point?

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

About me

Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

Search Posts

Latest posts

Popular posts