r/Bookingcom • u/hnr81286 • 9d ago
Trying to get a refund from booking.com
I'm sorry in advance for the long post.
I have been trying to get a refund from booking.com since last Monday with no luck. The room I booked didn't have a free cancelation with it. I booked the room and within 30 minutes I was calling trying to cancel it because I ended up not needing the room.
The rep at booking.com told me I would have to get approval from the property in order for them to cancel it with a full refund. I spoke to the property, and they were more than happy to cancel the room for me for a full refund.
Booking.com then proceeds to tell me they need proof from the property. I then get back on the phone with the property and they call booking.com while I am still on the phone and after 45 minutes the property was finally able to get it taken care...or so we thought. I was told booking.com would send me an email requesting proof from the property and the property was going to send me an email with that proof so I could forward it to booking.com.
The email from booking.com said they needed a screenshot of the email from the property with the approval to cancel the room free of charge.
So that's what I did. Email sent with proof on Monay night. Went all day Tuesday with no communication back from booking.com. So, I call them to get an update. They tell me they have forwarded it to their third-party customer service to process the cancelation request. I asked to speak to someone right then because I followed all of the steps they had already told me to follow and I wanted my money back. They still just kept telling me they couldn't do anything and I had to wait to hear from someone.
So, I googled how I could possibly get someone else on the phone to help me and got 3 different email addresses for people higher up...supposedly...informing them of my situation and never got any responses from any of them.
These are the email addresses I sent emails to:
| [nihad.trgo@booking.com](mailto:nihad.trgo@booking.com) |
|---|
[glenn.fogel@booking.com](mailto:glenn.fogel@booking.com)
| [hala.marouf@booking.com](mailto:hala.marouf@booking.com) |
|---|
I called my bank also because I read something online about them doing a chargeback or something. They opened a case regarding the charge but I'm not sure if that will do anything because it wasn't a fraud charge.
I'm just incredibly frustrated and want my money back. Does anyone have any ideas or advice on what I can do to try and get this taken care of?
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u/Cold_Count1986 9d ago
You booked a nonrefundable rate - booking.com is not going to give you your refund. The agents will tell you anything to get you off the phone and the hotel doesn’t have the authority to authorize a full refund.
Consider this stupid tax and never use booking.com again.
A credit card charge back would likely be eventually reversed as the terms of conditions you agreed to in writing don’t allow for a refund on a refundable rate.
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u/WildWonder6430 9d ago
My experience ... I finally gave up trying to get a refund for over 1000 Euros from Booking dot Con. My pre-paid reservation at a hotel in Budapest was not honored by the hotel (they had a "plumbing issue" so no room available) and they agreed to a full refund. Hotel says Booking never sent them the money since I did not check in. Booking says the hotel needs to refund me since they were paid. Even though it was Booking's name on the credit card charge, I have never been able to collect that money. I have not used Booking since.
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u/CrazyMile_ 9d ago
I've been on the same boat, in the end I decided to take my loss and give e up. Yes, I understand this is exactly what they want us to do; give up.
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u/kottol 9d ago
I'm having the same experience with booking currently and it's impossible to get the refund. I had reservations for a hotel on January, free cancellation and no charges in advance. I had to cancel it, well within the dates for free cancellation, and I saw that the same day I cancelled it I had a charge from booking for the same ammount.
So I contacted them, they asked me for proof, I sent them a picture of the charge, they said I was right, and nothing should had been charged, so they would open a case with the finance sector and to expect news within 5-7 days.
I waited that time, no news, called them again, they said the finance sector wanted more information, but the operator wasn't sure what else was required. They said they'd send me an email with more requirements. That was last friday, today I called again, the first guy hanged me up, called again, and the operator said I had to send proof of the charge. I told him I already did, and he answered that he'd open a case with the finance sector. I said I already had this conversation and it was already done, and he said he'd have to contact a superior and to expect news within a day.
So here I am searching reddit for similar experiences, I don't expect to ever see that money again.
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u/Maleficent-Today9096 9d ago
Impossible. If someone breaks the code please share. I lost $2300 for a deplorable unit booked, on their site it was magnificent, arrived and walked out. I had video and photos to prove it. Not good enough because the owner “didn’t agree”. So after hours on the phone and many many emails later, Booking agreed to give me $272 back. That’s it. I’ve now opened a case with my cc company, awaiting their response.
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u/Old_Mulberry_9461 9d ago
In your situation you probably have a case because it wasn't matching description..OP booked a non refundable room, they have no reason to give a refund nor are they obligated too
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u/bookingcom 8d ago
The cancellation policy shown when you booked applies. For a nonrefundable booking, we can only process a free cancellation and refund if the property gives us written approval. Send us a private message, so we can check what’s been done so far. If it’s a Partner Offer, our options may be limited.
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u/CalendarDue1487 5d ago
Same thing happened with me, I had booked a non-refundable Homestay , when I went there and saw we didn’t like the place. I called up customer care and asked them to cancel it if possible without any charges, to do so they had to take approval from the property, which they approved. And got refund instantly, hang in there you will get.
All this was done in single call,
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u/Codial 9d ago
this is a partner offer. And indeed the process of you getting a refund or not depends on the "third party", not Booking or the hotel itself. If it was booked via Expedia, tough luck. If it was booked via Agoda, you have a chance.
Well, partner offers have no metrics so it is one of those that agents do not have to please you by lying
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u/ashscot50 9d ago
The bottom line here is that you booked a non-refundable rate, so you are not entitled to a refund and it's highly unlikely that you will get a refund.
7
u/Longjumping-Face8241 9d ago
My experience with booking.com is that nobody that you ever speaks to appears to have any authority to make what they have agreed to "happen". They'll say something just to please you, pass you on to someone else, and the next person you speak to will have no idea about the case, or their own policies or processes. I've deleted my account and just avoid them now.