Booking.Com Error: “Sorry, we were not able to take your payment....

sounds like a vote to avoid using Booking.com

You've tried most of the things I usually suggest, but have you attempted to make the booking on your tablet or smartphone rather than your desktop computer? I have made close to 100 booking.com reservations since spring 2015 and never had a problem. Most of those reservations were made on my tablet (Chrome browser) while already in Europe. I have never had any difficulty getting those reservations to go through. However, they were nearly all for hotels or pensions rather than individual apartments, and I was not generally choosing a pay-in-advance option--either of which could make a difference.

I once had a problem with a non-booking.com reservation well in the future because I was trying to use a credit card due to expire during the intervening period, so I know that is occasionally an issue.

I've once or twice (not with booking.com) needed to resort to PayPal when making an overseas purchase; I think that was for train tickets.

I had a similar problem with a booking recently. Tried all the same things you did. Finally gave up and booked the same place on Expedia. Shame because I have used booking com for years but I may be done with them.

When all logical things are tried and don't work, it's time to find out if you are just the latest victim of something called "3-D Secure".

This is the first I've heard of booking.com using it. It's an enhanced security system used by some European websites and (usually) unattended, automated systems in Europe (most often found at gas pumps and train stations). It is highly problematic, and basically short-circuits the transaction. The key symptom: your bank never sees the attempt to charge your card, they don't decline it, so they can't fix this for you (and most credit card company employees seem to be unaware of it).

If the problem is "3-D Secure" (not saying this is, but it smells a bit like it) it will be hard to get around.

Here's one thread on 3-D Secure that I started when I first ran into it. 3-D Secure credit card payments - wha???
If you do a search on "3-D Secure" you will find many people have stepped in it.

I would be bummed (and surprised) if booking.com has started utilizing this system; if they have, a lot of us are going to run smack into this. Do yourself (and the rest of us) a big favor: call booking.com back, escalate your issue and ask for someone who is very familiar with their payment processing system(s). Ask them if they are familiar with "3-D Secure" and if so, ask if they are using it now. I hope they are not.

Hopefully there is something else causing this, but the telltale sign is that the charge mysteriously doesn't go through, but your bank swears they never see the attempt to charge you and they are not declining it...

Good luck.

If all else fails, could you not contact the apartment owner directly?

Is there a benefit to using booking.com specifically?

I use booking.com to search and narrow down choices or when the accommodation requests that I reserve thru booking.com. I book thru the hotel, generally by contacting them via email. I often get a better room, a free breakfast or a lower price, because it saves the hotel/inn money. It also builds a relationship and facilitates any special requests. Granted, I stay in smaller properties.

Regarding using a credit card to reserve rooms, cars, etc. in Europe, I've found it helpful to have AMEX, VISA and Mastercard. I have a particular order I try them based on any transaction fees, etc. I found that for Spain, the preference is toward Mastercard. Mine has a foreign transaction fee so that is my last choice.

Thanks. Just wondering why the OP needed to be booked through booking.com (unless the price was significantly cheaper there than anywhere else).

unless the price was significantly cheaper there than anywhere else

That's often the case, and the reason why I use it all the time.

One possibility (however far fetched) is that the apartment in question is no longer contracted with booking.com or has a dispute with them, and so the payment processing feature was disabled altogether for that apartment (even though the apartment profile is still up). That's my guess since the same credit cards worked with other apartments. You have to rule things out one by one...

Personally, I would move on and find another apartment (on booking.com) and try to book it instead of being "stuck" on this particular one.

OP said: "After many hours on the phone with their support staff (as well as supervisors) no resolution was found."

I assume "they" referenced here was booking.com. So yes, it does appear the OP called them. (If "they" refers to someone else, then yes, of course, call booking.com and ask to speak with someone know knows the back end of their payment processing system - which is exactly what I suggested above).

Don't know if you know anything about 3-D Secure system. What OP is describing is exactly the behavior that one would see if that is what is blocking the transaction. And just because you have booked many times through booking.com (so have I), that doesn't mean that 1) all payments for all properties booked via them all go through the same payment processing system (it's entirely possible that they use multiple systems), or 2) something may have recently changed. Companies tweak their technology every day.

I made a few edits to this thread to ease some tension. Per guideline #4, don't respond to perceived slights. Arguments are to be kept off the boards at all times.

Thanks, everyone!

For the OP and others reading along, those are good troubleshooting steps. Did you try using a different network/internet connection? Sometimes caching at the Internet Service Provider level can be an issue. E.g. switching to your smartphone using your data connection (and not your home wifi that your PCs are on) could circumvent the issue.

I have found Hotels.com covers much of the same territory as Booking.com plus has a reasonable incentive program. There are plenty more agencies to examine; Booking.com, for all its success, does not monopolize the world.

Booking.com is one of the websites we check when looking for lodging. We never book using it as it is often more expensive than booking directly.

I think the technical problems are a way of getting you to book directly.

Booking.com is my go to booking website. They have a liberal cancellation policy (if you book the correct category), their prices are good especially when you achieve the "genius" level, and they have a massive variety of kinds of lodging compared to sites like Expedia and Orbitz. I've never had one iota of trouble with booking lodging. I hope you can work it out. Have you tried their phone app? I have used it with great success when on the road and booking on the fly.

their prices are good especially when you achieve the "genius" level,

What does that mean? Is it a tiered status based on the frequency or amount of money one spends on their website? Is there cheaper pricing once one attains this "genius" level?

Yes there are often "Genius" discounts (usually just 10% or so), although I'm not sure exactly how one achieves it. I use them often (no service fees like AirB&B, which I actually do use just about as often, and free cancellation is the real plus) genius status just showed up on my account one day..

I have experienced annoying credit card issues with Booking.com in the past, and though it was always resolved with a phone call, the reason for the issue was never resolved.

And just an aside, both AirB&B and Booking.com are most valuable as a resource for travelers who rent apartments from private parties, or hostels and B&Bs; in my opinion...hotels, not so much.

I think genius status must be triggered by either the number of bookings or perhaps the total value of the bookings, but I don't know over what time period or how long you retain the status if you don't travel regularly. It doesn't give you an across-the-board discount, just discounts on some properties. I remember seeing 10% (or maybe it was 5%--not much, anyway); I don't know whether that can vary. Perhaps genius status sometimes means you get breakfast for free instead. It's not something I pay attention to; I just look at the bottom-line cost of each place I'm considering, along with the location, rating and comments in the reviews.

I booked my entire 5 week summer trip on booking.com a couple months ago. Then last week my airline changed things on me so I had to rework some of the itinerary. I changed the dates of two bookings, canceled one, and made one brand new one. It was incredibly easy, took maybe five minutes to do all that (once I figured out what I was doing, that took days but that has nothing to do with booking.com).

I have genius status but not sure how I got it. I book a total of about 7 weeks a year of travel. Been doing that for years. And I've had the 'genius' status for years so can't remember what I had to do to get it. It does give you about 10% off on most bookings.

All the problems the OP has described I've had when trying to book train tickets in Europe, but never on booking.com

I really try to avoid booking.com and hotels.com. After using random ways to book lodging over a handful of years, I noticed a trend. The only issues I had were with lodging booked on one of those two sights.

One issue was a mistake in the reservation. I realized if I searched for a hotel near "____", the site might switch dates from the dates I was searching for. I showed up at one reservation but was booked for the night before. I would have written it off to a mistake on my part until a friend had the exact issue. We tested it and, WOW, it really does change dates. If you don't check carefully before booking the room, you're going to be disappointed.

The second issue was being given the worst room in the property - regularly. It didn't matter if I arrived early or late. The rooms I was being given when booking through these sights were clearly the worst room they had to offer. The worst example was a room with no hot water. When I brought it to the owner's attention, he essentially told me it is what it is. Meanwhile guests in the main part of the hotel were perfectly happy.

I have experienced annoying credit card issues with Booking.com in the
past, and though it was always resolved with a phone call, the reason
for the issue was never resolved.

If I may, what happened with Booking.com and your credit card(s)?

I've got the same problem on booking.com site:

"Sorry, we were not able to take your payment"
"Please try using another credit card"

They keep saying the problem is on my side but it's not. The payment declined on their website, nothing to do with my bank or web browser. Also tried with different browsers, credit cards, different locations etc. .... more than 10 times.
I have a saved credit card on the website, using the same thing for years. Sent them a screenshot about this earlier but they keep asking for it again and again.

They still pretending that this problem doesn't exist.
So annoying , I exchanged so many emails with custumer.service@booking.com without any success.

Their latest answer:

Thank you for choosing Booking.com.

We have no problems with credit card usage. In this instance we truly recommend you contacting your bank and asking on what could be the issue.

• This could be a problem with international transactions, and there may be some restrictions - your bank might have the maximum limit of the payment.

• Another thing that we would recommend is adding your credit card details to your account. Try adding different credit cards one by one and try to complete your reservation after doing that.

• If non above works and you still keep receiving problems with making the reservation. Please take screenshots that will show the problem that you are facing. We do not have a confirmed bug with this issue with credit cards - but we will investigate further.

Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions.

Kind regards,

--
Rita J.
Booking.com Customer Service Team

After replying to this email , they never answered or resolved anything.
Who is Rita J.?

GOOD LUCK , wasting time with them!

Maybe i am missing something, but if it is 3D Secure issue, then that is to making using cc transactions more secure? And that surely is always a good thing? Just like chip and pin?

My Amex always works even when my other CCs don’t. Otherwise can you just book directly with the property?

This is a thread opened and closed in April, just reopened by another individual. Since the first issue is presumably resolved replies to the new problem may be different than replies to the original poster.

To the new person, erv.ac, - starting your own thread allows you to receive answers directed to you, notifications in your email inbox instead of the original poster's inbox, and clarity for readers of your, not their problem.

I have experienced the same problems with 3 separate creditcards. I phone up my cc company and they said they're not even seeing booking.com attempt to complete the financial transaction leading them to believe the problem lies with booking.com. I want to book through them because I recently obtain the Genius status which give me a 15% discount.

Interestingly, when I created a second account, I WAS able to make the reservation through using the same creditcard. Could it be booking.com does NOT want to give me my 15% discount??? I've since emailed them about this problem.