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Bad Experience with Booking.com

Posted by (Olympia, WA, USA) on

I have used booking.com on many prior occasions and haven't had a major problem.

I booked a flight to/from Europe for this coming August/September through booking.com.

I was subsequently informed that the airline (Condor/Lufthansa) had changed the flight times so there was no longer enough time for the connection in Frankfurt.

I contacted booking.com's customer service and asked if they could book an alternate flight. After delay, they said they couldn't find one. They recommended that I cancel, and I agreed.

I received a confirmation e-mail saying they were cancelling my flight and that I would receive a refund (in the form of a credit back to my credit card) in about 6 days.

I booked an alternate flight for about $200 higher price directly with Air France.

11 days later--no refund. I contact booking.com again to see where the heck my refund is. They tell me there is nothing to do but wait longer. How long? They couldn't say. Is there anything else I can do? They couldn't say. Who do I talk to to get some meaningful response? They couldn't (or wouldn't) say.

Ideas?

Posted by
233 posts

How frustrating!
I also am a long time Booking.com user, albeit only for hotels. If it were me, after basically 2 business weeks without the promised credit, I would start a claim with your credit card company. You have the Booking.com email to confirm. Then, keep watching, you can always cancel the claim if the credit does show up.
Good luck!

Posted by
2382 posts

Hello Matt

I have used booking.com many times over but just for hotels. I do not believe that I would use them for other reasons especially after reading reports by persons like yourself. I clearly remember one other person who had a bad experience waiting on a ride they booked with booking. The ride never showed up and other arrangements had to be made which was difficult.

Like many others, I go directly to the airline site to book.

I suggest that you report the problem to your credit card company asap because unless I am mistaken, there is a time limit about informing your credit card company.

Vaguely, I remember reporting a problem to my credit card company and was told that I had waited too long. Too much time had passed and I think that I was told that any problem had to be reported within 60 days.

Sorry about your frustration and hope that it has a positive ending.

Posted by
16553 posts

As soon as you involve the middle man, you are at the mercy of the middleman.

These third party sites make it sound wonderful to use. But if there is a problem, or you want a refund, good luck.

You will have to wait. But it's a good idea to get your credit card company involved.

Next time. Use Google Flights to find the best flights and then book directly with the airline.

Posted by
783 posts

Honestly, 11 days is not that long for this kind of credit. I canceled a flight on Delta directly last month and it took seven days for them to give me the credit.

I have booked via Expedia had a problem. I waited until the billing cycle and when the credit hadn’t been issued, I filed a dispute. that got them moving. I had it in about a day, but usually you have to wait at least one cycle before your credit card company will get involved

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