Further dumping on Booking.com

So frustrating, and it's not just having to worry about the major websites, it's having to filter through websites pretending to be the official hotel website. I couldn't recreate it this morning, but yesterday I was relooking at Langley Castle when it occured to me I that the website wasn't the same one I had looked at the day before. It was a good reminder because I plan to book a stay within the next few days.

Everybody is trying to automate everything. People are expensive.

=> too many holes that bad people anywhere in the World can take advantage of.

And there's the timing problem. As the article says, even if the fraudulent listing is taken down, it takes days at the fastest*. And that's enough for payments to go through.

(* and right now it's not the fastest. They ignored the landlord in Ireland trying to get it taken down until it showed up in the paper.)

So maybe the answer is to go back to faxing or calling the hotel directly. Do people even do that any more?

So maybe the answer is to go back to faxing or calling the hotel directly. Do people even do that any more?

Yes. We always book directly with the hotel by telephone and follow up with emails. It really doesn't cost that much to make the call, and we have never had a problem doing things that way. Never.

"So maybe the answer is to go back to faxing or calling the hotel directly."

That's the only way I'd do it. But people want "quick, convenient, online".

edit: They also want safe. And don't see the contradiction.

I'm not sure how safe giving out your credit card number over the phone is. Emailing or faxing (if that's still done) could be even less secure because it's written down on paper with no assurance it will be destoyed as soon as it's entered into the system. As for phoning, are you sure you called the proper phone number? A lot of fraudulent websites out there directing you to fraudulent phone number.

Yes, false phone numbers are a problem.

Talking on the phone is still resistant to automated attacks. At this point (not long) you still have to have someone on the other end of the call.

And like giving your passports to hotels, credit card info is a risk to give to any merchant. Or just a clerk/waiter working for them.

At least the intense security would turn away would-be customers attempting to arrive for a stay at 10 Downing Street. The Irish example in that same story - what if somebody actually showed up there with luggage, having paid a princely sum and wanting in? They might be difficult to deal with or turn away.

Although, how and when did the Irish property owner first learn that her legitimate property had been involved in someone’s scam?

The real “booking” that should be happening here is the crooks being booked by the police.

The real “booking” that should be happening here is the crooks being booked by the police.

Here, here!

"Although, how and when did the Irish property owner first learn that her legitimate property had been involved in someone’s scam?"

There's a link in the middle of the article to that.

https://www.irishtimes.com/your-money/2026/09/28/my-house-was-used-as-bait-in-a-bookingcom-accommodation-scam/

"Visitors arrive ‘almost daily’ at my house expecting to stay in tourist accommodation."

[snip]
The first unexpected visitor arrived on September 8th, she says.

“They knocked on the door expecting to check into accommodation they had booked through booking.com [and] since then, people have continued to arrive at the property on an almost daily basis with [fake] reservations.”

So concerned was Wang that she installed CCTV at the front door and says she is “now repeatedly seeing people arriving at the house, some with luggage, believing that they have booked legitimate accommodation.

"The real “booking” that should be happening here is the crooks being booked by the police."

And how do they do that when they can be on the other side of the World? With governments that give feck all?

edit: The main route is through the Credit Card companies. But they take the hit if they move the payment before they get notified.

Thats it. I'm staying home. Too dangerous there.

Coming down from the trees was obviously a bad move.

As I said in answer to another post, in Germany, I always use the town's tourist office website to find places, and I've never failed to have the room when I got there. But as I said, I can read and write pretty good German (I know the Grammar rules), and my last name is identifiable as German, so maybe they think I'm German and trust me.

Of course, anyone can get an email address for scam reservations, but I've never been asked for a prepayment, and I usually go to fairly small towns, and I expect that the people in the tourist office might know the hosts personally, so I don't think I'm taking much of a risk.

If they insisted on a big prepayment, that might raise a red flag.

"So maybe the answer is to go back to faxing or calling the hotel directly"

Fax is no more - but personally I always book direct with hotels, on their web site. If I have any questions I always phone and ask. It amazes me how reluctant people are just to pick up the phone and call.

Having said all of that, if it's a private holiday rental, your options are more limited.

Coming down from the trees was obviously a bad move.

Even the trees was a bad move. Nobody should have left the ocean.

Coming down from the trees was obviously a bad move.

RobetH, I think if you follow some of the good advice here, it will work out okay for you.

I've tried to avoid booking there for quite a while now, but sometimes it's unavoidable. I just booked a private room in a hostel on Shetland, and the only way you can book it is to go through booking.com. Luckily, they don't want prepayment, so I don't have to give booking.com my credit card, which I removed from their site a while ago.

But I did find out that sometimes you can book directly with the lodging, even if the lodging's website takes you to booking.com. Earlier this year when I was booking accommodations for the Norway portion of my recent trip, I checked out one location I was interested in. When you clicked on the booking link, it took you to booking.com. I emailed the company, however, and asked them if it was possible to book directly with them, and they were more than happy to do that.

I view the core flaw of the "platform economy" is that aggregators exist purely to insert themselves into a transaction, siphoning off money while listing someone else's property - which may or may not even exist - without offering a single piece of physical inventory of their own. The platform takes on none of the risk, shifts all the vulnerability onto the consumer and the legitimate property owner, and collects a fee for doing nothing, all while prioritizing automation over consumer protection.

Exactly how much due diligence is actually performed by Booking? A Booking agent never visits, inspects, or puts actual eyes on a property before a listing goes live. Are we the crash-test dummy?

"Are we the crash-test dummy?"

Yes.

Microsoft famously laid off its QA (Quality Assurance) department in 2014. Now it pushes out updates and new code with automated testing only. The Engineers who write the code (now the Ai's) are also supposed to write the tests. You can see the results. Many other industries do that now.

https://dev.to/rmarinsky/qa-is-dead-2005-vs-2015-vs-2025-3la6

[snip]
2014 - Microsoft eliminated the SDET* role during an 18,000-person layoff. Entire testing organizations were restructured overnight. Gergely Orosz documented this firsthand in "How Big Tech does QA."

(* The SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test) role was one that Microsoft pioneered across the tech industry. They are software engineers who focused on writing automated tests; building and maintaining testing systems. )

[snip]
Fast-forward to today, and replace "automation" with "AI agents" - the script is identical. "QA will be replaced by AI." "You won't need testers anymore." "Your team will be cut in half."

https://www.theregister.com/software/2025/11/08/microsofts-lack-of-quality-control-is-out-of-control/541038

Many other links.

And meanwhile, there are dishonest criminals doing old-fashioned theft, albeit using a modern Internet platform.

Their victims are both the people seeing lodging, and the lodging getting blindsided by people who think they’ve booked a room.

Bringing the crooks to justice might not be easy, but it’s something that should happen, in the best-case scenario.

I view the core flaw of the "platform economy" is that aggregators exist purely to insert themselves into a transaction, siphoning off money while listing someone else's property - which may or may not even exist - without offering a single piece of physical inventory of their own.

It really calls for adding regulations to internet marketing, in my opinion. Until that happens, it's going to continue. Google supposedly monitors it, and you can report the "sponsored" companies online, but I don't think anything gets done.

I did search a bit to see how widespread the issue with Booking.com and similar was, and while the numbers at first seemed pretty large, when compared to the total number of bookings they aren’t as horrible as some may think, Still, the better answer would be zero.

I view the core flaw of the "platform economy" is that aggregators
exist purely to insert themselves into a transaction, siphoning off
money while listing someone else's property - which may or may not
even exist - without offering a single piece of physical inventory of
their own.

Unless you are a small business that would not be able to exist without the aggregator’s marketing and payment collection resources. Which is why aggregators like Viator and GetYourGuide do so well. They facilitate the development of businesses that otherwise would not be able to exist.

It really calls for adding regulations to internet marketing, in my
opinion. Until that happens, it's going to continue. Google supposedly
monitors it, and you can report the "sponsored" companies online, but
I don't think anything gets done.

What is going to continue? Being listed by and using aggregators is voluntary. Anyone that doesn’t like one end or the other end of that equation is free to do so. I would rather not have a government telling me where I can advertise and where I can purchase. I know it sounds good, but look at who runs government and ask, do I really want them making the decisions that regulate all my little life decisions? There are only two things that a government can do better than an individual; collect taxes and fight wars.

Hacking into a platform to steal credit card numbers or rent non-existent property is already a crime. I am game for holding the platform responsible for compensatory damages when it occurs and punitive damages if they cannot demonstrate that used reasonable care in protecting the client. I think the laws may already provide for that, maybe we just need a case or two to establish the precedent. Of course nothing in life is free so the more you regulate and punish the more expensive that hotel room will be.