Tina Fey, take several seats and hear this: Booking.com is the god-awfulest travel site out there and a sure-fire way for you to waste your time and possibly torpedo your trip — whether it’s to Albuquerque, Greece, around the corner or just about anywhere.
Not to get all MeanGirls about it, but is our firm belief that American travelers should avoid websites like Bookin’ dot com and the reviled Airbnb, because both are bad for travelers. We asked Peter Lochbihler (He/Him/ugh), Booking.com’s Head of Global Affairs (what, is this some kind of secret government agency now?) if he agreed.
Because what may strike Booking’s corporate drones as "ease" of reserving a hotel could seem to others a somewhat monopolistic company to clean up on ancillary fees.
Sites like these put the onus on travelersto pay up front for a product/service they actually know very little about. Worse is that cancellation fees are -- and we have tested this -- very burdensome. At least once over the summer when using the website and due to a change of plans we lost money to the tune of than $400. I would say that is good for Booking.com. Pretty shitty for you though, right?
Peter said, because he is paid to say such things, that “it really depends on the details. Hotels typically offer different payment (pre paid vs pay at property) and cancelation options. A non-refundable rate will be cheaper than a flexible rate and it's the customer's choice. We are fully transparent about what the conditions are. By the way, it's generally our hotel partners who decide about rates and booking policies.”
So we said, “Why should it ever be considered good to pay in advance for services that have not yet been rendered? In effect, sites like Booking.com put pressure on customers to pay for something they have not received. In this respect, we would go so far to say that Booking.com is anti-American in spirit.”
In addition, because our reporting blends facts with direct experiences, we told Peter about two experiences of my own with their nasty (our view) website -- neither of which are adequately addressed by pro forma corporate messaging.
In one instance, having prepaid a reservation at a hotel in Greece, we arrived at the hotel only to be denied check-in due to an ill-informed hotel staffer. It was a terrible scene, for which Booking.com was partly responsible. This prompted an incident that almost escalated to a police intervention; however, later, the hotel still expected us pay. This is one example among thousands, possibly millions, of restrictive cancellation policies not allowing for unanticipated experiences that are sometimes beyond the customers' control.
In the second instance, we foolishly prepaid a booking at a small hotel and at the last minute for medical reasons plans changed. The hotel owner was quite sympathetic and said she would like to issue to a refund and re-sell the room, but that Booking.com would not allow her to do it. So, Pete, d’ya think that situation is fair to the consumer? Because we sure AF do not.
We read complaint after complaint of customers who could not receive a refund or credit for a pre-paid hotel night that was missed through no fault of their own even though the reason was due to a documented international flight delay. This happens a lot — been to an airport lately, evil geniuses of Booking.nah? — and is another reason why people should not be penalized for not choosing to pay for something in advance. Actually, they should be given some assistance. In this respect, Booking.com is responsible for contributing to the dehumanization of the travel experience -- is Pete proud of that?
He suggested we “direct questions for comment to my comms colleagues”
That’s a cop-out on the order of Kamala Harris trying to explain how she’s qualified to run for president (fun fact: she isn’t!)
We talked to a customer, Giorgo de Jongle, who said, “I had to make some emergency last minute plans. A small hotel wouldn’t give me money back, and I almost had to sleep in the street — where there was lots of dogpoo and stuff, so that would not have been ideal. Anyway, thanks, Booking.com!”
So sorry Booking.com, you can just sit back and kiss our grits.
Our official position: DO NOT USE BOOKING.COM. EVER!!!
