Booking.com Failing To Pay Accommodation Providers

[PeterRS]

Booking.com is one of the world's leading internet travel booking sites, including in its portfolio Agoda, Kayak, Hotelscombined, Priceline and other sites. It operates in 220+ countries in 40+ languages. In 2022 it's worldwide gross travel bookings were US$121.3 billion.

Like many travel sites, it collects cash from bookers and later passes these on to their accommodation clients after deduction of commissions and fees. Now, though, it has been accused of not paying quite a number of accommodation providers. One in the UK is owed £50,000 for rentals of several properties. He claims thousands of others around the world are also suffering from delayed payments. Another renter had failed to receive any income after being promised payment five times. A statement from booking.com claims it is "urgently working to resume payments, which were delayed as a result of a planned system maintenance." Well, believe that if you wish!

It further claims the majority of "partners" have been paid on time but "in a small number of cases, there have been unforeseen technical issues that are quickly being resolved." And believe that if you wish!

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66459808?xtor=AL-72-[partner]-[bbc.news.twitter]-[headline]-[news]-[bizdev]-[isapi]&at_format=link&at_link_origin=BBCNews&at_link_id=4326623C-3776-11EE-B378-0FFC5B3BE886&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_medium=social&at_campaign_type=owned&at_link_type=web_link&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_bbc_team=editorial

I recently booked a 5-star hotel in Taipei at the lowest rate i could find through a company I had never booked through before - Klook. This is a relatively new Hong Kong based startup and I was slightly concerned about the booking. An email to the hotel confirmed everything was in order. Klook has a number of impressive investors including Goldman Sachs and Softbank. From a quick check, its rates are also competitive with Agoda.

[fedssocr]

I have used Klook for tours and bought my Japan Rail pass via them several months ago. Legit company for sure.

I am sad to hear this news about Booking. I didn't realize all of those other companies were part of them. I wonder why. I suppose they all had some name recognition from before Booking took them over. Generally I like to book directly with the hotel but if the rate is a lot cheaper at Agoda I will use them instead.

[Mavica]

I've frequently used Booking.com.  We are given choices to make:  accept a "no cancellation" option, which requires payment in advance; or, accept a slightly higher price with the right to cancel the reservation shortly prior to the arrival date.  This latter option requires no advance payment; you pay the lodging directly, upon arrival.  I've always chosen the option where I can cancel if necessary and have never been asked to pay in advance; I pay the hotel directly upon arrival.  Properties set the conditions of accepting reservations via Booking.com, and there are variances.  Because of my own experiences using Booking.com, I will continue to use the service.

[floridarob]

I think they've grown too big. I know of people that saw their house listed for rent on Booking but never listed it. Guests showed up to the door with a confirmed res from Booking. So there are scammers out there listing properties that aren't theirs.

 

I can't understand why, if it's like airbnb, you don't get paid until after the 1st night..... maybe the scammers are hoping that they get paid the next day and the customers can't resolve it in time and the scammers are gone with the money......any ideas?

[reader]

From Thailand News Service

Chiang Mai Hotel Exposes Hotel Booking Scams

CHAING MAI, Aug18 (TNA) – A renowned hotel in Chiang Mai has filed a complaint to the police against scammers creating a fraudulent Facebook page to deceive individuals into making accommodation bookings and transferring money.

The manager of R1 Nimman Hotel Chiang Mai filed the complaint at the Phu Ping Police Station after a cybercriminal gang took images from the hotel’s official Facebook page, created a counterfeit page, and posted messages claiming to offer room reservations.

This led to several potential customers falling prey to the scam, thinking they were interacting with the legitimate hotel page and subsequently transferring money for room bookings.

Upon arriving at the hotel, these victims discovered that no such bookings had been made. Over the past month, nearly 10 people have fallen victim to the scammers.

The hotel advises customers to be cautious by checking the creation date of the hotel’s page. The real Facebook page has a longer history spanning several years, whereas a fraudulent page is created within a few months, aiming to scam victims in the short term before disappearing.

Legitimate bank accounts used for hotel transactions should carry the hotel’s legal entity name, not individual names. (TNA)

[fedssocr]

I just saw a piece on BBC World that the barge holding refugees has been listed on booking.com It's very weird. They really need to get their act together

[PeterRS]

7 hours ago, fedssocr said:

I just saw a piece on BBC World that the barge holding refugees has been listed on booking.com It's very weird. They really need to get their act together

For those not acquainted with the British Immigration's use of a barge to house refugees, this has drawn considerable controversy in the UK for many weeks. The government says it is a temporary form of accommodation until asylum seekers' papers can be properly processed. But it has all descended into a farce because the 39 immigrants so far 'settled' in the barge' after weeks of delay have now had to be moved out after a deadly bacteria was found in the water supply. Government idiots! I trust no one has fallen for any scam by booking on this junk barge!

[PeterRS]

According to the quote from booking.com in the OP, delayed payments to its accommodation suppliers were due "in a small number of cases" to "unforeseen technical issues that are quickly being resolved." 

Not quickly enough, obviously. Yesterday's Guardian has a long piece about how accomodation providers in Europe, Indonesia and Thailand have been waiting up to 6 months for their payments from the mega booking site.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/01/booking-com-hotel-fees-unpaid-millions-technical-issue

This still blames "a technical issue" but it has not stopped rumours swirling about the site's practices. As suggested by posters above, if you use the site in future, make sure you choose the pay directly on arrival at the hotel option. But remember you still have to give the site your credit card details to ensure the booking. And once booking.com has those details, can you be certain it will not bill you at some point before you get to the accommodation? I for one will not use it or any of its associate sites in future.

[Mavica]

Booking.com is part of the Priceline related companies that also operate Kayak, Cheapflights, OpenTable, Agoda, etc.

If the lodging or other service provider payment complaints regarding Booking.com are as big of a problem for any / some of the 2.5 million lodging providers who’ve signed up with this company as suggested and being reported about, providers concerned but not directly affected can remove their properties from the booking.com website.  

Most providers are almost certainly affiliated with other reservation aggregators.   There’s been no suggestion I’ve seen referred to that affiliated providers have fled Booking.com in any sizable numbers due to similar payment issues.

If a traveler is improperly billed for services / accommodations not received or billed twice, it’s easy enough to dispute a charge with our credit card issuer.

There are instances when I’ll book accommodation directly on the website of a hotel because the rate is better than found on any booking aggregator website.  However, I don’t intend to avoid using Booking.com if I find the service offers value on a trip by trip basis.  I will also suggest if the payments disputes that have been reported in The Guardian are widespread, lodging operators worldwide will determine there’s no value listing with Booking.com.  The marketplace will sort this out and we can make our own choices.

 

[10tazione]

7 hours ago, PeterRS said:

I for one will not use it or any of its associate sites in future.

What is the alternative, especially for those who are not staying at 5* international hotel chains?
Booking each hotel at their selfmade websites and sending credit card data by email?

[Keithambrose]

I have found that it is as cheap to book the Le Meridien in Bangkok direct, as it is to use Booking.com. You pay when you leave, and get the relevant Marriott points, which you don't if you use an agency. 

[10tazione]

Isn't that a 5* international hotel chain?

[omega]

I don't know of any other sites that are apparently not owned by Booking.com.

I don't know how much responsibility we as consumers have in this matter. It's not like we have too much of a choice. If the option to pay at the hotel is as cheap as the pay via booking.com method, then I'll use it.

Otherwise, I see no reason why I should pay more for the hotels convenience of getting paid - it should be the other way around. The hotel should make whats most convenient for them the cheapest option for me.

[Zipper]

Thanks for posting this. I always thought that the hotel was paid at the same time I paid for a booking. Makes me wonder how much cash flow booking.com generates by deferring payments. 

 

 

 

 

[vinapu]

15 hours ago, PeterRS said:

...... But remember you still have to give the site your credit card details to ensure the booking. And once booking.com has those details, can you be certain it will not bill you at some point before you get to the accommodation? 

few years ago I had  such issue with Agoda. I opted for payment  at hotel as it was , strangely, cheaper than paying through the site.  When arrived at reception money in hand they told me that Agoda already paid. I was not happy but let it go, we talk about 10-15 $. Few days later  I checked card statement, yes,  charge was made but at "at hotel" cheaper  rate so everything  worked out well.

As for issue in the thread I usually use Agoda and still I'm planning to but always make pint of checking if Agoda, booking, Expedia and hotel's own website offer similar prices. Agoda wins hands down being cheapest 7/10 if not better,

[macaroni21]

I have used Booking.com quite a fair bit, and I've noticed that many hotels listed there state "Payment handled by property", meaning that the credit card details are only to guarantee the booking, (or sometimes, to pay only for the first night). If a hotel is unhappy about delayed payments from Booking, perhaps they will amend their listing to "Payment handled by property"?  Then the money will first flow to the hotel, and it is for them to send the commission onwards to Booking.com.

Of course, it may well be that in such a case, the commission that Booking.com charges may be higher than one where the payment is handled by Booking.com itself, so there is a deterrent to hotels handling payments.

I have an inkling what the problem at Booking.com is though, I must stress, I am just making an educated guess. It's a very, very common problem, yet one which few people pay attention to. It is this: a large state-of-the art company creates a business ecology that also involves consumers or smaller businesses that are far from state-of-the-art. The large company goes whole hog with IT, with fancy software accompanied by a determined push to reduce headcount (costs). In theory the software mostly works (but sometimes doesn't and there is no one to fix it). In practice, the consumers or business partners find it hard to navigate and fulfill the requirements of the software to get anything done (picture this: a dentist's wife who runs a bed-and-breakfast, struggling with the IT submssions requirements of a major IT company, maybe in a language foreign to her).

The reduced headcount at the big company means calls are unanswered and issues left unaddressed. Meanwhile frustration grows among the business partners and consumers... but they can't even get a reply.

In my line of work, I have seen this again and again.

[PeterRS]

1 hour ago, vinapu said:

few years ago I had  such issue with Agoda. I opted for payment  at hotel as it was , strangely, cheaper than paying through the site.  When arrived at reception money in hand they told me that Agoda already paid. I was not happy but let it go, we talk about 10-15 $. Few days later  I checked card statement, yes,  charge was made but at "at hotel" cheaper  rate so everything  worked out well.

As for issue in the thread I usually use Agoda and still I'm planning to but always make pint of checking if Agoda, booking, Expedia and hotel's own website offer similar prices. Agoda wins hands down being cheapest 7/10 if not better,

In Asia I have found agoda certainly has excellent prices compared to most other websites. But this is often not the case in other parts of the world. I usually compare prices offered by a hotel with those on agoda plus at least three other web-based suppliers. For my most recent trip to Taipei, the relatively new site Klook had by far the best rate in several hotels, especially a 5-star one that I had not stayed at for almost 20 years. Never having used this relatively recent Hong Kong-based start-up company, I was slightly concerned. But after checking directly with the hotel I was informed it is very reliable. Certainly it has some impressive investors. 

Some years ago I recomended the site hotelscombined.com in a gaythailand thread. This throws up between 6 and 12 or so comparisons. I will be in Taipei in November and the hotel was booked some weeks ago . Having just looked at hotelscombined.com to compare prices on the same 6 day trip, the very first hotel the site throws up is the very good Palais de Chine. I see the first offer is rooms without breakfast at 6,773 baht per night. This is for booking direct with the hotel. The second is booking.com which has a rate inclusive of breakfast of 9,961 baht. agoda's rate with breakfast is 9,646. agoda is actually inaccurate as on the first page it offers a considerably cheaper price in line with the hotel's own price. Click to book it, though, and you discover that there are no rooms at that price. That to me is disgraceful business practice! Only rooms available should be offered. But it explains the higher price as it's a higher value room.

The six other sites have already sold their allocation of rooms. I have not gone further into the details but suggest this illustrates the value of shopping around. Klook, for example, offers the with breakfast tax inclusive rate at 9,189.50. baht. But you need to give them your email address before you can check that it is the final price which also includes service (I believe it does but have not bothered to check).

Flipping through various hotels, it seems from this very quick exercise that the cheapest rates are sometimes agoda but more frequently priceline.com. Expedia and booking.com hardly ever offer the lowest rate. Again, though, this is for a specific city on specific dates.

To further complicate the issue, hotelscombined operates out of Sydney. But it is one of the Booking Holdings companies which also operates booking.com! And perhaps not surprisingly, priceline.com is also owned by Booking Holdings!

[reader]

I've found that in most cases, you can get the same or better rate rate at the individual hotel's website, but not always.

I've used Agoda from time to time over the years and never experienced a problem. However, as some have noted above, you need to carefully read the conditions (cancellation rights and payment schedule) before booking. But I agree with PeterRS that Agoda;s pricing advantage appears limited to Asian locations.

By booking by credit card, you have recourse if the hotel or agency fail to honor their obligation.

Other than that, it's not rocket science.

[Mavica]

Not all properties listed on Booking.com, as an example, have their own websites at which we can book.  This is true for places at which I've stayed / booked via that website.  Booking.com also affords additional room discounts, and in certain instances reimburses for taxi from an airport to a hotel, when you book a certain number of times.  I've used Booking.com now and again for the past decade, and each time I've paid the hotel directly and any deposit information I've provided to Booking.com has not been abused.

The title of the discussion is tabloid-like, exaggerating the complaints, though serious, seeming to represent a miniscule number of the 2.5 million properties registered with Booking.com.  We could have discussions about other online booking sites, Expedia, as one example, about which there have been traveler complaints regarding reservations not being honored, rate disputes, difficulties changing flights and reservations, difficulties obtaining refunds, etc., etc.  

Choosing to book via any third-party includes potential risks.  Caveat Emptor.

One last note about third-party payments to others (service providers):  early in my career I managed a 150+ room Holiday Inn.  American Express was, at the time, the most popularly used business credit card.  Amex held our payments for 120-days after guest check-out before remitting them and kept a 6% fee.  We started urging guests to use BofA or MasterCard which paid us in 48-hours and kept only 2.5% as a fee.  The devil is always in the details of the agreements.

[vinapu]

To add to the fun of rate hunting few things I noticed when booking for my recent July trip:

when combing for listing of properties it pays to click what is really offered. Quarter SalaDaeng listed on Agoda their rates for my dates of about  ' from 60 $ " per night. When I actually clicked to see offerings cheapest rate available  was just above 50, quite a  savings for 9 nights booked.

Even if we are interested in certain type of room it's good to scroll up and down to see what is offered as sometimes it may be miniscule difference between say 20 sq m room and 45 sq m one  but also  big drop  between 45 sq m and 40 sq m . ( you probably noticed what I'm looking for when considering accomodation - room size ). Also more expensive may offer free breakfast or one for token amount so at end of day it may make more sense to book that way.

sometimes there's  noticeable difference either way if our period includes weekend nights.

and one which really surprised me, even the same booking site may show different price depending of what country you are or whether you are using website or app. 

Twice this year on different occasions our members from different countries  sent me screenshoots of great rates  they saw  on Agoda for Raya and Furama Silom. When I almost immediately fired my comp and checked , what I saw was quite a different , say 10$ more on 50 $ offer.

So bottom line is  , it pays to shop and if one sees great rate, just grab it , pay and run as it may not last long. 

[fedssocr]

I am in the midst of planning a trip for January and have been checking on these sorts of things. If you search on Google maps for hotels in a certain area it will give you a listing of rates from several different suppliers for each property.

I agree that Agoda typically has good deals. But I have been booking directly with the properties instead. Most of the time they have the same deals and will sometimes throw in some other perks. I know Agoda has a loyalty program of sorts, but the benefits usually have to be used within a short amount of time. I've never bothered to try, but I think if Agoda has a significantly lower rate I might contact the hotel directly to see if they will match it.

[Lucky]

I am also booking directly for my Thailand trip in January. I like to stay in different hotels and get a different experience. So far, I have booked two hotels, with two to go.

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, fedssocr said:

I am in the midst of planning a trip for January

 

1 hour ago, Lucky said:

I am also booking directly for my Thailand trip in January. 

looks that boys will be busy in January

[fedssocr]

we'll all be fighting over them for sure.

Although I just discovered that Kuwait Airways has canceled their route from Washington so that puts a bit of a wrench in my current plans. I'm waiting to hear how they plan to accommodate me...

[vinapu]

1 hour ago, fedssocr said:

 

Although I just discovered that Kuwait Airways has canceled their route from Washington ......

ouch!!!