Booking.com room not as described (County Aparthotel, Newcastle)

HillStreetBlues

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

HillStreetBlues said:

That can not be right, that would mean Booking.com  could charge everyone for a double room  book a smaller room (which is what happened) as then claim it's nothing to do with them.

If you book a double and Booking.com send the booking over to the hotel as a single that is Booking.com's responsibility.

If you book a double and Booking.com send the booking over to the hotel as a double but the hotel give you a single that is the hotel's responsibility.  

Chances are Booking.com's process are efficient and their errors are less likely but if the hotel says it's Booking.com's fault I'd expect them to show the customer that is the case.

Of course you'd expect Booking.com to do the same in reverse but they are a big faceless company whereas a hotel is customer facing and typically used to providing a high level of service to it's guests.  

Which is what I've been saying from the outset.
If you believe the hotel, then Booking.com responsibility . If the hotel is lying then it's the hotels fault.

itm2

I just noticed this in the small print of my booking details at booking.com:
"Your booking is with TRAVELFUTURE HOLDINGS LIMITED. Any changes to your personal and booking details are not possible. Requests can be made directly with the property but are not guaranteed. Booking.com's customer service support is available to you for this booking."

I guess this is the "partner company" that they referred to in their response to me (see OP). Since I've had no direct dealings with them, and have no contact details for them, the info isn't particularly useful to me. It does further obfuscate what is already a very murky arrangement!

daveyjp

Looks another case of following the golden rule:

'booking.com (and any other number of hotel comparison sites) to research, hotel website to book'.

born_again

Jumblebumble said:

And the small double room still claims to have a queen bed in 8ft squared
It seems that neither Booking.com nor the hotel are taking this seriously
( It is possible that idiotic bots are involved)
A chargeback as the OP has done is the best way of making sure that someone who understands the reputational risks looks at the situation

The danger is that Booking.com reject the claim on the basis, they did what the OP asked. Passed a booking for the room as described to the hotel. They have no control over what the hotel provide.
As the OP did not pay hotel direct (not mentioned) then it is a simple rejection for booking.com.
Especially if this is done as not as described.

This is the danger with using these sites.

Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

itm2

born_again said:

Jumblebumble said:

And the small double room still claims to have a queen bed in 8ft squared
It seems that neither Booking.com nor the hotel are taking this seriously
( It is possible that idiotic bots are involved)
A chargeback as the OP has done is the best way of making sure that someone who understands the reputational risks looks at the situation

The danger is that Booking.com reject the claim on the basis, they did what the OP asked. Passed a booking for the room as described to the hotel.

Actually that may not be quite true. When I complained to the hotel in the morning I believe he said they had received a booking for a "small double room" from the agent. I'm not 100% sure, but I think that was why he was placing the blame on the agent. Whether the "agent" was booking.com or Travelfuture Holdings Limited is anyone's guess.

born_again

I'm looking at this from a chargeback point of view. Where your claim is against who the debit is against on your account.  (Partners on Booking Bv, as they are a Dutch company). No one else down the chain is involved in this.
So what booking.com provide as evidence, such as your booking confirmation (which is what your wanted) & the fact they do not supply the rooms. Is what will be what the case is judged on.
Rather than what you received at the hotel.

Interesting that Travelfuture Holdings Limited does not come up on companies house. Even google is not finding anything.
The hotel stayed at is owned by Gainford Group but comes up as Gainford Hotels Ltd

Not knocking your claim here, just pointing out how it is run through the chargeback system, & how I can see it turning out. Would be wrong, if Booking.com do not contest the chargeback. But that could have other outcomes.

This is just the same as when chargebacks used to be made against PayPal when someone did not get a item, or it was not as described.
PayPal rejected on the basis all they do is transfer the money as requested. They have since changed their stance & allow the chargeback & chase the person at fault.

HillStreetBlues

born_again said:

I'm looking at this from a chargeback point of view. Where your claim is against who the debit is against on your account.  (Partners on Booking Bv, as they are a Dutch company). No one else down the chain is involved in this.
So what booking.com provide as evidence, such as your booking confirmation (which is what your wanted) & the fact they do not supply the rooms. Is what will be what the case is judged on.
Rather than what you received at the hotel.

Interesting that Travelfuture Holdings Limited does not come up on companies house. Even google is not finding anything.
The hotel stayed at is owned by Gainford Group but comes up as Gainford Hotels Ltd

Not knocking your claim here, just pointing out how it is run through the chargeback system, & how I can see it turning out. Would be wrong, if Booking.com do not contest the chargeback. But that could have other outcomes.

This is just the same as when chargebacks used to be made against PayPal when someone did not get a item, or it was not as described.
PayPal rejected on the basis all they do is transfer the money as requested. They have since changed their stance & allow the chargeback & chase the person at fault.

I disagree, you don't onto Paypal's site to buy something, you go on the providers site and payment is routed via PP, PP just deals with the payment side.

born_again

HillStreetBlues said:

born_again said:

I'm looking at this from a chargeback point of view. Where your claim is against who the debit is against on your account.  (Partners on Booking Bv, as they are a Dutch company). No one else down the chain is involved in this.
So what booking.com provide as evidence, such as your booking confirmation (which is what your wanted) & the fact they do not supply the rooms. Is what will be what the case is judged on.
Rather than what you received at the hotel.

Interesting that Travelfuture Holdings Limited does not come up on companies house. Even google is not finding anything.
The hotel stayed at is owned by Gainford Group but comes up as Gainford Hotels Ltd

Not knocking your claim here, just pointing out how it is run through the chargeback system, & how I can see it turning out. Would be wrong, if Booking.com do not contest the chargeback. But that could have other outcomes.

This is just the same as when chargebacks used to be made against PayPal when someone did not get a item, or it was not as described.
PayPal rejected on the basis all they do is transfer the money as requested. They have since changed their stance & allow the chargeback & chase the person at fault.

I disagree, you don't onto Paypal's site to buy something, you go on the providers site and payment is routed via PP, PP just deals with the payment side.

You are billed by PayPal & as that is how the debit shows on your account, NOT the retailer, that is where the chargeback goes.

HillStreetBlues

born_again said:

HillStreetBlues said:

born_again said:

I'm looking at this from a chargeback point of view. Where your claim is against who the debit is against on your account.  (Partners on Booking Bv, as they are a Dutch company). No one else down the chain is involved in this.
So what booking.com provide as evidence, such as your booking confirmation (which is what your wanted) & the fact they do not supply the rooms. Is what will be what the case is judged on.
Rather than what you received at the hotel.

Interesting that Travelfuture Holdings Limited does not come up on companies house. Even google is not finding anything.
The hotel stayed at is owned by Gainford Group but comes up as Gainford Hotels Ltd

Not knocking your claim here, just pointing out how it is run through the chargeback system, & how I can see it turning out. Would be wrong, if Booking.com do not contest the chargeback. But that could have other outcomes.

This is just the same as when chargebacks used to be made against PayPal when someone did not get a item, or it was not as described.
PayPal rejected on the basis all they do is transfer the money as requested. They have since changed their stance & allow the chargeback & chase the person at fault.

I disagree, you don't onto Paypal's site to buy something, you go on the providers site and payment is routed via PP, PP just deals with the payment side.

You are billed by PayPal & as that is how the debit shows on your account, NOT the retailer, that is where the chargeback goes.

Yes, but you don't order it from PP unlike B.com, Paypal just passes the money from A to B  but B.com passes the money and the booking. That means B.com can make a mistake when it books something incorrectly, but PP can't, that's why I don't see them as similar.