Booking.com - accommodation not provided despite having paid £650

Greetwell12 · 21 October at 9:19AM

Hi, has anyone ever managed to take booking.com to small claims and if so can this be done through UK small claims or do we have to use one in the Netherlands where Booking.com are registered? My husband booked 4 rooms through Booking,com back in January 2025 and paid for them at the time. When he arrived at the hotel in Spain, they said they had no booking for him. After a couple of hours of trying to contact booking.com the receptionist found an e-mail from the hotel to Hotelbeds (apparently they are a 3rd party who use booking.com) saying that the hotel was overbooked and couldn't accommodate the booking. Hotelbeds had e-mailed back to the hotel saying maybe things would change by October and it was left at that. Long story short my husband was left trying to sort his own last minute accommodation which has cost him £270 more than the original booking. Booking.com have washed their hands of us despite numerous e-mails, including to the CEO. Booking.com are saying it's the hotel's fault as they never made booking.com aware. We have raised a charge back with our credit card company for the initial amount we paid but we are still out of pocket by £270 and surely someone should compensate us for this? Our booking was with booking.com so surely they should be liable? I will never use them again and will always book direct in future. I should know better as I am a General Manager for a well known hotel company but I honestly didn't realise how bad booking.com are. Also since this has happened I have researched the internet at length and have seen this sort of thing happens on a regular basis. My advice to anyone is ALWAYS book direct, agents like Booking.com are driving rates of hotels up due to their extortionate commission fees which hotels have to pay. Hotels have no choice but to join them as they can't compete independently but the more people are made aware of how bad they are the less people will use them. It's also not cheaper...always call the hotel and say you have found the price cheaper on booking.com and I guarantee they will match or beat the price just so they don't have to pay 14% or similar in commission!

flaneurs_lobster · 21 October at 9:38AM

I should know better as I am a General Manager for a well known hotel company but I honestly didn't realise how bad booking.com are.

Strange, I am not a General Manager for an hotel company nor do I have any connections to the hospitality industry at all, yet I still know that booking.com is best avoided.

Good advice though, use booking.com to find your prospective accommodation then contact them direct.

elsien · 21 October at 11:33AM

I think you will probably find hidden away somewhere in the terms and conditions that they have no responsibility for any consequential losses. I think it’s unlikely that you will be able to claim the extra £270.