Booking.com charging City Tax that is not due

alfiethecat

For a recent stay near Fakenham in Norfolk, England, Booking.com have taken £7.92 in "City Tax". There is no City Tax in this area. They messaged me to say it was usually taken by the accommodation on arrival. It was not, it was taken by Booking.com as part of my payment. The B&B manager confirmed there was no City Tax due and he has also asked Booking.com to explain it. I am in the process of trying to get a refund from Booking.com or raising the matter with Trading Standards, but I would be interested to know if other MSE Forumites have similar experiences; and to warn you against it. Maybe MSE themselves will investigate if enough people are affected. I know £7.92 isn't a great deal of money but if Booking.com are pocketing this spurious charge from many people, it soon adds up to a tidy profit. Thanks.

singhini

Thats naughty,  especially since there isn’t even a city tax in that area. It definitely sounds like Booking.com have made an error or are charging something they shouldn’t. Good that you checked with the B&B manager and have it confirmed in writing. Hopefully they refund it quickly once you raise it.

If they drag their feet, going through Trading Standards or even leaving a public review might help push things along. You could also contact a local consumer program such as BBC Radio Norfolk, who sometimes cover consumer-type stories, so they may be interested/assist Their general contact email is radionorfolk@bbc.co.uk

 and phone 1603 619331

SuperSuze

I'm currently having an absolute nightmare with Hotels.com (they are refusing to refund £145.35 - see separate thread). I would 100% continue to challenge their crazy charges out of principle.

They are so unethical and their staff just lie. I told an "Escalation Manager" from Hotels.com that I would be taking legal action or using a Dispute Resolution Service. He just scoffed at me and said, "I really don't think that will work". He was so rude and it's awful customer service. Do they really expect to retain loyalty this way?

Never use their booking site or hand over your credit card details. Seriously, there needs to be a formal investigation into their practices. So many bad one star reviews on TrustPilot too!

Good luck!