Don’use— advice from a Genius Level 3…
Don’use— advice from a Genius Level 3 customer.
In Nov 2025, I had a confirmed accommodation booking in Seoul. Shortly before my stay, the property could no longer accommodate me and cancelled the booking.
A Booking.com customer-service agent told me they had found an apartment that was close to my original booking and comparable in size and standard. They sent me a link, and I clicked it and completed the reservation based on what the agent was telling me during the call. Then I realized it was around 45 minutes away from my original location. About ten minutes later, I called Booking.com back and explained that the property was too far away and not comparable. The agent apologised and told me they would cancel it, help me book a more suitable property and cover the price difference between my original booking and the final replacement through Booking.com travel credits.
But Booking.com did not cancel the unsuitable property, and I was charged for it. They are now arguing that I am responsible because I clicked the link and did not cancel. That completely ignores the circumstances. I did not independently find and choose this property. I was dealing with a failed confirmed booking, and relying on Booking.com’s representative to help relocate me. Their agent described the property as nearby and comparable, and when it became clear almost immediately that it was not, another agent explicitly said it would be cancelled.
Booking.com is now denying that promise because it was apparently not properly written in their internal notes. A company cannot allow its agents to make promises over the phone, fail to document them properly and then use incomplete notes to deny responsibility.
That was only the first issue. On 13 Nov, the promised price difference was put in my Wallet. On 17 Nov, 4 transactions that I did not make removed the entire amount.
The transactions were not visible in my app, were not linked to my email address and were not connected to any booking on my account.I called customer service several times and was initially told that I must have booked flights.Eventually, one representative properly checked and confirmed that the transactions were not connected to my account.
I was told the matter would be sent to Booking.com’s security team, that an investigation was required and that someone would contact me within seven days. At the same time, I was told that my account had not been compromised. Make this make sense. By June 2026, despite repeated calls and follow-ups, I had still received no investigation result, no refund, no restored credits, no proper security reference number and no meaningful explanation.
It is now July 2026 — I finally reached a supervisor, she started the call aggressively and immediately blamed me for not checking that the replacement property was 45 minutes away. Her tone was combative, condescending and rude with no sense of customer care or attentiveness. She wouldn’t even let the customer explain a single sentence before jumping into her lecture and talking over us or rather down at us like children.
No.I had already researched my original accommodation. Booking.com’s platform failed to provide it. Their representative told me the replacement was nearby and comparable, and I relied on that information while stranded. Booking.com had a responsibility to perform basic due diligence before recommending a replacement property.When I challenged the supervisor’s attempt to shift all responsibility onto me, she ended the call. I did not swear at her or scream. Fortunately, I recorded the conversation.
I will be sharing the recording, transaction history, correspondence, call records and full timeline with the relevant consumer-protection authorities and any outlet willing to investigate.
Booking.com should also review its own quality-assurance recordings. Their internal notes are clearly not an accurate record of what customers are told, and customers should not be financially punished because an agent failed to record a promise properly.