Booking.com: Colluding with Corrupt Hotel Owners to Cheat Customers?
I am sorry to have to write this review, but I have tried for months to get Booking.com to address my complaint. I have reserved rooms using this service in the past, and have been very pleased. This, however, came to an end this summer.
I booked a room at the Travel Inn in Reykjavik, only to find, upon arrival, that my wife, son, and myself were escorted to a car with no explanation. Eventually the clerk told us that we would be driven to the "other" location. The Travel Inn has, it seems, bought space in the Pavi Guesthouse (over a mile away). I would have refused on principle, but I know the situation in Reykjavik is such that I might have had no options. We were driven there, the driver stopped along the way to encourage me to withdraw money from a cash-machine--when I hesitated he offered me a "discount." Sadly, I accepted, since otherwise I could have at least complained to the credit card company. When we arrived I could not believe the place--an unlocked abandoned-looking building on a burned out street (the only such street in all of Reykjavik). When I saw the room I was even more shocked--three narrow cots placed next to each other--no room to even move. It was a disgraceful place. If you want to stay in a place like that, fine, but it was not what we payed for (155 Euros), not what Booking.com promised us. By charging the same for this bait-and-switch the hotel, and therefore Booking.com, are being throughly dishonest.
I have since spent the past three months trying to get the Travel Inn or Booking.com to acknowledge this problem. The Travel Inn, predictably, never responded, but what is shocking is Booking.com. After repeatedly insisting that they would investigate, that they were very sorry, that they would do everything in their power, etc. They have done nothing, and most infuriatingly, they have even refused to print my review of Travel Inn on their website! Their rationale? An Orwellian one--since we were driven to another location we cannot review the Travel Inn--even if the Travel Inn did it, took our money, etc. More than I once I have pointed out the absurdity of this rationale--again, to no avail.
I am sad to say that I now have absolutely no confidence in Booking.com. They provide an aura of reliability, but they are, it seems, choosing which reviews to publish--ignoring those that are too damaging to hotels that they are working with. Moreover, you have no assurance that a hotel will not cheat you--one wonders what their response would have been had the hotel owners locked us out of the room and stolen our suitcases? Would they have said that since we did not actually stay a night in the hotel, we have no right to review it?
Please understand I am not a vindictive person--I gave Booking.com every chance to help--even if in only the most symbolic way. I even showed them this review. I am sad to have to do this.
A final note--I have had very good experiences with Venere.com, and they have published all my reviews unedited.