Booking.com (www.booking.com) has a 1.1 out of 5 rating on OK.one, based on 246 user reviews collected here. It is listed under Travel & Vacation and its reputation is poor. 96% of reviews are 1 star, a relatively high share; The business has not yet replied to negative reviews. Last updated 2026-08-10.
I am writing to formally submit a serious complaint regarding a fraudulent host activity and an unsafe property listing on Booking.com, as well as to request an immediate full refund for my canceled reservation.
Reservation Details:
Primary Booking Reference: 6741656708
Property Name: Sipahi Home
Property Address: Platonos 13, Alexandroupoli, Greece, 681 00
Stay Dates: July 17, 2026 – July 18, 2026 (1 Night)
Guests: 4 Adults, 2 Children
Host Phone Number (WhatsApp): +49 163 348 4220
Alternative Accommodation Ref (Proof of Stay): 6623331395
Statement of Facts:
Background & Check-in Request: On July 17, 2026, I reserved "Sipahi Home" via Booking.com. On July 18, 2026, prior to check-in, I sent a message to the host via the Booking.com messaging platform requesting check-in instructions.
Off-Platform Contact & Safety Hazard Claim: The host claimed they were unable to reach me via the app and requested a phone number. Shortly after I provided my international line, the host called me via WhatsApp from +49 163 348 4220. During this call, the host explicitly stated that their cleaning staff discovered a live snake inside the house, pest control was called but could not immediately eliminate the threat, and the property was strictly unsafe—especially for our 2 young children.
Coerced Cancellation: The host instructed me to initiate a cancellation through the Booking.com system, assuring me that they would immediately confirm/approve free cancellation from their host panel so a 100% full refund would be issued. Relying in good faith on the host’s safety warning and refund guarantee, I processed the cancellation request as instructed.
Fraud & Refusal to Refund: Following the cancellation, the host failed to approve the free cancellation and retained my payment. Despite multiple attempts to resolve this through standard Booking.com support channels, I have not received a resolution or a refund.
Secondary Financial Damage: Due to this unexpected eviction-like scenario, my traveling companions canceled their travel plans entirely. I was forced to urgently book and pay for alternative accommodation in Alexandroupoli (Booking Reference: 6623331395).
Violations & Security Risks:
Deceptive Host Practices: The host intentionally bypassed Booking.com's host-cancellation rules by coercing the guest into canceling, exploiting guest trust to keep the reservation money without providing accommodation.
Unsafe Listing Active on Platform: The listing remains active and available for booking on Booking.com. Offering a property with an unresolved safety/pest hazard (snake infestation) poses a direct threat to travelers and violates basic consumer safety standards.
Demands & Requested Action:
Full Refund: An immediate and full refund of all charges for Reservation #6741656708.
Investigation & Delisting: An urgent risk investigation into the host of "Sipahi Home" (Platonos 13, Alexandroupoli) and the immediate removal of this fraudulent and unsafe listing from Booking.com.
Escalation: Escalation of this case to the Fraud Prevention and Risk Management Divisions of Booking.com.
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Craig Russell · 1 review · Experienced 2026-04-02 ·
★★★★★
I like how easy it is to search and…
I like how easy it is to search and book accommodations. However, there seem to be too many unreliable hosts, and customer service didn't provide the support I expected.
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Keith Murray · 2 reviews · Experienced 2026-05-24 ·
★★★★★
DO NOT USE BOOKING.COM
I paid in full a reservation to stay at the Echo apartment Sunderland (Sun, 24 May 2026–Mon, 25 May 2026), with Booking.com.
On arrival we were unable to gain entry into the apartment, no key, no access code .
I contacted the help desk who advised to take an alternative accommodation.
This I had to pay additionally over and above the previous booking.
Ive been fighting since that date to recover costs, but to no avail.
BOOKING.COM in my view are nothing more than modern day pirates. Low life scumbags.
I will do everything in my power to steer people away from these useless thieves, who are more than happy to assist in parting you from your money, but when it turns bad ( as you read on a lot of reviews) are nowhere to be found .
NO NOT USE , BOOKING.COM
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Steph · 9 reviews · Experienced 2026-07-28 ·
★★★★★
Impossible to get a refund after bookings.com made a double booking
I have, until now, been a frequent user of booking.com. They are good at basic bookings but not at addressing and refunding mistakes. I booked and paid an air ticket from London for myself. I received two tickets - same day, same flight in my name. An obvious mistake made by the booking.com system. Despite repeated attempts to contact bookings.com through their agent, I have not had a reply or follow-up. They send me emails with no reply addresses. Very disappointing for a company I have given my business to many times. I am having to go to my bank to recover my funds.
I will never use booking again - for ANYTHING. The amount of upsell demands and popups while booking was intolerable, and those same upsells started bombarding my inbox day after day after the booking. Unsubscribed seemed to fail for promotional mails, maybe because they come from multiple addresses - block one, get more from another? Also, their arranged "free" pickup from the airport had us without a ride, contacting the driver failed the first few attempts, and then I received an sms saying he was en-route. He never showed, leaving us over two hours late for our arrival at the hotel. Booking promises and gives nothing!!!
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Ashley de Jesus · 3 reviews · Experienced 2026-08-01 ·
★★★★★
Impossible to get a refund for REFUNDABLE trips--hopefully you don't mind watching your money disappear
We have generally enjoyed booking.com and feel that they have great deals. But the problem we ran into is a BIG one, and quite unacceptable in my opinion. My husband and I booked a really special--dream--cruise for our 10th wedding anniversary. The cruise was refundable for a certain period of time. We ended up needing to cancel the trip, and thought we would soon see a charge back on our card. We received confirmation from Booking.com that we had cancelled our refundable trip. A month went by and we didn't see anything. We contacted them and they said a refund was on the way. After 90 days we still hadn't seen a refund and contacted our credit card company to dispute the charge. At the 90 day point the credit card company came back and said that Booking.com had disputed the dispute and said they were issuing a refund. We patiently waited for several more months. Nothing happened. We VERY rarely have had to dispute any charges so we are not familiar with the process and how long we should expect this to take. About 6 months later we started trying to get in contact with Booking.com as we still haven't received our refund. We kept getting the run around, and someone telling us they sent a check, and others telling us a supervisor would call. For the last 3 months my husband has been on chat with them weekly trying to get a supervisor to call us. We have gotten on the phone with them two times, and the last conversation we had someone said it had been too long and that it was too late for them to do anything. This is completely distressing, as we worked very hard for this money, and would very much like to still take our dream trip. Booking.com has all but stolen this money from us and I really just need someone to help me.
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Lizl · 8 reviews · Experienced 2026-07-23 ·
★★★★★
Take no responsibility for appalling accommodation booked in good faith.
booking.com takes no responsibility for misadvertised, disgusting properties that have false reviews and appalling conditions. Dealing with their automated CS was a soul destroying experience full of "we sincerely apologise" and "are so sorry" but their unaudited accommodation experiences completely ruined an important graduation event that I had travelled across the world for. The apartment was advertised as "Immaculate" but was the worst I have stayed in over my 40 years of travel. Thanks booking.com for absolutely nothing in trying to resolve this terrible experience. I believe they also accept false reviews to bump up terrible properties.
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Champ · 19 reviews · Experienced 2026-08-06 ·
★★★★★
I booked a rental car through…
I booked a rental car through Booking.com while visiting Faro. The booking confirmation stated that the only required identification was a valid driving licence. When I arrived at the rental office, I was unexpectedly told that I also had to present my passport.
This requirement was not mentioned anywhere in the booking confirmation, despite the documents clearly listing the required identification. As a result, I had to travel all the way back to my hotel to collect my passport and then return to the rental office, wasting around 1–1.5 hours of my rental period.
Neither the rental company nor Booking.com offered any compensation, discount, or extension of the rental despite the time I lost because of the incorrect information.
Booking.com should make sure the information provided during the booking process is accurate. A simple note that a passport is required would have prevented this entire situation. Very disappointing experience.
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LAURA WOODFINE · 3 reviews · Experienced 2026-07-18 ·
★★★★★
Left very angry and upset
A very angry and upset. Customer. Booking.com have taken £700 of my money and I received an awful holiday where I came back after the first night of no sleep.
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Nancy · 4 reviews · Experienced 2026-07-31 ·
★★★★★
If I could I would give zero stars and…
If I could I would give zero stars and I will never book anything through this company again. I booked a room for three people including breakfast and I landed up with two rooms which I questioned and was told if the hotel was happy to waiver the fee I would be refunded. After a few calls to the hotel manager he confirmed he would be quite happy to do that. I contacted booking.com a few times !!! and was told they would email the hotel. I spoke to reception when I arrived at the hotel and they confirmed that they had not been contacted at all. I am now out of pocket for over £200. Terrible company
They sell a flexible ticket service, but when you try to change your flight date, they charge a 92.50 change fee. Total scam. From now on, I’m only buying directly from the airline and NEVER buying from Booking again!
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Lars · 4 reviews · Experienced 2026-08-02 ·
★★★★★
Never book on this site
Never book on this site. They allow scammers to advertise AI-edited apartments, and when you contact customer support afterward, they won’t even talk to you.
Booking.com customer service is my worst online shopping experience... I am waiting since 28th March 2026 (today is 6th August 2026) for a refund that a host has agreed to refund but could not yet get it from Booking.com.
I've been sending complaint emails every month since and no solution is provided.. I am not sure even if anyone is reading the emails, I only receive automatic emails !!!
It's a shame and very bad customer experience !!!
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Andy Sanderson · 1 review · Experienced 2026-08-06 ·
★★★★★
Collegue staying at Chapter house
Collegue staying at Chapter house, noise unacceptable. requested a refund so we can move him. I have gone round in cirles and get the same scripted responce. even when say how do i get a refund and escallate this. same scripted reponce. " they are dealing with the issue" and " call security" ignoring my request. worst customer service ever!
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Cecile GRAND · 16 reviews · Experienced 2026-08-06 ·
★★★★★
SCAM
SCAM! It's impossible to contact their customer service!! I've been trying to reach them : impossible because of their AI stupid system!!
They don't reply to my email queries either!!
They've been trying to charge my card for invalid reasons and it's been flagged twice by my bank now. My account is frozen because of them and I cannot get any answers!!
I've been using them for years but now I'm done, I'm cancelling my accounts and blocking them!!
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satyaps · 2 reviews · Experienced 2026-07-28 ·
★★★★★
Very disappointing experience – dirty room and poor service28
Our stay at RD6 Simple Rooms and Apartments in Ljubljana was a complete disaster. The room was extremely dirty — the worst cleanliness standard I have ever experienced. The kitchen area was dirty, everything felt unhygienic, and the overall condition of the accommodation was unacceptable.
There was also no Wi-Fi available, despite this being an important service for guests. I paid a lot of money for this stay and expected a basic level of cleanliness and comfort, but unfortunately this was not provided.
I contacted Booking.com to report the problem, but their response was disappointing and no real help was offered.
Based on my experience, I cannot recommend this accommodation or Booking.com. I suggest other travelers look at different websites and carefully check reviews before booking.
Booking.com is the worst platform I have ever had the misfortune to work with.
For more than two months, Booking.com has kept my account closed because of your own mistakes, not mine. You completely ruined my season, caused me financial loss, and showed absolutely no responsibility or urgency to solve the problem.
Your partner support is one of the most frustrating and unprofessional services I have ever experienced. Endless waiting, no real answers, no solution, and no respect for the people who depend on your platform.
A company like Booking.com should be ashamed of treating its partners this way. You are quick to take commissions, but when there is a serious problem, you leave your partners alone.
I regret trusting Booking.com with my business. If you are a property owner, think very carefully before relying on this platform.
Zero stars if that was possible.
Booking.com Allows Unreliable Accommodation Providers to Continue Advertising
How can Booking.com continue to advertise and accept bookings for properties with repeated complaints about guests being refused accommodation after arrival?
A booking was made through Booking.com, and the full amount was paid one month in advance. However, upon arriving in Edinburgh on the confirmed check-in date, the accommodation provider refused to provide the accommodation and ignored repeated attempts to make contact.
Although Booking.com was contacted immediately, customer service took far too long to resolve the issue. By the time a solution was found, the trip had already been seriously disrupted and the entire experience was extremely stressful.
What is particularly concerning is that many previous customers had already reported similar problems in their reviews. Booking.com should properly investigate properties before allowing them to remain available on the platform. Customers should not be left without accommodation after travelling and paying in advance. A booking platform must take responsibility for protecting its customers, not simply continue advertising properties despite repeated complaints.
Reports have also highlighted cases where properties remained available to book despite serious concerns from previous travellers.
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RobBob · 1 review · Experienced 2026-07-30 ·
★★★★★
Extremely Disappointed
Honestly, I prefer to book Hotels directly. On a recent trip to Europe, I used Booking.com to book 2 different hotels. They nailed one and failed on the other. 1 for 2, or 50%, isn't good enough. Now, with the issue we experienced, an economy room for 4 (2 Adults, 2 Children, ages 8/4), mildew on the Bedroom baseboards throughout and floors that haven't been moped in months. And mildew throughout the bathroom. They must scrutinize these hotels more thoroughly if they want my future business.
Secondly, when I began to attempt to resolve the issues, they would give me 3 hours to respond to an offer, or it was taken off the table. Meanwhile, it's been a week, and the Hotel has not responded to them.
On the good side, this site was pro-active for unexpectedly issuing a future credit for the equivalent of half of the cost of one night's stay. Nonetheless I still have 3 and 1/2 days of cost still in limbo.
I’ve always booked with booking.com and found no issue until we booked a property that was covered in black mould and was falling apart and dirty. I called customer service straight away and it seems that they’ll just try to call the property but if they can’t get through, they’ll email and leave it at that. This property should not be still on the system. It’s a health hazard and false advertising. They’ll give you a summary of what happened to contact your bank but all in all, there should be consumer protection being a booking website. Instead, booking.com have no way of refunding the customer or doing anything unless the property owner replies or agrees to it. They also don’t really keep you updated on the situation. I’ll avoid the app from now on. I feel totally scammed
