Extremely Disappointing Experience – Poor Support, No Accountability, Endless Runaround
I rarely leave negative reviews, but my experience with Booking.com was extremely disappointing. I made a reservation through Booking.com (Confirmation 5114439813) for 3 rooms accommodating 14 adults and 9 children at Blue Dolphin Motel in Timaru. What should have been a straightforward family stay turned into a stressful and frustrating experience due to poor communication, lack of support, and a complete absence of accountability. Upon arrival, I spent nearly two hours at reception trying to resolve issues with my booking. I repeatedly showed my booking confirmation and explained that I had followed the correct booking process through Booking.com. During the discussion, I was informed there had been a communication failure involving Booking.com, yet no one seemed willing to take ownership of the problem or provide an immediate solution. Travelling with a large family group that included children, this delay caused unnecessary stress and frustration. I eventually paid approximately NZ$20 extra to accommodate the full group. To be clear, the additional money is not the issue. The issue is the complete lack of accountability, poor communication, and inadequate customer service. Mistakes happen, but how those mistakes are handled is what defines good customer service. The problems continued after the stay. Booking.com later requested documentation for a refund review. The motel provided only a handwritten receipt. I submitted this immediately, but Booking.com repeatedly advised that it was not sufficient and requested a formal invoice. This resulted in countless emails back and forth between me and Booking.com. At every stage, I fully cooperated and provided everything requested. Despite this, I found myself being repeatedly asked to obtain documents from the property, even though I had already done everything reasonably expected of me. Only after extensive complaints did Booking.com finally confirm that they had contacted the property directly themselves, which is exactly what should have happened from the beginning. I now hold a complete record of: Booking confirmation and reservation details. Proof of payment. Bank transaction records. Handwritten receipt issued by the property. Records of the additional amount paid. Multiple email chains with Booking.com customer service. Requests for invoices and documentation. Responses from several Booking.com representatives. Records of the time spent attempting to resolve the issue. What disappointed me most was that neither the property nor Booking.com appeared willing to take responsibility. Instead, the burden was repeatedly placed on me to resolve problems that were not of my making. Noteworthy: The problem wasn't the accommodation itself or the extra NZ$20. The real issue was the lack of accountability. A communication failure between Booking.com and the property left a large family group waiting nearly two hours, yet I was the one left doing all the chasing, explaining, and follow-up afterwards. Customer service is tested when things go wrong, and unfortunately Booking.com failed that test. I expected far better from a company of this size and reputation. Based on my experience, I cannot recommend Booking.com and will seriously reconsider using the platform for future bookings.