booking.com NO CREDIT CARD NEEDED - no show ? why do they pretend to charge you ?

[gaff]

hello,

 

When booking a room without credit card they still display a message saying that full amount is due in case of no show.

But as they do not have my credit card on file, are they going to charge their mom ?

 

I am wondering what happens if someone has recorded his credit card, do they charge for the room even when you haven't been there ?

And if credit card is not recorded, would they try to charge you in case you use a credit card for next booking ?

 

Anyway, just want to inform you that you can book as many rooms as you want when no credit cards is needed, and they do not close your account or even contact you about.

 

Cheers.

 

 

 

[VBF]

Without your card details, does the booking actually complete though (ie did you get the room you booked?)? That is the critical bit!

[MekkOne]

27 minutes ago, VBF said:

Without your card details, does the booking actually complete though (ie did you get the room you booked?)? That is the critical bit!

yes the book is complete, this is the way booking.com is working, forcing hotel that don't have a POS system to overbook for cover the ridiculous 60% rate of non show on their bookings, if you check mostly rates on booking.com are higher than other OTA. Booking.com is the worst platform to use as a hotelier and as a customer, customer service is terrible, and if you read the point 5 of their terms and conditions you'll never put you CC number on the system. PS: as hotelier is also very difficult to get booking.com don't make you pay the commissions on non show bookings as the word of the guest is always more heavy than the hotelier...

[Airalee]

I use booking.com exclusively.  If I want to go with the “no upfront payment” option that you describe, it is about 12% more expensive than just booking a non refundable room. It does say that if you don’t cancel before your arrival date (with the “no upfront payment” option, you will be charged only for the first night.  I don’t know how they do that as I have never used that option.

[MekkOne]

16 hours ago, Airalee said:

I use booking.com exclusively.  If I want to go with the “no upfront payment” option that you describe, it is about 12% more expensive than just booking a non refundable room. It does say that if you don’t cancel before your arrival date (with the “no upfront payment” option, you will be charged only for the first night.  I don’t know how they do that as I have never used that option.

they won't you'll just lost the money, the possibility of giving away the room and you'll probably have to pay to booking.com the commissions on the booking. Enjoy. Worst company ever.

[VBF]

8 minutes ago, MekkOne said:

they won't you'll just lost the money, the possibility of giving away the room and you'll probably have to pay to booking.com the commissions on the booking. Enjoy. Worst company ever.

From what I'm reading here, IF I use them, I think I'll pay the extra 12% rather than chance what might be a bunch of pirates (allegedly, for the lawyers  ) having my valuable card details.

"Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to cheat you"

[MekkOne]

18 hours ago, VBF said:

From what I'm reading here, IF I use them, I think I'll pay the extra 12% rather than chance what might be a bunch of pirates (allegedly, for the lawyers  ) having my valuable card details.

"Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to cheat you"

Is useless paying more, just don't use them is the right thing to do, as I said, read the TERMS & CONDITIONS and you'll see how they aren't responsible for anything that happen to your credit card details.

[BritManToo]

I use booking.com and Traveloka for travel in Asia, never use a credit card, either pay upfront at 7/11, or pay on arrival.

Usually a lot cheaper than direct booking with the hotels.

 

Had one hotel wanting 700bht at the front desk, just sat down and booked through Traveloka for 500bht, walked along to a 7/11 and paid, then showed the hotel the payment slip ....... madness!

Edited September 7, 2018 by BritManToo

[Miami007]

I am working for a hotel - just trying to clear up the confusion

 

Not every hotel allows reservations without a credit card submitted 

Booking.com is actually trying to convince hotels not to require a card when accepting reservations.  Booking.com has no risk when guests do not arrive, but they make it easier to book so the company can charge the hotel a commission

During busy times, hotels would be foolish NOT to require a CC to complete a reservation.  

If hotels do not require a card, then people will book rooms and not show up - causing a loss of revenue and preventing other people from booking rooms

Most hotels will charge you a one night fee, if you do not arrive - check Terms & Conditions on the hotel site (even if you are using Booking.com/ Expedia/ Agoda etc... most OTAs will state that the hotel policy is in effect)

If you are booking a non-refundable, pre-payment required reservation to get a discount, you will need a card and your card will be charge the FULL amount when you book.  And most of the time, you will not get a refund or be allowed to change dates

 

BTW, have you tried booking a flight lately without paying for the ticket the moment you complete the reservation

[gaff]

On 9/5/2018 at 9:37 PM, MekkOne said:

yes the book is complete, this is the way booking.com is working, forcing hotel that don't have a POS system to overbook for cover the ridiculous 60% rate of non show on their bookings, if you check mostly rates on booking.com are higher than other OTA. Booking.com is the worst platform to use as a hotelier and as a customer, customer service is terrible, and if you read the point 5 of their terms and conditions you'll never put you CC number on the system. PS: as hotelier is also very difficult to get booking.com don't make you pay the commissions on non show bookings as the word of the guest is always more heavy than the hotelier...

 

 

As a customer booking is the best, and I now only use no credit card booking, or I just do not book.

 

And it seems not so bad as a hotelier as few hotels are not on booking.com

 

 

 

 

[gaff]

On 9/5/2018 at 10:09 PM, Airalee said:

I use booking.com exclusively.  If I want to go with the “no upfront payment” option that you describe, it is about 12% more expensive than just booking a non refundable room. It does say that if you don’t cancel before your arrival date (with the “no upfront payment” option, you will be charged only for the first night.  I don’t know how they do that as I have never used that option.

 

They just don't do it and it's only made for idiots who believe that they will be charged after no show or cancel 5555+

 

I didn't show up or canceled many times, but who cares, they do not have my CC details and will never have them !

 

 

 

 

[BritManToo]

1 hour ago, Miami007 said:

BTW, have you tried booking a flight lately without paying for the ticket the moment you complete the reservation

Quite a lot of hotels are 50% empty all the time.

It doesn't cost them anything to allow 'no shows'.

[robertson468]

People do not realise that when they make a booking through Booking.com they are making a contract with the Hotel (and Booking.com) to pay a given sum in return for staying in that establishment for a given number of nights.  Up to a month ago we were happy to accept bookings, without deposits (we are a very small resort so do not have the hard ware for card payments), however, we found that some very dishonest people would cancel inside the period when they would have to pay 50% for late cancellation (we had stipulated one month before arrival) or would be no show.  None, but none of these crooks paid, despite writing to them several times giving them bank account details of asking for payment via Western Union.  We got so fed up with these unpleasant people we have now asked Booking.com to take a deposit one month before the Guest is due to arrive.  Two things have happened.  We no longer get frivolous bookings which are quite often cancelled  shortly after being made and we now seem to attract the more honest Guest who understands that they are required to pay for the service provided to them.  Yes Booking.com charges a big commission, 18%, but I believe they get far more business than most other websites.  I have tried Airbnb, Home and Away and two other websites, but received next to no business from them, so resorted to exclusively using Booking.com.  The thing that  does annoy me is if you contact Booking.com about late cancellation or no show for them to write to the Guest, in support of the Resort, they do nothing about it.  I have even suggested that they Black List these crooks from their website as clearly they are in breach of Contract, but sadly they do not do it.  Yes, a little bit more support from Booking.com would be great, but by and large they do bring the most business.  I would be interested to hear other Resort Owners/Managers opinions.

[BritManToo]

34 minutes ago, robertson468 said:

I would be interested to hear other Resort Owners/Managers opinions.

If you aren't 90% occupied year round you're not maximizing your profits.

I'm always amazed at resorts that allow vacant rooms, they're throwing away money.

[HHTel]

I've lived here many years and I've always used booking.com when traveling around Asia.  They have my CC details but it's never been used.  I personally would recommend them to anyone as I've found them to be an excellent service.  I've even booked a hotel one hour before arriving only to find the hotel has all the details on arrival.  I've cancelled quite a few with no penalty, usually advertised with the hotel details.  Hotel charges have always been less than the advertised charge at the reception desks.

 

I've used them probably more than 100 times in the last few years and never had a problem.  Great service!

[klongpong]

My good lady runs a small hotel here and no shows/ late cancellations via Booking.con are massive pain. Abusers of this, like Gaff, are pushing prices back up and increasing the possibility of double bookings.

Low season prices will stay low in the foreseeable but you will paying extra in high season so the hotels can make up the shortfall.

There is a forum for hoteliers set up by BDC which is currently running a monitored thread about this. The feeling is very strong and I suggest all hoteliers get on there and the make the voice as loud as possible for change.

If you have a full company you can access off line credit card processing and stop these time wasting (¥₩+$ in their tracks.

If you run as a personal business then there is no access to this in Thailand, unless the owner parks, permanently, a sizeable sum dedicated to the account connected to the card machine.

Hotels can also request a no show customer to be blocked from their hotel, enough strikes and, it is claimed, the pest will be blocked from the site as well.

 

BDC forum thread

[Chivas]

I just dont know why people even bother with these booking sites. Have NEVER ever found the price cheaper than emailing the hotel and asking for very best price after checking these booking sites. Point in question just this week booked pattaya hotel at cost of 205 baht cheaper per day than best booking site could offer. Time after time...

More to the point why do people even believe they're cheaper in the first place when the hotel has to pay commission. Just bizarre !

 

Edited to add no money up front either obviously

Edited September 7, 2018 by Chivas

[Borpender]

They can't charge you unless you have added the CVC code. I work in a guesthouse and we take the card details and charge for first night if a no show. The reason for it is in high season if a lot of people don't show we lose out on turning away walkins, also if we are full on booking.com and people don't show then it's too late for other people to book. I've not turned up in the past but I now I work in hotel I realise what a nuisance it causes and costs the owners. In slow season it's not really a big deal as there are always empty rooms.

 

On thing though, Booking.com have just changed their policy and if enough hotels complain about someone who has booked they will be barred from booking.com. Can't remember how many complaints are needed but I suspect if you don't turn up to several places and they all complain then you will be kicked off....I also guess you just need a new email address to register again.

[Tchooptip]

I am to day wrting this in a hotel in Bangkok I have booked with booking.com. It was the first time with them it will also be the last one. Hotel for me is OK but, first booking. com wrote only one room left since this hotel is 100 meters from my ambassy I took the room, cheap in my mind 1900 Baht for two nights, but I realised the hotel is only half full, so first «  lie » Then l will have to pay 300 Baht per night for my car so 600 Baht for two nights and 400Baht for two people breakfast so 800 Baht. So in place of 1900 Baht my bill will be 3300 Baht, no problem about this amount since I could no doubt have booked a room at this price even a little more, my main concern was the nearest from the ambassy. But I hate this form of commercial approach so for me last time with Booking.com even thought I could come back in this same hotel for this same price ?

 

[Borpender]

They are being investigated along with Agoda and some others for their practices. When I check my hotel as a customer it says we only have two rooms left when we have many more. They also falsify the prices. Trust me this is not the hotels/guesthouses doing it is booking.com.

[Airalee]

9 minutes ago, Tchooptip said:

I am to day wrting this in a hotel in Bangkok I have booked with booking.com. It was the first time with them it will also be the last one. Hotel for me is OK but, first booking. com wrote only one room left since this hotel is 100 meters from my ambassy I took the room, cheap in my mind 1900 Baht for two nights, but I realised the hotel is only half full, so first «  lie » Then l will have to pay 300 Baht per night for my car so 600 Baht for two nights and 400Baht for two people breakfast so 800 Baht. So in place of 1900 Baht my bill will be 3300 Baht, no problem about this amount since I could no doubt have booked a room at this price even a little more, my main concern was the nearest from the ambassy. But I hate this form of commercial approach so for me last time with Booking.com even thought I could come back in this same hotel for this same price ?

 

I’m currently writing from a hotel that I booked in Krabi on booking.com.

 

I have no idea how full it is, nor do I care.  I’m happy with my room.  The Booking.com price was lower than the hotels website price.  In all my years using booking.com, I have never found a hotels website price to be lower and I really don’t feel like emailing back and forth negotiating a better price.  

 

Booking.com will inform you of everything that the hotel has.  I’m sure it is up to the hotel to let booking.com know what services/amenities are provided.  I had the choice of a room with breakfast or a room without breakfast knew what the additional cost was at the time of booking.

 

Without booking.com (or another similar website), how will you even know if a particular hotel even exists, let alone what their website may be?

[owenm]

I did a booking through booking.com 2 months before arriving in Phuket. The hotel I chose would not offer option to pay at booking.. Just that your booking is confirmed and to pay on arrival. Six weeks later, and two weeks before arrival, the hotel contacted me via email that the booking had been cancelled giving no reason. I wasn't happy and followed up and was told they are not taking any bookings now at all. I don't know if they got a large group booking of Chinese tickets but now with only 10 days left I found other accommodation, but this time through Agoda, who I normally use anyway.. 

[kkerry]

1 hour ago, Tchooptip said:

booking. com wrote only one room left since this hotel is 100 meters from my ambassy I took the room, cheap in my mind 1900 Baht for two nights, but I realised the hotel is only half full, so first «  lie »

One room left probably means booking.com has only one room left from of the rooms available to booking.com. The hotel itself and Agoda etc. etc. likely have some more still available so booking.com aren't necessarily lying. I've booked hotels before that were completely sold out on one website but still had availability elsewhere. I wanted to book a hotel on Wotif recently but waited too long so there were no rooms left but when I tried Kogan.com they still had a couple at almost the same price so I booked one there.

Edited September 7, 2018 by kkerry

[Borpender]

Just now, kkerry said:

One room left probably means booking.com has only one room left from of the rooms available to booking.com. The hotel itself, Agoda etc. etc. likely have more so booking.comt aren't necessarily lying. I've booked hotels before that were completely sold out on one website but still had availability elsewhere. 

They deliberately say there are less rooms than available to push sales. I know as I work in a hotel and I know what we have available on booking.com and what they are showing if I view the site as a customer. It's a trick to panic people into booking.

[Tchooptip]

8 minutes ago, kkerry said:

One room left probably means booking.com has only one room left from of the rooms available to booking.com. The hotel itself and Agoda etc. etc. likely have some more still available so booking.com aren't necessarily lying. I've booked hotels before that were completely sold out on one website but still had availability elsewhere. I wanted to book a hotel on Wotif recently but waited too long so there were no rooms left but when I tried Kogan.com they still had a couple at almost the same price so I booked one there.

Ah OK I understand, I did not know it was working like that... I’ve learnt something 

[Tchooptip]

42 minutes ago, Airalee said:

I’m currently writing from a hotel that I booked in Krabi on booking.com.

 

I have no idea how full it is, nor do I care.  I’m happy with my room.  The Booking.com price was lower than the hotels website price.  In all my years using booking.com, I have never found a hotels website price to be lower and I really don’t feel like emailing back and forth negotiating a better price.  

 

Booking.com will inform you of everything that the hotel has.  I’m sure it is up to the hotel to let booking.com know what services/amenities are provided.  I had the choice of a room with breakfast or a room without breakfast knew what the additional cost was at the time of booking.

 

Without booking.com (or another similar website), how will you even know if a particular hotel even exists, let alone what their website may be?

I have nothing against booking online I was talking about « booking.com ».  Like everyone I guess, I have booked online numerous times. Never said I will not book online any more. Allow me not to appreciate one of them who by the way wrote: You cannot contact this hotel before checking in if you have any questions please contact «us »

 « Without booking.com (or another similar website), how will you even know if a particular hotel even exists, let alone what their website may be? » 

name of the town+Hotel=Google giving score of hotel websites!

[simon43]

My ex runs a small transit hotel next to Phuket Airport.  The occupancy rate (always only one night, before or after flights) approaches 100% throughout the year (a transit hotel is a great business model!).

 

She uses Agoda, Expedia and Booking.com - no walk-ins allowed. She doesn't have a POS CC machine.

 

About 80% of guest bookings come from booking.com.

 

About 2% of guest bookings are cancelled within the charged cancellation period - 7 days is what we set.

 

Therefore, the loss of possible funds from booking.com cancellations or no-shows (where the guest pays in cash at the hotel) are minimal or zero (because in the case of a no-show, she just opens the room again on the websites and it gets booked up within the hour).

 

Agoda and Expedia charge the cancellation fee to the guest's CC, so this isn't a problem ?

 

Bottom line for her - no problems at all with booking.com!

[fvw53]

5 hours ago, HHTel said:

I've lived here many years and I've always used booking.com when traveling around Asia.  They have my CC details but it's never been used.  I personally would recommend them to anyone as I've found them to be an excellent service.  I've even booked a hotel one hour before arriving only to find the hotel has all the details on arrival.  I've cancelled quite a few with no penalty, usually advertised with the hotel details.  Hotel charges have always been less than the advertised charge at the reception desks.

 

I've used them probably more than 100 times in the last few years and never had a problem.  Great service!

I have the same good experience with booking.com and I use them also since a few years

[HHTel]

5 hours ago, Tchooptip said:

I am to day wrting this in a hotel in Bangkok I have booked with booking.com. It was the first time with them it will also be the last one. Hotel for me is OK but, first booking. com wrote only one room left since this hotel is 100 meters from my ambassy I took the room, cheap in my mind 1900 Baht for two nights, but I realised the hotel is only half full, so first «  lie » Then l will have to pay 300 Baht per night for my car so 600 Baht for two nights and 400Baht for two people breakfast so 800 Baht. So in place of 1900 Baht my bill will be 3300 Baht, no problem about this amount since I could no doubt have booked a room at this price even a little more, my main concern was the nearest from the ambassy. But I hate this form of commercial approach so for me last time with Booking.com even thought I could come back in this same hotel for this same price ?

 

I'm pretty sure that booking.com or any other can only work on info given to them by the hotel.  It usually states whether breakfast is included or not and whether parking is available, but once again they can only repeat the info given from the hotel.

 

Plus of course, you have the opportunity to voice your opinions on the review that they will ask for.

Edited September 7, 2018 by HHTel
Addition

[Tchooptip]

I am not stubborn if many people had good experience with booking. com maybe it is only subjective on my behalf? ON the other hand never been dissapointed with Agoda or TripAdviser before but only am I not stubborn but it no importance at all and I never would have started  a topic for that!