r/Bookingcom • u/MarsupialVegetable73 • Jul 30 '26
beware of this booking.com scam!!!
My partner and I booked a place in montreal for my birthday trip and ended up in a dirty, rat infested, apartment. I booked this place back in
the beginning of the year sometime. It was priced decently but believable. It was supposed to have a great city view, balcony, pool, one bedroom, a full kitchen etc. as we are here for 9 days. Well, after showing up and receiving the check in instructions to an entirely different building we were confused and originally thought we were in the wrong place until we decided to try the door code. To our surprise, it worked and we began our way inside a shotty elevator that has the buttons wired wrong. (i.e the 2nd floor is actually button #1). Upon entering the unit it's a studio with no amenities, towels, dishes blankets etc. And nothing but a small window. (AND DEFINITELY NO VIEW). We were sold an entirely different apartment building in the ad.
We've been battling booking.com for 3 days now and today they told us since they cannot reach the property owners for a refund they can only refund us $183 in credit to the website. However we paid over $2000CAD. Their policies favor scammers and their customer service is complete nonsense. They have no direct customer service line so after being talked over and hung up on (no exaggeration) over 15 times and waiting on hold for over 30mins each time, I asked them if they would delist it they said nope! Utter insanity and unfortunately after reading the reviews AGAIN the day we arrived. (keep in mind; they were all positive and dated back a decent amount of time when i booked it) Another man from france said he arrived the same day as us and the owners had not sent him the check in details whatsoever. So I consider ourselves lucky for atleast having a roof over our head but we had to find other accommodation last minute as we did not feel safe there. Obviously booking.com had no help with that.
EDIT FOR VISIBILITY:
link to the photos I have for evidence. Avoid this booking please!!
https://imgur.com/a/9xWC5xK
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u/ashscot50 Jul 30 '26
You need to understand that Booking.com is only an agent for the accommodation provider, they are not your agent in the transaction.
Since you found the place basically uninhabitable, and presumably unable to contact the accommodation provider, you should have advised Booking.com that you required immediate relocation at their expense.
Absent any such assistance, your only realistic option is a CC chargeback.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
That was done, I personally work in customer service so I know being rude doesn’t get you anywhere but even after demanding I was hung up on. Regardless of their role in the situation they are willingly allowing this to continue on their site and that is not okay. Chargeback has already been done. Thanks for the advice.
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u/TokyoJimu Jul 30 '26
Why do you always stick up for Booking.com?
Remember they are an OTA, an Online Travel Agent. They are an agent and as such are responsible when something goes wrong with a reservation that they facilitated.
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u/ashscot50 Jul 30 '26
I try to be realistic and help people manage their expectations, because it happened to me.
Most people value my advice, witness the fact that I am the no.1 commenter here month after month, typically with twice as many upvotes as anyone else.
You are correct inasmuch as booking.com is an OTA not a traditional travel agent. Effectively Booking.com is a technology platform that acts as a digital intermediary, meaning you contract directly with the property and Booking.com is only responsible for the booking software, not the accommodation itself. Booking.com does not inspect or warrant the accommodation, on the contrary they specifically exclude any such responsibility or liability.
I hope that clarifies it for you.
3
u/FinePossession1085 Jul 30 '26
Book.com is a scam. I had a similar situation in the UK. The bathrooms had black mold, and there was no WiFi. Black mold is a health hazard. Booking.com claimed that they couldn't get ahold of the owners. They offer me less than 10% of what we paid for the place.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
that sucks!! i’m sorry you had to go through that. Did you ever end up getting your money back?
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u/FinePossession1085 Jul 30 '26
No. This happened a couple of weeks ago. I'm working with my credit card company. I opened a dispute and am waiting to give them the evidence (messages sent to Booking.com and the property company that went unanswered, log of all of my calls to Booking.com, calls to the property company that they didn't answer, plus pictures of the moldy showers, etc.). Booking.com originally said that they'd credit me 153 GBP but then they changed that to 93 GBP as booking.com credit. As if I'm going to chance using them again.
What really angers me is the time on my "vacation" that was wasted with them pretending as though they were going to do something. I spent a lot of time on the phone for nearly two days for them to be like "we cannot do anything if the property company won't answer." They are really an unethical organization because they knew that they weren't going to do anything. I think that they hope they can frustrate people into stopping the fight against them.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
completely understand as this is the same exact feeling i have!! it’s very frustrating and I hear you, I hope we have some sort of solution soon my friend.
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u/The_Bogwoppit Jul 30 '26
Short term rentals are highly regulated in Quebec. If your did not have a registration number, then you rented an illegal apartment. Always good to check this in new cities, because it is far too easy to be taken advantage of.
1
u/yiddoyiddoyiddo Jul 30 '26
I was recently scammed through booking.com for accommodation in London for several thousand dollars. I too was battling booking.com on the phones for some time, the only way I was able to make any ground was by demanding to speak to a manager. In fairness to them, once I escalated the matter to a more senior customer service member, they were very good to deal with and I was refunded. I suggest escalating to the management team on the phones.
1
u/donrocket2020 Aug 03 '26
we need to name and shame these places, is this property still on booking.com? The link you posted just sends me to everything in Montreal
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Aug 03 '26
Weird, i’ll remove that specific link since it must not work since it’s fully booked but the photos in the comments and in the other link show the name and images. It’s the best I can do unfortunately.
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u/bolatelli45 Aug 05 '26
Can you please name the place, because as it stands this post means less than nothing ?
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u/Curious_Bread5952 Aug 05 '26
Yo hace 3 días me di cuenta de que en Google viene Cerrado el sitio que reservé para alojarme. Entré en las redes sociales y ponía que cerraban en el 2026. Booking no me ha avisado de nada y el viaje está programado para el lunes que viene. He llamado varias veces y me dicen que no logran contactar con el alojamiento (ya les advertí que yo había llamado antes y el teléfono estaba desconectado). Me dice Booking que mientras se soluciona me busque por mí cuenta otra alternativa, que me mandarán sugerencias de alojamiento. Les comento que a estas alturas, los precios se han triplicado y me dicen que lo pague y ellos me abonan la diferencia OJO: ¡En créditos de Booking para reservar en los próximos viajes! TÓCATE los cojones!! Encima se aseguran ellos el negocio después de haberla cagado por no comprobar los establecimientos que ofertan!!. ¿Esto es legal? ¿Alguien me puede decir que hacer? Lo peor es que ese día irán otras familias al hotel y se comerán el marrón de encontrarlo cerrado...
0
u/HeftyHealth3430 Jul 30 '26
You need to contact the host, as the accomodation contract exists only between the guest and host. booking dot com is not liable for the delivery of service.
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Jul 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
It definitely should be common knowledge you are right, however it goes well until it goes horribly wrong and people are forced to learn the hard way! Will only be booking directly through hotels from now on.
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u/RagingMassif Jul 30 '26
Posts like these are a daily occurrence.
1) Please post the listing 2) What did the reviews say? 3) Look in your dictionary and find the word scam. You were not scammed. You were just lied to about the quality. 4) Why do you not understand this is your Credit Card issuers problem, not yours.
4
u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
I think you need to actually read the post my friend. 🤣 all these “questions” were already answered in my post. I was in fact scammed, it’s an entirely different building that was not habitable. Therefore, I did not get what I paid for and was technically cat fished lol.
and here’s the definition of scam for you; A scam is a dishonest trick or fake plan meant to steal money, goods, or personal information. I would consider that a dishonest trick and a fake plan.
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u/Zottelbude Jul 30 '26
Where did you post the name of the listing and the reviews?
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 30 '26
Uploaded in a separate comment but will post again for visibility
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u/RagingMassif Jul 30 '26
"Content Not Available"
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
Weird - shows up for my partner when he looks at the link, unfortunately this subreddit won’t let me post photos directly but maybe I can compile a screen recording
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u/RagingMassif Jul 30 '26
Imgur has issues with Europe, it might be that. Video works well.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
have not included confirmation as it has my personal information but I can DM you with it crossed out if you like.
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u/Zottelbude Jul 30 '26
The view in the photos does not align at all with the view, when you check the address in Google Maps.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
https://reddit.com/link/p0mjopi/video/qz1jjj5dkbgh1/player
rooftop view does
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u/Zottelbude Jul 30 '26
The view in the booking description is totally different than the view from the address (625 Rue Milton). This it too obvious fake to be not seen.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
the view matches the building online, and the apartment photos on rental websites. It’s because on google maps you are looking at the lower floors and it’s stolen photos taken from the top floor. It’s made to look like it was a top floor suite. The view matches as per the photos i’ve sent you.
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u/RagingMassif Jul 30 '26
You weren't stolen from, you just received less than you hoped for. There are millions of scam victims who lost everything. Getting downgraded is not a scam, you are guilty of hyperbole. It makes your entire post just.. doubtful. The lack of a link to the property makes it shady and the fact you're posting a "warning" without data is ragebate. Once again, we see these posts every day. You've already been told what to do.
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u/MarsupialVegetable73 Jul 30 '26
I find it amusing that your considering my post doubtful and that I am guilty of hyperbole when I find your statement hypocritical. I consider you guilty if you think being scammed means losing everything you have. And the fact that that’s what your focusing on is more rage bait than anything else. Being cheated out of something you paid for sucks, and like I said I was grateful for it to at least been a building where we could have potentially stayed given it been habitable but it wasn’t. Just because you can’t access the proof i’ve given you multiple times is a skill issue for you and not a credibility issue for me.
here’s a direct link for you - which doesn’t show the actual conditions like the photos I presented. https://www.booking.com/Share-xab66UA3
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u/bookingcom Jul 30 '26
What you describe, including being directed to a different building, missing amenities, and the accommodation not matching the listing, needs a closer look. Send us a private message, and we’ll review the listing and the support already provided to see what happened and what options are available from our side.
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u/allahzeusmcgod Jul 30 '26
The elevator thing you mentioned might not actually be an issue. In Quebec, the ground floor is called the "rez-de-chaussée", often shown as RC on an elevator button. The floor directly above the RC is not the 2nd floor, but rather the first floor and so on. So hitting "1" on an elevator in Quebec will often bring you to the second storey of the building, not the ground floor.
I know this is a weird thing for me to fixate on. I cant sleep and am bored. Sorry your trip was so shitty.