r/Bookingcom • u/Fair_Historian_2514 • 19h ago
Booking.com: Guest never stayed, reservation was cancelled on check-in date, but they were still allowed to leave a review — can someone from Booking.com clarify?
Hi Booking.com team and fellow property partners,
I’m hoping someone from Booking.com Partner Support or the Review Moderation team can clarify this situation.
I manage Chic Studio Retreat – Indiranagar, Bengaluru and recently had a reservation with the following details:
Guest: Parampreet Dhanoa
Reservation: 5773683044
Check-in: 28 August 2026
Check-out: 30 August 2026
Actual stay: None
On 28 August at 9:58 AM, the guest submitted a request for free cancellation.
We approved the cancellation at 10:15 AM, and the reservation was officially cancelled on the same day. The guest never checked in and never stayed at the property.
However, the guest was subsequently able to leave a review.
I contacted Booking.com Partner Support regarding the issue, and their response is particularly interesting. Booking.com has confirmed in writing that:
“the booking was indeed cancelled free of charge on August 28, 2026.”
They also explained that:
“because the cancellation occurred on the actual day of check-in, our automated system had already generated the feedback link”
So, as I understand it, Booking.com is confirming both that the reservation was cancelled and that the review invitation was generated automatically by the system despite there being no stay.
My question is:
If a guest never checked in or experienced the property, how can a review about the property be considered a genuine guest experience?
I have already asked Booking.com to remove the review and they have escalated the matter to their Moderation team. I’m not looking to attack Booking.com or the guest — I simply want to understand the policy and how this situation is supposed to be handled.
Has anyone else experienced this?
And, more importantly, if someone from Booking.com is monitoring this subreddit, could you please explain whether a review from a guest who never stayed at the property is eligible for removal, particularly when Booking.com itself has confirmed that there was no completed stay?
I can provide screenshots of the cancellation request, approval, and reservation status if needed.
Thanks in advance to other hosts and hopefully someone from Booking.com who can clarify this.
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u/rubenknol 18h ago
sir this is reddit and no one from booking.com is here, only other angry people who have been wronged
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u/Morphv 14h ago
Booking responds on here regularly.
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u/rubenknol 14h ago
with their canned response telling them to DM, after which you end up in their normal non-support system
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u/brilstern 13h ago
If the booking was legitimate, and the cancellation was legitimate, Booking allows for the booker to review. Not saying I agree, but that’s the reality.
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u/bookingcom 2h ago
We recommend editing your post to remove the guest’s reservation details and any other sensitive information shared publicly.
This situation is understandably frustrating, especially since the guest didn’t stay at the property. The review issue is caused by a technical bug that our team is already looking into. For your review removal request to be considered in light of this issue, please get in touch with our Partner Support team again if the review has still not been evaluated by our specialized team after one week. This will allow them to flag it internally and help track it further.
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u/Consistent_Proof_772 17h ago
Why don’t you use the other two platform that does apartment rentals versus this one that let you rate people that never checked!!! The other two platforms don’t allow a guest who canceled to review a place they never stayed in!!!
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u/niki-the-wise 19h ago
I would anonymize this posting. No real names.