Tom Mason gets locked out of his vacation rental in Italy. Why is Booking.com ignoring his requests for help?
Q: I recently used Booking.com to reserve a two-night apartment in Menaggio, Italy. I decided to use Booking.com because of its reputation and the property’s positive reviews.
Before I left, I noticed the ratings for this place had tanked, and I nervously contacted Booking.com, letting them know my concern and making sure they would stand behind the booking. They said they would.
My concern was that many people were arriving and not able to get into the place and were forced to book elsewhere—basically, a fraud. A Booking.com representative assured me they had contacted the host and everything would be fine.
As expected, I arrived and could not access the place, though I tried for several hours using all phone numbers. I immediately contacted Booking.com but did not receive a response until days later.
I had to find another place in the middle of peak season, which was no easy feat. But the listing stayed online, even as the negative reviews piled up.
Booking.com ultimately responded that if I had contacted them during my stay, they would have been able to help me. But I was proactive and reached out before and at the beginning of my stay, and I was met with silence.
I want all of my money back, and Booking.com should cover my extra costs. Can you help? — Tom Mason, Long Grove, Ill.
A: Booking.com should have found you a new apartment while investigating the property. Instead, it appears a representative gave you assurances that you could access the rental, despite strong evidence.
Your question exposes a practice I’ve long suspected but have never been able to prove: that call center representatives rarely read their website. (If they had, they would have at least looked into your concerns.)
You had a good sense that you were getting the blow-off from Booking.com. I looked at your chat thread and noticed you were getting canned responses from the “Booking Assistant,” which was most likely either AI or an AI-assisted representative.
You might have escalated your concern to a higher level. I publish the names, numbers and email addresses of the Booking.com customer service managers on my consumer advocacy website, Elliott.org. A brief, polite email to one of them might have fixed this.
Unfortunately, my advocacy team and I have been seeing too many of these kinds of cases recently. Online agencies are no longer staffed by humans but by AIs that can’t understand the most basic customer service problem. I hope I’m wrong about that.
I contacted the company on your behalf. A Booking.com representative apologized for your experience and said it usually investigates any potentially suspicious listings “swiftly.”
“In this instance, we recognize that we did not support as quickly as we normally would and have been in touch to apologize to the customer directly,” the representative added. “We can confirm the property has been suspended from our platform while a proper investigation is carried out.”
In addition to refunding the total amount of the original booking, Booking.com also covered the difference in cost for the alternate accommodation.
By Christopher Elliott
BIO:
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. You can email him at [email protected] or contact him on his site.
© 2025 Christopher Elliott.
