BE AWARE WHEN USING Booking.com...

As a reputable booking platform, I booked my online accommodation via booking.com only to be out of pocket by £86 I made three bookings with London Lodge Hotel visa booking.com - all three bookings were charged prematurely. The third charge bounced due to the hotel emptying my account off all funds. The terms of my reservation was that payment was only due on arrival at the hotel, and I had a free cancellation period. Hence they made a catastrophic error by charging me upfront. When the hotel charged my account in full the owner initially blamed booking.com. Now that there is a shortfall in the money due to me, she is blaming my bank. ....And booking.com are taking no responsibility even though I am essentiallly their clinet and used tehirm platfrom to book my accomodation. The amount the hotel charged for the one booking when converted to my currency South African Rands was R21 687.60. The refunded amount I received converts to R20 211.15. Taking this loss of R 1 476,45 & the other loss of the second booking at R196.31 into account. My total loss due to the hotel’s error comes to R 1 672,76 (approx £86) This is a substantial amount. As is common knowledge all banks buy forex at a lower rate than what they sell it at. And as my bank did not make the error - the onus is on the hotel & booking.com to sort this out and ensure that I am reimbursed the balance. Not to mention that the hotel had no right to charge my account when they did, it was unauthorised & essentially *******. How does booking.com allow such a thing to happen? How do thay allow hotels to list on their site - if they are going to make such errors and then not compensate the client in full? What repercussion are their for the hotel at fault? Booking.com is not taking any accountability or steps to rectify the matter. I have sent proof of the payment coming off and the refund received as confirmation from my bank. Between booking.com and the hotel I should be reimbursed the £86 due to me. Sadly both parties lack the work ethic, integrity & competency to sort this out adequately wityhin a reasonable time frame... Patiently I wait!!!!!!