Complaint about Booking.com – Unresolved Refunds and Terrible Experience

I feel deeply frustrated and disappointed with Booking.com after what my family and I went through on our recent trip to Johannesburg. It has now been almost a month, and I am still waiting for refunds that were promised to me.

Here’s what happened:

We booked an accommodation through Booking.com for 2 nights. When we arrived after a long day of travel, the place felt unsafe and uncomfortable. Within minutes of checking in, my daughter got locked inside the room. Staff at the accommodation could not open the door, and I eventually had to pass her a knife through the window so she could unlock it from the inside. That experience alone was traumatizing, especially with children involved.

We told the accommodation we did not feel safe, and they agreed to refund us. However, it took over three weeks of constant calls before I finally received that refund.

That same night, we booked another property through Booking.com. When we arrived, the staff told us the place was fully booked due to a mistake on Booking.com’s side. We were left stranded in Johannesburg at 11 pm, with my two daughters and my husband who is on crutches.

Booking.com promised a refund for this second failed booking, but to this day, I have not received my money. Call center agents keep saying it was refunded, but nothing has come through.

I asked Booking.com to assist us in finding alternative accommodation that night. At 11 pm in a city we don’t know well, they only sent us a list of places and told me I had to pay upfront again and claim the difference back later. Already, Booking.com was holding money for two bookings that failed. Still, I paid again, booked for the same dates, same place, and same room — but had to split the booking into two invoices (22–23 August and 23–24 August). Now Booking.com refuses to refund me simply because it was done in two separate invoices, despite being the exact same stay.

This entire ordeal has been stressful, costly, and incredibly disappointing. Booking.com has not called me back, rep**** to my emails, or properly assisted me with my refund. Instead, my family was left unsafe, stranded late at night, and financially out of pocket.

I am sharing this publicly because I want people to know how Booking.com has treated us — with no urgency, no accountability, and no compassion for their customers. I still demand my rightful refunds, and I will not stop until this is resolved.