No Shows and non payments

Re : Smart Flex / NO Shows / VCC payments

We opted out of Smart Flex (not sure who opted in on our behalf)! Receiving long stay and multiple room bookings from Smart Flex, we send the guest their confirmation, however, do not request payment because the booking notes say it's a Virtual CC payment, to be taken off a day after the guest(s) arrive, so all good right? I mean VCC payments are guaranteed?! WRONG. guests do not show, and when we take payment the card declines. Of course, I report this by sending a message on the extranet, BDC replies (standard template) instructing me to report the card they will then ask the guest for new cc details.. but its a VCC so how do they reason that they will ask the guest for new details?? They (BDC) were paid already!, now they need to pay us. The 2nd option is to mark the reservation as a no show, ok but then they actually force you to waive the comms, because if you don't they will still charge you the commission even though they know the guests did not show! All these bookings had been blocking our online availability and we've been showing away guests! I mean as if we haven't lost enough during the pandemic now they hustling us for more!

It's frustrating seems like if it's a complaint about BDC we should rather put it on a postcard and send it to Santa at the North Pole - it'll stand a better chance of being read ..... Always getting a nonsense reply from someone who really doesn't give a flying one about our situation, telling us that we are wrong to expect better, etc. Then I reply to it, then reply again, and again. I've been insisting on the complaint being handled by our accounts manager or someone other than the minions who normally reply! guess what, NO response.

For your perusal I've taken the liberty to include my latest message to booking.com;

We now have had numerous Smart Flex bookings that the guests do not show, that we should honour but booking.com does not honour to pay us when the guests do not show up. All of these bookings were VCC payments, when we proceed to take the payments from the virtual credit card details provided, the payment(s) declines? Booking.com then advises us to mark it as a no-show and waive the fees, this is the bottom line, there's nothing else we can do, is there's no support from booking.com for us? As far as my knowledge goes a VCC payment is a guaranteed payment? How come the booking.com card declines? Why can't you provide us with new VCC details? I think this is deception and thievery, do you get the payment from the guests and then not inform us when they cancel? You then force us to mark as no show or request new card details that we never get and if we do not mark the booking as a no show you still invoice us for the comms, for a booking you know didn't arrive! This is unacceptable and I'm sure against the consumer protection act. We want answers, not the usual, automated templates you use!

On more than one occasion you billed us for the commission after we requested feedback, we have mailed you, talked to you over the phone, messaged you on the extranet and you could not give us an alternative VCC, I've provided you with the booking confirmations where it clearly stated that it is a VCC payment, which you denied and shifted the blame to Nightsbridge the channel manager?! I request that you cancel this on your side and offer us a credit for this commission amount.

Please advise how we will be compensated for these losses or where I can report these unfair business practices of booking.com? This is not a mutually beneficial relationship!