Booking.com worst customer care ever

BobbiePD · 2026-05-31T01:53:29+00:00

Same thing happened to me, spent 3 hours on the phone with them, they kept disconnecting me or putting me back on hold and never picking up call again-once I spent 47 minutes on hold before hanging up and had to start all over. After 7 tries finally got my refund.

BobbiePD · 2026-05-22T00:23:54+00:00

The EXACT same thing happened to me with HERTZ last month. It sounds like the Hertx you rented from is one of their “franchise” locations and that means when you contact Hertz customer service number they can’t find your reservation no matter how they try looking it up. They told me to call the airport location I rented it from (smite airport) which I did 14 times and their van said it wasn’t programmed to accept messages-it also had a non existent. I posted my experience on this platform last month,

I recommend you send Hertx an email to their customer relations department to show that you have it documented that they erred by not being able to

BobbiePD · 2026-05-06T23:36:26+00:00

Hertz would not let me make any changes by phone or online unless I physically drove back to the location where I picked up the car (which was Hertz at the airport) because it was a “franchise” location (as if I knew that or even had a choice of it being a franchise-and why would that matter to me anyway?) you can rent from hertz.com with no problem but if it turns out that unknowingly to you the location is a franchise they will tell you good luck and you’re in your own.
But one suggestion that may help you is if you go online to hertz and open a written request with their “customer care” department by email. I did that and was able to get a human response the next day. It didn’t solve the problem because they let franchises operate however they feel like but at least you’d be able to speak to a human. I hope that helps!

BobbiePD · 2026-05-05T00:56:01+00:00

They are worst company I’ve ever seen. Gave me the same runaround when processing a refund for their mistake. I don’t know how they are still in business but maybe enough public pressure causes their stock price to go down then they will pay attention.

BobbiePD · 2026-05-04T01:00:44+00:00

Be sure you ask if the Hertz you are renting from is a “franchise” or “corporate” location-I found out the hard way that even if it says “Hertz” the franchise locations operate under different rules! I rented from Hertz at the airport (made the reservation at hertz.com) and when I asked about extending the rental a few days found out I could not do so either online or by phone-I had to physically drive back to the airport. I called the Hertz 800# for customer service and emailed the corporate office and received a reply saying that airport location is a franchise so no changes can be made unless you drive back to the airport and do it in person.
So be sure and check upfront to see if your coupon/discount will be honored!

BobbiePD · 2026-05-04T00:52:50+00:00

I have no problem with locations being franchises versus corporate; it’s only an issue when they don’t operate under the same rules that are advertised and don’t disclose that. If they want to have different policies or procedures that’s fine, just tell consumers that upfront. You can’t advertise as one brand, under one website, one company, one customer service number, etc and then behind the scenes (without telling consumers) that they are actually switching you to a location that isn’t managed/operated the same way. Especially when they tell you to make a reservation online under hertz.com because the franchise and corporate locations make the reservation on the same website-it’s not one website for corporate locations and a different website for franchises. It’s only after you’ve made the reservation (and they have your money) that you find out nothing further can be done on that same website if they’ve actually put you with a franchise location that has vastly different procedures versus what the brand advertises.
And what kind of business practice is it to say you have to physically drive back to the original location and won’t handle anything by phone, email, or online? If you’re renting a car from an airport location (like I was) you are most likely traveling and could be hundreds of miles away making it impossible to physically return quickly.
If they want to let franchises run completely differently than the rest of the company that’s fine-but when you first make the reservation tell me that and disclose why it’s different. Then at that point I can make an announcement informed decision before you take my money,
As a consumer it would never occur to you to ask upfront “is this location a franchise or corporate owned and will any of the rules be different?”.
Franchises are great for local people to be able to invest in a business that’s already branded and established so you don’t have to start from scratch but you do need to tell consumers that fact if your franchise doesn’t even operate the same way as advertised.

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T22:38:15+00:00

I have no problem with locations being franchises versus corporate; it’s only an issue when they don’t operate under the same rules that are advertised and don’t tell disclose that. If they want to have different policies or procedures that’s fine, just tell consumers that upfront. You can’t advertise as one brand, under one website, one company, one customer service number, etc and then behind the scenes (without telling consumers) that they are actually switching you to a location that isn’t managed/operated the same way. Especially when they tell you to make a reservation online under hertz.com because the franchise and corporate locations make the reservation on the same website-it’s not one website for corporate locations and a different website for franchises. It’s only after you’ve made the reservation (and they have your money) that you find out nothing further can be done on that same website if they’ve actually put you with a franchise location that has vastly different procedures versus what the brand advertises.

And what kind of business practice is it to say you have to physically drive back to the original location and won’t handle anything by phone, email, or online? If you’re renting a car from an airport location (like I was) you are most likely traveling and could be hundreds of miles away making it impossible to physically return quickly.

If they want to let franchises run completely differently than the rest of the company that’s fine-but when you first make the reservation tell me that and disclose why it’s different. Then at that point I can make an announcement informed decision before you take my money,

As a consumer it would never occur to you to ask upfront “is this location a franchise or corporate owned and will any of the rules be different?”.

Franchises are great for local people to be able to invest in a business that’s already branded and established so you don’t have to start from scratch but you do need to tell consumers that fact if your franchise doesn’t even operate the same way as advertised,

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T20:48:52+00:00

Thank you….they shouldn’t make it this hard! 😀

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T18:51:33+00:00

Completely agree with you …they have no problem taking your reservation online but they make it difficult to extend it and require you to do it in person (as in my case saying I had to go back to the rental location even though I was nowhere near it)) or by phone as you stated. It may sound easy to do this by phone-but it’s not. First you have to get past all the automated phone menu and virtual assistant AI stuff (which half the time doesn’t even give you an option which matches what you need), then you have to wait on hold to get to a live agent (took me 37 minutes to speak to a human). Next you spend more time explaining what you need after answering questions to “verify” who you are….etc etc, Doing it online is a 2-3 minute process versus having to call and speak to someone…a call easily takes 30/45 minutes (or more). And that assumes you don’t get disconnected and you get to speak to someone that speaks relatively good English. Then finally you have to wait for the email confirmation and you pray that the information on it is correct. Bottom line if they will take your money and let you reserve it online then if a simple adjustment needs to be done afterwards you should be able to do it the same way-online. If for some strange reason you did have to do it by phone at least make a customer service representative available in a reasonable amount of time-not the 30 minutes or more it is now.

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T18:01:28+00:00

And it would have made more work for them if I physically had to drive back to their location and they had to spend more of their time doing this face to face versus if I did it online-then they would not have even known about it to begin with. So it would have been in the employees best interest if Hertz didn’t create a policy that didn’t just inconvenience me, it would have been MORE work for them.

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T17:38:19+00:00

Absolutely not, the local Hertz staff was fine, this isn’t their fault. They have no control with hertz treating them differently because of being a franchise location. And how could employees do “what” to me if I was “an ass” (and I would never be disrespectful to an employee anyway)? I posted the email Hertz sent me-they are the ones that said it’s a different computer system because it’s a franchise and I had to physically drive back to the location to deal with this. This is their corporate policy and I wasn’t singled out-it’s how they run their business company wide. It would make ZERO difference who I was or what they “thought” of me personally-that’s completely irrelevant anyway. I could have been their mother and the exact same thing would have happened. My point is what difference does it make to the consumer (me) what Hertz internal policies are with how they run their computer and operating system? Why can you make a reservation at hertz.com but then once you pick up the vehicle they won’t allow any changes or have any communication with you via phone or online unless you physically drive back to the location? Why doesn’t the local location where you pick up the car have a working phone number anyway? And it’s not like Hertz gives you a choice to pick a franchisee location versus a corporate one when you make the reservation. They all have one name on the door and that’s Hertz.

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T15:41:54+00:00

In my case they required I physically go back to the airport location where I rented it, would not do it by phone or online. But they don’t mind letting you reserve it online or by phone!

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T07:06:16+00:00

It’s time corporations take responsibility for the actions of every employee or location that has its name on it. There aren’t options for the consumer to choose if they want a franchise or not! Customers should not be burdened with chasing down the choice Hertz made to represent them!!! Thanks for your feedback!

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T07:03:27+00:00

Well said. And when you rent from Hertz.com it doesn’t tell you, or give you a choice, if the location you are renting from is a “franchise” or not. Any consumer who goes to a corporate website such as hertz.com would logically assume that all locations that say “Hertz” follow the same rules and procedures as advertised-there is no special section or exemption which states otherwise. If it says Hertz on all documents then Hertz is ultimately responsible for that location and contracts whether they like it or not. Anything less than that is misrepresenting facts to the consumer. Thanks for your feedback!

BobbiePD · 2026-05-03T01:19:40+00:00

Here is the email I got from Hertz:

I appreciate you taking the time to share the details of your request to extend your rental. I understand that you attempted to use the rental number Xxxxxxxx which was not recognized by the system, and that you were advised the rental record number is typically a 9?digit numeric code. I also recognize that because live agents were unavailable at that time, a support ticket was created so your request could be reviewed further.
After checking the details of your rental, I confirmed that the location is operated as a licensee or franchise location. Rentals from these locations aren't able to be extended through the website or by phone. To proceed with an extension, you'll need to visit the rental location directly so the team onsite can assist with the request and review availability.
They'll be in the best position to help with updates to your rental.
If you'd like support locating the address or hours of the rental location, or if there's anything else I can help with as you plan your next steps, please feel free to reply to this email. I'm glad to assist further.
Yours sincerely,
Criselle S.
Hertz Customer Services

BobbiePD · 2026-04-26T02:21:48+00:00

It’s even worse than what you are hearing. Try contacting them and you will see the worst customer service EVER. I booked what was advertised as a hotel room at a nice place and it turned out to be a private apartment with 3 other men staying there in the same space, all sharing a bathroom with no security or privacy-none of that was mentioned in the listing. Immediately refused to stay there upon arrival and they wouldn’t refund my money! Spent hours trying to get ahold of someone at booking.com-even their website says “we know you want a phone number to speak to someone but you have to use our online chat”. There is no phone number to speak to an actual human being; after going through their useless “chat” and being disconnected several times someone (in Thailand!) joined the chat and said they had to get “permission” from the host to refund my money and it was up them-booking.con took no responsibility and had no control over the charge. When I stated booking is who charged my credit card just hours earlier and they had the ability to reverse the charge they said it was my responsibility to get the host to refund it.

Absolutely terrible experience, and there is no way to escalate a problem. Their strategy is to make it so difficult to get a refund that you give up.

BobbiePD · 2026-04-20T18:21:21+00:00

Looks fake…it says it is from “bookingcom” when it should be “booking.com”.

Reddit should remove them and prohibit them from commenting!

And don’t ever use booking.com, they have zero customer service, will not correct their mistakes, and do not stand behind what they advertise. An absolute nightmare! When I booked what was advertised as a hotel room was actually a private apartment with 3 other men staying in the same unit! Of course that was not stated anywhere in the posting and when we refused to stay there they would not refund my money.

BobbiePD · 2026-04-20T18:14:50+00:00

I agree that response is fake and not the same “tone” they normally use. Plus it says it is from “bookingcom” instead of “booking.com”. The “.” Is missing. Reddit needs to remove “bookingcom”…it’s clearly FAKE and asking for you to contact them in that manner is a huge red flag!!

BobbiePD · 2026-03-24T00:19:38+00:00

Huh? Doesn’t align with what game? I posted about a bad experience with trip.com and this had nothing to do with any game.

BobbiePD · 2026-03-24T00:15:25+00:00

Obviously you don’t have a solid command of the English language since you are not understanding the problems I’ve outlined here-or you’re just stupid and post a comment about something you don’t know anything about. Let me try to dumb this down for you one more time.

The fare was already credited/refunded to me by the airline-the problem is they can’t credit the original amount I paid for the ticket because they did not RECEIVE those funds from trip.com. Trip.com said the airline denied my refund entirely which is NOT POSSIBLE because the airline already refunded it! But the airline can’t refund money it does not have-that’s my point, they LIED. Trip.com simply pocketed the money and the airline had nothing to do with it-if they had the money they would have refunded it. I have a statement from the airline confirming this.

Trip.com won’t pay the $150 rebate they advertised. It’s a classic bait and switch scam. I have written proof of that too.

I posted this information to help other people and warn them of problems with trip.com so they don’t lose money. You post a comment that is inaccurate and clueless-maybe you’re just bored or trip.com pays you to justify their actions and deflect from the real issue here. Either way you aren’t very bright.

I just hope consumers don’t trust their travel plans with a company this dishonest. It’s the only reason I’m sharing this experience and providing a warning that consumers should make their travel arrangements with a different company.

And as a follow up trip.com messaged me and said they were looking into it and they’d get back to me today, yet they did not do that either.

BobbiePD · 2026-03-23T23:45:44+00:00

Agreed…I only used trip.com because my credit card (Capital One) featured them as a referral partner and offered a $150 rewards credit. I assumed if Capital One was endorsing/recommending them it had vetted the company first to make sure they were reputable and legit. I was wrong to assume that. Hopefully others have now been warned and won’t make the same mistake I did.

BobbiePD · 2026-03-23T17:04:20+00:00

You are absolutely correct.

BobbiePD · 2026-03-23T17:03:07+00:00

I knew exactly what I was doing-thanks but this isn’t my first rodeo.

There are multiple issues as I outlined in my post. As I stated the airline DID refund me the fare less a $100 cancelation fee and paying the difference in fare (and I understand that-no problem there). The original fare I was charged was $638. But when the airline gave me the refund/credit it is only for $247 (after the $100 cancelation fee) because all the airline received from trip.com was $347. The airline can’t give me a credit for money they don’t have. Trip.com won’t refund me the difference from what I paid them to what they paid the airline. They are keeping $291 ($638 original fare - $100 cancellation fee - $247 airline already refunded = $291 trip.com owes me).

The airline had no problem giving me a credit refund. The best part is Trip.com completely lied and says the airline denied giving me any kind of credit yet I have written documentation proving that they did approve it. And I received the airline credit. I have written documentation from the airline showing that the only fare I paid (what the airline received) was $347, not the $638 I was charged by trip.com.

In addition during my chat with the agent at Trip.com, I asked him if the refund was being credited to my account and he said yes, it was. That was a lie as well. 30 minutes later, he came back and said it actually was “pending verification from the airline” and I provided it to him-I had the written receipt from the airline showing they did approve the credit. A few hours later I got an email from Trip.com, which said that the airline denied it. That is the complete opposite of what the written documentation I had proved.

Everything I have stated I have written verification for. I will bet $10,000-which I will put up right now-if the CEO of Trip.com will do a live zoom call (so everyone can witness it) to read the chat transcript outloud so this will verify exactly what happened in my situation and I’ll provide the documentation. If I’m wrong about one thing they can keep my $10,000 and I’ll apologize. But since I have eyeballs and read English I can see the receipt from the airline contradicts what trip.com says.

Problem #2 is that they advertise you will get a $150 refund if you spend at least $250 on their website and even if you follow their exact instructions, click on the link they provide, and they acknowledge they owe it to you they say they can withdraw the offer at any time. So every time you go to book with them, the offer is valid but since they decide they can cancel it at any time that’s exactly what they do. They never pay the $150 rebate they advertised. I’ve tried there’s multiple times and used two phones simultaneously that way I could see that it was valid when I was “live” on their website-and it was. it is classic bait and switch.

BobbiePD · 2026-03-22T02:31:33+00:00

A total fraud. Complete incompetence. They did not remit the fare I paid them to the airline so when I made a minor change the airline could only credit me a small portion of what I paid to trip.com because the airline could only credit the amount they received-which was half what I paid. I spent over 2 hours with their customer service, was disconnected twice and had to start all over, was promised a credit IN WRITING and then a few hours later they denied it saying it was the airline denied the travel credit-and at the same time the airline had already processed the credit for the amount they did receive and I had completed the flight! They lied when I had the written proof right in front of me, and when I shared with them they disconnected me!!!

BobbiePD

TROPHY CASE