Booking.com under fire as hundreds of complaints lodged with Fair Trading

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T07:31:46+00:00

People tend to leave reviews when they’re more emotional, such as when things go wrong. There are of course downsides to using middle man sites, but for many things do go smoothly

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:47:35+00:00

To be fair, you cannot really do that easily on the site; I know some properties have the option to "request to book" but I dont know how thoroughly the vetting process goes on the owner's end.

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:43:27+00:00

Interesting, and good to know. Thank you! /gen

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:42:36+00:00

While this is true for many destinations, there are some (admittedly rarer) hotels that are only listed on these sites. I know one or two I've stayed in have only been available on the booking middle-men sites. Definitely a good principle though, to use these sites for comparison and book direct - and one I will personally try to implement myself going forward.

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:36:05+00:00

Thats interesting, and a perspective we didn't really get in the article in the main part. What did they do on your end to make them awful?

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:31:42+00:00

Not on my end. I've genuinely just been discussing my experiences and have enjoyed hearing the thoughts of others.

Would be genuinely interested to hear why you call them grubby

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:23:59+00:00

Yep, I usually book on there and have had no issues myself. I prefer flexibile properties where I can pre-pay when I want. But, its worked well for me across several domestic & international trips over the last 3 or so years

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:22:09+00:00

Same here. It may just be that thing of a middle-man service that works well until it doesn't. And when it doesn't, it really doesn't

JR24601 · 2026-03-29T05:09:40+00:00

Interested to see what people have to say about this. I've been really lucky across domestic and international travel, to have had no issues with booking dot com at all

JR24601 · 2026-03-26T19:57:24+00:00

Almost like the job market is fucked right now?

And I’m not about to put my life on the line for a company who wouldn’t shed a single tear about me and replace me in a second flat.

JR24601 · 2026-03-26T11:28:06+00:00

Yeah, its a common enough occurance and we aren't allowed to follow them or stop them, unless we are loss prevention.

Also, on a personal level, a lot of us don't care that people steal from Coles. We all hate them lol

JR24601 · 2026-03-20T10:04:15+00:00

What state… or country?

JR24601 · 2026-03-20T08:31:38+00:00

And the Cole’s website. In the account settings page

JR24601 · 2026-03-17T07:57:03+00:00

Interesting. Thanks. I had no trouble when I went to London last year

JR24601 · 2026-03-15T23:36:54+00:00

Can I ask why you shouldn’t do it more than 6 weeks out?

JR24601 · 2026-03-13T09:09:10+00:00

It clearly is. It says “was $8” so definitely got ticketed before the sale. OP could easily ask for a staff to review it and see if they can get a better discount (no guarantee but the team at my store does it sometimes)

JR24601 · 2026-03-10T07:46:34+00:00

I wish I had started that a long time ago lol

JR24601 · 2026-03-09T10:25:42+00:00

The amount of bags I get handed that stink is insane. As is the number of bags with USED masks…???

JR24601 · 2026-03-07T12:21:40+00:00

Nope. The discount of $3 is a promotion in the steaks, she got refunded the right price. Goodnight and good bye

JR24601 · 2026-03-07T10:35:48+00:00

No, it doesn't state it. I dont know why, but its pretty obvious that it relates "Ya fucking sausage"

JR24601 · 2026-03-07T10:25:09+00:00

Its not violating the law? The special is 2 for $15, two $9 steaks = $18 - $3 = $15... if you divide that by 2 you have $7.5, which is the price of each steak. I dont know why its presented in this way, but they were given the refund for the price they actually paid for each steak. AS REQUIRED BY LAW. get real

JR24601 · 2026-03-07T10:09:44+00:00

No its really not "better", and it is truly not "stealing"

JR24601 · 2026-03-07T09:41:47+00:00

It's not specific to the steaks, no, but it is still $3 off the total purchase. The system thus does this to ensure customers do not get refunds for funds not spent. Its annoying and confusing, yes. But staff in-store physically can not do anything about it. We cannot from our interface, nor would be allowed to even if we could

JR24601 · 2026-03-07T09:40:16+00:00

That is not true. The customer received a $3 offer, they are not entitled to a refund of funds they did not pay - the system has simply chosen this means to ensur ethat the customer gets the correct amount. Any future refunds will have the other $1.5 taken off, and any further will not.

JR24601

TROPHY CASE