!!!Warning!!! Re: Online Hotel Bookings

aare

I have just found out that Booking.com pass your whole credit card details to the hotel or guesthouse on booking without even warning you that they will do this, and they are still passing on details in cases where there has already been clear abuse of credit card details.

A quick check on the phone and I discover that ebookers pass on your details to some hotels but not all of them and Last minute.com think the whole idea is insane, would never pass your details to anyone and handle all deposits and refunds themselves.

I would be very interested in how other companies handle this and how the travel agents association see it.

Visa are horrified and so are the UK Police.

I just thought people should be warned so as to make an informed decision about who to trust with their credit card details.

tricky D

How do they send them? I hope to hell it's not via unencrypted email in which case they should get payment processing privileges revoked.

aare

I don't know how they send them, they claim to use "Thwaite" at a guess it's probably through a client interface (I hope it is!).

Let me show you the hotel they blithely sent my credit card details to on trip adviser:
http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g186262-d573037-Reviews-Chelsea_Hotel-Bournemouth_Dorset_England.html

(NB More fool me for not checking, and I always will in future, but I was in a hurry and have never had a hotel booking problem before)

But worse, since being informed of these problems they will be happy to send you credit card details to the same hotel right now.

:eek:

I just got this email from booking.com:

***
Thank you for choosing Booking.com.

We have received your response.

Note that we do advise that we send your information directly to the hotel in the terms and conditions section on our main page.

It also states on each hotel page that the hotel does reserve the right to pre authorize your credit card.

We apologize for any inconvenience and confusion

Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions.

Thank you again for choosing Booking.com. We hope to be your choice for future online reservations.
***

The T&C in tiny print right at the bottom of their main page (that you are unlikely to see if you come in through a search engine) does explain this policy, but I feel a responsible online booker would refuse to take your booking without taking some simple measure (like a pop up box you had to tick before submitting) to *ENSURE* you were aware of how your card details would be used as a condition of booking.

mikedragon32

As ever, in order to complete a booking one must confirm they have read and agree to the terms and conditions. Therefore you told them by agreeing that they could do this.

If you choose to proceed without reading them, then that's your choice.

aare

I am not trying to sue them Mike, they are operating just within that law, but outside of all common sense and responsibility. I am just trying to point out that this is how they are operating.

We all make certain assumptions (though perhaps we shouldn't) about the level of responsibility in terms and conditions...I have never had a bad experience like that before (I have never come across a hotel that dishonest before either :eek:). It would not even occur to me that there was the slightest risk of a reputable booking company being irresponsible enough to pass my credit card details to somebody they know has a record like that for credit card abuse.

All I can do is make sure I never make a mistake like that again, and that other people know exactly what they are letting themselves in for.

Ponster

aare wrote: »

and they are still passing on details in cases where there has already been clear abuse of credit card details.

How do you know this?

they claim to use "Thwaite" at a guess it's probably through a client interface

Thawte is a company that issues certifications. They send CC info to hotels via SSL.

aare

Ponster wrote: »

How do you know this?

They have evidence of at least another complaint I cannot go into as well as the tripadvisor reviews I have linked for the past day that I am certain of (it is possible, even likely, that they have had other prior complaints, but that is surmise) and they will still, happily take your credit card number tonight and pass it on to the same proprieter.

Now that is, of course, completely legal (not trying to suggest otherwise), but it is certainly not very responsible, nor considerate of their client's wellbeing, and just best to be forwarned about it, before taking the risk. At least Lastminute.com will book the same hotels WITHOUT placing your credit card details at risk. There may be other companies with a similar policy and I would love to know who they are.

Ponster wrote: »

Thawte is a company that issues certifications. They send CC info to hotels via SSL.

At least that suggests they are not daft enough to email them or send them by SMS so! Thank heavens for small mercies!

The sad thing is that their staff are genuinely lovely to deal with...but for one silly, irresponsible policy, that doesn't even make a lot of sense from their point of view, they would be a great company to book through and I would use them all the time.

MOH

I used to use Booking.com all the time, but gave up after I had an issue with them about the rate I was charged at for a hotel in Cyprus (before they joined the Euro). Their T+Cs clearly stated that I'd be charged locally in the local currency (which meant I'd pay the Visa exchange rate) but instead I was charged directly in Euro, but at an exorbitant exchange rate, a difference of about €50.

Also, the charge was made by neither the hotel nor Booking.com, but a Greek travel agent. Both Booking.com and the hotel kept saying the other was responsible.

Booking.com eventually admitted that most of their hotels in Cyprus were booked through a "partner company" in Greece, which meant they'd passed my card details to a third party despite their T+Cs saying they would only be given directly to the hotel, and then they'd initially denied doing so.
Also, their T+Cs said that I would only be charged directly by the hotel, but in fact I'd been charged through their 'partner' nearly a week before I travelled.

The whole thing dragged on so long due their initial denials and repeated failure to answer e-mails that it went outside the window for a credit card chargeback. I was going to go through the SCC but just gave up in the end as I wasn't sure if they fell under its juridsdiction, and I didn't know about the European SCC then.

I'd be very wary about trusting them with my credit card details.

Tigerandahalf

I am having a major issue with booking.com at present. I am going to EURO2012 in Poland next summer and I have booked a place to stay there through the site.
My problem is that my credit card details were clearly passed on to the hostel and the hostel have overcharged by a huge amount. I have exchanged emails with booking.com but they are now trying to wash themselves of the issue saying the hostel said the extra charge was for exchange rate etc. There is no way the amount I have been overcharged could be for exchange rate. It is a huge amount in terms of the booking itself.
I would have expected that booking.com would protect people in issues like this. That's the whole point of their site. What options have I now?