5 ms·

If you booked with Booking, and the hotel called you back, and told you they don't use Booking any more, how do you imagine did they get the information needed

If you booked with Booking, and the hotel called you back, and told you they don't use Booking any more, how do you imagine did they get the information needed to call you back and knew of the booking? What you have here is commission fraud on behalf of the hotel against Booking.com, and if you call back Booking.com and tell them about it, they will set the hotel straight. Or you get back to the hotel, tell them you understand how commission fraud works and if they are willing to split that commission (18%) half and half with you.

pxeboot 3y ago
> how do you imagine did they get the information needed to call you back and knew of the booking? Maybe booking.com sends an email to the hotel, but they legitimately don't have the login credentials to cancel the reservation?
- kubectl_h 3y ago
  This was it. They add calendar events too apparently.
- baz00 3y ago
  Had this. That was exactly what happened to me. It was refunded and I decided never to use booking.com ever again.
  - codr7 3y ago
    Good choice, for several reasons.
- carlosjobim 3y ago
  There's 0% chance this is what happened. Hotels can get in touch with booking easily by phone or e-mail to fix any login issues, or to delist from booking if they don't want to be partners. Also, why would they have to log in? Booking.com sends their invoices by e-mail as well. This case was commission fraud by the hotel against booking.com
- smueller1234 3y ago
  IIRC when I worked at booking until 2017, they had already stopped the practice to share customer data via email for privacy+security reasons years ago.
ww520 3y ago
All reservations are forwarded to the hotel; otherwise, how does the hotel know who’s coming?
- MakeThemMoney 3y ago
  How do Uber drivers know who to pick up?
kadoban 3y ago
> Or you get back to the hotel, tell them you understand how commission fraud works and if they are willing to split that commission (18%) half and half with you. That sure sounds like a crime in itself, no?
- edgyquant 3y ago
  It sounds ridiculous. You pay that 18% so how would they even split it?
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > You pay that 18% so how would they even split it? You don’t. You cancel on Booking.com and then pay the hotel 90% of what Booking quoted.
petre 3y ago
Booking.com hasn't paid some hotelliers for months, so there you have it. It's not comission fraud, it's either loss mitigation or the very same scam that the article describes. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/01/booking-com-hotel-fees-unpaid-millions-technical-issue https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/01/booking-com... Having been scammed by booking.com car rentals myself, I see no surprises there.
- tuukkah 3y ago
  Ouch: > an Australian running a two-bedroom villa in Bali [--] managed to get paid out last week for the A$11,000 she was owed since March by tracking down a finance officer on Facebook.
jacquesm 3y ago
More likely you'll be staying for free and they might toss in a dinner. They live and die by booking.com/hotels.com/expedia etc. Then again: these 'new middlemen' are all equally shady themselves.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
edgyquant 3y ago
How would splitting a commission that you pay for anyway even work?
- dboreham 3y ago
  You cancel the original booking then place a second one direct with the hotel at cost A-(A-B)/2. I've done this many times (not exactly the same, see below) with AirBnB and Redweek rentals -- once you get to know the property owner by staying there once or twice through Redweek they will happily agree to a better rate to deal direct.
JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> commission fraud Is it fraud? Sounds like bog-standard disintermediation.
- dboreham 3y ago
  Disruption.

pxeboot 3y ago

> how do you imagine did they get the information needed to call you back and knew of the booking? Maybe booking.com sends an email to the hotel, but they legitimately don't have the login credentials to cancel the reservation?

kubectl_h 3y ago
This was it. They add calendar events too apparently.
baz00 3y ago
Had this. That was exactly what happened to me. It was refunded and I decided never to use booking.com ever again.
- codr7 3y ago
  Good choice, for several reasons.
carlosjobim 3y ago
There's 0% chance this is what happened. Hotels can get in touch with booking easily by phone or e-mail to fix any login issues, or to delist from booking if they don't want to be partners. Also, why would they have to log in? Booking.com sends their invoices by e-mail as well. This case was commission fraud by the hotel against booking.com
smueller1234 3y ago
IIRC when I worked at booking until 2017, they had already stopped the practice to share customer data via email for privacy+security reasons years ago.

ww520 3y ago

All reservations are forwarded to the hotel; otherwise, how does the hotel know who’s coming?

MakeThemMoney 3y ago
How do Uber drivers know who to pick up?

kadoban 3y ago

> Or you get back to the hotel, tell them you understand how commission fraud works and if they are willing to split that commission (18%) half and half with you. That sure sounds like a crime in itself, no?

edgyquant 3y ago
It sounds ridiculous. You pay that 18% so how would they even split it?
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > You pay that 18% so how would they even split it? You don’t. You cancel on Booking.com and then pay the hotel 90% of what Booking quoted.

petre 3y ago

Booking.com hasn't paid some hotelliers for months, so there you have it. It's not comission fraud, it's either loss mitigation or the very same scam that the article describes. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/01/booking-com-hotel-fees-unpaid-millions-technical-issue https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/oct/01/booking-com... Having been scammed by booking.com car rentals myself, I see no surprises there.

tuukkah 3y ago
Ouch: > an Australian running a two-bedroom villa in Bali [--] managed to get paid out last week for the A$11,000 she was owed since March by tracking down a finance officer on Facebook.

jacquesm 3y ago

More likely you'll be staying for free and they might toss in a dinner. They live and die by booking.com/hotels.com/expedia etc. Then again: these 'new middlemen' are all equally shady themselves.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

edgyquant 3y ago

How would splitting a commission that you pay for anyway even work?

dboreham 3y ago
You cancel the original booking then place a second one direct with the hotel at cost A-(A-B)/2. I've done this many times (not exactly the same, see below) with AirBnB and Redweek rentals -- once you get to know the property owner by staying there once or twice through Redweek they will happily agree to a better rate to deal direct.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> commission fraud Is it fraud? Sounds like bog-standard disintermediation.

dboreham 3y ago
Disruption.