91–100 of 154 posts
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Is there any other company not using these dark patterns? I tried to use many others (big enough to have choices) and it's all the same. Sometimes you're even wondering if it's not just the same website with another branding.
That's what we're hoping to solve. The state of affairs with online booking is disgusting and the customer is too far removed from the process, while hotels are being strong-armed into price fixing.
I booked a room on booking.com a few weeks ago. There was an accident and I booked a smoking room---technically my fault. But since booking.com is just yet another internet middleman, their response is "you should have looked closer" and the hotel, which didn't have any non-smoking rooms that night, let me know there's no refunds for same-day online booking and told me to get bent (after hours on the phone trying to…
``` booking.com: 'talk to the hotel for a refund' hotel: 'talk to booking.com for a refund' ``` Yea I experienced this last March. Charegbacks are not easy for regular consumers. Their customer service are trained to never give refunds (based on first-hand experience). You'd have to be a valued client of your bank to have a successful dispute. And it is the only way I believe. Both parties (booking.com and hotel) sim…
Booking is the website with the highest density of dark patterns per pixel I've ever seen. Red texts hurrying you to make a reservation in virtually every on the page ("only 2 rooms left", "someone just made a booking", "12 people looking", "Booked N times today", "You're lucky to see this room, normally it's booked!", "You're lucky to see it for $50, normally it's more expensive" etc.). All of those texts are flashi…
Thanks, I'll keep using Booking
(Though the flashing things are annoying - but you can discover using booking then go to the hotel page and book there)
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No this is ridiculously far from the truth. They make an awfull lot of money selling actual room nights (think Google-scale a lot, per employee, although the money culture in both firms are opposite to each other), and actually do cancel bookings and even sometime refund non cancelable ones. They are definitively harsh on the business side, especially when negotiating commissions with hotels, especially since it's al…
```No this is ridiculously far from the truth.``` Easy to say for someone who haven't experienced their deception first hand. GP is correct. That is part of their scheme to extract more revenue.
I was booking a place in Budapest this summer on Booking.com, and there was a specific area I wanted to be in. I searched for that area and found a place that was marked as having a certain location that was perfect for me. Upon arriving, it turns out this was just where their "main office" was, and the specific apartment I was renting was situated in a different area, several tram rides away. I tried to get my money…
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I'll take all the dark patterns they have if it means I can avoid hotel chains' own booking systems. At least I already know the dark patterns of booking.com. Tried to book a one of Starwood Preferred Guest hotel. Had to create an account, but this is a given. For a single room there are 12 offers you can choose, really simple /s. The cheapest offer is for "SPG Member Exclusive. Am I one? How do I know? I guess I'm n…
If you're only booking a hotel, rather than picking a travel vacation package, you're better off calling the hotel directly to make a reservation. The reservation staff almost always have sole discretion to negotiate prices within limits. If you are polite, and have checked for the best price you can find online, they will often match or beat that price. The trick is truly the politeness factor - "I SEE IT ONLINE FOR…
"I SEE IT ONLINE FOR $50 LESS ONLINE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT CHEAPER!!!" seems to be the classic style of negotiating car prices. It seems to be the only bargaining chip that you have available to you.
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``` booking.com: 'talk to the hotel for a refund' hotel: 'talk to booking.com for a refund' ``` Yea I experienced this last March. Charegbacks are not easy for regular consumers. Their customer service are trained to never give refunds (based on first-hand experience). You'd have to be a valued client of your bank to have a successful dispute. And it is the only way I believe. Both parties (booking.com and hotel) sim…
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"Dark patterns" are one thing. They tell me that they booked 14 rooms at the Red Roof Inn in Appleton WI for Wed September 19, 2018, in the last 24 hours. I'd love to call the Red Roof Inn and ask them if that's the case. Other than that, that sounds like outright deceptive practices, fraud in marketing.
Technically, they may have booked 14 rooms in 24 hours. Of course, there's no way all of those bookings were for Sept. 19th. It is deceptive but probably follows the letter, but not the spirit, of any applicable laws.
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If you're only booking a hotel, rather than picking a travel vacation package, you're better off calling the hotel directly to make a reservation. The reservation staff almost always have sole discretion to negotiate prices within limits. If you are polite, and have checked for the best price you can find online, they will often match or beat that price. The trick is truly the politeness factor - "I SEE IT ONLINE FOR…
Out of interest how would you negotiate? "I SEE IT ONLINE FOR $50 LESS ONLINE, YOU HAVE TO MAKE IT CHEAPER!!!" seems to be the classic style of negotiating car prices. It seems to be the only bargaining chip that you have available to you.
Booking is the website with the highest density of dark patterns per pixel I've ever seen. Red texts hurrying you to make a reservation in virtually every on the page ("only 2 rooms left", "someone just made a booking", "12 people looking", "Booked N times today", "You're lucky to see this room, normally it's booked!", "You're lucky to see it for $50, normally it's more expensive" etc.). All of those texts are flashi…
I don't know how that is even legal.