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Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

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Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#111

Post by adwww »

vinay427 wrote: post #91
qeternity wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Consumer travel protections in the US are much stronger than in Europe. I’m not really sure what regulations you’re thinking of. Source: American expat in Europe.

I would tend to agree with this. I’ve rarely received a refund or other compensation at least in Switzerland (not in the EU) for things that would immediately be handled in the US, particularly for retail purchases. The Costco and Amazon effect is far more prominent in the US whereas I feel much more constrained as a consumer in many European countries.

I've lived in NY, CH and UK (where I'm from) and think Switerland is the odd one out in this respect.

Quality of life is highest in most respects there, but only really so long as you're happy to go along with things and not rock the boat. Get paid well, enjoy the contryside, but know your place were the vibes I got ha.

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#112

Post by tluyben2 »

dagw wrote: post #28
franczesko wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hotels.com. You get no dark patterns and shady practices as bonus.

Hotels.com as screwed up my booking twice (showed up and the hotel had no record of me booking a room) and had terrible customer service both times. Never again.

I have used them for 10 years now for close to a 1000 bookings and the times it went wrong I can count on one hand; they also always help fixing the issue. Sure you get some bad VOIP connection (why is that still a thing...) but if you just immediately push for the rebooking agent (which is separate from the normal support), you will be fine quickly in no time and at no cost. Unlike some experiences I had with booking...

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#113

Post by rob74 »

jahnu wrote: post #15
quickaskq wrote: post #6

The one time I used booking.com I got screwed over. Their website is riddled with dark patterns and has probably been A/B tested into oblivion. The tactic they used that screwed me over was that they advertised 100% refunds on last minute cancellations. I used booking.com for this exact reason as I didn’t know if I’d be staying the night in the city I was driving past. Well turns out I didn’t need the booking but whe…

They exist for EU users of booking.com And several of the dark patterns don't. Because of fairly mild regulations that protect the consumer. Draw your own conclusions here.

I don't know how many of the dark patterns I don't get to see as an EU user (not that I want to see them), but there are plenty still there: only showing positive reviews or stressing the positive features of an accommodation ("very quiet" because it's in the middle of nowhere etc.), pressuring you into booking by showing accommodations that are already fully booked, showing how many users are allegedly looking at the same offer "right now", showing that they only have 0.5 rooms left etc. etc. etc.

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#114

Post by thematrixturtle »

pembrook wrote: post #108
quickaskq wrote: post #6

The one time I used booking.com I got screwed over. Their website is riddled with dark patterns and has probably been A/B tested into oblivion. The tactic they used that screwed me over was that they advertised 100% refunds on last minute cancellations. I used booking.com for this exact reason as I didn’t know if I’d be staying the night in the city I was driving past. Well turns out I didn’t need the booking but whe…

Anecdotal, but I’ve canceled booking.com reservations probably 50+ times over the past decade without issue. They certainly use nefarious UX patterns like “10 people just booked this location!!” But I’ve always found the “free cancellation by” dates to be reliable. On the other hand, booking hotels directly is an absolute nightmare of interfacing with whatever broken systems the underfunded “IT” departments of said h…

If you're booking with a major chain like Marriott, Hilton etc, it's always worth booking directly, because it's much better to at least interface directly with those broken systems. If/when things break down, their own customer support can usually sort you out (esp if you have elite status), plus they're much more willing to comp you to better rooms etc. If you book through a proxy, the odds of breakage increase and support on both sides will just point fingers at each other.

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#115

Post by bin_bash »

MandieD wrote: post #43
jahnu wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They exist for EU users of booking.com And several of the dark patterns don't. Because of fairly mild regulations that protect the consumer. Draw your own conclusions here.

After spending most of my adult life in Germany, I have to be extra-vigilant when doing anything with money back in the US - from remembering that the prices on the shelves are several percent lower than what I’m actually going to have to pay (while being way lower than VAT, sales tax is not included in prices!) to anything to do with cellphones, and then stuff like this.

What's so alarming about us not putting sales tax on products? I grew up in the US but in a non sales tax state so my experience until I was 25 was the same as yours. When I later moved to a sales tax state I knew the price was going to be ~5-10% higher than what was printed but I got used to it very quickly.

I hate to stereotype but I've found Germans in my experience to take particular offense to this practice. I'm married to someone from the UK and British people complain about this as well but probably only 1/10 as much. I feel like if I asked most Germans their least favorite thing about the US this is would be the MOST common response. I don't get it.

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#117

Post by amelius »

dessant wrote: post #70
quickaskq wrote: post #6

The one time I used booking.com I got screwed over. Their website is riddled with dark patterns and has probably been A/B tested into oblivion. The tactic they used that screwed me over was that they advertised 100% refunds on last minute cancellations. I used booking.com for this exact reason as I didn’t know if I’d be staying the night in the city I was driving past. Well turns out I didn’t need the booking but whe…

Here's a Booking.com employee that was part of the Consumer Psychology Team coming forward and arguing that what they've been doing is not illegal in the EU, after they were forced to change course because what they've been doing was incompatible with the law. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29472233 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29471213

not illegal != decent, acceptable

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#118

Post by em500 »

olalonde wrote: post #62

It's weird to see all those negative anecdotes about Booking.com. As a counter anecdote, I've used them several times and they always seem to have much cheaper prices then the competition. I was also able to cancel my booking once without issue after talking to customer support. PS: Not in any way affiliated with them other than being a satisfied customer.

It's not weird at all, most forum threads involving huge companies attract largely negative comments (Google, Amazon, even Apple). By and large I'm happy with the services of these companies, but if you go by HN I can get my gmail shutdown with no reason or recourse and half the stuff I bought from Amazon is probably fake.

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#119

Post by gingerlime »

pembrook wrote: post #108
quickaskq wrote: post #6

The one time I used booking.com I got screwed over. Their website is riddled with dark patterns and has probably been A/B tested into oblivion. The tactic they used that screwed me over was that they advertised 100% refunds on last minute cancellations. I used booking.com for this exact reason as I didn’t know if I’d be staying the night in the city I was driving past. Well turns out I didn’t need the booking but whe…

Anecdotal, but I’ve canceled booking.com reservations probably 50+ times over the past decade without issue. They certainly use nefarious UX patterns like “10 people just booked this location!!” But I’ve always found the “free cancellation by” dates to be reliable. On the other hand, booking hotels directly is an absolute nightmare of interfacing with whatever broken systems the underfunded “IT” departments of said h…

Or just pick up the phone and call? found it to be a better option in some cases. Got better prices than booking.com too.

The only problems we had with booking.com is that they give you no protection whatsoever. One case, the hotel clearly gamed the reviews and posted false info. It was so bad that we had to leave. But we were still charged the full amount, and booking.com just stood aside.

Just recently, my wife booked a hotel in Tel-Aviv. The hotel charged her card twice (booking.com seemed to have passed the card info to the hotel). We cancelled, and still waiting for the refund/release of the funds. Booking.com does nothing to help. We have to bounce between the unhelpful hotel and the slow-as-hell bank/credit card company.

OT: but are there any banks or credit card companies in Germany that actually help you when you're in this situation or need a chargeback? it seems like the low card fees in EU means much worse customer service compared to the US, or is it just my wishful thinking?

Re: Booking.com is moving its customer service staff to an outsourcing company

#120

Post by dtech »

bin_bash wrote: post #115
MandieD wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

After spending most of my adult life in Germany, I have to be extra-vigilant when doing anything with money back in the US - from remembering that the prices on the shelves are several percent lower than what I’m actually going to have to pay (while being way lower than VAT, sales tax is not included in prices!) to anything to do with cellphones, and then stuff like this.

What's so alarming about us not putting sales tax on products? I grew up in the US but in a non sales tax state so my experience until I was 25 was the same as yours. When I later moved to a sales tax state I knew the price was going to be ~5-10% higher than what was printed but I got used to it very quickly. I hate to stereotype but I've found Germans in my experience to take particular offense to this practice. I'm…

It's a real-life dark pattern. The benefits of showing the price with taxes for consumers vastly outweigh the minor problems for stores, other than makes them look cheaper.
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