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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

#41

Post by blunte »

ww520 wrote: post #20
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…

Book directly with the hotels if possible. Lots of hotels will forgo the 24-hour cancellation charge if you ask nicely. Hotels can't do much if you book with a 3rd party since you're a customer of the 3rd party, not with the hotel.

Several commentors have written this advice, but almost always if I check the hotel website directly I see much higher prices than what are offered on booking. hotels.com, or agoda.

However, with flights and flight search websites I do sometimes see close to equal pricing, and in that domain I almost always check the airline website itself and book directly when possible.

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

#42

Post by sgt »

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…

Not related to Booking.com, but these types of companies sometimes screw you over in ways you didn't even imagine.

On my first trip to the USA (traveling from South Africa), Travelstart managed to somehow inject the word "DOCUMENT" into my name that was on the tickets.

So my name e.g. "JOHN DOE" became "JOHN DOCUMENT DOE". At the customs/border control in Atlanta they noted that my ticket's name didn't correspond to my passport, which was actually a huge problem. Luckily they eventually let me into the country because the TSA agent was super friendly and "vouched" - which is bizarre on its own.

Needless to say, I always order tickets directly from the airliner now.

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

#43

Post by MandieD »

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.

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.

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

#45

Post by MandieD »

dmarchand90 wrote: post #31
baby wrote: post #24

I despise the experience so much that I can’t feel bad about the demise of that website. They’re are guilty of all the dark patterns imaginable. The day you stop providing a useful tool to your users is the day you can start counting til you close shop. On the other hand google hotel is providing a top service. This is actually my biggest worry with facebook. Even though I own their stocks, I’m scared that they are f…

I'm not necessarily a huge fan but I'm not sure what the alternative there is. They're pretty comprehensive. If you have any suggestions by the way I'm very happy to jump ship!

I’ve had a decent 15 years or so of using Expedia (.de and .com, depending on where I was traveling and which credit card I wanted to use). Prices and availability generally in line (maybe slightly higher prices) as Booking.com, without the in-your-face FOMO inducements.

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

#46

Post by capableweb »

blunte wrote: post #41
ww520 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Book directly with the hotels if possible. Lots of hotels will forgo the 24-hour cancellation charge if you ask nicely. Hotels can't do much if you book with a 3rd party since you're a customer of the 3rd party, not with the hotel.

Several commentors have written this advice, but almost always if I check the hotel website directly I see much higher prices than what are offered on booking. hotels.com, or agoda. However, with flights and flight search websites I do sometimes see close to equal pricing, and in that domain I almost always check the airline website itself and book directly when possible.

In the past I've called and asked the hotel if they are willing to price match as I much rather want to be a customer of them, rather than Booking.com, and I think only around two times have they denied my request. Probably because those were very large hotel chains and didn't really care about one customer here and there. But smaller hotels have always accepted price marching for me.

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

#47

Post by culturestate »

dazc wrote: post #16
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…

Booking.com is a great site for finding hotel rooms, provided you use it only for this reason and then go direct to the hotel's own site.

I used to do this, but recently I (somehow) got kicked into the upper tier of Booking.com’s genius program. The 20% discount you get by using B.c in that tier is unbeatable - I’ve actually had hotel front desk staff in multiple countries over the last few months tell me straight-up that they can’t price match that low and I’d be better off just using B.c.

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

#48

Post by blunte »

pcardoso wrote: post #39
dmarchand90 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not necessarily a huge fan but I'm not sure what the alternative there is. They're pretty comprehensive. If you have any suggestions by the way I'm very happy to jump ship!

I use Destinia.com. They usually have the same hotels as other sites but prices are usually much cheaper. Sometimes not just slightly cheaper, but €500+ cheaper. Been using them for more than 10 years.

Thanks, this is a new one for me. I've been happy with hotels.com for a very long time, but now I'll start comparing here. I'm amazed that Destinia appears to still be independent. Usually by this age of successful travel company, they would be owned by Expedia or Booking (Holdings).

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

#49

Post by NumberCruncher »

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.

> several of the dark patterns don't

The "only x room left with these conditions" false claim is used also in the EU.

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

#50

Post by dudeinjapan »

Any Booking.com engineers reading this are welcome to apply to join us a TableCheck (https://www.tablecheck.com/en/company/jobs/)

We see Booking.com's online travel agent ("OTA") model as fundamentally predatory/parasitic to hospitality operators. Our business is designed to cut-out of the likes of Booking.com and other middlemen--let the operators own the guest data and build direct relationship with their guests.

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