Usually, when customers book a hotel stay through Booking.com and decide to pay immediately online, the site collects the sum and then pays it directly to the facility, removing the commission it takes for its service. Since July, however, in countries such as Thailand and Indonesia but also in Europe the platform has blocked payments to hoteliers, communicating some “technical problems”. But, as the Guardian reports, the situation has been going on for months and is becoming increasingly frustrating for merchants who are waiting for thousands of dollars to be refunded.
The difficulties of hoteliers
The British newspaper has collected a series of testimonies from hoteliers whose business has also been terminated due to an accumulation of expenses and the inability to support them, especially in small structures on the beaches of Thailand, but also who have not found a way to contact some operator and get more precise explanations: on the Booking.com website it is explained that you need to speak to finance or credit control, but no contact details are provided. Some business owners complain about other irregularities, such as changing payment terms and inconsistencies in summaries. Many “victims” have gathered in a Facebook group to share any news.
Booking’s response
Booking.com shouldn’t be an economic problem. In fact, in August, the data for the second quarter of 2023 came out, a period in which the group recorded a total turnover of 5.5 billion dollars and a profit of 1.3 billion dollars. The increase is, respectively, 27% and 51% compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, Booking also responded to the controversy with a note: «We are very sorry for the delay that some of our partners have recently suffered in payments – we read -, and we can confirm that the majority of them have now received what they were entitled to . Our partners were informed in advance that there would be a global systems maintenance session and an expected payment delay. However, a small proportion of them have been affected by a protracted technical problem, which has already been reported and is being treated as a matter of urgency.”
2023-10-01 11:16:38
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