QUOTE(v_thevi @ Oct 1 2019, 12:48 AM)
Hi there. Booked through Booking.com. A few updates to share:
1. Apparently for some reservations through Booking.com, payment details are handed over directly to the accomodation. I was not aware about this, but they said it is stated in their fine print.
So the villa was basically given an open ticket to misuse my credit card details and proceeded to charge my card (RM300+) for the alleged damages without my authorisation. The excuse they stated in their response was "someone has to cover the following charges". And after a lot of back and forth communication, Booking.com claims they can't do anything.
2. Unfortunately, it is their good rating which made me trust them. Maybe other travellers did not have bad experiences like mine and hence, did not see their true colours. As soon as issues surfaced, their real character came out. In fact, as a further retaliation to my review, they came up with yet another accusation that I threatened their staff and also purposely refused to leave the villa on time. Seriously, their ability to cook up false stories on the go is quite amusing.
Honestly, I learnt an expensive lesson from this incident. If possible don't use credit cards for booking. Credit cards can be easily misused by vendors. I usually trust properties listed under famous OTAs like Booking.com, but this turned out to be a huge mistake.
Another learning, always do a full walkthrough of the accomodation with their staff before checking out. Otherwise, the staff can do whatever they want and blame you for it.
File a transaction dispute with your credit card company. It's the main reason for using credit card when booking.1. Apparently for some reservations through Booking.com, payment details are handed over directly to the accomodation. I was not aware about this, but they said it is stated in their fine print.
So the villa was basically given an open ticket to misuse my credit card details and proceeded to charge my card (RM300+) for the alleged damages without my authorisation. The excuse they stated in their response was "someone has to cover the following charges". And after a lot of back and forth communication, Booking.com claims they can't do anything.
2. Unfortunately, it is their good rating which made me trust them. Maybe other travellers did not have bad experiences like mine and hence, did not see their true colours. As soon as issues surfaced, their real character came out. In fact, as a further retaliation to my review, they came up with yet another accusation that I threatened their staff and also purposely refused to leave the villa on time. Seriously, their ability to cook up false stories on the go is quite amusing.
Honestly, I learnt an expensive lesson from this incident. If possible don't use credit cards for booking. Credit cards can be easily misused by vendors. I usually trust properties listed under famous OTAs like Booking.com, but this turned out to be a huge mistake.
Another learning, always do a full walkthrough of the accomodation with their staff before checking out. Otherwise, the staff can do whatever they want and blame you for it.