Booking.com bookings issue

OTA = Online Travel Agency, which means those sites that sell the booking and take the payment for you.
Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Booking.com bookings issue

Post by Pengman »

Twice in the past 10 days I’ve had potential guests advise me that they have been unable to book my holiday let on Booking.com due to Booking’s ‘Card type’ drop down menu not working, so they can’t get beyond this point and can’t enter any credit card information. The first time this happened I rang Booking.com and was told that they could only assist me on host related issues and that I should advise the guest to contact Booking.com’s guest support. I said surely you can get a message to them using Booking.com’s internal communication procedures but they said this was not possible. The second time it happened was tonight and I’m very surprised the issue hasn’t been fixed by now. In both instances I managed to get the guests to book direct, but my concern is that I’m losing business from guests who will simply give up on Booking.com and book other accommodation with another OTA. Anybody else encountered this issue?
I came, I saw, I bought it.
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CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Re: Booking.com bookings issue

Post by CSE »

Several thoughts:
Things like adblockers or strict privacy settings on browsers can affect functionality of websites.
I would personally try a dummy reservation to see if you can replicate the issue.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Re: Booking.com bookings issue

Post by Pengman »

I donlt think hosts can make a dummy reservation on Booking.com. So I tried making a real reservation of my own property knowing I could cancel for free if it was successful. But I came up again the same problem mand couldn't actually book. So there's definitely a problem. I've messaged Booking.com now (twice) but no response so far.
I came, I saw, I bought it.
User avatar
CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Re: Booking.com bookings issue

Post by CSE »

Unfortunately over recent years Booking's customer services has suffered. It is likely to suffer even more with the lay-offs announced in the last week.
Messaging has never worked contacting them by the owners dedicated phone line works a lot better.
With the lack of other responses it seems no one else has the same issue.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Re: Booking.com bookings issue

Post by Pengman »

Got to the bottom of this problem. The reason the 'Card type' drop down menu didnl' work for my listing is that my Boooking.com extranet 'Other Policies' settings had been chencged to signify that I didn't accept credit cards and only accepted cash! When or why this change happened I don't know, but the thing is I DIDN'T CHANGE IT! A couple of other things have been changed recently that I didn't change too, so beware guys - looks like Booking.com can change your settings on a whim, so stay vigillante!
I came, I saw, I bought it.
User avatar
CSE
Posts: 4414
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2006 3:34 pm
Location: Galicia

Re: Booking.com bookings issue

Post by CSE »

Well done for getting to the bottom of this.
We too have experienced changes to our listing that we never instigated. That has happened after some sort of software change- upgrade- call it what you want.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
Pengman
Posts: 115
Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2019 4:54 pm
Location: Portland, Dorset UK

Re: Booking.com bookings issue

Post by Pengman »

A further thought on this matter - although I know I didn't directly change my Booking.com settings to accepting cash only, I have a feeling it may have been changed as a result of me going onto Booking's Smart-Flex Reservations programme (downline of the Opputunities tab) a few months back. Because apparently another thing this programme was responsible for was the statement 'No Prepayment Needed - pay at property' appearing on Booking's listing of my property. After telling Booking I wanted this removed they said the only way it could be removed was by my leaving the Smart-Flex Reservations programme. So I figure the two things went hand in hand. This Smart-Flex Programme might work fine for hotels who have a front desk that can accept cash, but it obviously doesn't work for vacation rentals - far from increasing business it probably robbed me of 2 month's worth of bookings from Booking.com. I certainly didn't realise these changes were going to be made when I signed up to the programme.
I came, I saw, I bought it.
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