Booking.com the defeat of a monopolistic company

Do you remember my articles about Booking.com and its arrogant approach to consumers?

Do you remember the money I and many other consumers lost because of the crazy mechanism used by Booking.com?

Yes, because they insisted they needed to cancel the whole booking and make a new one, and couldn't do so because the dates were now full (which is absurd considering my existing booking was partly why it was full).

Well, my reader, we raised our concerns to the European Commission and Antitrust authorities. We asked the Commission to stop the behavior of this company and its lack of attention to its customers because of its monopolistic power.

And indeed, we got it.

The European Antitrust authorities stopped the Booking.com acquisition of Swedish peer ETraveli on Monday after the company failed to allay concerns about its dominance in online hotel reservations.

Of course, we do not believe that our articles drove the decision.

But our complaints must have been considered as we raised the voice of the European consumers.

This is just the first step. It is in the right direction.

We, consumers, did not get the money we lost on “reservations” made on the Booking.com website.

But we showed that the voice of European consumers is not to be ignored even by huge companies like Booking.com.

We will continue checking on companies that behave arrogantly, like Booking.com.

Booking.com, the big cheat on consumers

Do you need to make a reservation before traveling?

Do you want to ensure you will not lose money if something goes wrong and you do not leave anymore?

You better avoid making reservations on the Booking.com website: you will lose money.

Wait, Max, What are you talking about? You are thinking, my reader.

Booking.com gives you the option of reimbursement or postponement of the reservation.

This is the core of the problem, my dear reader. They say they do. But effectively, they do not.

I do not understand anything, Max. Be more precise, you are thinking, my reader.

Well, let's get back to basics.

On the Booking.com website, there are indeed the options listed above. That is why you feel comfortable that, in case something goes wrong, you do not lose your money.

Right? Wrong again. Why?

If something happens and you ask for reimbursement or the postponement of your stay in the hotel, you go to the Booking.com website and click the magic button that gives you that option.

And here comes the problem. The option is not yours, but it belongs to the hotel. What are you talking about? You think.

The point is that when you click the bottom, a message explains that your request goes to the hotel, which has 48 hours to answer your REQUEST.

Yes, it is just a request, not an option. Indeed, the hotel has the OPTION of accepting or not your request. And if the hotel does not accept your request, you lose 100% of your money.

Now, why on earth should the hotel accept to give up the money you paid or even postpone your stay once it already got your money when you made a reservation?

They do not have any incentive to do that.

And the cheating gets even more significant when you complain to the hotel.

The hotel might say: If someone requests your room, we reimburse or postpone your stay there. Until then, we will not do it.

So you hope you recover the money. It is a cheat again.

Why? The only way for someone to take your room is if your room is available on the Booking.com site. But your reservation is not canceled if you are waiting for the reimbursement or postponement. You are in limbo, waiting for the hotel to answer your request.

But if your reservation is not canceled, your room is unavailable and does not show up on the Booking.com website, and nobody can take it.

This means that nobody would take your room when you requested the hotel. In any case, it is a vicious circle that ends up with you losing 100% of your money.

The only alternative would be if someone physically shows up at the hotel and requests your room. Something that just does not happen these days. Everybody makes reservations before leaving, and not once is there going physically in the hotel, like in the old days.

The devil is in the details my old teacher at high school used to tell me.

And the details are all against you when you make a reservation on Booking.com

So be aware that if you want to make a reservation on the Booking.com website, there is no parachute. If you change your plans, you lose your money. Full stop.

What are the European Commission and all other European authorities doing to stop this monopolistic company from earning their money on us?

We consumers have no protection and are forced to go to the Booking.com website.

Should the government authorities protect us against the monopolistic and rapacious behavior of international companies like Booking.com?

Booking.com, a company that does not care about its customers

September 2023. I have to go to Rome with all my family. It was unexpected. I called Hotel X. The gentle receptionist answered: “Dear Sir, we do not take reservations over the phone. Please go to the Booking.com website and make the reservations by yourself.”

“But I am here now. I can give you my credit card details if you make the reservation,” I answer.

“Sorry, sir, I cannot. Go to the Booking.com website,” she answered and hung up.

Then I tried another hotel. Same answer. Third and fourth hotel. The same response again. And, my dear reader, please notice that I was calling up all kinds of hotels, from 5-star to 2-star hotels.

Booking.com dominates the market. If a relatively underdeveloped tourist market like the Italian market is so dependent on Booking.com, what about more developed markets like the French or the German market?

No wonder the European Commission has an ongoing investigation into the monopolistic power of Booking.com and its acquisition of Sweden’s eTraveli Group.

Booking, whose brands include Booking.com, Rentalcars, Priceline and Agoda, announced the proposed acquisition of ETraveli, owned by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, in November 2021.

I know what you think, my reader: we all know that. So what?

Please be patient because the story is much more than what I said.

Then I gave up. I went on my laptop and made the reservation on Booking.com.

I admit I was in a hurry. I relied 100% on Booking.com. They are a giant in the market. They must help me out in any single situation. Right? Wrong, my reader.

They do not. They behave just like a small website in the third category. They do not care about their customers. You do not believe, right?

Let’s carry on the story.

I made the reservations for four people going to Rome. On the website, there were the terms and conditions, which I admit I did not read entirely. I just read that, generally, Booking.com guarantees the reimbursement or the postponement of your reservation.

I relied 100% on Booking.com. Would such a monopolistic company earn on a small customer like myself if I had a problem with my trip?

Indeed, it would not, you think, my reader. Wrong again. They would. They do it all the time. We are all hostages of Booking.com. We are forced to go there to make reservations. But we lose all our money if something goes wrong with our trip. They do not do anything and make 100% profit on you.

You do not believe, right? Read below.

As an international journalist, I have to change my trips from one day to another. That happened. I went to the Booking.com website and tried NOT to get the money back. Just to postpone my reservation. From mid-September 2023 to mid-January 2024. A quiet period in Rome. Everything should be ok. 4 months in advance.

Maybe for big companies, but not for Booking.com.

Wait, but Booking.com is the largest company in Europe in the travel business, a monopoly. How can that be possible?

And here we come to the heart of the problem.

Booking.com is indeed a giant. It is a company which dominates the market in Europe and elsewhere. A monopoly. But they behave like a small company. They are a company which does not help its customers.

Why?

Simple. Because they are a monopoly. They know you must make reservations with them no matter what you do, think, or act. They are a monopoly.

End of the story. The hotel said no to any postponement of my trip. Booking.com embraced the hotel’s view 100%.

I lost 100% of all my money. And next time I travel I have to make a reservation with Booking.com.

What about the EU? Online System Hotels must have “easily legible and unambiguous” reservation buttons in case persons are on the hook for charges, the European Union’s top court has said in the past. Does it happen? It does not.

One question is left open: What else is waiting for the European Commission to intervene and stop this outrageous behavior of a monopolistic company that does not care about its customers and leaves us without protection? At the same time, they make billions of euros on us.

Just as a reminder what Margrethe Vestager, Executive Vice-President in charge of competition policy said on Booking.com on 16/11/2022:

“Booking is by far the strongest online travel agency in Europe, intermediating between thousands of hotels and millions of Europeans. By acquiring a large player in the flights intermediation sector, it is extending its reach to other activities in the travel ecosystem. Given Booking’s strong position in Europe, we need to carefully assess whether this merger will strengthen Booking’s position even further or distort competition in parts of the travel sector.”

P. S. After getting distressed with Booking.com customer service, a gentle email from the site asks me: What was the interaction with Michala of Customer Service?

Please put an emoticon: a smiling or an angry face on the interaction questionnaire.