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NR Bookings Being Cancelled out in Error by Booking.com when Guest Requests to Cancel

Any one else experiencing Booking.com cancelling out bookings when requested by Guest 

even though the Property has an NR Policy

 


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Leandri Klopper 5 years ago

Hi Mr Spence,

Yep, then there is suddenly a Yellow tab thingy on the booking that says Sorry this happens:

And when you click on that good looking offer of "I want another booking" then you get this:

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Mr Spence 5 years ago

Thanks for your posting a response, but tell me, did you get these messages for a NR Booking or was it another type of booking?

To update you, I have been given the run around here but last night I spoke to a nice operator who tried her best, but with her hands tied, to get to grips with what was going on with these Cancellations, which runs against our 100% NR Policy.

It seems that when a Guest clicks on an Automated Cancellation Request through there Booking Page, the System then Sends a Request to the Hotel.

At the Foot of the Request is a BLUE TAB with the words above

"How would you like to proceed? to the Words in the Blue Tab " Reply to this request"

It would seem that this message should Read, "CLICK ON THIS TO ALLOW A FREE CANCELLATION" because if you do click on this BLUE TAB to explain that the booking made is an NR Booking, but we can offer some options, then the Automated System Kicks in and allows Automated FREE Cancellation of the booking, weird to say the least.

I am presently like a dog with a new bone, still pestering for compensation, but not sure that Booking.com understand what that means.

Thanks

Mr Spence ApartmentsWales.com

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Leandri Klopper 5 years ago

Hello Mr. Spence,

Ah excellent response, thanks for sharing. All of my properties are 100% NR.

Hopefully your pestering will yield some fruit because if there is a workaround, I would like a workaround to charge the guests in anyway.

Looking forward to more feedback.

Keep well!

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Mr Spence 5 years ago

Well 3days on and no one has picked up and responded to my extranet Email, which sort of keeps it in line with other Emails I have sent in the past that represent a challenge for Booking.com.

It almost seems as if things like this do not have a set script and way above every-bodies pay grade.

I have found that if you keep sending them, sometimes someone gets peeved and sends a curt message, "please be patient, we are dealing with this matter! " but of course they never do and they know that in the full test of time I will have no option but to close the matter down.

This is the 3rd time this year that I have been caught with my pants down, but the work around is DO NOT CLICK ON THE BLUE RESPOND BUTTON in the Automated Email they send and on that note I have stopped using the Extranet Online Emails Completely and now request from the Guest their Email Address to write directly to them, cutting out the middle man and any chance of another cancelled booking.

I find that if you send them an SMS via there Mobile requesting their Email to send the Confirmation of their Booking to them, I get a 99.9% success rate ? This also helps to confirm that the number they have given is a working Phone, which helps come checkin time for Meet n Greet as we do not have a manned front desk.

How's the weather where you are, here in the South of Wales we have had Spring, Summer and now Winter all within the last 4 weeks?

Regards

Mr Spence Owner

ApartmentsWales.com

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Leandri Klopper 5 years ago

Hello again Mr. Spence,

I had a good chuckle at this post, because I can relate. Those template replies of theirs irk me, probably because I could have written it a bit better (some of them have typing errors/grammatical errors in). Hysterical! The "curt" email that you mentioned is the complete opposite of the template emails they use. Perhaps a balance would do better than Overly pleasant/friendly and Curt/Rude.

Valuable information Mr. Spence, I do have a question though. That automated email that you're referring to, the one with the evil button that cancels a NR booking for free, does the property get one of those if the client wants to cancel? Are we the ones clicking on it and then allowing cancellation? Because I have received some emails with a blue button where the client requests cancellation and I get to review it first, and those are fine. The bookings I sent the screenshots of above did not come with an email like that. I just received an email stating that it was cancelled and better luck next time.

Oh goody! Considering that guests mostly have no idea that Booking.com changes their email addresses this is Good to know, thanks. I might follow in your footsteps, cut out the platform in regards to communication. Although, I have been saved by a conversation that happened over the extranet in the past... which is probably why they have the tool. It's quite bad that most of that correspondence gets lost.

Haha The weather! Wow, with changing weather like that I can just imagine how many items you need to pack before leaving the house just so that you are properly prepared.

Well, it's been quite hot in South-Africa, which is nothing new, but now it comes with Massive scattered thunderstorms. Picnic in the park one moment, the next you use the blanket as an umbrella because you didn't come prepared.

Keep well!

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Mr Spence 5 years ago

Not sure why, but I thought you were located in Greece???

I had a response today to say that the Booking.com system was working correctly, but not how that was exactly and so I wrote back to ask if they would not mind in sharing that information with me as I was reaching out for their help.

On the note of doing emails outside of the Platform, everything today is time saved and so any Emails send or received and saved within say your Gmail can be produced in your defence.

Yes you are right, that BLUE Button sent as a request to Cancel by Booking.com used to allow us and I assume others to view the request and either accept it or decline, but now that is no longer the case, when we click on it, the System Kicks in Automatically and ACCEPTS the CANCELLATION with no preview of the Request to Cancel, a 100% Software Glitch.

I am wondering if there is a real method of getting someone up at the top of the Stairs to review these serious incidents and take the blame for it squarely on the chin and issue compensation, or am I living in a fools world.

I am hoping ot grab some of that Summer Weather you talk of when I head South to my Summer Residence in France, assuming they still let me into the Country after the 29th March [our Big Brexit Day] ?❤? assuming Mrs May does not ***!

Mr Spence Owner

ApartmentsWales.com

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Leandri Klopper 5 years ago

Hello again Mr. Spence,

Yes I must say I have seen the methods Booking.com uses. They fix something or look into it but they are not in the habit of sending feedback. Rather they promote that they saw something themselves and implemented a solution. At least it mostly gets done.

That is true. It doesn't happen often but every now and then when I phone the customer care line I get through to the grumpiest Booking.com employee who isn't in the mood to receive all my evidence. Then it helps that it's right there in front of them. Maybe I will just always CC the Booking.com email in when corresponding with the guests.

Ah man, worst glitch. Blue is normally such a nice color. I'll request they mark it as Orange or red... or perhaps that they must fix it. :-\

Well, I've contacted my Account Manager (we have a very good understanding) to get to the bottom of why this is happening and how to get to a point where it isn't an option for the guest. As soon as I receive feedback I will let you know in what world we live.

Haha, no I'm not in Greece. I would like to visit Greece though, but I've never mentioned it on the forum. Oh lovely! Wish I had a second residence to flee to when the weather isn't fun. Bwhahaha Oh noes, well I will hold thumbs for you Mr. Spence.

Keep well.

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Mr Spence 5 years ago

No response from Booking.com regarding the automated cancellation, so I guess they have forwarded my mail onto the bin dept.

Of all the continents I have visited, other than North Africa I have never seen any of Africa for fear of having my children stolen or passed a fatal does of some disease, yet I have been to places like Haiti, Honduras and many 4th world countries where the risk of something or other coming our way was always high.

But now the children are all grown up, I just have the dog hanging around my neck which stops me flying, so for the last 6yrs France has been my saviour, with visits during the summer months allow me to pop to Italy,Austria,Switzerland and Spain. This year we are all set to visit Colmare in the Alsace Region of France next to Switzerland, then we leave for the Dordogne to collect our children flying in for a Birthday my wife and I share in June.

Tell me about the area / region you live.

Mr Spence Eng ApartmentsWales