The hotel David Marsh reserved in Cancun, Mexico, won’t answer his questions — but it’s keeping his money. Can Booking.com help him get a refund?
Question
I have a reservation with a hotel in Cancun, Mexico, through Booking.com. It is during high season, and I was concerned that the hotel might be full and that my reservation would not be honored.
So I reached out to Booking.com and to the hotel. The hotel has not responded to my messages, emails or phone calls. I contacted Booking.com, and it promised to attempt further contact by email and phone but carefully avoids mentioning proposed action if the hotel continues to fail to respond.
Booking.com has insisted that the booking is valid but that I must wait until my arrival at the hotel to discover if my reservation will be honored. If the hotel doesn’t honor the reservation, Booking.com suggests I call it for help.
I’m concerned that if I have to call Booking.com, it will be an expensive international call. If another hotel is available in peak season, there will certainly be significant additional costs. If there are no vacancies, am I to sleep in the street?
Booking.com says I must endure this uncertainty. I would like to cancel my reservation, but the booking is nonrefundable. My impression of customer service is that there is concern for protocols and complete disregard for guests. Will you assist, please? — David Marsh, West Midlands, England
Answer
Strictly speaking, your Booking.com reservation is nonrefundable. So the platform can keep your money. But it should also respond to your messages — and if you’re not hearing anything, that’s a sign of trouble.
There’s no rule that a hotel must respond to a guest after a guest makes a reservation. But common sense tells you that if a hotel accepts your reservation, it should be able to answer a few questions about the room, and also independently confirm your reservation.
Now, to be fair, Booking.com did send you a confirmation and in a follow-up email, it confirmed that the reservation was a contract. But reading between the lines of your paper trail, it looks as if even Booking.com was worried. What if the hotel had no intention of honoring your reservation? Would you have to sleep on the sidewalk?
You followed all the steps to a resolution. You reached out to the hotel by email, phone and text message. Then you contacted Booking.com. (You could have also escalated your case to one of the Booking.com customer service executives. I publish their names, numbers and email addresses on this site.)
I think it’s absolutely reasonable to expect a hotel to answer your questions after you’ve made a reservation, especially if it’s completely nonrefundable. The hotel should have offered you a written assurance that it had a room for you.
Reading between the lines, I can see why you were concerned. You had found an excellent room rate on Booking.com — almost too good to be true.
What should you do when your hotel won’t answer you?
When you make a hotel reservation online and the hotel suddenly goes silent, you can feel all alone. But you’re not. Here’s what you can do if you find yourself in this frustrating situation.
- Make sure it’s for that hotel. Be certain the reservation is valid and that you’ve entered the correct dates and hotel name. Mistakes happen, and sometimes it’s as simple as a typo or misunderstanding. Remember, as many as 25 percent of online reservations have incorrect dates because of a user error.
- You’ll need an airtight paper trail. Keep a record of all your communications with the hotel and the booking platform. This includes emails, messages, and any confirmation numbers. You’ll need this, especially if the platform decides to continue ignoring you.
- Don’t give up. Try contacting the hotel through multiple channels — email, phone, social media, or even their website chat feature. Sometimes, a different method can yield better results. If they still don’t respond, it’s time to escalate.
- Don’t let the booking platform off the hook. If you booked through a third party like Booking.com or Expedia, reach out to them for assistance. They often have customer service teams dedicated to resolving issues with hotels. Make sure to mention your attempts to contact the hotel and provide any documentation you have.
- Check out the hotel’s cancellation policy. If the hotel fails to respond or honor your reservation, you may have grounds for a refund or compensation.
If all else fails, ask to speak with a manager at the hotel or your booking platform. Higher-level staff often have more authority to resolve issues than frontline employees.
Can Booking.com help when your hotel won’t answer?
You reached out to me through my consumer advocacy site. When I contacted Booking.com on your behalf, a representative confirmed your story. She said Booking.com had verified your reservation and had reached out to the property on your behalf.
Booking.com also promised to cancel your non-refundable reservation for free if you couldn’t get through. And after no response from the hotel, Booking.com did as promised.
“We can confirm the reservation has been canceled and our team is working to process a refund,” the Booking.com representative told me. You reviewed your credit card records and found that the hotel had not charged you yet, so you were in the clear.
