. I usually stay at the same place when I go on vacation. Several years ago I was in a chat room and there was a lady who said her parents were the owners of the place I stayed at. I was skeptical at first but after talking to her I could tell it was the same place. She told me that next time I go down there to mention the daughters name and I would get a discount. She was true to her word and I ended up getting a discount and really great service. Small world!Edited 12-Jul-24 02:51am

Not personally but a friend of mine just recently vented on Facebook that she was ripped off by Wotif with no refund for the mix up.

I believe this happened a lots they no where to go and no government place will help.

I gave my grandson a trip to Phuket as a present which he used for his honeymoon but what neither of us knew was that the hotel had been re-badged so when he arrived the hotel wasn't expecting him. I contacted the place I booked with but they sent me a message telling me they aren't responsible for re-badging. While all of this was going on the management decided to honour the booking so everything was fine and he enjoyed his honeymoon. It's makes your heart skip a beat or 2 though.

when I book a room I always book under the name improvement, why because there is always room for improvement... sorry have a dad joke virus

I never book anything online, I always choose in person booking. I'm a fan of speaking directly to a human being not an automatic robot.

I never book anything on line, I go direct to the venue, ok it's a little more expensive but at least you don't have to pay on line or up front full cost, because you can put a 10% deposit and pay the balance when you arrive at the destination, And that is why I always stay at same venue when I can, because they get to know and trust you, and never use my Bank's Cr.card, but use my special debit/credit card that only has what I need to pay on it, just in case I get scammed

we use both travel agents for complex trips & online for hotels

We still have phone books or directory's, in AUS. Maybe some people forget to look at the YELLOW PAGES, they offer businesses on there.

When travelling overseas I gave only ever booked through a reputable travel agent, I only ever use Expedia now.

I'm rarely online so I don't have issues. Just use the tried and true methods to book hotels and flights, call a reputable company itself.Edited 12-Jul-24 06:11am

You do business online and wonder why things don't go well???????

I book a lot online, admittedly going through booking.com and if I ever have a problem I would look to them for help. There are a lot of these dives owned by foreigners that offer a cheap place to stay (ok sometimes you really just need a bed with toilet and shower). Twice I booked, and there were yukky men coming and going. one place was disgusting (also full of dirty men) and I couldn't use the shower as the head came off, and there were faeces and snot everywhere. It was an really old house that had been patched up. Im going to stay in regular hotels now.

we booked accommodation many years ago online and the business went bust never got any money back, it is very risky to book online

It's too risky these days to do things online. People aren't honest it is as simple as that. They will con, lie, pretend just to get a dollar from you. All I can say is be very very careful when doing any thing. I nearly got conned out of $300 from some one pretending to be a friend of the families. Not good that is for sure.

Never done this

You ever book anything online you get exactly what you deserve NOTHING AT ALL as ON Line has no connection to reality. If you can feel or touch nothing at all when you make a booking of any sort then I would not expect to get anything at all just like a organisation claiming to be a bank with no branches or people to speak to they save you money by being ON Line and when something goes wrong which it always will you have no way to solve the problem and all you can do is kiss your money goodby.

Have never experienced any issues like that.

There’s always someone trying to scam people out of money

They never seemed to have an option for booking a disabled friendly room, so we end up having to call to book

None that went that bad had few where got different room or rooms were no way near photos

Not much, just sometimes the apartments aren't all that they are supposed to be. But, never been a real issue.

No. None I can remember.

FYI, I made my booking through booking.com. They even had the gall to ask me for review of my 'stay' afterwards.

only book online concert tickets.sports thru ticketek/ticketmaster and some accommodation but thru webjet or similar. that reminds me the monster trucks are coming october to sydney

Oh no thats horrible. Sorry to hear that. But usually most places call to double check ur coming, if I call them. I have never had an issuse.

i always do my research for best price online, but ultimately ring the accomm itself to make the booking as they can often price match or upgrade for the same cheaper price when dealing direct with them. I recently found a fantastic price on Agoda, i rang the motel for them to tell me they were under new management and the previous owners had not given them access to the 3rd party sites to update details of new ownership and unfortunately 3rd party sites bookings never actually got through to them, and neither did the money. The new owners are genuine and lovely people. Our event date had to get changed and cancelling our initial booking was not a problem for them. We will definitely stay with them again in the future when we are in their region. Thankfully we hadn't booked with the third party site as we would not have seen our money (we were booking multiple rooms too).

We had that happen to us many years ago. When we got to our hotel, they had no record of our reservation, and they had no vacancies. We had to call around and finally found another hotel.

Yes my daughter has had the same experience but with booking a cruise. She has 2 small children 2 and 5 so wanted to booking them into the children activities and also an early dinner booking. All was done online and when she boarded the ship found that they have a late dinner booking and only one of the children have been registered for the daily children's activities. Was told that they can't do much for her she needs to contact the cruise line. No family or friends will every use this cruise line in the future.

Thank you Chin you have to be careful

Haven't every tried. Sorry that you're having problems.

Never had a problem.

Never had problems booking online.

Never had a problem, book flights and hotels at least 3 times a year!

have booked Air bnb Australia & overseas never had a problem, reviews are helpful, usually book flights online I did use a travel agency sometime ago when I had the same person who was very helpful do not like seeing different people as you have to start your needs every time you see someone different. The most recent booking I made was with the agent booked the east/west train with, was supposed to be upmarket, however I needed a disabled room whoever designed the room & bathrooms had no idea of the needs of someone who need assistance we managed with difficulty , I put in a report of everything that was wrong for a disabled person, would never recommend this hotel to anyone.

Ow for more than 10 years I did all my flight and accommodation through online . I prefer to book online rather than talk to some one by phone and some time I have to wait for a while until some one will respond .

I never booked anything before.

How disheartening for you,sorry this happened but I have heard of others having a similar experience.I mostly book my overseas trips via a travel agency face to face because it's just easier and stress free in my opinion.I have booked accomodation online locally in my own country and never had any issues there but I do tend to go through a third party rather than just direct.

Covid shut downs caused lots of cancellations. A hotel I had booked overseas refused a refund. Then I remembered I booked it through an online booking agency, the refund was back in my account the next day

I am sorry for your experience it must have been very stressful. I booked my whole overseas visit through RAA and it was absolutely amazing

I so rarely book accomadation because I so rarely go on holidays. I don't think I have had trouble, because a lot of the hotels I find either what I can find on that day, or only a couple of days from booking. though I suppose I ring to check in some cases.

I always phone direct and book. It cuts out the middle man and the company don't lose any money either. You can get a feel for the place looking on Google and a friendly voice is always helpful, too.

Good and bad. The bad was using a booking company to book accommodation,also in Melbourne. It was a place we use often. On arrival we were told the booking was made for same date, but for the next year. We got a different suite for one night then had to go to another hotel for the next night as they were booked out. Through Expedia we had to apply for a refund. Never received it. Will never use this booking service again. Now I search prices online and contact accommodation direct as they match best price advertised and get what I pay for.

So far it’s been good.

No this has never happened to me but most of the time I stay with family or freinds but I dont travel any more I cant afford it

I only book flights and rental cars online, never accommodation.

Had trouble with Air B+B in Europe (Copenhagen) a couple of years ago. Won't go into details but they were NOT at all helpful in resolving our loss of accomodation. I will now NEVER use them again.

Was it AirB&B ?? Small wonder...heard this so many times about them...

we always use paypal for payments because they will refund and investigate any monetary problems.

I use Webjet or Wotif and book where either payment is made upon arrival or through Paypal (a safety net, if something goes wrong they'll reverse the payment). No issues...... yet.

We have not had any trouble because we only use one booking company and watch what we book

So Sorry for the bad experience you definitely have to be extra careful doing business on line for anything that is why I do not do anything on line so many scammers out there best to visit in person business offices.

I haven't had any bad experiences yet

would not book an air bnb for that same reason.

Sorry I can't help because I haven't been on a plane since 2005! ;-D

revolving changes in the world are unavoidable, go with the flow and be smart

Since Covid started, I have not been anywhere except local shops, and then only late in the evening when hardly anyone else is there.

No, I haven't had any issues like this before.

Want to. Future goals.

NO HAVEN'T DONE FOR A LONG TIME NOW BUT CAN'T WAIT FOR ALL TO TURN AROUND FOR THE BETTER... WITH THE MESS GOING ON IN USA

Bondable, professional house sitter at the local, state, national, and international level - housing accommodations were never an issue for me when I travel - I completely stop traveling when Covid19 became an issue in the USA - now I am stuck in Southern Sunny California till the long arm of death catches up to me - lol! Unfortunately, I cannot offer you any practical advice/suggestions - to make sure this dilemma doesn't happen again too you or anyone else!Edited 11-Jul-24 09:19am

I always make the hotel bookings online and never have any problems. Try Agoda, Trip.com and Airbnb; they are trustworthy online booking companies. Edited 11-Jul-24 01:21am

I've been booking hotels, flights, car rentals, excursions, anything to do with travel for many many years & not once had a problem. However, I only EVER stay in hotels, generally chain hotels Only once, in Cuba, was a hotel closed after I had made reservations....a person from the Iberostar hotel contacted me & arranged a different accomodation (an upgraded property at that!). Too many stories about private rentals turning out to be scams, sadly

Never on line booked

U HOTELS .COM

1 point.

Never booked accommodations online. With the stories you read about several people renting the same cottage or apartment or whatever and then 5 people show to move in on the same day.... I've become leery of scamming. I guess if it was a big hotel on a resort it'd be different than a single person who is more likely to scam me. I'm going to St. Kitt's in late winter and will have to book online.Edited 11-Jul-24 00:31am

Sorry to hear that. I haven't had any problems booking online, but I stay at hotels only. I've never stayed at a rental property or apartment. In terms of pricing, I contacted a hotel once to ask questions. I inquired if he could book me over the phone with a better price than online, and he did! So sometimes it's worth it to call and compare.Edited 11-Jul-24 00:20am

I always look for phone number and google it to make sure legit

SORRY TO HEAR THAT BUT NEVER BOK ONLINE EVER YOU MUST GO TO TO IN PERSON TO BOOK YOUR TRIP IT MIGHT COST NOT MUCH MORE BUT IT IS SAFE TO USE