I’m dealing with a refund through Booking.com right now and it’s been a nightmare. Didn’t realize how broken their process is until this happened.
Basically, Booking.com pays airlines or hotels using their own virtual credit card, not yours. So when a refund is needed, the airline or hotel has to refund Booking.com first, and then Booking.com is supposed to pass it on to you.
Here’s the problem. Some airlines and hotels require verification of the credit card used before issuing a refund. Booking.com refuses to verify their virtual card, saying it’s a security issue. So the airline won’t refund without verification, and Booking.com won’t provide it.
End result is you’re stuck in the middle with no timeline and no real solution. Support just bounces you back and forth. At that point the only real options seem to be a chargeback or trying to negotiate directly with the airline or hotel.
I’m still in the middle of this, but it’s definitely changed how I feel about booking through third parties. Curious if anyone else here has dealt with the same thing and how it turned out.
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