What you should know about location verifications
Dear Partners,
Janita - Account Advisor, Toniya - Coordinator Partner Hub, and I have been reading your questions and suggestions on the location verifications topic in the Community with attention. We clearly see how essential this topic is to you, and definitely understand the reasons. We also want to ensure a smooth onboarding experience and running of your operations for you. Below, we would like to share some information that you may find useful.
Why do we do location verifications?
All properties go through a location verification procedure and this is to ensure that Booking.com is a secure platform for both owners and guests. When you confirm your property’s location upon joining Booking.com, you make sure that guests can easily find it on arrival.
Additionally, we promote your property across multiple search engines and on affiliate websites, so it’s vital that we show guests the correct property location right from the start. This also helps you to manage expectations and provide a positive guest experience.
How does location verifications currently work?
- Once you complete the registration of your property, the location verification letter will be automatically sent to the property address.
- Once you receive your letter, it only takes 5 minutes to confirm your property location in your Booking.com extranet.
- It can take up to 25 days (including weekends) for your letter to arrive.
- If you have not received your letter after 25 days or if you are in an exceptional case where you do not have access to postal services or immediate access to the property you want to list on Booking.com, contact us so we can facilitate your location verification by alternative means.
- If you want to register multiple properties on Booking.com, each individual location requires its own location verification based on its unique address.
- There are alternative location verification methods available as well, allowing partners to be able to open without having to enter a code from a letter. This may be more appropriate for a number of reasons such as letters not being able to be sent. In these instances we do either a video location verification call where we video call the owner and take screenshots of the property to match with the images online and see street address, or an OTA location verification using a select list of other OTAs for partners who are Superhosts or have 5+ reviews.
Which feedback and suggestions have we heard from you?
Thank you for the feedback and suggestions on the platform. The below are some that we have noted and are taking to the team as ideas. These may not all be implemented, however it is a good step to bring them to the attention and discuss where we can improve.
- Do more video location verifications instead of post
- Fasten the process to address waiting for weeks
- Allow more time for letters to arrive properties before closing those properties due to being unverified. This way, also prevent blocking of bookings and payments due to closing of a property after guest stayed and partner honored the existing reservations
- Manage the inbound for the support team or location verifications team better so that they can give timely responses and help during the process
- Use address location verification from utility bills
What is next?
Our team will have a meeting with our colleagues who take ownership of the location verifications topic soon and share your feedback and discuss what we can improve in the process to support you all better.
It's good to see that you're tackling this issue. However, you are missing what is probably the most important feedback.
None of the other booking channels do the location verification. VRBO partners with multiple affiliates too yet they don't do it. AirBnB don't do it. TripAdvisor don't do it. Hundreds of smaller booking channels don't do it.
Location verification serves no useful purpose to anyone.
Thank you, Isle of Wight Vacations. I have added your feedback in my notes.
I would propose :
Thank you, BrookAve, I have added your feedback in my notes, as well.
This is not quite true. This is only what Booking.com think. Reality is different.
Yes, you can confirm that the address is correct, BUT, and this is very important, Booking.com make it very difficult for guests to see the address and directions and other information they need. Location verification does not help the guest at all.
In real life, guests make a booking on a property that they see. Once the booking is confirmed, they get a Booking Confirmation from Booking.com with a PIN number and the address and "The Fine Print". That is it, that is all the guest gets.
Owners (partners) will normally send a message to the guest, with directions and other information, but guests won't know about this because Booking.com do not tell guests to log in to their Booking.com account to see this information. We give guests all the information they need using the automated messaging and templates, yet over 80% of guests in 2021 phoned us up to ask how to find the property, how to get in etc etc, even though we had sent that information.
In 2020, we asked Booking.com to add "Please check your Booking.com inbox for directions and check-in details" to The Fine Print, which appears at the bottom of the Booking Confirmation. That solved a lot of problems - almost all guests found their way to the properties and checked in normally.
In 2021, Booking.com refused to add this to The Fine Print, saying that if a guest wants to know anything, they can phone us. Over 80% of guests through Booking.com phoned us. And then we have to tell guests to log in to their Booking.com account. Of course, many were already traveling and so we hadto read out the information that we had already sent them. Of course, that took countless hours of our time.
Many guests were so annoyed that Booking.com didn't tell them to check their Booking.com accounts, that they have booked direct with us instead of through Booking.com. Many others have vowed never to use Booking.com again - we direct them to our AirBnB listings instead.
So ..... location verification does absolutely nothing to help guests find the properties. Booking.com just put obstacles in the way of partners, guests and everyone else.
Whoever it is in Booking.com that makes these stupid decisions needs to get out in the real world.
Hi!
I personally had no problem with the verification but from what I read here….the biggest problem is that partners have to wait more than 2-3 months until their property is verified…
Hope verification method changes so partners don’t have to wait so long…
Thank you, M Adamopoulou, I have added this in my notes, as well!
Cheers!!
Lovely photo! :) Greetings, M Adamopoulou!
Thanks Didem…
Have a nice day.
AND>>>
Two overwhelming reasons here to simply drop the verification system entirely.
We have also had a number of guests, with BDC reservations, ask us for nearby hotels that we know are either still closed because of C19 or completely out of business. So this verification malarkey is again not helping the guests.
Absolutely, a very self destructive company effecting others with their ineptitude.
I see others are not happy, with Booking Holdings being "encouraged" to repay the $110 million the Dutch Gov. gave BDC a while ago because of outcry from concerned parties.
Reuters article
Thank you for your feedback, it is noted (Kindly be informed that your name is not visible when you post a comment and that is why I could not greet you with your name).
Do more video location verifications instead of post
Thank you for sharing, Gunay Hasanli. I have made a note of this.
Hi Didem,
thanks for answering. I filled all details about my property but still nor listed and I don’t know why. Who should I contact?
I disagree on abolishing a partner and property verification...note the words I choose.
I do however agree the current methods to make said verification are clearly not enough and flawed.
You cannot have one size fits all, that's not a thing.
And it's the reason this backlog exists, as well as the pandemic, which won't be the last one we get, it's just a matter of time.
BdC need to make changes faster to adopting new procedures, process, to make them more efficient.
The devil is in the detail, and that reuters article is easy to misread, ultimately it has nothing to do with the current fiasco.
As hard to swallow that pill is, it is what it is.
As Elon musk previously said, in an interview, a company only needs 3 primary management roles, the rest are essentially fluff, so any Cxx role is not needed, so I would sack Glenn Fogel, his role is surplus.
His wages and bonus would pay out many a struggling partner.
That's all fair enough BUT until a more functional system is in place it should be scrapped.
We know the reasoning for it but the reality of the current process is hurting partners and BDC alike.
Oi! I resemble that remark ;-)
Lol
I read, with hope, your response to this topic. Nice words. Please nnote that I do not do snow boarding; body boarding, water boarding or any other kind of boarding and have idea what 'onboarding is'. But it does sound good. Woolly.
For me the serious problem is not location verification, but BDC directions and distances .
You give no anwer to the question - how do you calculate the widely inacurate distance information? Many years ago a BDC operative told me it was by drawing a straight line between two points on a map. Mountains, lakes, oceans are irrelevant. A bit like 'how the crow flies' he said. Have you ever seen a crow drill through a mountain? No bird flies in a straight line over a distance.
It is under 14km to my place from a major ski resort (which I do not promote). The ski resort is another country, no border crossing, across a major mountain range in a designated natural reserve. No roads, no habitation and probably no cell phone connection. Try to cross this in winter and you might die. They did during the war.
Some guests have no idea of the geography of the area they plan to stay and in a recent case of mine, may have attempted to search for a forest road over the mountains because it couldn't be far - only 13.9km. If they had this could have been extremely dangerous. I was shocked and stunned to find this location on Google maps. 13.9km - utterly, absolutly, widely, dangerous madness to quote 13.9km.
Over my years of BDC membership I have learnt that guests accept the distances shown on the search results and do not make any attempt to verify. They also believe it is the 'Partner' who calculates and displays this information, not BDC. I am accused of being a liar, a cheat, a scammer, a thief and threatened with legal action every time.
Few guests read automated messages, property descriptions, directions and local information. I suggest BDC sends all this information to the guest via sms to ensure that it reaches them. Don't tell me the usual - 'the software can't do it'. BDC has the capability. It is not going to need a tech genius to collate this information once a guest has booked a property, shape it in a suitable format for sms and send it the the guest's phone. Easy to setup.
BDC could, in a prominant position on th BDC reservation confirmation place the wording: Please check the location and distances on a map. This is not a cop-out for BDC, but a public service. Some travellers get very upset when they spend two hours on a dark night on terrifying mountain roads with a car full of screaming kids when they thought is was on 15kms and it turned out to be 60km. I have had to deal with young father's traumatized by this. This is the world today, everything must be instant. They have obviously never driven across Africa non-stop for a family holiday by the sea. Always such an adventure! Without GPS and only those paper things called maps.
They then demand a refund because I lied about the distance. I take the rap. No-way. I would prefere not to have these booking please, because the only cause trouble. THERE IS NO SKIING IN MY AREA. PLEASE DO NOT BOOK HERE! I never said anything about skiiing except 50km to the nearest ski resort - but they don't read that.
Clarity on BDC search results please. Why should my reputation be ruined by you - my 'Partner'.
Dear Annabelle beauvallon, thank you for sharing this feedback. I am very sorry to hear about some of the experiences you have mentioned about directions and distances.
I would like to share a few articles incase they are a bit helpful in some way:
1. How can I change my position on the map?
2. How do I get my property’s map coordinates from Google Maps?
3. Changing your property description
4. How to change your property description on the Pulse app
5. Optimising the traveller search experience to boost visibility
Our Support team may be helpful to contact via Extranet Inbox for more specific and relevant guidance on this topic. If there is anything else I can assist you with from my side, please feel free to share again. My best wishes!
Hi Didem,
I am new in booking.com. I filled all details about my property. It is 3 days and it still not listed. I don’t know what to do next. And I don’t know who should I ask.
Hi Gunay! Thank you for asking! Do you have access to your Extranet account and Inbox? May I kindly suggest to contact our Support team? They will be able to advice what is next. I hope that this way works well!
lmao
Hi Gunay, and welcome to the Partner Community.
Have you finished with your verification???
Please remember to add your property link in your profile so partners can search your listing…
Wish you all the best.
Hi, Thank you
My property is still not listed. So I think I can’t add it before it listed.
Hi Barry,
I don’t understand your message…
My listing is working on Booking for more than 3 years, I had guests I have good feed back score, but no location verification yet , I was directed to contact the office in Dubai, after many attempts to make any contact with them ...No luck, are you sure that office is still functioning there are employees there , All the best of luck
Your company has closed my property for months now because it couldn’t be verified over Covid. It’s killed my business. Your codes expire by the time they get diverted by mail. I was locked out of the state with Covid restrictions where my property is.
so codes didnt work
of course video on site doesn’t work and I didn’t have Airbnb reviews
you have killed my business. I am still closed. I have a payout you owe me from ages ago that is blocked. I call every few days and message every day but no one does anything to help
I finally flew to my property in December . Got the code. Verified it properly. And I’m still closed !!!!!!
and still haven’t been paid!!
no one helps. Everyone says I need to wait . Worst web ever
how can u treat your partners like this ?
Hi Rachel ONeill, I am so sorry to hear about your experiences. I am wondering if these two articles would help you a little a bit:
1. Who can I contact with questions about my commission invoice or additional invoices?
2. Changing your property status to open/bookable
I truely hope that your property will be open soon and you will receive your payments. I am sending my best wishes and support.
Totally unhelpful
all procedures have been followed
Verification 2 months ago
i message everyone every 2 days
finance dep
customer service
i ring too
no help at all
THE BIGGEST PARTNER SCAM by BOOKING.COM
I am sick to death of this ridiculous scam by booking.com.
It is obvious that your board has implemented this new (out of the blue) strategy which no one else does, to recuperate your COVID losses. You cannot fight big chain hotels so you have targeted small business owners and used this facade of 'location verification' to hold our monies in your accounts so you can accumulate the interests from it. I know you must be making millions from this scam. I know because your service teams have openly admitted that you have closed so many properties hat you cannot keep up to date with demand from the owners to initiative the so called verification process. Thats absurd!! You start a fire and tell us you don't have enough fire fighters to put them out!! The payouts you are holding from us is money that is rightfully and legally ours for and paid to you in good faith by our guests for services they have received. Guests who have already stayed at our property which you don't believe exists. Those guests have even left reviews hence verifying that the property 1. exists, and 2. is genuine. We have paid the bills for those guests stays but you refuse to release those funds.
If you really wanted proof that these places exist, all you need to do it ask us, the owners for proof of ownership. You have cost many small business to lose potential bookings. You pretty much have your foot upon our necks and are pushing down while we scramble to survive after what has been the most challenging two years. We struggle to keep up with payments on our end.
Regards the properties being on hold, we lose out however, I notice you do not lose out because any potential guests looking at our property is then steered toward other listings which means you will still maintain the commissions. So it seems you have no incentive whatsoever to speed up the unblocking. How is this even ethical? How can you justify squeezing us and withholding our payments, which again I believe has to be illegal ?? your terms and conditions say you have the right to withhold pay outs if we do not pay invoices, the contract I signed 6 months ago does not cover this.
My property has been listed with you since September last year. Why suddenly can you not believe that it exists? Also why has it taken you 6 months to decide to withhold payments?
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DELETE THIS FROM THIS THREAD. I have made copies to send out everywhere. Sorry but I need to survive a financial crisis too!
We have several properties listed with Booking.com (as well as other OTAs) and I would say BY FAR the worst part of the registration process has been the location verification.
We never received any letter from Booking.com and after many many months and many many phone calls telling us it would be there in 8 days- we were told we could arrange a video call.
HOWEVER
The team that handles these video calls, call you at any time of day and expect you to be at the property without even arranging a date? I personally asked several times if there was a way to "make an appointment" for this but with no luck. Our property is not next door. So after I explained to them that it would take me quite some time to get there they put in our notes that I was unresponsive to their call.
They eventually said we could verify our location using our Airbnb advert, but after weeks of no update on this I called and was informed that because we were not "5 star hosts" this would not work.
6 months later and we are *still* waiting for some way to verify our location for several properties.
Please help in verifying my property. My business is closed for booking on booking.com since 1 year. Incurring lot of losses.
Please help somebody
Hi Amal
Very sorry to hear about this but I think it’s better if you contact directly BDC through your Extranet inbox and inform them that your property is not verified!!!
Thanks a lot for your advice.
Massive pleasure…hope BDC verifies your property the soonest!!!