No miscommunication. The Euro 437.83 was the amount of the reservation paid in advance by the guest for the Non-Refundable Rate reservation.
See message below from Booking.com giving me 24 hours to refund the guest or Booking will refund the guest and invoice me. The above message from Booking advising that they had refunded the guest and will be invoicing me was received the following day!
Dear partner,As you may be aware, many travellers and Booking.com customers, including ####### (reservation #######), were unable to travel due to the coronavirus outbreak.Although this reservation has a cancellation fee, these circumstances were out of their control. We kindly ask for your cooperation in processing a full refund to the guest within the next 24h.Please confirm the refund in time or we'll proceed to refund the guest and invoice your property. Booking.com will waive the commission for this reservation.If you have any questions, we are here for you.
--
#######
Booking.com Customer Service Team
Yes. It seems like that is the case here. I really wish that Booking.com had handled this matter better. It would have been easy for them to remind the guest that they had booked Non-Refundable Rate but that the accommodation provider was willing to provide them with accommodation credit on future dates, instead of just batting for the guest and assuring them that they would get a full refund. Yes, it is written in our Terms and Conditions that we should pay out guests who have booked Non-Refundable Rate in the event of Forced Circumstances - but the guests are not aware of this! Booking.com are not responsible to pay out property owners for Risk Free Reservations due to the Forced Circumstances, but property owners are responsible to pay out guests who have booked at Non-Refundable Rate. Seems very one-sided to me!
I would be interested to hear feedback from any representatives from Booking.com on this issue, but they are probably not game to touch on this ...
Well I received the below message from Booking.com today with regards to a reservation booked at the non-refundable which I was "expected" to refund. Booking.com have refunded the guest due to Forced Circumstances and have issued an invoice to me, which I am now "expected" to pay.
What doesn't seem right about this particular case is that I was communicating with the guest and offered them accommodation credit to be used within the next 12 months, instead of issuing a refund to the guest. The guest appeared to be ready to accept my offer of accommodation credit until Booking.com advised them that they are entitled to a full refund. The guest actually wrote me and said that he no longer needs the accommodation credit now that he has been promised a full refund by Booking.com!
Since we have not received any income for over 2 weeks now and have no idea how long it will be before we are receiving any income this is going to place a severe financial strain on our business. It will be difficult for us just to pay our next Booking.com invoice, let alone refunding guests who had booked non-refundable reservations!
Just doesn't seem right to me ...
Booking.com also advised me today that they will not be honouring Risk Free Reservations due to Forced Circumstances, so we will also be losing out on income for these reservations.
Dear #######,
We're contacting you about a follow up to reservation #######, for the guest #######.
We have refunded the guest on your behalf, and an invoice has been issued to your property in the amount of EUR 437.83.
The invoice for the refund is final, and this matter has been fully resolved for the guest.
Hey Barry, thanks for getting in contact. I am in Prague, Czech Republic. The guest is from Russia. The cancellation policy reads: The guest will be charged the total price of the reservation if they cancel at any time. Booking are claiming that we are responsible for refunding guests in the event of a Force Majeure, as per our contract with them. Would you have a link to the EU consumer law that I could use to back up my claim?
Just had a call from Booking.com. I have been advised that I must refund a guest for a cancelled Non-Refundable reservation. If I do not refund the guest within 24 hours Booking.com will refund them and charge it to me ... see below email I just received:
Dear partner,
As you may be aware, many travellers and Booking.com customers, including ####### (reservation #######), were unable to travel due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Although this reservation has a cancellation fee, these circumstances were out of their control. We kindly ask for your cooperation in processing a full refund to the guest within the next 24h.
Please confirm the refund in time or we'll proceed to refund the guest and invoice your property. Booking.com will waive the commission for this reservation.
If you have any questions, we are here for you.
--
#######.
Booking.com Customer Service Team
Hey Barry,
No miscommunication. The Euro 437.83 was the amount of the reservation paid in advance by the guest for the Non-Refundable Rate reservation.
See message below from Booking.com giving me 24 hours to refund the guest or Booking will refund the guest and invoice me. The above message from Booking advising that they had refunded the guest and will be invoicing me was received the following day!
Dear partner, As you may be aware, many travellers and Booking.com customers, including ####### (reservation #######), were unable to travel due to the coronavirus outbreak. Although this reservation has a cancellation fee, these circumstances were out of their control. We kindly ask for your cooperation in processing a full refund to the guest within the next 24h. Please confirm the refund in time or we'll proceed to refund the guest and invoice your property. Booking.com will waive the commission for this reservation. If you have any questions, we are here for you. -- ####### Booking.com Customer Service Team
Yes. It seems like that is the case here. I really wish that Booking.com had handled this matter better. It would have been easy for them to remind the guest that they had booked Non-Refundable Rate but that the accommodation provider was willing to provide them with accommodation credit on future dates, instead of just batting for the guest and assuring them that they would get a full refund. Yes, it is written in our Terms and Conditions that we should pay out guests who have booked Non-Refundable Rate in the event of Forced Circumstances - but the guests are not aware of this! Booking.com are not responsible to pay out property owners for Risk Free Reservations due to the Forced Circumstances, but property owners are responsible to pay out guests who have booked at Non-Refundable Rate. Seems very one-sided to me!
I would be interested to hear feedback from any representatives from Booking.com on this issue, but they are probably not game to touch on this ...
Well I received the below message from Booking.com today with regards to a reservation booked at the non-refundable which I was "expected" to refund. Booking.com have refunded the guest due to Forced Circumstances and have issued an invoice to me, which I am now "expected" to pay.
What doesn't seem right about this particular case is that I was communicating with the guest and offered them accommodation credit to be used within the next 12 months, instead of issuing a refund to the guest. The guest appeared to be ready to accept my offer of accommodation credit until Booking.com advised them that they are entitled to a full refund. The guest actually wrote me and said that he no longer needs the accommodation credit now that he has been promised a full refund by Booking.com!
Since we have not received any income for over 2 weeks now and have no idea how long it will be before we are receiving any income this is going to place a severe financial strain on our business. It will be difficult for us just to pay our next Booking.com invoice, let alone refunding guests who had booked non-refundable reservations!
Just doesn't seem right to me ...
Booking.com also advised me today that they will not be honouring Risk Free Reservations due to Forced Circumstances, so we will also be losing out on income for these reservations.
Dear #######,
We're contacting you about a follow up to reservation #######, for the guest #######.
We have refunded the guest on your behalf, and an invoice has been issued to your property in the amount of EUR 437.83.
The invoice for the refund is final, and this matter has been fully resolved for the guest.
Kind regards,
Booking.com Customer Service Team
Hey Barry, thanks for getting in contact. I am in Prague, Czech Republic. The guest is from Russia. The cancellation policy reads: The guest will be charged the total price of the reservation if they cancel at any time. Booking are claiming that we are responsible for refunding guests in the event of a Force Majeure, as per our contract with them. Would you have a link to the EU consumer law that I could use to back up my claim?
Just had a call from Booking.com. I have been advised that I must refund a guest for a cancelled Non-Refundable reservation. If I do not refund the guest within 24 hours Booking.com will refund them and charge it to me ... see below email I just received:
Dear partner, As you may be aware, many travellers and Booking.com customers, including ####### (reservation #######), were unable to travel due to the coronavirus outbreak. Although this reservation has a cancellation fee, these circumstances were out of their control. We kindly ask for your cooperation in processing a full refund to the guest within the next 24h. Please confirm the refund in time or we'll proceed to refund the guest and invoice your property. Booking.com will waive the commission for this reservation. If you have any questions, we are here for you. -- #######. Booking.com Customer Service Team