Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
I trusted Booking.com and its customer support for more than a decade. Then a fake hotel booking in Batumi, Georgia left my family stranded late at night with two small children and our attempt to get help from Booking.com support turned into one of the worst customer-service experiences I have ever had as the accommodation we had reserved through Booking.com months in advance apparently did not exist.
What followed were unanswered messages, disconnected calls, an automated assistant that repeatedly prevented us from reaching a human operator, and several alternative accommodations offered by Booking.com that were either apparently affected by the same problem or completely unsuitable for our family.
I had used Booking.com for private travel and business travel for years. I even had a high Genius status and always assumed that one of the reasons for booking through a major travel platform was simple: if something went seriously wrong with a hotel reservation, there would be someone there to help.
Then our family arrived in Batumi, Georgia and my family, including two kids aged two and three, had nowhere to stay.
What followed was one of the worst customer-service experiences I have ever encountered.
• Our urgent messages to Booking.com went unanswered.
• A friend spent 6 hours and 29 minutes dealing with Booking.com customer support on our behalf, calling them 22 times across three days.
• Calls were repeatedly disconnected or hung up.
• Booking.com's automated assistant prevented access to a human agent.
• We were offered alternative accommodations that had the same problems as the original place or were completely unsuitable for the number of people.
• Despite repeatedly explaining that we had two toddlers and two elderly family members with us, we were unable to obtain a resolution.
This video documents our entire Booking.com customer support nightmare: what happened with the original hotel reservation, how Booking.com responded to our pleas for help, the replacement accommodations we were offered, the hours spent trying to resolve the situation, and why the experience fundamentally changed the way I look at Booking.com.
Ultimately, this is not a video telling people that they must never use Booking.com. It is a warning about what can happen when something goes seriously wrong with a Booking.com reservation and about the level of customer support we received when we actually desperately needed the protection of the platform we had trusted.
If you use Booking.com, travel frequently, book hotels or apartments for your family, or simply assume that a major travel platform will protect you when an accommodation booking goes wrong, I strongly encourage you to watch this and consider what happened to us.
And if you have had a similar experience involving Booking.com customer service, fake accommodation listings, hotel booking scams, cancelled reservations or relocation support, I would be very interested to hear your story in the comments, particularly what happened when you contacted platform support. I am sure we cannot be the only one that had this experience.
This video represents my personal experience and my account of the events described.
The Batumi scam explanation (as described to us by locals):
At first, the scam seems strange because payment is supposedly made in cash on arrival. The idea, however, is to leave travellers stranded late at night, often during high season, when finding alternative accommodation is difficult or impossible due to language barrier, exhaustion or time.
Once the guest discovers that the original booking is fake, someone may approach them and offer a replacement apartment or room at a much higher price. Under pressure, especially when travelling with children or the elderly, people may accept. Because the new arrangement happens outside any official platform/TOS, the guest then has very little protection and can be exploited further.
We were not approached directly, so I cannot confirm that this is exactly what happened in our case. However, during our search for alternatives, after explaining what happened, we were offered ordinary rooms for around €400 per night, which shows how easily stranded travellers can be exploited in this situation.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:52 Black Sea View Resort Hotel
00:04:57 3rd of August – Arrival
00:07:44 4th of August
00:08:16 5th of August
00:18:04 6th of August
00:23:44 7th of August
00:27:50 No resolution
#Bookingcom #Booking #CustomerService #TravelScam #FakeHotel #HotelBooking #TravelProblems #CustomerExperience #Batumi #GeorgiaTravel #TravelWarning
I trusted Booking.com and its customer support for more than a decade. Then a fake hotel booking in Batumi, Georgia left my family stranded late at night with two small children and our attempt to get help from Booking.com support turned into one of the worst customer-service experiences I have ever had as the accommodation we had reserved through Booking.com months in advance apparently did not exist.
What followed were unanswered messages, disconnected calls, an automated assistant that repeatedly prevented us from reaching a human operator, and several alternative accommodations offered by Booking.com that were either apparently affected by the same problem or completely unsuitable for our family.
I had used Booking.com for private travel and business travel for years. I even had a high Genius status and always assumed that one of the reasons for booking through a major travel platform was simple: if something went seriously wrong with a hotel reservation, there would be someone there to help.
Then our family arrived in Batumi, Georgia and my family, including two kids aged two and three, had nowhere to stay.
What followed was one of the worst customer-service experiences I have ever encountered.
• Our urgent messages to Booking.com went unanswered.
• A friend spent 6 hours and 29 minutes dealing with Booking.com customer support on our behalf, calling them 22 times across three days.
• Calls were repeatedly disconnected or hung up.
• Booking.com's automated assistant prevented access to a human agent.
• We were offered alternative accommodations that had the same problems as the original place or were completely unsuitable for the number of people.
• Despite repeatedly explaining that we had two toddlers and two elderly family members with us, we were unable to obtain a resolution.
This video documents our entire Booking.com customer support nightmare: what happened with the original hotel reservation, how Booking.com responded to our pleas for help, the replacement accommodations we were offered, the hours spent trying to resolve the situation, and why the experience fundamentally changed the way I look at Booking.com.
Ultimately, this is not a video telling people that they must never use Booking.com. It is a warning about what can happen when something goes seriously wrong with a Booking.com reservation and about the level of customer support we received when we actually desperately needed the protection of the platform we had trusted.
If you use Booking.com, travel frequently, book hotels or apartments for your family, or simply assume that a major travel platform will protect you when an accommodation booking goes wrong, I strongly encourage you to watch this and consider what happened to us.
And if you have had a similar experience involving Booking.com customer service, fake accommodation listings, hotel booking scams, cancelled reservations or relocation support, I would be very interested to hear your story in the comments, particularly what happened when you contacted platform support. I am sure we cannot be the only one that had this experience.
This video represents my personal experience and my account of the events described.
The Batumi scam explanation (as described to us by locals):
At first, the scam seems strange because payment is supposedly made in cash on arrival. The idea, however, is to leave travellers stranded late at night, often during high season, when finding alternative accommodation is difficult or impossible due to language barrier, exhaustion or time.
Once the guest discovers that the original booking is fake, someone may approach them and offer a replacement apartment or room at a much higher price. Under pressure, especially when travelling with children or the elderly, people may accept. Because the new arrangement happens outside any official platform/TOS, the guest then has very little protection and can be exploited further.
We were not approached directly, so I cannot confirm that this is exactly what happened in our case. However, during our search for alternatives, after explaining what happened, we were offered ordinary rooms for around €400 per night, which shows how easily stranded travellers can be exploited in this situation.
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:52 Black Sea View Resort Hotel
00:04:57 3rd of August – Arrival
00:07:44 4th of August
00:08:16 5th of August
00:18:04 6th of August
00:23:44 7th of August
00:27:50 No resolution
#Bookingcom #Booking #CustomerService #TravelScam #FakeHotel #HotelBooking #TravelProblems #CustomerExperience #Batumi #GeorgiaTravel #TravelWarning
