You know how I like to tell you about my customer service experiences, both good and bad.
On Thursday I was asked to stand in for Lewis Goodall this morning on LBC. I always like doing the Sunday morning slot, so I was happy to do it, but I explained that I was speaking in St Albans on Saturday night and I knew the trains from Tonbridge were up the spout on Sunday because of engineering works. So LBC booked a hotel room for the through Booking.com. On Saturday afternoon, I rang the hotel to explain that I’d probably be arriving quite late, so could they make a note and ensure the room was not let go to someone else. They said they had no record of the booking! I told them it had been booked through Booking.com and I gave them the confirmation number. They said they could see it on the Booking.com system but said that they hadn’t passed on the booking. There was nothing they could so as they were fully booked. They alleged Booking.com often do this and it had happened before. They said there was nothing I could do and I should take it up with Booking.com. That part of this saga took half an hour. Eventually, I managed to negotiate Booking.com’s website to find a phone number. After a ten minute wait I was connected to someone whose command of the English language left something to be desired. She said it was nothing to do with them and it was the hotel’s fault. I told her, very politely, that the hotel said the opposite and it was Booking.com’s fault. She hung up on me. I rang back. Another ten minute wait. The next person seemed to be slightly more helpful and after about 20 minutes of to-ing and fro-ing he said they would get me a room elsewhere and he was sending me an email. Except the email had to go to the person who made the booking. I explained that she would not be at work as it was late on Saturday afternoon. I asked him to email it to me directly. First of all he said he couldn’t due to GDPR reasons, then he said he would but first he’d have to phone me back to confirm my identity. Of course, he then didn’t. By that time, I had to give up as I had to leave for St Albans. I looked around to try to book another hotel on Expedia or through my Hilton account, but most hotels were sold out and those that weren’t were upwards of £500. So I bowed to the inevitable and decided to drive home, and then drive into London again early this morning.
This might seem to be a first world problem, but LBC is now several hundred pounds out of pocket having paid for a hotel room which was apparently never available in the first place and wasn’t used. And having has that customer service experience with Booking.com, they can be assured that I won’t ever be using their website if I ever book a hotel room myself. I’ve posted about this, but not in as much detail, on Twitter, and it seems I have far from being alone in having this experience.