Dracula's Guide to Romania

Culture, places to visit and what to do in Romania

How I got scammed while booking and tips on how to avoid it

Read Dracula’s latest scamming experience and tips on how to prevent this

3–4 minutes

Tips on preventing this type of scheme and how to deal with the scam if you are a victim of it

1. Check the property on other apps as well when you decide to book

If it’s listed on multiple sites, it might be a hint. It’s not a rule, but it doesn’t hurt to take a look.

2. If you found the property on another app, check if it’s possible to book during the days you want to rent

You might be lucky and find that it is actually already booked. Of course, this doesn’t mean that someone can’t book after you check it. If you want to be certain, check on different days and different periods and compare it to the other apps it is listed.

3. Make sure that you call a few days in advance for confirmation

I was truly naive with this one since I’ve never experienced this in the past.

4. Never rely on Customer Support for instant refunds or for a fair alternative

I have already described this above. Also, if this happens, insist on getting some sort of compensation. I have a feeling that it’s not a singular case, I don’t believe they would ever play a fair game and initiate any sort of compensation. 124 lei was not much for the nerves, time, and price per night for the property I had to book after the incident, but it was better than nothing.

Also, have some extra emergency cash, so you can at least not contemplate spending your vacation on the streets or in the train station (unforgettable trip indeed).

Regarding the refund, it took 1-2 days until I have received the amount.

5. Writing to the authorities in your country for fair compensation might not solve much, but it’s worth the shot

I recommend you reach out to Consumer Protection in case you feel that your prejudice was not covered accordingly. I did this after my monologue with Booking.com, but unfortunately, they’ve answered that Booking.com is part of the Netherlands and is not under their jurisdiction.

The weird thing is that I have actually found their headquarters in Bucharest. Plus, aren’t they paying taxes? In any case, I encourage you to do so, you might be lucky, especially in another country.

6. Gather proof as if your life depends on it

  • Take screenshots

I took screenshots of my conversations with Booking and of the unanswered message to the owner.

  • Save the contracts

Make sure your new accommodation gives you the contract with all the details, including the price, the proof of payment, the dates you are staying, and such. If you will receive any sort of compensation you will need it, the same thing to Consumer Protection.

  • Save the e-mails or any sort of confirmation

Save the initial booking confirmation, the cancellation, the payment…save EVERYTHING related to this.

7. You might think that good reviews will save you from this….not necessarily

The apartment of my furry friend actually had really good reviews. If your stay gets canceled, even though you were not the one to initiate it, you will not be able to write about your experience.

You might be able to find it on Google Maps, but if you rented an apartment, the chances are that the rental will not be displayed there, only the block that’s there and such.

8. If you’re still paranoid about it, avoid private hosts

Booking a hotel is not a guarantee of sparing you from a new drama, but it is definitely safer. Even if some mistakes happen, the chances of them having a spare room are pretty high.

Image by vecstock on Freepik

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7 responses to “How I got scammed while booking and tips on how to avoid it”

  1. thomasstigwikman Avatar
    thomasstigwikman

    We’ve been scammed by so called travel agencies and travel clubs several times. There are so many travel scams it is unbelievable. The last one was a fake telephone number for Swiss Air. We could not find a phone number for Swiss Air. They hide it intentionally to prevent people from calling. So in searching for it we found a fake one. It was people pretending to be Swiss Air and they sold us a fake ticket. I discovered it and closed the credit card but I still lost money. We were also scammed by a travel club. Pretty much all travel clubs are scams. You have to be very careful.

    Liked by 2 people

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    1. Lizard Wizard Avatar
      Lizard Wizard

      I’ve never booked through travel agencies or clubs but I can imagine that it is a jungle there as welI. I was thinking more of the official ones when writing this article, but you still need to do a lot of research, ask around on Reddit, Facebook, forums and such.

      I suppose the best thing would be to contact customer support via chat from their site if you are trying to reach the flight company, even though from my experience it’s a maze to get in contact with an actual person instead of the robot. After that you have to wait a lot of time in the Q…not to mention that several times even though I have tried to be as clear as possible they were still giving me some generic answers.

      I hope they didn’t take too much from your credit card though…still, a super frustrating experience.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
      1. thomasstigwikman Avatar
        thomasstigwikman

        Yes it is mess out there. About the chat, unfortunately a lot of companies will just provide a chatbot, which typically is of no help at all. I have never come across a useful chatbot. Swiss air would not provide a phone number on their website (but they have one), so fraudulent companies step in and pretend to be the companies that you can’t get a hold of. Anyway, that’s how we got suckered in. We only lost $200.00 that time but we lost $700.00 on another scam some years ago, and we almost lost $3,000.00 on another scam but we succeded in avoiding that one. Others were not so lucky.

        Liked by 1 person

  2. Lizard Wizard Avatar
    Lizard Wizard

    You can escape the bot if you go through their questions and pick an option that says that the given information was not useful. After that you can write explicitly “I want to contact customer support” or something similar…sometimes it will redirect you to the main questions but eventually you will reach them. I’m not sure if this applies to all companies.

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  3. Avatar
    Anonymous

    I had a similar issue with Booking.com. I submitted a claim through the European Commission and 3/4 months later eventually, but I did get price difference back.

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    1. Lizard Wizard Avatar
      Lizard Wizard

      I managed to get it as well after 4 months. I was lucky because Booking didn’t answer my last message, and they should in a maximum of 30 days, according to the law.

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