Booking.com Cashback Promo Rejected

John on 07/02/2018 - 00:28
Last edited 14/02/2018 - 02:54

So recently I was travelling overseas, and using the minimum book of 225 EU and receive 75 EU back. I booked it at the time, choosing to pay at the property, and I receive a confirmation email that I WILL receive the cashback. I quote the email that says "You’ll receive € 75 after you’ve completed your stay” . Not may, no asterix, no reference to further eligibility conditions.

Fast forward after our stay, I never got the cashback. So I emailed them and they finally replied saying that I did not meet the minimum booking value. As I check, the EU rate has decrease and while it meets the minimum amount during booking, its under the minimum during my stay (at which point I paid).

I'm sending an email demanding them to honour their statement. As their email is completely misleading, that I only need to complete my stay in order to receive the cashback. Nothing about ensuring I meet the minimum spend at time of payment. I see their email as pretty much black & white statement and they can't just back away from it - I can understand if they used the word MAY instead of WILL.. but they didn't

I'm hoping to hear a positive reply from them. But in the meantime, I thought I'll warn those who are using the promo to check how borderline you are to the minimum booking cost. Or if you have had similar situation please let me know your outcome.

UPDATE: Thankfully, the customer service team investigated further and due to the fluctuations of EU it agrees that it wasn’t my fault and they are now processing my 75 EU back.

General Discussion

Related Stores

Booking.com
Booking.com

Comments

  • Tasmaniac on 07/02/2018 - 03:49

    Wait for the reply, they might of just presumed the EU was at about the same when the booking was paid.

    • John on 07/02/2018 - 10:11

      Did the math yesterday. Was only 3 euro less than minimum at time of making payment. Sucks. Had I known this I would’ve just lock the price in EU at time of booking :(

  • djkelly69 on 07/02/2018 - 06:08
    +9

    So the promo was essentially spend 225 get 75 back, and you didn't end up spending 225?

    Seems fairly obvious why they aren't honouring it.

    • John on 07/02/2018 - 09:49

      Yes i agree. Unfortunately they have removed the t&c page so I could net check whether 225 at time of booking or at time of paying. I definitely had minimum 225 at time of my booking and they have confirmed i am eligible at the time of confirmation - although its misleading to use the word “will” instead of “may” as these words have completely different meaning.

      I do not know if its eligibility based on time of making payment at the property. Again, I could not check t&c. If it was written there then I will owe up and say I didn’t read the fine print carefully and take the loss. But until they can point me to this t&c, then I refuse to just accept the loss.

      Again, this purpose of the post is to warn people for future booking esp if they borderline the minimum spend. Not so much a whinge (although yeah, I was a bit annoyed when i post this so it came out like so).

      Had I known this I would pay the hotel at time of booking or just lock it in with EU price. I definitely would’ve done things differently.

      • djkelly69 on 07/02/2018 - 10:07
        +3

        You clearly need to spend 225 whenever the payment is made, not just promise to spend 225 (which is all a booking is).

        Yes the email said you will receive the funds, but it is obviously subject to the terms of the promotion, ie. actually spending the required amount. What if you then cancelled the booking after receiving that email - would you be claiming you are entitled to the cashback because that email says you will get it without any condition stated?

        From their point of view, they may get tiered commission/payments from the hotel, so if you don't spend the required amount for them to get their expected payment, they don't get enough (or perhaps any) money to pay you. Unfortunately you flew a bit too close to the sun and got burnt.

        FWIW I think the post would be structured quite differently if the point was to warn others rather than whinge.

        • John on 07/02/2018 - 10:28
          +1

          Had a whinge first. Then warn others.

          Heck, it was probably a whinge after all. I just lost a $110 AUD so I was clearly a bit upset last night, no ozbargainers can smile at that. Settled down after a nap and a brekky now..

          So I found the T&C here

          The closest condition I can see is:
          A reservation is considered an “Eligible Reservation” when it has been made by clicking on the Incentive Link and the total cost of the reservation as made via Booking.com (excluding any costs incurred in addition during the stay directly at the accommodation) is greater than the minimum transaction value communicated in the promotion and at minimum two times the value of the Incentive Bonus to be earned by the Participant.

          It doesn't really say that total cost at time of payment. At the time of making the reservation I have clearly meet all T&Cs and they confirm it themselves on the email, which all I have to do left is to complete the stay (cancelling booking/not going on the stay.. means I didn't complete the stay and would void that statement).

          I still believe that what they do is misleading as at the time of making reservation I have met all the T&C stated.

        • John on 07/02/2018 - 10:34
          +1

          Also adding to this, this was their statement on their banner during booking:

          "Book now and get € 75 back!
          All you have to do is book and you'll get € 75 back after your stay! Minimum booking cost € 225."

          It says book, and then again minimum booking cost. It refers to the time of booking not time of payment. Again, even if I'm in the wrong, their statements are rather misleading.

        • whooah1979 on 07/02/2018 - 11:30
          -1

          @John:

          It refers to the time of booking not time of payment.

          A consideration is required for the contract to take effect. You didn't complete this part to form the contract until later.

        • John on 07/02/2018 - 12:06
          -1

          @whooah1979: You are probably right. :( Ah well, sent them an email asking them to understand where I come from. Hope they honour it. No harm trying

  • whooah1979 on 07/02/2018 - 06:13
    +6

    As I check, the EU rate has decrease and while it meets the minimum amount during booking, its under the minimum during my stay

    You didn't meet the requirements to receive the cashback. The supplier have the rights to withdraw their offer.

  • Donaldhump on 07/02/2018 - 07:35

    I never got my cash either, so I just use expedia again

    • John on 07/02/2018 - 10:49

      All this cashback thing is a risky game. This is not my first time not being able to get something after I actually made a purchase.. Next time I'll just stick to an upfront discount if I had an option.

  • Flying Ace on 07/02/2018 - 08:32
    +4

    Unfortunately because you didn't spend €225, you aren't eligible for the €75 cash back.

  • ThithLord on 07/02/2018 - 08:39
    +4

    How much Euro did you shell out? Was it 225, or not? There's your answer. Stop thinking you're owed everything.

  • bluesky on 07/02/2018 - 20:59

    I am in a similar situation as you. Used the USD40 cashback for USD200 stay deal.
    During booking, I had the same belief, that if reservation was accepted and cashback promised at booking time, it would be honoured.

    The difference is, I have yet to stay, checking the currency now, it is close to USD200 due to recent movements, and if USD drop a few percent, it will be below USD200. The hotel has yet to bill my credit card, they will do so close to stay. Will see what I can do. Any suggestions also welcome.

    I hope they will show some goodwill and you are successful in getting the cashback. Thanks for the heads-up.

    • Sweet3st on 07/02/2018 - 21:14
      +1

      Pay now!

      • bluesky on 07/02/2018 - 21:23

        Good idea … I will call hotel tomorrow :-) Thanks.

        (BTW I meant to say … if USD drop increase a few percent …)

  • savemore on 10/02/2018 - 06:24

    Whilst this thread is a couple of days old, I also want to relay a recent experience that I had with Booking.com based on a booking that I made for the 11th-14th January in the UK. After reading about the offer here, I went ahead, made sure my credit card details were entered and booked my accomodation using the promotion page that was linked. The cost of the accomodation was greater than $200US ($255AUD), so I sent them a message via their form asking if I qualified for this offer. The response I got back was 'Unfortunately this reservation is not eligible for that particular incentive. Please note that as per our term and conditions the reservation has to be made using the “Incentive Link” provided on the Booking.com website'. I know that I used the incentive link, but I doubt that I would be able to prove this. I did respond back asking if they could further investigate this, but I doubt that anything will change. I personally think that they automatically respond with this response to back out of having to pay the refund. Thankfully the place that I stayed in was comfortable and modern.

    • bluesky on 10/02/2018 - 06:36

      If you have clicked on the Incentive link during booking, your confirmation email of the booking sent to you just after the booking would have these 2 lines somewhere in the middle:

      Your cash reward
      You’ll receive US$40 after you’ve completed your stay

      Perhaps have another look at your email. It is located just before the section that says:

      Invite friends and earn AUD 25

  • savemore on 10/02/2018 - 06:57
    +1

    If you are referring to the original e-mail, the only information I could find was:

    Invite friends and earn £20
    Enjoy a £20 cash reward when you refer family and friends to Booking.com

    I'd suggest that this means I didn't qualify for the incentive, even though I know that I made sure that when creating this booking I used the link. Thanks for your help though.

  • John on 14/02/2018 - 02:56

    Updated with a good news :)

    • bluesky on 14/02/2018 - 04:05

      That is good to hear :-)

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join