Booking.com faces debt crisis, beware of fraud incidents

The well-known booking website Booking.com has been reported to owe debts globally, sparking a collective lawsuit by Japanese accommodation providers. The providers claim that if Booking.com continues to delay payments, it could lead to the bankruptcy of many companies. Additionally, there have been reports of consumers receiving phishing links after booking rooms, resulting in credit card fraud. Consumers are reminded to be cautious.

Booking.com Reports Unpaid Fees Worldwide Due to Technical Issue

Prior reports by The Guardian revealed that Booking.com has been delaying payments to many hoteliers and other partners for several months, attributing the payment issues to "technical problems."

Many customers who book hotels through Booking.com's website choose to prepay on the site, with Booking.com collecting the funds, deducting their commission, and then transferring the money to the hoteliers. However, since July, many of Booking.com's partners have experienced delays in payments, with some even delayed by several months.

Asahi Shimbun also reported that over 10 owners in Tokyo and western Japan are planning to sue Booking.com. Lawyers stated that the losses could amount to tens of billions of yen. In response to the inquiries and comments, Booking.com stated:

Due to system updates, there have been delays in payments in some cases, and we are currently resolving this issue on a case-by-case basis.

Company Flush with Cash, Why the Debts?

When asked about the globally renowned travel platform successfully weathering the pandemic's downturn but now facing debt issues, a leading travel company in Taiwan questioned if this was a technical bankruptcy.

The travel industry representatives stated:

Booking.com is flush with cash, they are not short of money at all! It's a system issue!

According to The Guardian, the company announced a second-quarter revenue of $5.5 billion and a profit of $1.3 billion, with the CEO even calling the performance "better than expected!"

However, the industry also cautioned that there have been numerous scams on Booking.com recently, advising consumers to be cautious!

Rampant Scams, Consumers Beware

Industry insiders pointed out that many people have recently received scam links after booking rooms. The modus operandi involves falsely claiming that the booking fee was not received, typically occurring the day before check-in, requiring consumers to click on the link in the message to re-pay the room fee to avoid cancellation. Due to time constraints, most people do not verify and end up facing tragedies like credit card fraud! This indicates that their system indeed has significant issues!

In addition, Agoda, Priceline.com, and rentalcars.com, familiar to the Taiwanese, are also under the same group. While it is uncertain if their systems are the same, consumers should still be cautious when using them!