600 USD charge for adding names of guests to a reservation
I made a cancellable reservation on booking.com I believe in the summer of last year, so a very long time ago.
I booked 2 rooms, each room for 2 guests.
On 7th May, soon before our trip, for some reason I decided to just check my reservation, and there was an option to add guest names. I thought "oh let me be a good and reasonable human being and maybe it will make it easier at check-in".
Well, that decision initiated a whole nightmare.
After adding names of guests, booking.com requested an extra charge of 600 USD by the end of the following day, and if not then my booking will be cancelled.
I tried changing back the names, it didn't work. I paid the difference because I could not lose that booking. It was EDC weekend and we specifically booked that hotel because it was beside a shuttle stop.
That night on 7th May, I tried calling the property, nobody was picking up. I called Marriott who owns the hotel, they couldn't help, I called booking.com - and they finally said I shouldn't have been charged and they will refund the money within 7 business days. So I thought "oh great , it's done".
Well it's now been over 7 business days. I called booking.com, they said nothing was refunded and they can't do it anymore because the money is with the property. But they sent them an email.
I called Marriott, they initiated a case with the accounting or payments department. I also called the property and finally someone picked up the phone, but the manager wasn't available so they said they will contact me back.
This experience has been the worst ever. It's sad because booking.com has been useful to me so many times and I never had any major issues with it. I just don't understand how adding names of guests (which I thought would help make the check in process easier) could add a 600 USD extra charge.
On top of that, booking.com did not warn me that adding guest names will incur such a charge. Only after I changed it I got a warning "pay extra 600 USD by tomorrow or this booking will be cancelled". They basically held me hostage, and I could not lose that booking.
Absolutely horrible experience, I'm still hopeful that maybe Marriott will refund me - but at this stage I am losing hope. I basically lost 600 USD by wanting to be helpful.