Booking.com AI Canceled Hotel Reservation, Ruining Our Vacation
My wife and I made a hotel reservation in Niagara Falls through Booking.com for a stay starting on July 3rd. Our original reservation cost was approximately $406. When we were already about one mile from the hotel, the hotel contacted us and informed us that our booking had been canceled by Booking.com’s AI system, not by us. We did not request any cancellation and were shocked to receive this information at the last minute. Because of this unexpected cancellation, we were forced to find another place to stay immediately. We ended up paying $395 for the night of July 3rd and $522 for the second night at another hotel, so we paid about $850 more than our original booking. On top of that, we had to pack everything up and move to another hotel during our trip, which completely disrupted and ruined our vacation. This trip also covered my birthday on July 4th, and because of all the extra money we had to spend, we were on a strict budget and my birthday was effectively ruined. I have already tried for hours to resolve this issue and emailed Booking.com, but no one is willing to take responsibility for this mistake. I am retired military, and my wife, who has a blog with thousands of followers, has been under extreme stress because of this situation. She has been in the hospital since Sunday due to the stress caused by this experience. I am requesting that Booking.com take full responsibility for the AI‑triggered cancellation and the consequences it caused. I expect a full refund of the additional costs we had to pay (the approximately $850 extra) and a refund of our original booking, as well as appropriate compensation for the stress, inconvenience, the ruined birthday, and the fact that we had to change hotels and move all our belongings in the middle of our vacation. I also expect a clear written apology and assurance that such an error will not happen again to us or other customers.
