Booking.com Indonesian Listing Fraud Triggers Direct Refund and Compensation Claim
On September 11, 2026, I made a reservation via Booking.com for a stay from September 11 to September 13 at the property named "Apartemen Jarrdin Cihampelas b 2223 by proelıa, ındonesıa" located in Bandung, Indonesia, and paid a total of 596,363 IDR using my supplementary credit card issued by Garanti Bank under my name. Due to flight and travel fatigue, I contacted the property through the app to request an early check-in, asking if they could move the check-in time from 15:00 to 14:00 to enter an hour earlier, but received no reply.
Upon arriving at the address registered in the system in central Bandung, I observed that the reserved property did not exist there at all—there was only a vacant lot and a makeshift small phone repair shop next to it. When I asked locals in the area, I confirmed that no such establishment had ever existed at that address. The property was already failing to reply to my messages, and I received no response even after messaging them again.
Following this, I immediately messaged Booking.com customer support via the app, but received no response—positive or negative. Thinking there might be a location mix-up, I searched the property's name on Google Maps and traveled to another location shown approximately 7 km outside the city center. The staff at that location stated that online payments were not accepted, leaving me stranded once again.
Due to being abroad and Booking.com customer service failing to reply to my messages for two days, no resolution was provided despite my numerous attempts to reach them throughout the day. In the evening, I was forced to return to the city center and purchase a new two-day stay through a different platform to resolve the situation using my own means.
Being scammed through the Booking.com platform, which I trusted and used, as well as enduring hours of stress, exhaustion, and uncertainty, has caused me severe hardship. Therefore, I demand that the total charge of 596,363 IDR collected for this reservation be refunded directly to my Garanti Bank supplementary card rather than as credits or vouchers, and that additional rights or a hardship-compensating resolution be provided to address the psychological distress and whole-day ordeal I experienced.
I have temporarily ceased using the application since the day of the incident and am still awaiting a response from customer service. I request that this hardship be investigated urgently and brought to a resolution.