Hilton Garden Inn Athens Charged Me $1,011 for a Refundable Booking
On August 4, 2026, I made reservation number 5890****20 for Hilton Garden Inn Athens Syggrou Avenue through Booking.com. I specifically selected the “refundable” and “pay at the property” options when making the reservation. Because these options were clearly displayed in red on the booking screen, I chose this hotel with the understanding that the reservation could be canceled and that payment would be collected at the property.
Despite this, approximately $1,011 was charged directly to my credit card as a completed transaction rather than being placed on hold as a pre-authorization. Due to issues related to my travel visa, I canceled the reservation on the same day, August 4, 2026. Even though I canceled the reservation 23 days before the scheduled stay on August 27, 2026, the full amount has still not been refunded.
After corresponding with Booking.com, a partial refund of approximately $47 was issued on August 5, 2026, as can also be seen on my account statement. However, Hilton has not refunded the remaining balance. The hotel claims that I made the reservation under a “non-refundable” option. I strongly disagree with this explanation because I made the reservation specifically after seeing the “refundable” and “pay at the property” labels on the booking screen. As a result, I feel that I was misled. Since my English is not very strong, the fact that I may not have fully understood the wording used in the system has made this situation even more difficult for me.
I believe it is unacceptable for a reservation that I canceled on the same day, well before the scheduled stay, and that I understood to be refundable to be handled in this manner. I request that Hilton Garden Inn Athens Syggrou Avenue and Booking.com promptly refund the remaining amount that was charged to my card, excluding the partial refund that has already been issued. I also request a clear explanation of why the reservation was charged in full despite being displayed to me as refundable and payable at the property.