Avoid Booking.com

TERRIBLE WEBSITE....DO NOT USE...

TERRIBLE WEBSITE....DO NOT USE...
Due to inexperience, I did not notice their terms and conditions where they said they DO NOT refund deposits but rather keep them for up to six months until you make your next reservation...and since I am not a frequent traveler this means I will be losing my money.
The customer service is not easy to reach...when they replied after several days they told me that these were their terms and that the most they could do was to extend the six months if I sent a request.

Stranded in Cambodia without room!

We booked through hostelworld in October 2017 for a stay of 4 nights through new year's eve in Cambodia. Hostelworld took their reservation fee. The property, Mama Clare's in Otres village, cancelled our booking still in October, clicking somehow on "no-show" - which should be technically impossible, since we wouldn't arrive there until December. Hostelworld did not share this with us, we still believed we had a valid reservation.

When we came to Mama Clare's in Sihanoukville, Otres, she told us there was no reservation. Hostelworld offered no help in finding a new room, Mama Clare's offered us a bed to sleep in for one night, and afterwards, on New Year's Eve, where everything was totally overbooked, we were stranded in a village in Cambodia. We ended up paying 250$ more than originally planned, needed to move rooms twice, and had really bad rooms.

Being stranded in Cambodia thanks to Hostelworld.com - not good! Getting no help at all, only the strict "the property will help you" was horrible, since she wouldn't help us at all.

absolute worst customer service

absolute worst customer service. time and time again I try to communicate with them about problems with bookings from the page and it usually takes about a week to get a response. still haven't resolved the problems. also the control over the account is very limited making you depend on the horrible customer service in order to get even the smallest changes made.

HostelWorld is basically stilling money …

HostelWorld is basically stilling money from people.
My two kids (both 18 years old) and their friend (17) made a booking to stay at Hostelworld in Paris and when they arrived at the place they were told that only 18+ can stay at the place.

The thing is that while making reservation nowhere was written under 18 years old cannot stay at their place.

When they were told they can't stay there, they asked for the refund of the money for the reservation. And their staff told them they can't get it back.

So they take you money just to tell you, you can't stay at their place.
Awful customer service. Basically a theft.

Fortunately enough, they found another place in Paris, much better for the better price.
Will never ever use them again.

The have stolen my money!!! DON't USE IT, YOU HAVE NO GUARANTEES TO FIND WHAT YOU HAVE BOOKED AND NOBODY REFUND YOU!!! I have used for years, I will not do it again.

I have booked an hostel in Cartagena for the last day of the year. I arrived there and there was no hostel. It has moved to another address, changed name, nobody knew anything. On the same trip i went to Cali, other hostel, they were selling ensuite rooms but there were no ensuite rooms. I have asked immediately for a refund (for both properties). I am still waiting to receive a refund, after a month of emails and texts and pictures of evidence of what happened. After a month, instead of apologizing, they have sent me back just the cover refund of the reservation. Cover refund which I had paid for and which is valid 6months. Basically, it is like a no refund, we don't care about our customers. They don't take any responsibility if something happens. They don't care, they STEAL YOUR MONEY. It is better to contact the properties by yourself or use Booking, you have more guarantees than with Hostelworld. It is silly, because it is rating as GREAT, but if you take a look at all the latest reviews (latest 6 months) THEY HAVE ALL BEEN STOLEN AND THEY REPORTED ALL THE SAME PROBLEMS. Poor customer service, no guarantees at all. DON'T USE IT!!!

Rude customer support

Had issues with my account and emails were going to the wrong account with multiple bookings. Although I spoke to multiple service people and tried to follow their protocol with sending screenshots of the confirmation emails, the problem never got sorted. I spoke to another person who said I was causing my own issue and it was obviously my fault, I decided to no longer use hostelworld. Although they were ok with a previous issue and I had been using them for years, they were quite rude with this one.

Hostelworld Stealing Money and Not Providing Service

Hostelworld have stolen my money and have not provided the service I paid for. After months their customer service have not resolved my complaint. Do not use them for any bookings, travel beware!