Need to take Booking.com to Court in the UK

[Daniella]

Shocking company - no help whatsoever.

Here is the thing - I believe they are zero help because they think they cannot be held to account in the UK. They give a Netherlands address as their head office.

Terms and Conditions read:


"A19. Applicable law and forum

1. To the extent permitted by mandatory local (consumer) law, these Terms and our services will be governed by Dutch law (for accommodations, flights or attractions) or English law (for car rentals and private/public transport).

2. To the extent permitted by mandatory local (consumer) law, any dispute will exclusively be submitted to the competent courts in Amsterdam (for accommodations, flights or attractions) or England and Wales (for car rentals and private/public transport)."


But they do have a registered company on Companies House, I believe:

BOOKING.COM LIMITED

Company number 03512889
Follow this company File for this company

• CompanyOverviewfor BOOKING.COM LIMITED (03512889)
• Filing historyfor BOOKING.COM LIMITED (03512889)
• Peoplefor BOOKING.COM LIMITED (03512889)
• Morefor BOOKING.COM LIMITED (03512889)

Registered office address 7th Floor The Monument Building, 11 Monument Street, London, England, EC3R 8AF Company status Active Company type Private limited Company Incorporated on 18 February 1998 Accounts

Next accounts made up to 31 December 2021
due by 31 December 2022

Last accounts made up to 31 December 2020 Confirmation statement

Next statement date 16 August 2023
due by 30 August 2023

Last statement dated 16 August 2022 Nature of business (SIC)

• 82990 - Other business support service activities not elsewhere classified

Previous company names

ACTIVE HOTELS LIMITED	14 Jul 2000 - 27 Nov 2006
ACTIVEBOOKING.COM LTD	17 May 2000 - 14 Jul 2000
THE ACTIVE BOOKING COMPANY LTD.	18 Feb 1998 - 17 May 2000

So can I take this company to Court in my local County court? As a UK citizen who booked whilst in the UK.

They are also a subsidiary of Booking Holdings, which appears to have a presence in the UK - BOOKING HOLDINGS FINANCIAL SERVICES UK LIMITED

Company number 12967020

[EXC]

Post approved after being caught by spam filter.

[MIKE770]

Address: 11 Monument St, London EC3R 8AF

[Daniella]

Thanks MIKE770 do you know if I can take them on in the UK Courts?

[islandgirl]

was the booking for something in the UK or abroad?

[Daniella]

Abroad. Brazil.

[R0b]

The booking.com website and platform is operated and owned by Book.com B.V. which is a business in the Netherlands and your contractual relationship is with them as per condition B2. Contractual Relationship.

Many companies are part of a group of companies owned and operated under a common parent company and there is a common theme that consumers get told the right information but don't like it so they want to sue a different company in the UK. Booking.com Limited is not the company you contracted with and you have no contractual relationship with them for the reasons explained above.

You are more than welcome to sue Booking.com Limited but bear in mind that if they choose to defend your claim, you run the risks of a costs order against you (which may be hundreds if not thousands) on the basis that you sued the wrong company as it's your job to work out the correct company to sue.

There are rules on suing foreign companies and prior to brexit it was relatively straightforward for consumers who had certain special protections but since then, a lot of changes to legislation have been made which can make it difficult to work out what you need to do. Normally, permission by the courts is required to serve claim forms outside the UK but fortunately, after brexit there was a new section 15B inserted into the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 to replicate previous consumer protections we had in Europe. The section says:

(1) This section applies in relation to proceedings whose subject-matter is a matter relating to a consumer contract where the consumer is domiciled in the United Kingdom.
(2) The consumer may bring proceedings against the other party to the consumer contract—
(a) where the other party to the consumer contract is domiciled in the United Kingdom, in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom in which the other party to the consumer contract is domiciled, or
(b) in the courts for the place where the consumer is domiciled (regardless of the domicile of the other party to the consumer contract).

So in simple terms, you can sue Booking.com B.V in the UK and you would be wise to sue against this company name, not Booking.com Limited but that is entirely your choice. You wouldn't be able to use the Money Claims Online portal because they only issue claims against companies with a postcode in the UK so you would need to follow the paper format which is the County Court Money Claims Centre in Salford.

You are still required to follow the pre-action protocols which is to send a letter before action, but there is no rule I am aware of that requires you to send it by post so email should be fine. Enforcing the judgment against Booking.com B.V. may prove a little trickier and costly if they don't own any assets in the UK which means you would have to apply to the Dutch courts to register your judgment as a recognised judgment over there and then follow any enforcement process - in the end you could be chucking good money after bad but I would expect Booking.com B.V. to stump up before then if your claim is a valid one.

[islandgirl]

Thanks Daniella - excellent info from Rob! Would you like to share your story with us?

[Daniella]

Will do, as soon as the claim is started Will keep you all updated.

[ChewyC]

Will do, as soon as the claim is started Will keep you all updated.

Hello

I just registered to ask if you have any update on this? I'd be very interested to hear how things went.

I'm in a similar position myself, having spent the last year or so fruitlessly chasing booking.com through their customer service / complaints department every few weeks for reimbursement of costs after they left me and my family stranded abroad, and them being utterly unhelpful.

It'd be nice to take them to court to finally get things resolved, but I'm highly uncertain about the process for it. My Google searches led me to this thread which is only a few months old, so hopefully not inappropriate to revive.

[NecoYNWA93]

I paid for an apartment on booking.com then later found out I needed to make a deposit of £350 (I didn't have the money) I went to collect the keys (they wouldn't let me have it) they cancelled the booking and took my money. I called them up for a refund and they basically said I'm not getting it even though the property was the one who cancelled, there was no information on booking.com about a £350 deposit, I later found out from a customer service that the info was available on the properties website (I paid booking.com not the property) please help!

[PallasAthena]

NecoYNWA93 Your post may not be seen here as the thread is over a year old so it would be better if you start a new thread of your own

[Porcupine20]

Great to find this thread. Has anyone had a similar experience or have any advice as I don't know who to issue proceedings against.....
Last March I booked accomodation (specifically a hotel room with two beds) only to find one bed in the room I was shown to. I told the manager it was not what I had booked, and as he had no other rooms, we left and found another place to stay.
After getting home I discovered he had marked me as a 'no show' and kept the payment.
After exchanging several messages with Booking.com's customer service agents they told me they asked the provider to return my money but if he didn't I would have to sue them. So far I have sent this vendor emails but he has not responded. It looks like I will have to issue proceedings but I don't want them to fail if I've sue the wrong person. Booking.com - as the booking platform - hold the money, so I presumed I had a contract with them, not the actual accomodation provider/ vendor. I suppose I just want to know who to sue.

[R0b]

Great to find this thread. Has anyone had a similar experience or have any advice as I don't know who to issue proceedings against.....
Last March I booked accomodation (specifically a hotel room with two beds) only to find one bed in the room I was shown to. I told the manager it was not what I had booked, and as he had no other rooms, we left and found another place to stay.
After getting home I discovered he had marked me as a 'no show' and kept the payment.
After exchanging several messages with Booking.com's customer service agents they told me they asked the provider to return my money but if he didn't I would have to sue them. So far I have sent this vendor emails but he has not responded. It looks like I will have to issue proceedings but I don't want them to fail if I've sue the wrong person. Booking.com - as the booking platform - hold the money, so I presumed I had a contract with them, not the actual accomodation provider/ vendor. I suppose I just want to know who to sue.

I suggest you start a new thread on your own and you will likely receive replies rather than piggybacking off another (spoiler: Booking.com would be the wrong party to sue).