There is something wrong at Booking.com.
While its parent company has been making record profits – $1.3bn for the second quarter of 2023 alone – and its CEO and executives have been cashing in millions of dollars in shares this year, many of the people who helped Booking.com make that fortune claim to have not been paid since July, some say longer.
Many Booking.com accommodation partners from Australia to Europe to the Americas have faced silence from the company as they’ve chased payments for months while struggling to keep businesses afloat – particularly during the lucrative northern hemisphere peak summer season, when many guests were essentially staying free of charge, as Booking.com hadn’t passed on payments.
You don’t need me to tell you the full impact of this. You only have to read the comments posted on social media and websites referencing the holiday booking site.
One of the most distressing stories is beneath a post about Booking.com’s investment in AI and cutting-edge technology by the company’s highly remunerated CEO, Glenn Fogel, on his LinkedIn page.
Many partners have complained directly to the CEO about Booking.com’s silence on late payments and staff’s lack of response to calls, emails and cases opened on the platform that are closed without being resolved.
“I am a widow raising a child on my own,” reads one post by a woman I have since confirmed is called Claudia Arnull. “Because l have not been paid properly since the end of June my credit history is ruined and all my savings have gone and l am now in so much debt there is nothing left to use. As of this moment all l have to feed my child is porridge.”
The post appears genuine – and is genuinely heartbreaking – and you would hope that it will be investigated by the company. After all, nobody knows exactly how many families have been left in similar positions, with stress over credit histories and depleted savings due to Booking.com’s inability to pay partners.
We know that it’s likely that hundreds or thousands of partners have been affected. It could be many many more. We can’t know for sure, because despite dozens of emails to Booking.com’s media relations and Booking Holding’s communications departments, questions as to how many partners were
