
Tripadvisor Reviews
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Tripadvisor offers travel reviews and booking services. The platform includes user-generated reviews, photos and ratings for hotels, restaurants and attractions. Founded in 2000, TripAdvisor helps travelers plan their trips with insights and booking options, covering a wide range of destinations and experiences.
- User-friendly interface
- Wide range of travel options
- Helpful community feedback
- Customer service issues
- Inaccurate listings at times
Tripadvisor Reviews
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Reviewed Aug. 25, 2016
I am an owner and dialed I don't know how many numbers and one was a recording and hung up. The other sent me to Flip Key who I do not have an agreement with. I not sure they didn't steal a booking from vrbo. Finally got someone who kindly put me on hold till eternity. It's a lousy company to do business.
Reviewed Aug. 23, 2016
I ran a restaurant for 3 years and used TripAdvisor. In the 3 years, I had nothing but headache, anger, and lousy customer support from them. If a customer posted from my place (after I had logged in at the same location), they penalised us as having written our own review. We were knocked from number 2 to number 15 on more than one occasion. There is NO FEEDBACK CHANNEL for business owners except for clicking options on forms. When you express your discern for the services they offer, they give you canned responses. It's the most infuriating customer service anyone will ever encounter.
Reviewed Aug. 22, 2016
I went to TripAdvisor as it had never let us down regarding reviews, but never purchased and never will again. Besides it charges everything in dollars which means I have to pay conversion fee (Wichita is not cheap) adding £10 and upwards to each booking. I made a booking for Indian shores Florida and got an almost immediate response from the owner. So I thought this is good, but that was the start of a disaster. About two weeks later I got an email from TripAdvisor telling me about a property in Indian Shores and asking for monies. So I sent monies and then realised it was a different property to the one I had original purchased so I immediately cancelled and explained to them that their email had made me panic and send monies not knowing that it was a different property. Any way what company sends you more properties when you have already booked one with them!!!
Any way the response I got from them was that they would contact the owners and ask if they would reimburse the monies. How ridiculous can you get I ask. I am still fighting them for the return of the monies, but all of a sudden they have stopped replying. I have lost £190 with exchange rates and I do not know how they can get away with it when it is their fault by sending out another property after I had payed for another. Please learn lessons from this. By all means read the reviews of properties, but don't buy from them. They are highway men hiding behind a good review service.
Reviewed Aug. 22, 2016
Good luck trying to reach a human being if you call them. First, there is no option to press "0" to reach a telephone representative. Instead, you have to listen to all the options and when they don't mention one that applies to you, you have to listen to them all again and pick one that is the closest. Then, guess what, they transfer you to someone else and you get to wait again. Looking at my phone screen I see I've been at this for 33:09 minutes and counting... still on hold.
Their website has no telephone number listed ANYWHERE and I'm an Owner, not a Traveler. No "Chat" option either. (I'm not going to finish this review until I know how long I was on the phone so I can tell you.) "We apologize for the delay in answering your call, please continue to hold and one of our representatives will be with you as soon as possible" in a voice that sounds like Julian Assange. 41:30 and still on hold. Monday morning 9:15 AM - looks like no one showed up for work.
Just found this on a TripAdvisor "support forum" which I will paste here: "How do I CONTACT TripAdvisor staff? Most questions can be answered by posting it in the TA Support Forum where they will be answered by fellow members; getting a response is usually faster that way. But to get a hold of a TA staff member, use a "Contact Us" link in the Help Center." Well there is no CONTACT US link on a Owner's website, only a Traveler's web view. 61:04 total time on the phone. All I wanted to know is what the ** fees are!!! And the telephone reps are in Manila **!
Reviewed Aug. 17, 2016
I booked 3 different apartments for my holiday in Italy. Of the 3, only 1 has returned my 'breakage deposit'. This is a month after my holiday. There were no breakages on the other 2. I am €300 out of pocket - plus bank charges of approx £20. I keep emailing Tripadvisor, and get no reply. Dear reader, be aware of the 'breakage deposit' scam, and don't use Tripadvisor to book an apartment, unless you're prepared to sacrifice your 'breakage deposit'.
Reviewed Aug. 12, 2016
I have used Tripadvisor many times in the past and been very happy, BUT NEVER AGAIN!!! I booked a house in Ypres for a party of 7 in November 2016, but had to change the dates of our trip. The same house was not available on the new dates so I had to book another. I am now unable to obtain a refund of my deposit of £89. Tripadvisor is blaming the home owners small print on refunds (which I cannot find) and the home owner is saying it is Tripadvisor's policy not to refund a deposit. At the end of the day someone has my money and I would like it back, I gave them enough notice (4 Months before my trip).
Reviewed Aug. 11, 2016
I think the application or platform to write reviews is a great way to see a common thread, good or bad for what you are interested in, TripAdvisor is a great place to come for that. The problem (at least for me and anyone concerned about animal welfare) is that they support tour companies that base their profits in the use and abuse of animals. For example they promote elephant rides. Tourists should be informed about the cruelty involved in the "breaking" of a wild elephant called "Phaajan" (look it up) by giving certain tours a "rating" so that the common tourist is prompted to become an informed traveler. Some people just don't know that their new & exciting experience has been at a very high and cruel cost to the animals involved. TripAdvisor can and should do better.
Reviewed Aug. 10, 2016
I found what I thought would be a wonderful birthday gift for my husband - a 3-day stay aboard a yacht in Annapolis, MD. The post for the yacht had many nice pictures, but no real information about the boat, the amenities, available activities or their prices. I asked for further information but was informed I could only ask the owner questions AFTER I made my non-refundable deposit (over $1000). Stupidly, I paid deposit. I contacted owner about details - location of yacht, contact #, FAQs from previous guests, what we should/shouldn't bring etc. After four months of back and forth and partial answers (the owner didn't give directions but the name of a restaurant in Annapolis where we might find parking - I live two states away!), I noticed listing was no longer available on TripAdvisor.
I contacted customer service who assured me that my booking was valid and that I could cancel trip within 24 hours of arrival if property wasn't what was advertised. We did manage to find where the boat was moored and we're greeted by the wife. We then had to take a water taxi to boat (moving bags from one moving boat to another not exactly safe). The 'yacht' was a second-hand, stripped out Charter with no TV, wifi, or A/C, spotty, limited electricity and limited fresh water. The owner had only bought boat 2 years before and had no prior experience with boats or sailing - he bought it because he likes to kite-sail or rather is obsessed with kite-sailing. He complained about the cost of the boat and the repairs and how he had wiped out his life savings to buy it. He gave us a quick run through on the boat, equipment, etc but forgot things like how to turn on stove!
We had asked several times about going sailing and he had promised to find us a captain, but still hadn't by the time we arrived. The first evening was manageable - overcast, humid, got very little sleep due to heat but bearable. The following day was hell. We went into Annapolis in the morning and by the time we returned to boat it was 108 degrees (real feel) on the ship. Our phones were dead and the only way to charge them was to switch from the solar panels to the battery (which owner didn't want us to do because it cost money). There was no WiFi (though owner said there would be), so my husband used his cell as a hotspot (which costs a lot of money). We were stuck in a sauna, moored in the bay (a marina would have been more expensive), with nowhere to go (you can take water taxis to different areas, but unless some restaurant/store would allow us to hang around until the sun went down, we were stuck.
Thankfully, I had brought water and Gatorade (there was nothing on the boat) and put them in the refrigerator which was only slightly above tepid. We couldn't use the freezer because of lack of electricity. After hours in this sweat box, we were at pure survival mode. I was putting wet wash clothes into refrigerator to use to wipe down to keep cool and we took cold shower after cold shower just to keep from getting heat stroke. We would have left then (or until water taxis stopped at midnight) but were literally too drained and exhausted and feeling nauseous from heat we couldn't do anything, let alone drive the 2 1/2 hours home.
At around 6, the wife called us about sailing. She said her husband couldn't find a captain and he was busy but would take us out for $400 which was twice the price we were quoted. We informed her we were leaving the next morning due to heat and she asked if the breeze wasn't enough?! The wind was approx. 3 mph and wasn't going to cool anything let alone the boat. She was very flippant - 'sorry you had bad weather" (Weather?! - It's called summer) and 'at least you know what it's like to live on a boat' - A boat that just sits in a bay without moving might as well be a van in the middle of a parking lot.
We only learned that this couple made bad financial choices and decided to use their glorified garbage scow to con people out of their money. I tried to contact TripAdvisor, but you can only leave feedback if posting still listed - which it wasn't and in fact, the owner's name now appeared as 'unknown'. A simple checklist of amenities, basic information, FAQs at the time the rental was listed should be mandatory - not picture of girls in bikinis in the Caribbean which have nothing to do with a stay on the Chesapeake. Eventually, their lack of vetting and due diligence is going to result in something devastating or even deadly for the people who use this site. I will never use it again.
Reviewed Aug. 3, 2016
In general, I have used TA to book restaurants and hotels. I write fair reviews and they are usually good to excellent. Yes, my opinion but I support it with examples. OK. Here's the problem. My husband and I recently booked a B and B that was highly recommended by TA reviewers. We booked directly. When we arrived, I couldn't believe how shabby the place was. I felt like we were being put into someone's grandmother's attic. The bathroom was tiny 1970's style. There was random old furniture around the room. No decent chair to sit in and read. The owners were lovely so I didn't write any review at all. The cost was very high. But how can this be???
Reviewed Aug. 1, 2016
After placing an order for a hotel room, I then had to cancel due to a storm. When I contacted TripAdvisor, they told me that was fine. I never received the money in my account, so I contacted them again. I was then told I needed to contact a different company in order to obtain my refund. Why was this not disclosed from the beginning? They make it so easy to pay them, as long as they don't have to pay you back! It seems this company is not interested in helping people, but would rather scam them. Just contact the hotel directly, or I have had great service with Hotels.com. Thanks!
Reviewed July 28, 2016
Hi folks. I just was in Peru in September and after a long time searching, I find that Eco Path Trek is cheap and great, and I went to all of my tours with them to 5 days Salkantay trekking way to Machu Picchu, and Manu Amazon jungles 4 days, and short 2 days trekking to Ausangate, and simply I can say that I was so happy with them that I prefer to buy touristic bus ticket to Puno and also Uros Island tour from this agency!! Before arriving there I was thinking the quality should be low because their price is so cheap and good, but I was shocked when I saw how it was good. The manager Elmer is so lovely boy and too professional. That was amazing and simply if I come back to Cusco (definitely will happen), I don't need to search again and I will go definitely with this fantastic agency for sure!!
Reviewed July 26, 2016
They told me 1 amount but took a whole different amount out of my account for a city view in Ocean City but I booked an ocean view. Now I'm stuck at the beach watching cars go by...never again.
Reviewed July 25, 2016
I was a faithful user and believer in TripAdvisor and relied on it for all my travels. I booked a very expensive room in a chateau in France. Upon our arrival, we were shocked when we saw our room. It was filthy, no window and the size of a cupboard (700 euros a night). We immediately complained to the owner and wanted to leave. He would not refund our deposit or give us another room. We told him we would write about our experience on TRIPADVISOR. His reply was "GO AHEAD! WHATEVER YOU WRITE, I WILL HAVE IT TAKEN DOWN." Well, we left that chateau and wrote about our experience and the room quality. Surely, our negative but TRUE review WAS immediately removed, never to be seen by anyone. How is that possible and how reliable, truthful and legitimate is TRIPADVISOR? We will NEVER use them again. VERY DISAPPOINTING AND A SCAM.
Reviewed July 25, 2016
I will never EVER book through these people again. Between them and FlipKey, I thought I was going to lose my mind. And beware, if you book a home through TripAdvisor, you may be dealing with FlipKey... which adds another layer of confusion. Never again.
Reviewed July 23, 2016
I own 2 hotels in Buckie in the NE of Scotland. They have always been number 1 and 2 on TripAdvisor for Buckie. Recently we added a tablet to our reception area at Rosemount so that guests could give reviews on tripadvisor rather than write in the visitor book. Tripadvisor have now deemed all of the reviews made to be fraudulent, removed previously live reviews and downrated Rosemount from 1 to 4 in the ratings. I have tried to talk to them but just get told to email. I have sent several emails and received no sensible reply, other than a lesson in statistics. One email told me that the fact that so many reviews were made from same IP address "tripped" their system yet another email from another person told me this was not the case. They will not address the issue and reinstate the reviews, neither will they reinstate our previous status in the ranking.
I have also involved their CEO to no avail. One guest (a regular visitor) whose review was removed has kindly written us another one from his home but Tripadvisor have not published it but will not respond to my question as to why. Neither of the establishments in the number 2 and 3 slots (our other property being in the number 1 position) have had newer reviews, neither have they as many reviews and neither have they the amount of 5* reviews that Rosemount has yet still Rosemount remains in the downgraded number 4 position. This is extremely detrimental to our business and tripadvisor has offered no assistance of any sense despite me explaining what we were doing and clearly stating that we are no longer using the tablet, them having pointed out that this has caused a problem. I am just going round in circles and my business is being affected which is totally unacceptable.
Reviewed July 23, 2016
I have been cheated by somebody recommended by TripAdvisor. I have paid the house rental and also 1000 euro deposit as asked by the owner (possibly non existing). I want this euro 1000 back, as the fact that he asked me this deposit is your fault. I consider all this story unacceptable. Not only I am losing 1000 euro to a thief but I do not know where to take my family in vacation. FYI, I was going to buy also the plane tickets to Sardinia!!! Please inform me ASAP if you can return me also the 1000 euro. Anyway I will enter a BIG NEGATIVE FEEDBACK ON TRIPADVISOR THAT I WILL NEVER TRUST AGAIN IN MY LIFE.
Reviewed July 22, 2016
I accidentally double booked our vacation house and within an hour called the vacationer to explain what happened. Then I tried to get TripAdvisor to refund their money. I explained I wanted to be sure the vacationer was not charged and was allowed to make other plans. TripAdvisor said sure they could release his deposit but I would be charged $150. This was taken off my next payment from them. I just had finished a booking with them for 10K extended stay. And they charge me this ridiculous fee for something I took care of immediately. My concern was to quickly reach the vacationer. Their concern was to make money off them or me. I am not happy with this kind of service. My vacation home is very popular on all sites I have it listed on. I have not had this kind of service on other sites. I am very disappointed! I will be using other sites.
Reviewed July 22, 2016
I am new to using TripAdvisor. I have had two guests to date, unfortunately, I had to cancel a 3-night reservation due to an emergency situation. I attempted to contact the guest two times, and offered an alternative place to stay, but received no response. In respect to the guest, I called TripAdvisor customer service to assist with this cancellation. The customer service representation was unfriendly, and said I would be charged a $150 cancellation fee. Shortly thereafter, I received a confirmation that my next reservation would be debited $150. There are several alternatives to TripAdvisor (VBRO/Airbnb) where customer service is easier to contact and more user-friendly. I have removed my listing from TripAdvisor.
Reviewed July 20, 2016
You want objective and accurate reviews for traveling but TripAdvisor won't give you that because they suppress the bad reviews so that you never see them so their hotel reviews are WORTHLESS. Don't trust TripAdvisor.
Reviewed July 19, 2016
TripAdvisor is a total scam, never use them. Go through owners instead. After cancelling my reservation with the blessing of the owner, I spent hours on the phone with TripAdvisor getting the run around in India receiving false information and delays and ended up paying $162 booking fee despite canceling within 12 hours of the reservation. Buyer beware, never use TripAdvisor.
Reviewed July 18, 2016
In order to contact a potential host one must first book dates. Even if one's question is about dates or policies not listed online, one must book dates. This is where the real irritation begins. Tripadvisor's drop down calendars do not work. Period. I tried touchscreen, keyboard, Windows, Android, you name it. THEY DO NOT WORK. Consequently, one CANNOT BOOK A RESERVATION OR ASK A POTENTIAL HOST A QUESTION. People who lease out their properties need to be aware of how much business they are losing because Tripadvisor does not function in any capacity.
I wonder if it is owned by a hotel conglomerate. Whatever, I will NEVER AGAIN TRY TO USE TRIPADVISOR AS THEIR SITE DOES NOT WORK AND THEY DO NOT SEEM TO CARE. And I have yet to find a way to get support from them because they have made it impossible to contact a being. That being said, I hope you don' t support a company so unresponsive to its customers.
Reviewed July 17, 2016
I booked a holiday letting in France but unfortunately had to cancel it two days after booking it. They would not refund my deposit. On their website it stated that you had a number of days to cancel but this was false to my amazement. Buyer be very aware. The web looks amazing but the customer service is terrible. Their service is not for the customer. They look after the company not the customers.
Reviewed July 15, 2016
I posted a complimentary review for a travel agency which made arrangements for a trip for my family to Peru, however, TripAdvisor spent a couple of weeks "reviewing" and then rejected my review. It seemed to be a generated response stating I needed to comply with TripAdvisor's guidelines, however, I did follow the guidelines. Also, when I tried to review my submission it is nowhere to be found. I really want to provide information and compliments for the travel agency, Cusco Punku, and feel they deserve the review, but TripAdvisor will not allow it. VERY disappointing!
Reviewed July 12, 2016
I booked a room last night through TripAdvisor. The 10% discount code is WWSAW. Over and over I went through the checkout process, scrutinizing the place to enter it. There was no place. I went ahead and booked thinking I could just contact them to get it corrected. Of course, there is no way to get contact and get this apparently false advertising corrected. I will never, never use them again. I lost a lot of money. I called the hotel. If I had booked directly they match the price and give senior and AAA discounts. Don't be fooled. There is no financial benefit to using them.
Reviewed July 12, 2016
I booked one of my hotel based on the positive reviews posted on TripAdvisor but to my utter dismay, the hotel was complete opposite to what was described on TripAdvisor. Moreover when I tried to put my genuine review of the hotel, they put it on hold mentioning pending of approval. It is clear that TripAdvisor is just a fake website and only put fake reviews. Please avoid it as you may be fooled next.
Reviewed July 10, 2016
We found and booked and PAID for a residence thru TripAdvisor flipkey and followed all the instructions on the specific residence from TripAdvisor's site. WE WERE SCAMMED. TripAdvisor has been evasive about their responsibility. I guess their site is not monitored as to the authenticity of any of their offerings. This sucks.
Reviewed July 5, 2016
I booked an apartment/vacation rental in Curacao using my iPhone. However, when I wanted to cancel the booking, it was impossible to cancel via my iPhone and I had to find a computer to access the "Cancel Booking" button. I was at the hospital with my father in ICU (hence the need to cancel the booking) and so this really was NOT a convenient option. I messaged the vacation rental owners as well as TripAdvisor and each time I was provided the same response - which was a script and did not resolve the issue I was having. Then I was told to call TripAdvisor at a UK number. The whole experience was unnecessarily stressful during an already stressful time and not appreciated.
Reviewed July 3, 2016
I made a booking for my wedding accommodation abroad which was very exciting (since it was a surprise for my fiancé). I was given a set period of 7 days to pay the balance. On the 4th day my handbag was stolen when I was out shopping which was incredibly distressing. Amidst all the chaos of losing all my bank cards one of my realizations were that I wouldn't be able to pay the balance of my accommodation as the bank couldn't get my new cards to me in time. I emailed TripAdvisor twice and the owner of the accommodation. No response from either which isn't very encouraging at all. I then called TripAdvisor. They directed me to 5 different people, most of whom were in Bulgaria and although nice, couldn't understand what I was saying. Eventually I spoke to someone in India and they told me it was tough. I would lose my deposit and my booking. So, in effect, I was mugged in the street and then mugged by TripAdvisor, both equally traumatic.
In some ways, I feel less aggrieved about the criminal who stole my bag since they didn't pretend that they were anything other than dishonest and uncaring and they probably are in need. TripAdvisor is arguably worse, since they pretend that they are professional and caring and they certainly don't need my $$$s which means an awful lot to me as it represents my wedding. Very poor show. Think very carefully before booking accommodation with them. If anything goes wrong, your deposit is forfeit. This would never happen with Booking.com or Airbnb. And good luck getting through to anyone at all. It took an hour for me. I checked with Trustpilot and there are lots of very bad reviews about TripAdvisor or FlipKey keeping people's deposits. Don't trust either of them.
Reviewed June 29, 2016
I posted a review of a Holiday Inn in Charlotte and described how my prepaid reservation wasn't honored and it caused me a major inconvenience as I arrived at 1 am. They comped me one night but said I lost confidence in them. TripAdvisor has withdrawn my review 3 times. First time they said I could not review something I didn't experience. Assume hotel suggested if I didn't get my room how could I file a review. Next time my review was too judgmental. I finally submitted a clean factual account. They said it still didn't meet their standards. I cannot think how I could write my review more objectively. What is up? I believe TripAdvisor has to keep peace with big chains like Holiday Inn to suppress negative reviews. Beware of the reviews you never get to read.
Reviewed June 28, 2016
If you post a negative review on a hotel you booked through them they delete it... I posted about Extended Stay America in Denver, CO on Easter Ave having a thief among them which is the truth and it never made it to their website! Never stay there and never use Advantage Car Rental. I will never book through TripAdvisor again.
Reviewed June 24, 2016
We reserved a room through TripAdvisor (Getaroom). We got to the hotel and they said they had no record of payment. Our receipt from TripAdvisor said paid in full. I called the Getaroom number and they did straighten it out. We should not have had to do that. The hotel was not very apologetic. They just said, "You should not use booking services and should call the hotel directly." So this makes me wonder if it is the hotel's fault or if it was Getaroom's fault. I don't think the hotels want you to get a better rate using a booking service, so they'll just charge you twice! Yes, I am being sarcastic, kind of.
Reviewed June 20, 2016
I used to like TripAdvisor but they have no complaint system and they require at least 100 characters, so I will not bother doing reviews for them again.
Reviewed June 17, 2016
It WAS a total pain with the constant pop-over ads on TripAdvisor's site. They now appear to have killed all the links to the subject business. The "website" shows as a link but does not work. That's with Safari on iOS and Safari on Mac. So, no way to get out of Trip Advisor without doing another Google. Our secretaries at work stopped using Trip Advisor a while ago. Too much garbage to wade through. I stopped once the website links stopped working.
Reviewed June 16, 2016
Own a bar business in Indonesia, went pretty well until TripAdvisor came along and allows fictitious reviews to be uploaded by random people. So many times has my venue been the victim of angry people, competitors and the likes, who have never even been to my bar. I've recently received a (yet another) horrible rating on my TripAdvisor with an author claiming that we sell Gin and Tonic for 50$... Who sells Gin & Tonic for 50$??? When I go to the TripAdvisor admin. to try and get this review removed they do nothing even when I prepare a photo of our menu that proves this information is incorrect. That's a 1000% exaggeration on my pricing and still they do nothing... Honestly, my bar does fine without TripAdvisor; but it's when people leave ridiculously made-up reviews that really destroys a business.
Reviewed June 11, 2016
Where do I begin? The biggest thing is this company hires overseas staff. When I call (no toll free number) customer service I can barely understand anyone that answers the phone. The booking fees are outrageous! Why would any renter pay a booking fee when they can go on other websites that do not charge one. As a rental property owner, I lost bookings because of the fee. Also, the cancellation fee is unacceptable. My rental property sold prior to several rentals. I offered the renters several other cottages on the same beach and they declined. I, as the property owner, had to pay the $150 cancellation fee!!! I will NEVER do business with this company again nor any of their affiliate sites. Big scam and horrible customer service. Renters, go to another site where you don't have to pay a booking fee. No need to pay one!
Reviewed June 7, 2016
When I log into my TripAdvisor account I can see that my calendar is up to date, however when I sign in as a prospective renter and visit my rental on the TripAdvisor site, my calendar is blank. There is no assistance from anyone at TripAdvisor; when I call all I get is a recording offering situations I do not request. I have also requested that my "automatic-renewal" be cancelled, as I no longer wish to list with FlipKey as their site does not function properly and there is no customer service. It is very frustrating getting request after request and the dates are unavailable, but not showing as so on my TripAdvisor online calendar.
Reviewed June 6, 2016
I booked to stay at a bed and breakfast in Burnaby from July 22nd to Aug 6th of 2016 through TripAdvisor many weeks ago. Within a day of booking my husband and I decided that we wanted to stay at the B and B for a shorter period of time. I went back to the website and could not find a way of changing the booking so cancelled it and rebooked it. I phoned TripAdvisor but was told they don't deal with it that I would have to go through one of their partners, Flip Key or VRBO.
I was told by one of them that the booking fee $348.00 had been sent to the owner of the B and B and that I should talk to him. The owner said he doesn't see it until my husband and I are actually staying there, even though it is a cancelled booking fee and we have rebooked. He said that he cancelled through VRBO but then said if he cancels it through TripAdvisor they will penalize him. I wrote one more email to TripAdvisor but was told the owner would have to cancel but we could not... I don't mind paying a down payment but not getting a cancelled fee back seems truly bizarre and crooked.
Reviewed June 4, 2016
CAUTION!!! Do NOT book your travel reservations through "TRIPADVISOR" or their "BookIt" partner. My Bryce Canyon Lodge (National Park) room could have been booked through the National Park, but I thought what the heck, I'm here on TripAdvisor, it's good, right? So I booked through them. It went to some English travel company, Miki Travel, and they have a $97 cancellation fee!!! I am so unhappy, to be canceling a week early, plenty of time for them to re-book the room and be treated this unfairly. What a scam. NEVER AGAIN!
Reviewed June 3, 2016
I booked a horrible cockroach and mold infested unit in Atlanta called Downtown Urban Pioneer, owned by Richard **. I was in there five minutes and texted the owner that I could not stay there due to the mold. He apologized for my ordeal, and TEXTED ME THAT HE WOULD REFUND ME IN FULL. I was in the unit 5 minutes. He did not initiate the refund as promised. TripAdvisor would not help me in any way. They processed the rental anyway, in spite my not staying there at all, extracted the money thru PayPal, and PayPal also has walked away and will not help me get back my money. I am out 543 dollars, and I did not even receive the security deposit back for a unit in which I did not stay. I was advised to "Go after" Richard ** the owner.
TRIPADVISOR IS A HORRIBLE COMPANY. THEY DO NOT PUBLISH NEGATIVE REVIEWS!!! on their properties. I innocently thought that Richard ** of downtown urban pioneer was a new unit with no reviews yet. But after I reviewed them and the review never showed up, I realized that Trip Advisor just doesn't publish the negative reviews! Do not ever book anything under TripAdvisor. And PayPal is in their pocket. They have the written texts from the owner and the management company and will do nothing to put back the money they took out of my account. A guaranteed security deposit return and the deposit is never returned!!! An absolutely horrible experience. And I had to get a hotel for a day or two just to try to get some sleep, and then was hopping from colleague to friend to complete a work trip while basically homeless.
I chose TripAdvisor because I was hoping to save money. I am now out double the money! And so far behind in the work because I had no place to set up a computer and get any work done. I was homeless in Atlanta. The minute the money left my PayPal account, was the end of any services from TripAdvisor or PayPal. I had to beg for the address to the unit!!! Absolutely no customer service, once you have paid. I called them immediately when the promised refund did not occur and to cancel for certain the stay and Matt of TripAdvisor told me in plain English that they would do nothing to help me. I should get help from PayPal. PayPal does not help in any way! PayPal!!!
I am shocked and horrified. I am in the process of getting a police report, as it is lies, and theft which is a crime. It was my first experience with TripAdvisor, and now I know better, but PayPal? I was developing real confidence in PayPal. They will not help against TripAdvisor. There is some evil partnership going on there, and even PayPal is useless. They can take your money but even with a police report and the written promise of a refund, PayPal will not do the right thing if it involves TripAdvisor. Avoid TripAdvisor at all costs, and do not believe it's ok, because you pay with PayPal, they will leave you in the lurch.
Reviewed May 31, 2016
We recently booked in TripAdvisor hoping it's a big company and they will never fool their consumer. I booked last March 16 but the next day I have to cancel due to emergency. I called the customer department and they are NOT helpful at all. When you booked online for a vacation USUALLY they have a policy that you have 24 hours to cancel the least they can do BUT not with TripAdvisor. Once you click the button that's it, they will never return the MONEY whatever your REASON. They will screw you. NO SYMPATHY WITH US CONSUMER!!!
Reviewed May 26, 2016
I never write a review but I have to say this is the worse experience I have ever had booking a place. This was the first time I used TripAdvisor and my last. It was a horrible experience. Customer service representatives aren't friendly and seemed to be bothered when you are concerned about the reservation being wrong. 3 days prior to the arrival date promised to be called back. Did not happen. I had to call back to try to resolve the mistake made.
Reviewed May 23, 2016
In the past you checked out a place, eg. a city, and immediately with TripAdvisor you got access to their reviews. Now you are about ready to read their recommendations and you lose it and must transfer to the Trip Advisor app and the place you were interested in is no longer there. You must start over. A REAL PAIN.
Reviewed May 20, 2016
This was a message I forwarded to Yelp previously, it puts TripAdvisor into perspective. "I just wanted to reach out and thank YELP for being true to its roots. My girlfriend & I have been utilizing a plethora of social media platforms including Yelp & TripAdvisor to boost our 'foodie' presence. Having posted upwards of 100 reviews on both sites, I can say without a doubt that TripAdvisor is a scam and that Yelp is the only honest forum for reviews out there.
Consistently and without fail, TripAdvisor refuses to post anything other than favorable reviews, particularly when they incorporate extremely negative experiences. That's not what they advertise, and that's not what they claim they are doing, but regardless, it is what it is. Yelp however, does not play the censorship card... so in short, thank you Yelp. I'm sure there are not many people out there reaching out to glorify your company in comparison to a competitor, but in the most truthful sense, we appreciate you and the standards you've set for your image.
It is a lot easier to see when you post identical reviews to both sites and only one publishes, that censorship is real and unjustified. TripAdvisor is a joke... and Yelp. Well Yelp is simply the best. Cheers Yelp, - Love B & C" Truth is, TripAdvisor sucks... and they should not claim to be transparent when they are shady in their operations and censorship - nonbiased opinion in light of identical post on both sites yielded this review.
Reviewed May 16, 2016
Untrustworthy. Submitted two reviews to tell of my wife and I's experience at the hotel in Bermuda the Fairmont Southampton where my wife was robbed. I did not see the reviews posted. They said they were pending. When I contacted TripAdvisor they said they violated their terms of service as it was not my experience. So I would have had been robbed at the Fairmont to submit a review to let people know the Fairmont was not safe?
Reviewed May 13, 2016
I never take the time to write reviews but TripAdvisor/Flipkey is soooo bad I have no choice. First problem, the calendar on their website doesn't work well. It let two bookings reserve the same week. Even though it was their website that made the error, they still charged me 150.00. They provided no help to the guest. I had to cancel. I found the guest another place to stay. The agent was not only rude to me but they were just as rude to the guest. I have spoken to so many people there regarding the 150 dollars and ZERO has been accomplished. Their business name should be "I'm sorry" because that's all they ever say to you on the phone. I'm sorry doesn't fix or solve problems in the real world.
Second issue, there was trouble depositing money into my PayPal. I have NO idea why they had trouble but they kept releasing the funds into that account even though it kept coming back blocked. It wasn't until I made SEVERAL calls to the customer service - each call just as frustrating as the last before they realized there might be an issue. I seriously thought I was in the twilight zone. After another half a dozen calls trying to fix the problem, I was promised funds would be released three times before they actually released. A call asking if the funds have been released ranged from 25-40 minutes.
The call center is in India and unfortunately, it doesn't seem like they are well trained to handle calls off the script. Once I honor the last six bookings, I will no longer do business with this company as a host or guest. The company I have found to be great to deal with is Airbnb. Easy to deal with and great customer service. If you are using TripAdvisor currently...good luck!
Reviewed May 11, 2016
Prior to TripAdvisor purchasing VacationHomeRentals.com, my property was listed both on FlipKey (a subsidiary of TripAdvisor) and VacationHomeRentals.com. I pay a yearly fee for my listing on VacationHomeRentals and pay a per encounter fee for leasings on FlipKey. Guests also pay a sizeable leasing fee when they go through FlipKey (averaging 1/2 the actual cost of the rental - ex. a recent rental for $852, the guest is charged $1215), this does not include the fee that I pay. Despite the fact that this is outright gouging the guest, this is all legal (I guess).
After the purchase of VacationHomeRentals.com by TripAdvisor - all of the reviews written by guests on VacationHomeRentals.com now go directly to TripAdvisor. My old TripAdvisor account disappeared with any previous reviews written about my property. The kicker? Now people are sent directly to the FlipKey site from TripAdvisor. I've not seen any mention of this and wondered if anyone else has found the legalities of this "double dipping" questionable.
Reviewed May 8, 2016
In previous years, I was listed on Flipkey as a paid subscriber and on holidaylettings.com with a free advertisement. In the past year, FK and TripAdvisor have blindsided their paid subscribers (who can openly communicate with querying customers and don't have to use the FK payment system) by subjugating their queries and channeling most through the FK/TA sites which DON'T allow open communication with their querying customers. Instead, FK/TA's objective is to force homeowners to ONLY accept payments through FK/TA which costs more than 10% of the rental payment. Moreover, FK NEVER answers the phone. Their customer service is abominable. I am very unhappy with FK/TA which have, in my view, deceived their paying subscribing rental homeowners. PITIFUL!!!
Reviewed May 8, 2016
Almost two weeks ago we made a reservation for a cottage and paid a deposit of almost $500. We cancelled the reservation less than an hour later, and TripAdvisor is refusing to refund our security deposit! On April 27, at about 5:00 pm, we used TripAdvisor to reserve a cottage near Yosemite, CA for four days in late June. The cost of the rental was $1,722, and we had to pay a security deposit of $494. The security deposit was charged to American Express, and it was recorded as processed on the next day.
After making the reservation we looked at some maps (including a paper map!) and decided that the cottage we had just rented was not convenient to where we planned to be. We went back to the TripAdvisor website to cancel the reservation, less than an hour after making it! TripAdvisor served as a third-party for this rental, and they said we would have to cancel the reservation through the owner. We left a message for the cottage owner, and he replied that we should not be charged anything, since our cancellation was made before the reservation was approved! We have repeatedly tried - using email, the TripAdvisor website, and phone calls - and they still will not refund our deposit. We have filed a dispute with American Express.
You would think that companies like this would go out of their way to keep customers satisfied. This has been one of the most frustrating, discouraging experiences we have had. We have made cancellations through Expedia and Hotels.com, and there were never any questions or charges. I will never again consider TripAdvisor as an option. My wife and I are retired, and we travel about six weeks per year. We spend a lot of time and money on these trips, and we thought TripAdvisor would be another option for us to use. Boy was I wrong! Never Again!!!
Reviewed May 2, 2016
Last May, I stayed at Iberostar in Cozumel. When I returned home, I realized my jewelry had been stolen. I wrote a review on TripAdvisor and they refused to post it. This year, I stayed at Melia Beach Club in Cozumel and, although it had a beautiful view, that was the only thing it had going for it. The food was horrible and the lounge chairs on the beach were all broken down. I wrote a review on TripAdvisor and again, they will not post it. TripAdvisor must not post any reviews unless they are 4-star or higher, which is unfair because the public should be made aware of hotels and resorts that are of an inferior quality. I'm wondering if TripAdvisor gets paid by the resort NOT to publish a negative review. It is quite maddening! TripAdvisor does NOT have accurate reviews!
Reviewed April 30, 2016
What gives TripAdvisor the right to show that my Cabin Resort is "sold out" when it isn't? I am a paid subscriber to FlipKey, have been for many years. I used to get 5 to 6 inquiries from FlipKey a day, now I am lucky to get 2 a week. But my problem is with TripAdvisor. I have had a listing on there for years, about 8 years now but never paid for a business listing or anything like that. I am ranked #33 out of 68 I believe it is, I have 10 - 5 star reviews on TA and 22 on FlipKey. If someone searches for cabins in Eureka Springs, Arkansas I do come up in the list but when they hit the show prices button a pop up window comes up saying "sold out" and to check the other places they have showing availability.
According to that pop-up they are getting the information from Hotwire... Well, I do not belong to Hotwire, or Priceline, or Orbitz, or Expedia, or any of those stupid sites. How can TA legally say I am sold out? No consumer is going to look me up after seeing a "sold out" sign. My phone calls for reservations have dropped considerably. I am so upset by all of this. Trying to see if I have any recourse here. False advertisement maybe? Is there a Zero star button?
Reviewed April 27, 2016
TripAdvisor is not responsive to complaints about unfair reviews or pictures posted on their sites by people who just like to complain or who get a charge out of seeing their pestilence in print. Anyone can post anything and TripAdvisor will allow it on their sites and other sites to which they are connected. There is no filter and no way to remove unfair reviews or pictures posted incorrectly. It's a site for disgruntled and ill-mannered persons to spew their venom.
Reviewed April 26, 2016
I made reservations with several Florida hotels through TripAdvisor for an upcoming vacation. I never got any confirmation on an email. My credit card got billed for one of the reservations. There is no record of any hotels being booked on TripAdvisor and no way to contact TripAdvisor about them. There is no way to speak with any live person about anything.
Reviewed April 26, 2016
We are owner of a Guest House in Zakopane where we have 11 rooms for rent, accommodating up to 35 people in double, triple, studio and 2 rooms suite and penthouse. At the beginning of April I received a reservation request for accommodations for 11 people. I checked our room availability and confirmed the reservation. In my confirmation letter I asked the guests how many beds they needed and how many rooms. So it was after I confirmed the reservation (just a few hour later) I learn that they need 11 rooms (1 person per room), explaining that they are males and need separate rooms.
Price I charged was based on double occupancy $12 person night. We can not afford to rent in season rooms with bathroom, bedding all 3 store house for $12 room/person/night. We do have larger groups at the time, but they all friends or family and share rooms. I had reserved for this group 4 rooms with total 11 beds, but they told me to cancel reservation and return money. I did not get any penny yet so I told them to check with system they made reservation on. It was discussion who does what and when I finally was able to contact somebody from FlipKey I was told do not worry and that they will canceled reservation.
Several days later I learned that reservation was not canceled and TripAdvisor kept calling back and forth to cancel reservation and we will be charge $150 for canceling reservation. I did not think it was quite right since guest made reservation for 11 people not 11 rooms and I could easily accommodate them in 4 or 5 rooms. I copy email from TripAdvisor: "Thank you for your time today. It was nice talking to you (o really?). As discussed, you will have to cancel the booking BR20265167 and the guest will be fully refunded. The cancellation fee will be applied and deducted from your next payout".
I did not have anything against fully refunding guests, but I do not like to be charge for canceling so I insist that I will not cancel reservation. They did cancel anyway, see below: "As I said, you have accepted this booking for 417.03 USD and your property is advertised as having 11 rooms. You have confirmed to your guest that actually you do not have 11 rooms available and you have advised them to book a hotel.Therefore, the booking will be cancelled and the guest will receive a full refund back."
TripAdvisor canceled against our will reservation and insist that because we canceled reservation we will charged $150 penalty fee. What the mass. I had long relationship with FlipKey and never had any problem until they merged with TripAdvisor. For months I could not sign in to my account. They send me codes many of them no one worked. I was getting reservations requests but did not see them when I sign in. The list of frustration goes on.
I agree to property managers that actually best on the market is AirBnB. It's modern reservation system, no any cancellation, no spam like on TripAdvisor and guest really wonderful. Another one is WIMDU. What is also very important that we're being paid in our currency (Polish zloty). TripAdvisor wants to deal with us but does not recognize our currency. TripAdvisor did not do anything to upgrade system so is behind. Too Big to fail or too far behind and will fail. Never will do any business with TRIPADVISOR any more, that is for sure. Thank you for your understanding.
Reviewed April 25, 2016
I had 2 forum threads with lots of useful replies on TripAdvisor. Both were completely removed without any warning or notification, so that one cannot even read them. Actually about lots of posts are deleted from any thread (created by other posters).
Reviewed April 21, 2016
I contracted to rent a condo in Belize through the TripAdvisor website. I was asked to place a deposit of $1060 to hold the unit with the full remaining balance to be paid on 4/19/2016. My wife suddenly became ill and is being operated on for heart issues and can no longer travel out of the country in June which is when the contract was for. I contacted the owner on 4/15 and she graciously agreed to refund my full deposit. She sent a letter to that effect to TripAdvisor and they agreed to send my deposit to me. I have talked to their "customer service" people in India for a total of 2.5 hours trying to find out when my refund would come. I was told that if the owner allowed this she would end up owing TripAdvisor a $150 dollar booking fee but TripAdvisor would credit me for the full amount of my reservation.
The TripAdvisor call center has been the most inept group of people I have ever dealt with. They told me that I would have to cancel my reservation on their site. When I tried to do that it said "Do you really want to cancel your reservation" and showed that if I pressed "yes" I would receive 0 dollars credit. I told the person that there was no way I would agree to that and that once they fixed it to show that I would receive the full credit I would click the tab. He became argumentative and said that was the only way to do it and to "trust him". I then asked to talk to his supervisor. His supervisor said that they still needed confirmation from the owner even though it was acknowledged that they had already received confirmation. She sent another letter to them stating her wish to have my ENTIRE deposit sent back to me because I had paid her directly for the $150 that TripAdvisor was going to keep.
I have since talked to three more of their representatives without any confirmation that my deposit is on the way. They said that a "special team" was working on it. I asked to talk to that team and was told there was no way to get ahold of them. I asked how they would get the money back to me and was told that it would be deposited into my bank account. I asked them how that was possible since they didn't have my bank information and he didn't have an answer. This company is impossible to get ahold of at their MA. headquarters. You are stuck with people with very limited English and no authority to do anything towards resolving the issue.
Reviewed April 19, 2016
Wow, I am so pissed about my experience with this scam of a company. On Thursday night, I was looking to rent an Oceanside condo for 5 days in July. Before I could enter my dates, they asked for my PayPal number and I was told that they would only debit my card, through PayPal, if the dates that I requested were available. After I entered my dates, about ten minutes later I received a pop up message on my iPad from FlipKey/TripAdvisor stating that those dates were not available. At that time, I booked a higher priced condo elsewhere and paid for it since dates for summer were filling fast. Then, the next afternoon, I get a message from PayPal stating that FlipKey/TripAdvisor had debited my card for the first booking that was supposedly not available, to the tune of $980. Don't even bother trying to get a hold of anyone from this company, it is nearly impossible.
I tried a phone number that I Googled and there is no human there, only a short series of automated phone messages that go nowhere. I tried emailing, but even after explaining the situation several times to the person on the other end, they clearly did not understand my situation and repeatedly blamed me for booking two condos. When I did finally get a phone number, I also could not make the person on the other end, who barely spoke English, to understand that it was their mistake, and not mine, that caused this to happen. This has turned out to be an absolute nightmare and there is nobody to report it to. I really feel like I was scammed from this so-called company.
Reviewed April 19, 2016
We searched for a 3BR, Bath apartment in the North Miami area, and we found an apartment in the Continuum project listed under number 85695. To make sure that we understood the features of the apartment we contacted the owner as listed on the website of Trip Advisor. After contacting the owner and confirming that the apartment fitted our requirements we received an invoice from Trip Advisor LLC (tripadvisor-booking@europe.com) with the confirmation of the booking and payment instructions (wire transfer to Barclays Bank, UK).
After questioning the reason for not accepting CC we transferred the funds (US$ 1,900) in early February 2016. After the transfer was made we received confirmation from tripadvisor-booking@europe.com that the payment was received. Our booking was for April 7, 2016. A few day before the date we contacted the owner to get instructions on how to get into the apartment, to no avail, no reaction.
We arrived in Miami on April 7 in the afternoon and kept on trying to get a hold of the owner and/or Trip Advisor either by mail or telephone. Trip advisor is basically impossible to communicate with as you keep getting one answering machine after the other with tons of options and no live support. We went to the apartment complex, but since we did not have an apartment number or name we could not get in. It was not until the following morning that we finally got a telephone number with live support from Trip Advisor. We had to stay at a local hotel (3 rooms) that first night. Trip Advisor told us that we had been victim of a fraudulent listing, that they had not received the payment, and that we were basically on our own, because we had made a direct payment to the owner. BUT that they were aware of this listing as being fraudulent.
They even gave us a telephone number (Australia) for the supposed owner. They did not offer even a partial recovery of the funds paid. We did not invent the owner; it was all on their website. We filed police reports in the UK against the alleged owner and Trip Advisor as we consider Trip Advisor an accomplice to the fraud, as they apparently knew that the listing was false/fraudulent, and did not take any precaution to warn potential renter of the danger of false listing on their website. They do not filter or review the owner listings, and get away with it. We filed a claim with Trip Advisor but they keep referring to the local police to file a claim. Shame on you Trip Advisor. You and your owners won't catch me or my friends from Curacao anymore. This incident is not unfamiliar to Trip Advisor. I saw a similar listing that happened mid march 2016.
Reviewed April 17, 2016
I am writing this letter to express my frustration with "the world's largest travel site" TripAdvisor, favoring hotels who pay for advertising. Two weeks ago I received an email from TripAdvisor administrators stating they changed their algorithm for reviewing businesses to make it "fair" for all hotels and that these changes may reflect on the ratings of businesses over the course of several months. Just 3 days went by and my hotel dropped from a prominent number 2, a position held for almost 3 years with minor fluctuation to number now 8 in just one week for the area with only 12 hotels, including one that has been closed for 3 years, at the 12 position. Over all on the Island we have flunked again in a week from 8th position to 28th, never in 10 years of being on TripAdvisor has any property ever had dramatic changes applied.
I sent an email to TA expressing my frustration and confusion and a representative promptly called to say that in order for her to help, we must get more reviews. A week passed and we received 5 new reviews, which according to the representative should have improved our rating, it did not. With some research, I found that no other hotel on island was as drastically harmed by this algorithm change as I was. To say I am confounded would be an understatement because TripAdvisor claims to be fair and unbiased and unable to be bought but somehow the deepest pockets have achieved the highest ratings, without gaining new reviews.
Crystals in Saint Lucia is/was the underdog in a small town of luxury resorts as we are not affiliated with any of TripAdvisor (like Expedia) online partners since its start and this drastic fall in ratings has greatly impacted the number of reservations and inquiries I have received. I am worried for the future of my business, a Luxury boutique hotel that I have struggled to build up. I work tirelessly to look after my guests and developing our property and develop my business and this has just been crucifying. We need to let people know that Crystals is still a little piece of paradise that they should not overlook simply because of an unfair rating on a travel site and I will do all that I can to ensure this.
Updated review: April 19, 2016
As an update to my earlier review, the chap in London called 24 hours late and the problem was resolved. Very grateful for that of course but why does it take so long? Anyway, enough for now. I have my accounts access back and will hope it does not happen for the third time.
Original Review: April 14, 2016
Since TA decided to merge the Flipkey and Holidaylettings services into one rebranded item I have experienced several problems with account access. A few months back after several complaints and apparent zero progress one issue was resolved. A week or so back the TA site advised me that my password was incorrect. The same one recorded by my browser a million times before. After several attempts I was locked out and was advised to telephone the London office. From Thailand this is not an easy nor cheap option and in itself is, in my opinion, an imposition. I reached the recorded message which listed around nine option... nine! None of which really fitted my need. I entered a number and then was given another set of options, around five I recall. Several times a recorded message said they were busy and 30 minutes after first making contact I was cut off.
I sent a few irate emails, then received a call, a few days later, from a chap who seemed to say he was from Ukraine - very bad line, not good English skills, but he proposed a solution. He gave me a code - in fact he gave me four codes, none of which worked. On hold for another five minutes whilst he "tweaked" the system - another code, another failure, then the line went dead. I sent more irate emails and received a polite reply telling me to call London! There are limits to my patience. More nasty emails and a call from an Indian chap in London, around 8pm. I explained I was out, not near a computer and that Thailand is currently six hours ahead of London. Oh he said, and we agreed he would call at 9am uk time, 3pm Thai time the next day. So that was yesterday. I waited from 2:30 til 4:30, sent another mail meanwhile and received - you guessed it, NOTHING!
I have several houses on TA that I cannot access. I have received booking requests, now lost, and I am sure that my failure to respond will penalize my rating on the site. I have given up two accounts, both locked and so many attempts to get back in. The most telling thing is that even when we do achieve contact the solutions do not work. A tech disaster in my opinion. A public relations and customer service disgrace.
Reviewed April 12, 2016
I own two vacation rental apartments in Florida. TripAdvisor charges such a high booking fee to guests that it prices me out of the market. Airbnb charges a low 3% booking fee, and their level of customer service is much better than TripAdvisor. Travelers should go with Airbnb, and so should property owners.
Reviewed April 4, 2016
I recently booked a rental in Manhattan, then my plans changed, so I contacted TripAdvisor and the owner to cancel. Since I cancelled and then the owner contacted them to request my full refund (and not the other way around), TA advised me I will not be refunded a $199.25 fee. I was even told by a TripAdvisor rep shortly after that I would receive the refund since the owner contacted them to request a full refund. The owner refunded me their entire portion, but TA will not. It's frustrating.
Reviewed March 28, 2016
Worst customer service EVER. Had until 3/20 to pay for a booking but they don't tell you that it is UST at midnight. So not only did they cancel my booking at 5:30 am on the 20th, they kept my deposit. Now, I have nowhere to stay and they won't give me back my deposit.
Reviewed March 28, 2016
I have repeatedly attempted to get in touch with Tripadvisor to no avail. Their site is impossible. You can't talk to a live person and there is no e-mail. I've been trying to get payment for a guest that has been here 5 days and have yet to receive payment. I found the correct place for an inquiry for payment and it said I would be paid the 28. Today it says I would be paid on the 29. My guest leaves on the 31!!!
Reviewed March 26, 2016
Boo!! Trip Advisor/Flipkey!! Learn from what happened to me!! I paid in advance for an apartment rental for a vacation in New York City. I am a senior, and I got to the apt. house with my small granddaughter, only to be told that the "owner" had cancelled. The doorman informed me that his name was not "Darren" as he had given me, and the apt. number was not even correct. I called "Darren" to find out the story to which he asked "didn't you get my email or one from Trip Advisor? Your reservation is cancelled." I answered no but later found out that the email came when we were on our long plane trip from AZ, the same day. So, I still could not have done anything!
It was 11 pm when we got in, and there I was without any place to stay. It took us until 2:30 am. to find a place and finally eat and get settled in. Plus, the hotel was an extra $300 from what I expected to pay. Trip Advisor was not open to even do anything about this situation, and the "owner", it turns out, had not even told T.A. that he was cancelling, like he claimed he did. Now, it's nearly 2 weeks, and I still do not have my T.A. refund. BUYER BEWARE!! My booking number with Trip Advisor was **; total price paid $1,750.
Reviewed March 23, 2016
When booking a vacation rental on TripAdvisor we contacted the owner of the property. We made arrangements and hit "Book" on the FlipKey website. Soon after, we received an email telling us where to wire the money. After wiring the money we wanted to ask the owner if there were other places to rent in the area as well. This time we called the owner. She informed us that she never received any email from us. It was difficult to contact TripAdvisor because of its obscure help contact info posted, but when contact was finally made they were not helpful.
When we gave them our booking number all they kept saying was they didn't show any reservation for that booking number. We are in the process of filing a police report and the fraud department at our bank is following up on this. I thought that TripAdvisor was a secure website, but it obviously is not. TripAdvisor did not take the breach of its website as a concern at all. Don't do business with these companies!
Reviewed March 22, 2016
I listed my property on TripAdvisor/FlipKey and after a couple of months I got my first renter. 24 hours after my renter checked-in, I tried to log into my TA acct and got a message that it was 'suspended'. I called customer service and was told that 'someone from the team would be in touch'. I sent several follow-up emails only to get the same response. 3 days and several emails later, still nothing. I called Customer Support again and finally got transferred to an "Allie" from the Trust and Safety Team in Boston who told me that yes, my account had been PERMANENTLY suspended a few days before and NO she would not tell me why and furthermore, a complete refund had been posted to the renter who had since checked-in to my property and left.
I asked her how I was supposed to get paid for the rental service and she told me I would have to somehow get in touch with the renter myself (remember the entire transaction was done through TripAdvisor so I have no way of contacting the renter otherwise) and chase after my money!!! I was flabbergasted to say the least. How is it possible that a) TripAdvisor can cancel my account without any notification to the owner, process a refund for a rental service that had been provided and then leave the owner holding the bag WITHOUT recourse for getting paid or even a chance to know WHY such action was taken??? Owners beware!
Reviewed March 21, 2016
I was told that LANTANA apartments in Barbados was reputable. They changed my TripAdvisor information by personally looking up my credit card info and changed it to husband's name. His card number (which I hadn't even given them) and name was then on MY TRIPADVISOR account... and LANTANA resort/apartments in Barbados charged me $750 for a FREE 24 hour CANCELLATION to book the LAST ROOM LEFT (teaser)... and then when I cancelled 4 hours later I was charged $750 onto my husband's card number. DO NOT USE TRIPADVISOR!
Reviewed March 20, 2016
My professionally edited negative review was rejected.
Reviewed March 20, 2016
I was booking a ticket with tripadvisor.ca and some things came up that I could not believe it. This site claims to help advise people who are travelling however they lack knowledge on the topic. I was trying to book a flight to Iran from Canada, and the website mentioned above claimed that because of US government regulations, I am unable to travel to Iran. I would like to ask what exactly travelling from Canada to Iran has to do with the US government. This makes no sense.
Reviewed March 19, 2016
BUYER BEWARE when booking a reservation on TripAdvisor. Using TripAdvisor to book a hotel or other travel has important risks they do not tell you. I had a terrible experience trying to get a hotel reservation changed. TripAdvisor simply brokers their reservations through other companies ("partners") which they have no control over. In this case it was a company called Getaroom. When calling TripAdvisor to inquire about the reservation, it took about 25 minutes to have them contact Getaroom and then TripAdvisor simply made the connection and got off the line. Getaroom has awful customer service. They don't seem to be concerned about customers at all. They were obstinate and unhelpful. One TripAdvisor representative told me that they always have difficulty contacting Getaroom and they are not responsible for Getaroom's customer service.
Reviewed March 18, 2016
Launching a new small hotel, I get a single review intended for another establishment by mistake. After a week of calls and emails, completely ignored, useless call centre. Massive company takes your money and does nothing to help. Worse experience of dealing with a corporate entity. They need a total re-think or they will disappear slowly but surely. As a result I'm filing for a refund of 750.
Reviewed March 13, 2016
I have been trying to contact TripAdvisor and FlipKey which are sister websites, to no avail. I have sent constant emails through their website in regards to a blocked account on a property listing to reply to booking inquiries, only to receive automated replies which has absolutely nothing to do with my issue. I checked on Facebook pages and both their problem-solving and performance is down to nil. Why are these websites still operating it seems without human resources? There are no Australian contact numbers here who I can speak to. I do receive automated emails that monies have been paid but have yet to see any. This has become a scam and I will report it to the Australian authorities tomorrow. If you have a complaint with these websites call 1300 850 115 or email to info@acma.gov.au for these websites to be removed asap.
Reviewed March 12, 2016
I have tried to book a vacation in Spain with TripAdvisor but got the error "some of the card field values are not correct", although everything was fine. To prove that, my online banking application shows the amount blocked from my account. TWICE. While the hotel of my choice did not receive any confirmation of my payment.
When contacted, after placing me on the hold for about one hour and transferring me between several departments, the customer service representative at TripAdvisor told me that they cannot do anything about unblocking those funds and I should wait a few days until the system does this automatically. They do not have a REVERSAL/CANCEL feature (although any payment service processor provides one). Needless to say, after being charged twice, I do not have enough funds in my account to make any booking anymore. And I will never do it through TripAdvisor anyways.
Reviewed March 4, 2016
I receive advertisements from TripAdvisor via my fax number. I called because my family was planning a trip to Puerto Rico. When I called back to make the reservations they told me they were no longer going there and that I could get a refund, but again when I called back to check on my refund I was told that the packages were non-refundable and should never have been told my money could be refunded. Each time I've called back the last person I spoke with no longer works there. The company are the ones in default not me and yet they have my $658. I want to complain directly to TripAdvisor but can't find any resource to do that. So now I'm looking to make a complaint to any State's Attorney that may help. I will never use this company for anything and that includes just reading their reviews.
Updated review: March 6, 2016
This issue has been resolved.
Original Review: March 4, 2016
I booked a vacation rental on August 25, 2015 through TripAdvisor. I made a partial payment of $286.75 through a partner of TripAdvisor called Flip Key. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I had to cancel my trip which was scheduled for April 8-13. From what I understand, Flip Key accepts the payment, with a fee of course, and sends the money to the property rental owner, which, in this case, is Affordable Oceanfront Kona, in Kona Hawaii. The rental owner is Connie **. I have a printout of the transaction with all pertinent information, including the Booking ID number ** and the Booking number is **. I sent three different e-mails to the TripAdvisor and they show no record of the transaction. One e-mail referred me to Flip Key. Flip Key shows no record of the transaction. I tried three times to call TripAdvisor with the number that is on their website and received a busy signal every time.
I called Connie ** two days ago because she most probably has my partial payment and left a message. She has failed to call me back. I have sent her an e-mail and have yet to receive a response. Now, I have given over a five-week notice of cancellation for my vacation rental which is sufficient. In conclusion, I have two different online services and one vacation rental owner who will not respond to my situation. This leads me to believe the business practices of all three are questionable at best. I have a printout of this transaction with TripAdvisor's name and logo prominently displayed on this printout. Since I went through their website to book this rental, I expect them to take responsibility for this issue, but I would also expect Connie ** and Flip Key to step up and resolve this issue.
Reviewed March 3, 2016
They let anyone review your business. Unfortunately their policy is such that anyone can review your business if they have had any contact that can include phone calls, emails and delivery driver and guys parking next to our business. So now we got rated a 1 for talking to someone on the phone. When we went to contact TripAdvisor their own phone system doesn't work, it didn't record messages and no one answered calls period.
Reviewed March 2, 2016
I'm a small business owner. I have a TripAdvisor listing, all 4 and 5 stars, all good. There is a duplicate of my business listing that's registered to my home address, disclosing where I live to all who search for my company! I'm a single mother alone in a house and feel incredibly vulnerable. There is no one to talk to at TripAdvisor to make them take it down. There is no phone number for business owners to call. All my email requests to have the listing removed or the address removed are met with the following response from their 'editors': "Thank you for taking the time to suggest updates to this location. Unfortunately, we were unable to complete your request. Occasionally update suggestions do not meet our guidelines and cannot be used. We appreciate your contribution and hope you'll continue to help us keep the TripAdvisor community informed." This has been going on over a week and I'm at my wit's end.
Reviewed Feb. 29, 2016
Booked a hotel through using TripAdvisor which connected to Tingo for lowest rate available. When we started reservation it was for the next day, however it was close to midnight. Because the reservation didn't get finalized until after midnight the date was automatically changed to the following day! No notification or anything about not being able to do the dates we originally requested. Absolutely NO help from either TripAdvisor or Tingo on a fix, was told if you cancel you will be charged one night and we cannot change the dates because the rates are now different.
Reviewed Feb. 28, 2016
Until this experience, I was a heavy user of TripAdvisor to plan vacations. No more. I cannot trust anything about the TA brand any longer, if they're willing to slap it on this kind of borderline grift called FlipKey vacation rentals. I will certainly never rent a vacation property through their site, knowing what they do to the owners. The website "dashboard" itself is abominably designed and constructed. Critical functionality like hiding a property's precise location doesn't work. Trying to submit feedback doesn't work. Trying to submit a support email doesn't work. Trying to stop the daily spam emails doesn't work.
Customer support is a travesty. The call center in India wouldn't be able do anything to resolve low-level problems -- even if they could understand what I was saying. And as earlier noted, the feedback form is almost perversely designed to frustrate users into giving up, and doesn't work on any browser with an adblocker installed. Pricing is anything but transparent. The guest isn't shown the "service" fee (upwards of 10%) until they request to book. The owner can't give an honest, exact quote to a guest because the "service" fee is variable and there's no way to calculate it. Lastly, there is no way to either remove my listing or delete my account from the website. I suppose I could try one of their "support" channels but life is too short. Owners and guests should just stay away from the whole rotten thing.
Reviewed Feb. 27, 2016
I just tried to get a cabin using TripAdvisor. I just wanted to let people know that it is a very bad way to get a rental. They use something called FlipKey to manage the requests. You see if the dates you want are available they put a hold on your credit card then they check with the owner. Well the owner came back to me and said, "Sorry, FlipKey made a mistake. I already rented it for those days." Well OK, except they put a hold on my card and TripAdvisor sent me an e-mail that said, "Sorry, it didn't work out. It could take 7 days to release the hold." I can't try to book another place while they have the hold on my credit card. They were quick enough to put the hold on the card, they should be just as quick to remove it, or better yet they should wait to put the hold until they are sure the unit is available. I will not use TripAdvisor again. Please repost this so others see not to use TripAdvisor until they change their policy on holds.
Reviewed Feb. 26, 2016
I recently set up an account with TripAdvisor to advertise my Vacation Rental. They advertised a simple 3% commission on all bookings. I asked for a full disclosure of fees and commissions prior to signing up and this is the information that was sent to me: "...We only take 3% when the booking is confirmed with the Owner. Only Owner is authorize to confirm a booking. We do not take 3% commission on Refundable damage deposit and Taxes... With Free to list model you do not pay upfront amount but with subscription you pay an amount which is $399.00 (Basic Level) but then you do not have to pay any commissions. Apart from this 3% commissions, there are no additional fees..."
Great! So I set up my listing, put in my prices, and waited for it to go live. When the page was live, I was shocked at the prices! My rate is $235/night. However, the rate that was advertised on TripAdvisor was $267/night despite the fact that I had entered $235/night. A minimum three-night stay was advertised at $803 when it was supposed to be $705! They were advertising $1900 a week when my weekly rate was $1500 - and that is the number that I had put into the website. And yes, I confirmed that this was all in the correct currency (CAD) So, there was no mix-up due to different currencies. There was no mention of jacking up the rates in the "full disclosure".
I don't know what's going on there but they need to be more transparent with the way their booking system operates. You are told that guests pay anywhere from 5 to 15% of the total booking value. It says that the fee is automatically added to the guest's invoice on booking - nowhere does it specify that it is tacked onto your nightly room rate. Who's going to book my home on TripAdvisor for $267 a night when they can get it on Airbnb for $235 a night - my actual rate! TripAdvisor would take $30 a night per reservation and then charge me on top of it all! That's nuts! I never would have signed up if this information was provided in the full disclosure that I had requested. But I guess that's the point, isn't it? I've removed my ad and will stick with Airbnb.
Reviewed Feb. 20, 2016
TripAdvisor offers renters the option of booking and paying via TripAdvisor by credit card or PayPal. They encourage renters to do this as they claim your payment will be protected. When they screw up they take no action or responsibility. Because of this you cannot trust that any bookings you make on TripAdvisor actually exist. Your money and the booking disappear.
Reviewed Feb. 14, 2016
TripAdvisor recently contacted me to list my apartment rental with them and convinced me that I had nothing to lose and only a larger audience to gain. I use other rental platforms with no problem. I have just finished all day on my Sunday trying to get them to help with a double booking that they were responsible for. I have 4 people coming from Maine tomorrow with nowhere to stay and TripAdvisor is claiming no responsibility and/or offering much help. Their customer service is horrendous. I would never use this service again! They do not care about people at all.
Reviewed Feb. 13, 2016
Very disappointed with TripAdvisor's help service. I have now tried on 2 occasions to ask TripAdvisor to combine a business and reviews left as for some reason my business has been set up twice. They have ignored both requests. Does anyone know how I can get them to reply and deal with the requests?
Reviewed Feb. 13, 2016
The reason for this review is that one of my guests had a fraudulent transaction take place. Two payments were taken from their current account, ‘Trip Advisor/Holidaylettings’ (TA/HL) received two sums for the stay in my property, which was confirmed by the traveller’s bank and was also recorded on the traveller’s bank statement! The booking ref: **
When things go wrong with their payment system they do not acknowledge the fact, or take any action to contact the traveller or the vendor of a property. I understand that as a business they may have many cases to deal with, therefore they should have in place systems and people that are able to cope with and rectify the problem, unfortunately it appears to me they do not! As they are the middlemen (taking their cut and charging fees to all) it seems they only want the money and the quality of service can take a running jump.
Therefore all users of ‘TA/HL’ (and the others) should be concerned that the automated system they employ can on rare occasions make several demands for payment from your Debit cards and Credit cards. Vendors should be aware that while ‘TA/HL’ may take payment from your guest, if their system messes it up, they may hold on to the money which is due to you!
Luckily the travellers managed to get one of the transactions returned. However, the ‘TA/HL’ system has not released the payment due to my bank account for now close to 6 months after the traveller stayed in our property. The funds have been in ‘TripAdvisor/Holidaylettings’ account and remains there to this day. The system has marked the payment as ‘Delayed’ and ‘TA/HL’ have not done a thing, making no effort to contact the traveller, myself or as far as I am aware ‘PayPal’ who carry out the transactions for them. In fact in an earlier communication ‘TripAdvisor’ laid the blame on ‘PayPal’.
‘Trip Advisor/Holidaylettings' say they have a customer support service, when in fact from my personal experience they have a system designed to frustrate users! When using the online support form an automated response is generated, which points the user to their help pages? Which do not have any listing for the problem I have experienced? If you try to contact them again using the referencing system they employ invariably the system reports that: “We are unable to find an existing open case for your account”!
So my only way of hopefully getting a response from someone who actually cares about the Company that employs them is to write a review on their poor service. I hope that they can see that an error has taken place and that contractually they are bound to pay the monies due. If not they could be looking at a charge of theft. But for all those reading this review, you have been warned. Keep a constant check on your Bank and Credit card statements if using ‘TripAdvisor’ and all the other names it trades under. It would be nice to be able to get a response from TripAdvisor that puts this matter to rest. I live in Hope!
Reviewed Feb. 9, 2016
The homeowner did not make the house available. Had to find a hotel at 5:30 PM. After multiple attempts, TripAdvisor was absolutely no help in obtaining a refund. They told me to contact the homeowner. However, the homeowner did not return calls. Customer Service is non-existent. It is impossible to speak with anyone in U.S. about problems. I will have to sue to get a refund.
Reviewed Feb. 8, 2016
I was purchasing tickets to Washington DC. The dates I put into the site 2-12 to 2-16. A few days later I look at my confirmation and the dates were 2-19 to 2-23. I called the airline who explained that TripAdvisor will grant you the price you requested but they change dates. I went on their site again to purchase another ticket, and sure enough when I punched in my dates with the lowest price another set of dates came up. DO NOT USE THEM, THEY ARE RUNNING A NONSERVICE ORIENTED COMPANY. Better to call the airlines.
Reviewed Feb. 5, 2016
I recently listed my rental property on TripAdvisor. I have been and continue to use other more popular booking sites for my rental but received a phone call from TripAdvisor and thought I would try it. I received my first request recently and no matter what I respond to the guest, the site continues to block anything I respond. I am simply responding as I do on any other site -- informing the potential guest of the amenities of the guest house, neighborhood etc. There is no way to contact TripAdvisor unless through their automated help center which does not include this topic in their help topics. This is not a way to run this kind of business. I am removing my property from this site. They need to find a way to be available for property owners.
Reviewed Feb. 5, 2016
3. No contact point for TripAdvisor and one want to contact for specific issue, the drop-down menu does not work.
Reviewed Feb. 2, 2016
I have posted a review on a resort, and it continuously gets rejected. First for containing a URL, then for including other guests' feedback. I made modifications each time, and now I received a notice that my review was rejected for containing disparaging comments. My review did not contain anything disparaging other than to say that a representative was downright rude. Is this considered disparaging? I was under the impression that the purpose of this site was to provide accurate feedback, whether negative or positive. Am I expected to change my review to say that I received wonderful service in order for it to be posted?
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2016
I have a beautiful 5 bedroom home by the ocean in South Carolina, which I listed with TripAdvisor for about two years, despite the fact that it was a complete rip-off. I sometimes listed the downstairs apartment as a separate unit, and the listings generated very little business for the effort involved. Their advertised fee of 3% was continually billed at 10%, thus putting the price(s) just out of the competitive range.
As a result of this, and my total frustration with trying multiple times, to get it corrected, I no longer list with TripAdvisor. They do not do any business by phone, and they do not respond to emails either. They erroneously charge 10% a booking. It is my only home, and as such, the booking fee should only be 3%. Plus they are impossible to contact, although their office is only 40 minutes away, and I may picket them, and hopefully get arrested, so that my case makes the news.
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2016
I am an owner with a vacation rental in the Pigeon Forge area of TN. I rent my cabin through various online sites as well as a rental company. I have had various issues with the calendar not keeping my updates when I input them. When an inquiry comes in, if the booking hasn't come from TripAdvisor, it will "undo" my dates and as such, they show as available to the client on the other end. I have had several people very upset when they have tried to book and I tell them it's not available.
I have tried to contact TripAdvisor through their "Help" screen and after filling out all the information requested and in very good detail, I try to "send" my email and the link to the "send" tab apparently isn't working. I have tried calling but after waiting a very long time to get a person, they were not in the U.S. and I could not understand them nor could they understand what I was trying to explain to them. So to me, customer service is non-existent. I will probably be pulling my listings from this site soon and will be looking for a new place to bring in bookings for my rentals.
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2016
I booked an apartment in July last year and the deposit was taken from my bank on the 4th of August. A confirmation was sent stating that the remainder would be taken by the 6th of January. The trip was booked for February. Fortunately I checked this and found TripAdvisor had removed the site and I had no bookings with them. My complaint is they failed to inform me and to date they have failed to return my monies. As the flights were already booked I have had to book other hotels at extra cost and many days trawling the net, not that easy for a man in his 70th year. I believe that retaining my monies with no service or product amounts to fraud or plain stealing!
Reviewed Jan. 28, 2016
I wrote a one-star review of a restaurant that is high ranked in Wroclaw, Poland but at which I had a disastrous experience. Although my review was genuine, it was removed from the website because it contained an allegation of fraud (sic). I found it strange since I've already written around 70 reviews (most of which restaurants) and never had such problem. So I asked the Support about what went wrong. They replied that it contained a report of review fraud (sic) with no further explanation.
I sent a second e-mail to ask for more details, they never bothered to reply. I then realized there was nothing wrong with my review. TripAdvisor just decided to censor it, probably in some effort to damage control the reputation of the restaurant I was reviewing. What's worse, I denounced to TripAdvisor a review that was obviously fake: a first time reviewer who wrote a five-star review, listing items that were not served and stated "next time you're around, just pop in". I was surprised to find out that my request was rejected, meaning that TripAdvisor finds this review to be genuine. Since, I've stopped writing reviews on TripAdvisor. When I travel, I'd rather ask locals or wander around the city and see for myself than trust TripAdvisor reviews.
Reviewed Jan. 26, 2016
The popular Website called Flipkey, which offers housing rentals, is offering misleading pricing on vacation rentals. When searching by area and date, they show low pricing, but when you actually click book, the pricing is quite different. Unless a person reads all the small print, you will not realize you are being charged WAY more than advertised. I've put in a search in Ruskin, FL for a rental on April 22nd, thru April 26th, 2016. I've attached the image of what Flipkey shows. There is one rental advertised for $67, but when click book, the result is that it's going to cost $610 for 4 nights. I've attached the picture after clicking book.
Reviewed Jan. 21, 2016
We rented a house in Quepos through TripAdvisor because we felt we had so called "payment protection". When we arrived in Quepos we hired a local taxi driver, who would know the area, and followed the landlord's directions. The taxi driver drove along the road and could not locate the house, even asking "said neighbors" if they heard of a "blue and White House", showing them a picture from the TripAdvisor website. No one knew of the place. We then had to book a hotel back, because we had nowhere to stay, in the city of Quepos. The hotel receptionist called the landlord for us (who supposedly is living in the State of Virginia), and I talked to the landlord. His response was "did you go past the palm plantation?" I hung up on him out of pure frustration. He did not offer to send a driver to our hotel we could follow by taxi so we could find the rental house.
We communicated with TripAdvisor and our rental landlord. TripAdvisor's response was "You already paid so there is nothing we can do." The rental owner said "Two people located the house so it's your fault you couldn't find it." Really? A local taxi driver could not find it (in a country with no street addresses), how were we supposed to find it, if such a house even existed??? My gut feeling is that two of his friends wrote good reviews and posted it to his site and there is no such house. TripAdvisor Payment Protection is a SCAM!! I would hope Consumer Affairs does something about this... But with the current bureaucracy I doubt it...
Reviewed Jan. 20, 2016
I have been scammed in the last month 2015/16. Found an apartment in Barcelona through TripAdvisor. Went through TripAdvisor to connect to what I thought was the owner of the apartment. I was sent a rental agreement from the owner after a couple of email to discuss costs. I signed the contract then sent it back and was sent the details of his bank account in the UK... I transferred the money via my bank...
Then two weeks later my bank contacted me to say they had deactivated my net banking because they had concerns about the account I had transferred money into, they had requests to recover funds from this account before. I checked this out a bit more by contacting the owner of the apartments 'Sweet Dreams Barcelona'. He had no record of my booking, neither did he know of the bank account and name of the person I had transferred money into... The owner was not bothered about my situation... I emailed TripAdvisor with ALL of the details... Copies of the email communication between myself and the scammer including the rental agreement on TripAdvisor/FlipKey letterhead... And I have heard NOTHING back from TripAdvisor. My bank have been unable to recover the funds... What do I do now???
Reviewed Jan. 17, 2016
I booked a hotel through TripAdvisor. The reason I chose this booking is because TripAdvisor advertised the hotel at just under 500USD+ tax saying that this was a special offer of 50% discount on the actual price - thus suggesting that this hotel room was actually worth 1000USD per night. I travel and stay at hotels frequently and in my opinion the hotel room did not seem to be worth more than 200-250USD. So I looked it up. My thinking is actually supported by the hotel rates, as rooms in the hotel during this season are around 200USD-250USD as per the hotel website. So why did TripAdvisor sell me the room at such a high rate (saying best rate available) and why did it advertise it as a 50% discount on actual rate? I felt I was misled and am highly disappointed. It is the first and last time that I book through TripAdvisor.
Reviewed Jan. 15, 2016
I have my vacation rental home successfully listed on Homeaway, and was seeking information on having it be listed on TripAdvisor. For the life of me, I cannot talk to a call center in the U.S. The workers at the India call center just don't understand and work well with understanding my questions, spelling my name, or not sounding "canned." Really people!?! How greedy can Corporate America be to not house call centers in the U.S. where we can gain access to competent help? I will not be listing with TripAdvisor.
Reviewed Jan. 15, 2016
This is notice I wish posted to all/any travelers intending to Vietnam and Nha Trang city in particular, that the above mentioned website is by my own experience and that of other compatriot travelers a Fraudulent/Scam website offering counterfeit Vietnamese Visas/extensions and other Govt documents at extortionate prices to unsuspecting tourists/travelers wishing to stay longer or/and work in Vietnam. Please therefore I wish to warn all travelers thinking of visiting that lovely country to please beware of the site and the persons running it!
Reviewed Jan. 15, 2016
We have been getting great vacation rentals through our main VRBO and HomeAway accounts for over a year. We also have had it listed on flipkey (I guess now TripAdvisor). I have gotten inquiries but a lot of them seem scams. We finally got a guest that booked (even though the price was higher because I couldn't include a cleaning fee and had to factor that in), but I told them that I would adjust the extra they had to pay for a booking fee.
When I tried to change it, I found out once a person pays a deposit, you can't change it, it can only be canceled and rebooked. I tried to do that online and it said I had to call a customer service number. That number did not work! It may be after hours (it is 9:30pm EST), so I will try in the morning. I did some more searching for complaints and found many similar things I am experiencing on this site, so decided to add my experience. I am going to drop my tripadvisor listing as soon as I cancel this and hopefully my guest will book through our other sites. If there were 0 stars, I would give it that.
Reviewed Jan. 14, 2016
I spoke with one woman who spent 10 minutes on the phone with me. She decided that she could not assist me. Then, she transferred me to the booking department. I have been on hold for over 45 minutes! You would think their message is "Hang up. We are not interested in helping you." Can't tell you how disappointed I am because I have always been a huge TripAdvisor fan. It is news to me that their Customer Service is so poor! Very sad for a well established company! Still waiting and my call/hold time is 50 minutes!
Reviewed Jan. 9, 2016
Had a renter in my rental house for a week - booked through Flipkey/Tripadvisor. They (Flipkey) collects payment from guests in advance and then only releases them to the homeowner when the guest has already arrived and checked in. Over the years I have gotten used to the fact that Flipkey is sitting on my money and collecting interest on it for months at a time. But this time, they did not release the funds to me at all. There is no way to speak to anyone at Flipkey so I kept sending emails through the "Help" page.
For the first few days, I got responses 12 hours or more later saying my funds were scheduled to be released yesterday, two days ago, three days ago, etc. This kept going. The guest checked out and went home. Still no release of my money that I earned. And finally, Flipkey just stopped responding to any requests to release the funds. The guest has been gone for over a week and not a word from Flipkey. This is $3000 of rent for the most prime rental of the year - Christmas week.
My initial recourse was to go into my account and remove my credit card/auto renewal permission so that when my Flipkey listing comes up for renewal at least I can cancel it. But they have made it impossible to change your Auto Renew option online - you have to speak to a human - which is apparently impossible to do. Leaving me no apparent easy way to cancel my listing other than to dispute the credit card charge when it comes through. It appears to me (trying to be balanced and non-emotional about this) that TripAdvisor having purchase Flipkey has instituted the same policies at Flipkey which are fully on the side of the guest with no recourse for a homeowner.
If you own a vacation home and want to rent it out, my strong advice is to use HomeAway/VRBO instead of TripAdvisor/Flipkey. Not only does HomeAway/VRBO drive a LOT more traffic your way (I get 90% of my revenue from HomeAway) but they actually treat homeowners fairly in the booking process and - while it is not easy - you can get a human being on the phone if you have a problem. And HomeAway has much better owner tools for managing your property.

Reviewed Jan. 8, 2016
I have nothing to do with TripAdvisor directly. I listed my FL condo on FlipKey to rent & it turned up on TripAdvisor because they are connected. I got an inquiry for a date that was rented & so blocked out on my calendar. I answered the request that it was rented. Evidently I accidentally pushed a button that sent an automatic quote so in spite of the message that I said it was rented & my blocked out calendar the customer put down a deposit. When I went to cancel the reservation (which you have to do by phone), I was told I would be charged a $150.00 cancellation fee. WHAT A SCAM!!!
I tried to cancel my FLIPKEY/TRIPADVISOR account but could not -- guess you have to call them to do that too. I was able to hide my listing. As an owner, I should be given the control to communicate explicitly without some automatic override provided by TRIPADVISOR. I never listed my property with them and I am not expected to understand their booking process.
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
TripAdvisor's website for writing a review is the WORLD'S WORST. Half the time when you write a review you are wasting your time because the system will not accept the review properly and then the hotel or restaurant cannot see the review. Afterwards, when you sign back in to TripAdvisor later you will see that your review is incomplete and thinking that it may just need one more thing in order to be complete you press on the "complete your review" button that has said: "just one more thing" and then it tells you to start from scratch on the review. I have been at the top of corporate marketing for 18 years and I know that I completed EVERY question and review button perfectly, only to be informed that it never went through. This same thing happened when other family members filled out their TripAdvisor reviews. TripAdvisor is wasting people's time!
Reviewed Jan. 5, 2016
I arrived at the lodging on Saturday morning around 11am and was met by Marius. I noticed that there were no towels and ask Marius for them. "You want towels?" he asked. "Yes, I want to take a shower and sleep after the long plane trip." I answered. "I will bring them in one hour." said Marius. Around 2pm (that is three hours later) he returned with three towels stating that my SMS asking for four towels was not possible as we were not paying a lot of money and were three people (myself and son and daughter) so he did not get enough money from us to offer more towels. I asked about sheets for the three beds as one bed was clearly made but not the other two.
Marius suddenly became very aggressive telling me that that was enough and he was not going to do anything more for me. I responded by saying that I did not understand why he was menacing and aggressive. I still do not know why he acted this way. In the end, he was blocking the door out of the apartment (he is 2 meters tall or so) and asked: "are you taking the apartment or not?" I did not want to have he do anything physical to me (one never knows!) and I said "Yes, I will take the apartment."
As my son watched this entire exchange, he was terrified! When Marius left we both decided that it was not safe to stay in the apartment. We quickly repacked our suitcases and left. I found a hotel and immediately canceled the reservation and filed a Peace of Mind request for a full refund. The only reason that I did not stay in the apartment was Marius' aggression towards me. I could not be sure that I would be safe there with my son and daughter (I am a widow, so my husband is no longer living and traveling with us). FlipKey informs me that they have no reimbursement for such a situation, only the apartment not being what it was advertised to be. Where is the customer service?
Reviewed Dec. 31, 2015
I was a huge TripAdvisor fan racking up over the years all the badges possible and bringing in over 110,000 readers. BUT now that I am a vacation rental owner, everything in my eyes has changed. They recently sent me an email of "how to spot hidden charges while vacationing" (so ironic!) but that is exactly what they do. They mark up my vacation rental 15% (and in addition charge me 5%) but hide the fees until someone books. (BTW, I lose most bookings because of this compared to VRBO which I pay an annual fee and there is NO booking fee!) For a while, I lowered other charges and was willing to take a loss but now I say ** them. In addition, they say on their site that a guest will not be charged a booking fee if the listing is an annual listing.
So, I followed the trail and paid the fee of several hundred dollar only to be set up with an inferior site called vacationhomerentals.com owned by TripAdvisor that does NOT come up when searching TripAdvisor. They don't allow me to transfer the url. I am censored EVERY set of the way and am not allowed to show ANY disapproval or my email will be blocked. Worst yet, I am allowed NO contact with the potential guest unless they book so I cannot screen them to see if they are fit to rent! I know that what I am posting is confusing because "with confusion come lies". And TripAdvisor is a lying company backed by corporate **. It's all about the dollar. You can't cancel a quote or you will be financially penalized for potentially ruining your guest's vacation but they can knock that quote aside if another booking comes along.
EVERY ASPECT OF THE TRIPADVISOR VACATION BOOKING IS 100% GEARED TO THE BEST FINANCIAL PROFIT THAT THEY CAN RECEIVE. They have no heart. They have no reasonable sense of moral competition. It's all about the wins and the profits that amount to a loss as my guests, one by one realize that the TripAdvisor that we once knew, no longer exists. And a greedier corporate version has replace the once beloved site that we trusted.
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2015
If you pay you get what you want!!! Bad customer service, really bad for business who won't pay for reputation! Really bad for customers that will never know if the reviews are true or not.
Reviewed Dec. 17, 2015
I put a deposit down on a cabin in Gatlinburg TN then found a better place. The refund policy states that you have to pay in full before a certain date in order to get a full refund, minus the $54 booking fee. So I did. I received my deposit back and expected to receive the rest within 10 working days. Needless to say but I have yet to receive the rest of my money! You can't talk to anyone that can actually help you! All I want is my money back!
Reviewed Dec. 16, 2015
I have used Tripadvisor many times and have found the information help. The problem is that you cannot reach a person or an email when there is a technical issue with the site. I went through their machinations of this drop down menu, that drop down menu only to have it all go away when I clicked submit. That happened 3 times so I wanted to get to tech support. There is no tech support. There are a bunch of Q&A articles. But if you have a real time issue, there is no assistance. That makes NO SENSE to me. How will they know there are issues if no one can get in touch unless they don't want anyone to get in touch with them!! It's beyond frustrating!!!
Reviewed Dec. 10, 2015
I have been an advertiser with FlipKey/TripAdvisor for my vacation rental properties; over 12 years.. Recently FlipKey added a feature called "Online Booking" that makes my customers think they must pay through the FlipKey website. FlipKey then charges me an additional fee for this service. I already pay to advertise through them and do not wish for them to collect my rents for a fee. I have always rented my own properties, collected my own rents via credit cards - plus given superb service to my clients. Five Star service.
I am now trying to cancel my subscription with FlipKey/TripAdvisor and get my money back. They tell me I need to speak with a supervisor and that I will receive a call back which I never do. Anytime I contact them I am on hold for a minimum of 30 minute. I cannot even imagine having this company manage my reservations when I cannot even get a call back from them. For 3 weeks they said they would call back... NEVER WILL THEY... Don't be fooled - FLIPKEY will not call you back. Save your Tylenol - use a different company. The Palm Beach County lawsuit against Flipkey for not paying the TD Tax, may have made this company unusable.
Reviewed Dec. 6, 2015
A couple of days ago I booked a room at Econo Lodge in Byron, Ga. They drafted the money from my account and I received e-mail confirmation that day. Problem is the next day (yesterday) when I tried checking in the clerk had nothing. He tried to speak with TripAdvisor while I waited and they had nothing. Apparently nothing + nothing = nothing. We had no reservation nor room even though we already paid. After spending a couple of hours on the internet and phone we finally reached a human being at TripAdvisor who got the bottom of it and we returned to the motel and finally got a room.
I was very unhappy but at least had a place to go since we were visiting family. But what if this happened at 2 am while traveling long distance? Would they have been put out with no room irregardless if they had paid? The TripAdvisor wouldn't even work with the motel clerk to settle this matter. And the motel clerk insisted that TripAdvisor is a third party arrangement that they had no say or impact with. So I advise that any who wish to secure a room with Econo Lodge do so via Choice Motel site as that is the only way they can prevent such from occurring. At least until TripAdvisor and Econo Lodge figure out a way to coexist without such infringement on a paying customer.
Reviewed Dec. 1, 2015
I am an advertiser with FlipKey/TripAdvisor for my vacation rental property. Recently FlipKey added a feature called "Online Booking" that makes my customers think they must pay through the FlipKey website (my ad). FlipKey then charges me an additional fee for this service. I already pay to advertise through them and do not wish for them to collect my rents for a fee. I have always rented my own properties & collected my own rents & given superb service to my clients. I have tried to have this feature removed from my ad since early November 2015, to no avail. They keep promising that it is removed but it is not.
I am now trying to cancel my subscription with FlipKey/TripAdvisor which was renewed in October of 2015. They tell me I need to speak with a supervisor and that I will receive a call back which I never do. Any time I contact them I am on hold for a minimum of 25 minutes, maximum of 68 minutes. I cannot even imagine having this company manage my reservations when I cannot even get a call back from them.
Reviewed Dec. 1, 2015
After doing an honest review of my time in Baltimore at the Best Western, viewed over 200 times in less than a week and the manager even responded, I've been told that I violated their guidelines for relevancy. Why? Because they are upset that I was honest about how their shuttle driver was racists? I talked about the good and the bad, and my honest experience of my time at that hotel.
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
My experience with their customer service has been the worst!! It has been over a month trying to resolve an issue resulting from the acquisition of FlipKey, and I am still at lost. I have made innumerable calls to their help line only to get a string of people somewhere in a foreign country who are just as lost as to how to help a client. Their help line is a disaster if the problem does not fit within the categories. I have lost my ratings which have always been in the 100%, received an email canceling the account because of no response (to no fault of mine since I cannot access the account and FlipKey cannot figure out why) and lost bookings. I am preparing a letter to the President of the company as a last resort!
Reviewed Nov. 29, 2015
Myself and several friends had visited Historic Rugby in Rugby TN. It was a very boring experience and we all had several complaints about Historic Rugby. So we wrote reviews and they were published in TripAdvisor. We all thought this was the best way to warn others that traveling to Historic Rugby was a waste of time and not worth the money. After a few weeks of being published Historic Rugby contacted Tripadvisor and bribed them into removing all negative reviews. Since Historic Rugby was allowed to do this it only makes sense that any business who do not want the public to see negative reviews are doing the same.
So Tripadvisor is providing false information to the public about vacation sites and helping to con them into spending their time and money visiting sites that others have reported as having problems with. Many of the businesses pay to advertise on Tripadvisor so no negative reviews are published. This is a wrongful act directed at the consumer that businesses like Historic Rugby and Tripadvisor are getting away with all in the name of duping the tourist out of their hard earned money. Travelers are better off searching YELP or any other website other than Tripadvisor to get the truth about businesses. As for Historic Rugby, it is a high priced, boring destination with rude staff and terrible food. But you won't find that on Tripadvisor.
Reviewed Nov. 27, 2015
We went to a vacation last June, and it was horrible. We had the worst time of our life and we wanted to leave. We were not able to leave because we needed to pay tons of money to be able to do that. So we stayed and now it is time to post our review of the place. We had evidence of everything we are writing in the review. (example a cockroach in the room, we had a picture of that, mold in the pool we had a picture of that...) I am trying to post my review on TripAdvisor and they have been hassling with me for over a month, with the mails saying things like "we removed your review, please provide proof that this happened..." so I provide proof and resubmit... "Oh we removed your review because we believe that these are 2nd-hand experiences and these are not your own experience." So I provide proof of that too. Not sure what to do about that. I had a bad vacation and I want to share my experience and I need to know what I can do about that?
Reviewed Nov. 19, 2015
TripAdvisor FlipKey is telling me that because I am a property manager and manage a large number of vacation properties, I have to buy ads for all of my properties or they will cancel my account. The account manager has written, "We require that you list your entire inventory... Which appears to be about 76 [properties]". Listing all my properties would cost about $25000 per year even with their volume discount. The commission and pay-per-lead options are even more unworkable for me. When I raised these objections and declined to list all my properties on Flipkey, she wrote, "Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately I have to set your account to deactivate at the end of your next renewal, 1/24/2016." In other words, they are going delete my existing Flipkey ads on that date because I am unwilling to pay to advertise every one of my properties on Flipkey. Is anyone else dealing with this right now? It seems an outrageous business practice to me, essentially extortion.
Reviewed Nov. 13, 2015
I planned a trip to Provo, Utah and had booked the Marriott in Provo. Upon arrival I presented my name and confirmation # to the woman at the check in desk. She had no record of my name and the confirmation number I gave her was associated with another guest who checked in on November 2nd through the 4th. I was checking in on 5th and my reservation was through the 8th. The hotel offered me their walk up rate because she didn't have the rate that I booked through TripAdvisor. I called the TA customer service and received no customer service. The person on the other line was unable to help me. She would not tell me the rate I had booked through TA. She told me I had to accept the walk in rate that the hotel offered me and that there was nothing she could do.
I asked to speak to a manager and she there was no manager there and that if there was they would tell me the exact same thing. I said that it was unacceptable and what was the point of booking through their service if I was not guaranteed a reservation and a rate. She put me on hold and never came back. The young woman at the hotel was extremely helpful and she and I were able to figure out the hotel rate I was promised by the total that was on my emailed confirmation. She honored that rate. I still wanted resolution of the issue and wanted to be sure I was not charged for the person's stay on the 2nd. I called customer service once I got to my room (it took an hour to resolve this issue at the check in desk) I called the customer service number again. I spoke to a man who was rude as well.
I assume these conversations are recorded. I hope someone listens to the recordings. I wanted assurance I wasn't charged and I wanted an explanation of why this occurred. He informed me that TA hires another company to do the booking and he didn't provide me with any other information. I had already wasted enough of my evening on this matter and was done with the lack of customer service I received. I will not book a trip through TA ever again and will tell my friends and family to do the same. I find it ironic that the company that posts reviews of other companies has such poor customer service. I still need to look at my bill and make sure that I was not charged for my stay through them or the stay of the customer who stayed at the hotel with the same confirmation number.
Reviewed Nov. 9, 2015
I tried to check out and purchase air travel via this site as I have done in the past. However, the several times I tried (using Internet Explorer and Firefox browsers), all I got was a graphic of an advertisement for a Mazatlan vacation and no way to access the information I had requested. I looked for a toll-free number to report the problem. The number I found was a direct phone number in Massachusetts which I called. The voice said that they do not accept voice calls and deal with all communications via their website. However, their website is NOT organized in a user-friendly way so when I left my complaint in the box I thought best (though not precisely about this matter), and clicked finished. I receive a page that said they would get back to be in 3-5 days!
It is evident to me that they are not interested in assisting a member of their site in an expeditious manner. Also, when you log on seeking a web airfare for a destination, you are by default given two other websites with fare quotes. One of these is Travelocity which is owned by several major US airlines. This is annoying as I refused to deal with Travelocity in reaction to a past very negative dealing with their staff that refused to deal with LAN Chile over a missed connection (LAN Chile cancelled the entire return flights to the US) and I had to pay for a first class one way ticket back to the US from Santiago, Chile.
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2015
I registered my flats with Holiday Lettings and Flipkey 6 months ago. I just had the first booking with Holiday Lettings. The guests moved in Monday and they were due to release the rent Tuesday. Instead they blocked my account and are withholding the rent. Their reason is security checking. They could have done this when I first registered. I have forwarded the information requested (original pictures, proof of ID.) but they are still asking further information. They cannot confirm when they will unblock my account so I have guests staying for free. The customer service can never answer my questions and is not concerned by the fact the guests will have to move out tomorrow if they do not release the payment. This is very poor customer service. Not mentioning that you cannot put a review about TripAdvisor.com on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. Not playing a fair game.
Reviewed Nov. 4, 2015
I always look at TripAdvisor reviews before booking a hotel. I recently stayed at a Best Western in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The hotel was right off the expressway. My daughter and I went into the hot tub and had a male peeking in the window. When I asked the front desk about their safety, they had no cameras, and laughed about the male peeking in the window. I will not go by TripAdvisor any more because they obviously don't check these hotels.
Reviewed Oct. 29, 2015
I was a Flipkey customer for five years with my vacation rental. Everything was great until a couple of years ago when TripAdvisor.com got more involved. Most of my rentals come from vrbo, but I did get about 10% from Flipkey. During the last year of my subscription, it became impossible to do business with Flipkey in so many ways, I don't have time to describe. I finally decided I wouldn't renew with them and sent them an email and letter telling them I will not renew. I did not have auto renewal, but didn't trust them, so contacted my credit card company long before renewal and blocked them.
When renewal time came up, they sent me an email asking me to update my card because it didn't work. They still tried to put the renewal fee on my card without authorization! Now all of a sudden I'm getting loads of inquiries from TripAdvisor.com that I never got before. Yesterday, I got 5 and they sounded like they were all from the same person, but just changed a little. I believe they're trying to scam me back into signing up again and agree to allow them to take payments directly from the renter, which I would never allow. They keep attaching a very long agreement that I have to accept before I can even answer these "fake" inquiries. I manage 5 vacation rentals and would never use them again. Don't trust this company!
Reviewed Oct. 28, 2015
Caution booking on this site. I made an inquiry on a vacation rental in Cabo San Lucas. I had questions on the unit. The site asks for your credit card information. DON'T SUBMIT UNTIL YOU HAVE HAD YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED. I did enter my information along with the questions I had on the unit. The owner took the rental and charged me $1,009 before answering my questions. Once the questions were answered, I no longer wanted this unit. After only 24 hours, I was dinged $500 penalty for cancelling. Further, the owner did agree that he shouldn't keep that, but because I entered cancel BEFORE he entered cancel, TripAdvisor charged me $500. Use Booking.com. Much fairer rules. I did call TripAdvisor and got a "sorry nothing we can do" response.
Reviewed Oct. 26, 2015
Wanted to change a room reservation length of stay. Refused to accommodate my request and advised me I would be charged the full amount because "they have to cancel the reservation and start over". Unbelievable!
Reviewed Oct. 25, 2015
I booked an apartment in Caceres Spain through Tripadvisor. I paid a deposit of 201.3 Euros in February, 2015 and the balance of 488 Euros in September when I was prompted to by an email from Tripadvisor. The payment was through Booking.com. The charges did show up on my credit card. I did receive a confirmation of the rental of an apartment (La Casa Musica) from Tripadvisor and a communication from the owners confirming rental of a different apartment (El Cuadro) in the same building. I thought nothing of it at the time. When I arrived, I was greeted by the owner's representative at El Cuadro. The apartment and the owner were fine except that the owner had not been paid. So, I had to pay again (550 Euros).
When I returned home and tried to sort this out with Tripadvisor I have gotten a complete runaround. Not only did they overcharge me, they booked the wrong apartment and they are now refusing to reimburse me because they have to 'investigate it' even after I have called several times, emailed and sent them copies of the paperwork. The apartment owners also confirmed that they had not been paid to Tripadvisor. NEVER BOOK THROUGH TRIPADVISOR.
Reviewed Oct. 23, 2015
I booked a rental through trip advisor in August paying 96 deposit. The balance was due in September. I never received any communication to tell me the balance was due. I tried several attempts to call only to be told I was the first in a queue and my waiting time was expected to be 16 mins, several mins later I was told I was still first in the queue my wait time was 18 mins. This went on until I gave up. Trip Advisor then cancelled my rental without any notification. I only found this out a few days before going. Since then, have spent literally hours on the phone to Trip Advisor on hold. I have written numerous emails without any response. I am disgusted by this and can only tell people not to book through them.
Reviewed Oct. 22, 2015
I booked a vacation rental through TripAdvisor.com, and the owner of the home was awesome! TripAdvisor, not so much. The rental itself was 139/night, but after all of the website's fees it came out to $900 for 3 nights. We paid this, with the guarantee of receiving the $200 deposit back on October 21st, as long as nothing was damaged. I was unaware that TripAdvisor is the one who holds the deposit, so on the 20th I reached out to the homeowner to inquire about when we would receive it, and he let me know that TripAdvisor had not even e-mailed him regarding the deposit until that day!
On October 22nd, I still had not received any funds, so I called TripAdvisor, and waited on hold for a very long time, even though it kept reminding that I was the first caller in queue. When a man who could barely speak English came on the line I let him know my concern, and he informed me that TripAdvisor had released the funds on the 21st, and that it would be 10 more business days until it was actually refunded. I explained to him the definition of a refund, and that if it says on the 21st I should be able to access the funds on the 21st, not wait an additional 10 days. He was incredibly rude and argumentative! He eventually hung up on me, when I said "this must be why your company has such terrible reviews." I would love to rent this vacation home again, but will do so without TripAdvisor. Stay away from this company, they have horrible business practices, and rude "customer service" employees!
Reviewed Oct. 19, 2015
Several times, I have attempted to submit a review for a very nice restaurant. My review was honest and based upon many flawless visits to this particular restaurant. Since I had no criticism in my review, it was rejected. The lengthy and wordy email I received from TripAdvisor basically stated that my review was boring. Granted, they used several hundred words and four paragraphs to say it is - but my honest review was rejected because it was boring. I had no criticism for this dining establishment... The service was very good and the food was excellent.
Reviewed Oct. 18, 2015
I have posted several reviews only to find that they were removed. There were no renovations, changes in ownership or violations of TA rules. I am so done wasting my time on TA.
Reviewed Oct. 17, 2015
I have written reviews on TripAdvisor for a few years now but lately their site has had some issues and their support staffs attempts to "fix" any issues merely compounds them. The site is become extremely POOR and staff just DO NOT CARE at all.
Reviewed Oct. 16, 2015
I've received helpful info for other travelers' reviews and I've given much info as well. Recently I submitted an attraction review hitherto not reviewed. Trip Advisor screwed up by placing it under a completely unrelated attraction subgroup and changing the date reviewed. I tried to get them to place it correctly and no one took responsibility for this mistake and communicated that I must correct this problem myself (wasn't I already attempting to correct their mistake?!). Trip Advisor never did correct the problem even after I communicated with three different people. Additionally, if one wants to contact them directly they don't make it easy to find their email address.
Reviewed Oct. 16, 2015
I have spent the last 4 and a half hours filling in an online Trip Advisor Property Listing format. Although suitably detailed, it is unable to accept my mobile phone details which blocks the whole process. A contact telephone number is provided which lists 7 or 8 options, none of which is relevant to correct the simple glitch in their electronic listing software. NO EMAIL ADDRESS IS PROVIDED, ONLY A LIST OF NON-RELEVANT FAQ. It would therefore appear that the potential business is frustrated before we start. I am particularly annoyed by the total waste of my time this morning.
Reviewed Oct. 15, 2015
I list our apartment as a vacation rental on flipkey.com & holidaylettings.co.uk, which are both owned by tripadvisor.com. Recently they "improved" their website so well that I can no longer log in to administrate my listing at either site. After spending a lot of time going through their really quite useless and terribly designed help-center, I finally decided to contact them directly. Forget about it. You spend a lot of time filling out forms and they either simply aren't heeded or the site returns a "Sorry can't send at this time" alert and clears all the forms. After days and days, I finally realized what others here have pointed out. Their customer service is deliberately not reachable. They're just too big and decentralized and have tried to eliminate any human contact, which I'm sure is great for the bottom line, but it makes for horrible service.
Reviewed Oct. 12, 2015
I made a reservation through TripAdvisor today and the confirmation was sent to an email account that is no longer active. When I realized that the information went to the wrong email address, I called customer service but they could not help me due to "privacy/security issues" or connect me with a supervisor or anyone who could help me and hung up the phone. My account was so old I no longer have a password and a corrected one would be sent to a non-existent account. I was told to contact the hotel to confirm reservation. I am waiting to hear from the hotel but I will never use this service again.
Reviewed Oct. 10, 2015
Booked an advertised hotel in Italy for 2 nights with free cancellation. What the ad didn't say is that the hotel only offered 1 night with free cancellation. Called TA and was told there was nothing they could do for me. We need to book 10 more nights, but not through them!
Reviewed Oct. 9, 2015
Booked an apartment in LA for our family trip of a lifetime via the TA website. Found the perfect apartment in Glendale. Contacted the owner via the "Contact Owner" link on TA. No other way to contact owner. Dad lives 5 mins away and viewed the property confirming the owner details etc. Paid the money ($3,550 US), turned up with 3 x kids, Mom & Dad, suitcases etc. Apartment owner never heard of us.... Spent the next 2 weeks in a grotty hotel. TA totally 'washed their hands'... Book Safe. Their fraud section not interested. Never, EVER again will I book anything through this website or recommend. Bunch of money grabbing crooks with the worst customer service EVER!
Reviewed Oct. 8, 2015
I booked a guest with... them. They say and have record that I was paid and the Funds never came. They are impossible TO CONTACT... $1455. A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT needs to be filed for their negligence.
Reviewed Sept. 23, 2015
Terrible experience - They refuse to remove a vindictive review from a caller looking for a reservation at a 4 star hotel I manage. This is harmful to our business and defamatory to our staff and business. This review is full of lies and they continue to publish it disregarding our pleas to remove this review that is so far removed from reality.
When I inquired as a business customer they responded with a rude unhelpful tone and passed me on to an email address. After several attempts to have them stop publishing these lies they claim (in an email… not in person) hiding behind the call center in India and after their hidden investigation claimed even if the guest called and was unable to make a reservation they would still publish the false accusations posted by this disgruntled traveler. Terrible customer service and I feel they are liable for posting defamatory claims from a troll that hides behind his computer and his phone.
Reviewed Sept. 14, 2015
I must agree with all the other post/complaints about TripAdvisor. I have written reviews for them for years, however the last one on the Switzerland Inn in North Carolina put an end to that. I explained how this establishment is difficult to change reservations and you have to pay up front. I rated them a one star which caused me to get a phone call and threatening email from the owner. He demanded I remove the review and would take legal actions if I didn't. I said "no" and the following day I get an email from TripAdvisor saying they have removed the review. I tried to find a way to contact them to forward the email I received and like the other post I found no way to do so. However, it appears that is not an issue for the owner of the Switzerland Inn. I have deleted my TA account and will not use them again.
Reviewed Sept. 11, 2015
I went to TripAdvisor website to obtain a quote to travel domestically within China. For 4 China domestic flights from Guangzhou to Shanghai, Shanghai to Chengdu, Chengdu to Kunming, Kunming to Changsha. It quoted me $832 USD for 2 travelers for $832. When I click to book, it routed me to Priceline for $4,082 USD!!! Bait and switch??
When I called TripAdvisor today, customer service did an sample test with me together but for one flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai. Trip quoted was $85. Then when we click book, it routed us to C-trip. Yes it was $85 but it is for single person! So it took $85 x 2 plus tax which total okay to their calculation. But for consumer like me, it quoted for 2 traveler was what I put in as filter and Trip listed above that it is for 2 traveler, but as you can see, it is ONLY FOR ONE, then they take that times 2 is your final price. The problem is Trip's quote did not indicated the price is per person. Instead, it is contradictory to even said for 2 travelers which was misleading and confusing and contradictory.
The way I received it is plain deceptive and misleading advertisement. Waste of consumer's time. Downright Bait and Switch. For the entire 4 flight quotes, the customer service did not even bother to do that with me together. She said she will report it to management to deal with Priceline. No follow up with me, and she just left me hanging there without an answer and unsatisfactory for her so called customer friendly service.
Reviewed Sept. 9, 2015
I own a restaurant and a 4 Star hotel! I have specific policies concerning cancellations that allow you to cancel 48 hours prior to the 3:00 pm check in time without penalty! The cancellation must be done by email which has a date and time, and we will answer ASAP! A lady tried to cancel by phone and was advised to use the email! She didn't read the cancellation section of our policies and sent it to a wrong email! She never showed up for her reservation and was charged! She reviewed us on TripAdvisor as one star! She made the mistake with the email and did not follow the policy, but we got the one star and TripAdvisor agreed! What a joke TripAdvisor is! I doubt they have the mentality to make an honest and sincere judgment! No wonder they are getting constantly sued!
Reviewed Sept. 4, 2015
I posted a review that a hotel they condone, for bookings, etc., is actually a well-known brothel. You can Google the hotel and it's openly advertising the prostitution (legal in Costa Rica). The reviews were all from men stating "what a wonderful time they had there". I was very clear that we went in to actually verify this, and yes, the women came up to everyone for "services" (as I mentioned, its legal there). TripAdvisor said: General discussion that does not describe a substantial experience or that does not contain enough relevant information about the establishment will not be posted.
Reviewed Sept. 3, 2015
THEY ASK FOR REVIEWS AND REJECT THEM. Negative or positive reviews for some reason they reject them. Nothing profane, no slander just if the place was good or bad. What a joke. They won't print positive one or negative.
Reviewed Aug. 28, 2015
I have been posting on TA for the past 10 years with no problems; positive and negative. Recently I posted a positive review for one of the water parks I visited in summer. I had used TA to research this water park and there were some really negative reviews -- about the food. I almost had decided to not go to this place based on the negative reviews. I did not want this to happen to others that do the same thing as me. I am not contesting these negative reviews, but was merely pointing out that the person(s) that wrote the negative reviews might not have realized that there were 2 restaurants in the park -- one serving fried food, but the other serving really good food.
TA had a problem with this because I was telling all that what TA was saying in some of the reviews was not particularly true. My review was at that point in time. The negative reviews were a couple of months before mine. I received a generic email from TA saying that my review did not comply with their rules, "so please rewrite it." I tried contacting them but there does not exist a way to contact them to ask what was wrong with the review. I refuse to rewrite my review which is very accurate. I plan on cancelling my account with this site as some say TA is misusing their market clout.
Reviewed Aug. 27, 2015
Had an incredibly horrible experience with TripAdvisor when trying to get my business listed. First, the instructions on the site are NOT complete nor accurate. My business is a Bed and Breakfast. According to their site to get listed, you should click on the Bed & Breakfast tab. THERE IS NO SUCH TAB. Seriously. Contacting TripAdvisor directly is almost impossible by design. After what felt like an eternity of searching, I managed to send an email to their Tech Support team, Vernie from Tech Support. After an initial conversation about merging accounts, I asked a simple question on how to register my business as a B & B.
This is where it goes downhill. The idiot rep didn't even bother reading my mail about there not being a Bed and Breakfast tab, and subsequent responses were a mixture of stupidity, ignorance and rudeness. Refused to escalate to his or her manager, and subsequently closed the ticket without getting my approval, or even notifying me. YOU HAVE A CUSTOMER HERE WHO IS WILLING TO PAY TO GET LISTED, YOU IDIOTS. And instead you pissed him off. Trying to find even the number to their office here in Singapore is a major pain. Irresponsible, lazy, and rude. Three words I would use to describe TripAdvisor staff. Do not work with them if you can help it.
Reviewed Aug. 21, 2015
We recently went to an upscale restaurant The North Pond in Chicago to celebrate a birthday and had a bad experience. Within a few days I posted a one star review on Trip Advisor, primarily recounting the rude and aloof demeanor of the manager of this restaurant when we asked to be seated at a table with a view, as had been requested when we made the reservation. This is important for those of us who make reservations, especially during weekdays, and are spending well over $130+ per person for special family celebrations. We were instead seated in a dark corner, with view of the kitchen and staff, behind the manager podium, even though there were other tables where we wanted to sit available the entire evening.
Trip Advisor suggested that my review was a fake and rejected it. I resubmitted again, with more detail and specific information, and they rejected it again. This I find very offensive. In addition, my complaint was something that has happened with other diners of this restaurant as well. I had been a member of TA for many years. Due this issue, and the fact that it is impossible to actually contact Trip Advisor to resolve this problem, I have closed my account. I recommend others do the same. It is ironic that TA would suggest that a legitimate review is a fake when there is absolutely transparency regarding their company. Trip Advisor does not provide any recourse or feedback for those reviews that they accuse of being fakes. This is unacceptable and unethical, and certain, Trip Advisor cannot be relied upon to provide genuine reviews.
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2015
I was surprised to receive an email from TripAdvisor announcing us that we were under investigation for presumably doctoring our reviews! Wow!! We went from No. 1 to Number 17 the next day. That was a very quick investigation, to say the least! We were distraught. We repeatedly asked for proof and details so that we could act on this matter. TripAdvisor refused to provide us with the necessary proof (IP numbers, reviews concerned, etc). We are unable to further our own investigation in this matter since we are not aware of which are the incriminating reviews. In so doing, their refusal to provide us with the necessary proof, was and is damaging our reputation and our image. We have tried to speak to someone at TA, but one cannot have any contact with the people at TA. How opaque is that?
We have spent already too much time trying to get to the bottom of this by interviewing our staff and all reasonable means on our part have been taken to try to address this issue. But their insistence in maintaining their accusations without providing us with proof and our repeated emails to them have not produce any results. Our restaurant opened last year in the small island of Korcula in Croatia. Within 6 weeks we were No. 1 in the whole island. A position we held until this year (2015) when we became No. 2 on the island (Mimi's Bistro at Tara's Lodge).
We currently have 45 reviews: 37 excellent, 4 very good and 4 average. Out of the 4 average, 1 is bogus and done by a competitor. I have personally answered all the average reviews (even the bogus one) and repeatedly emailed TA to let them know that the one done by a user called "Zure" was bogus (the person comes from Zagreb where there are 560 restaurant, yet he has only reviewed 4 restaurants in Korcula). To no avail. They have maintained it. And now, the declassification!
How could they possible think that a restaurant with the number of excellent reviews (coming from all over the world) could be doctoring their reviews. Worse even, how could they possibly do such an arbitrary declassification? It only shows that TripAdvisor is severely abusing its position in the marketplace, without any consideration for the professionals whom they depend on to make their business. TripAdvisor needs to change their attitude and must become transparent.
Reviewed Aug. 13, 2015
I own a restaurant for over 12 years and have always done very well on the TripAdvisor.com ranking. Since I complained to them 2 weeks ago that an ex-employee of mine, who started a similar business a few houses down, was leaving reviews of 1 star for my place and 5 stars for his place (he obviously used a different name), they left his ones up there and to top it of, they have DELETED 17 of my positive reviews!!! All written by clients who were happy with our food and service, randomly! I will now face a huge drop in the ranking and they just don't care one little bit. It's a disgrace. They say they are honest and trustworthy, what a joke. Thanks Tripadvisor, for ruining my hard work.
Reviewed Aug. 10, 2015
We stayed for a week in this hotel. The hotel was sparkling clean. The staff were very friendly. They did their job well. The breakfast was delicious with loads to choose from. The dinners were nice but no chips! Would you believe the chef made them for us to order? They were delicious. The beach/shops/restaurants were 5 minutes walk from the hotel. I would definitely go back again.
Reviewed Aug. 9, 2015
Beware of TripAdvisor!! I have cancelled my account and so my partner, and I will encourage anyone to do the same. Never EVER give them your credit card details!!! I was lucky to be wise enough not to give them my credit card details. I opened a business account. Told it was free. When trying to manage my site they gave me two options to verify my ID, through my Facebook account and the other by giving them my credit card details. I chose the Facebook option, but it never worked. I wrote to them, they said it was resolved. Well it wasn't, so wrote again.
They replied that since my email address on Facebook didn't match the one on TA it would not work. I changed my email address on FB to match. Didn't work. Wrote to them again. They said that since my FB page is new, it wouldn't work, and repeatedly ask that I use the credit card option. I have had the FB page for years. They wouldn't give me another option to verify my ID. They really wanted my credit card details. Here I became suspicious. It is obvious to me now that they purposely made the FB option not to work so I will have to give them my credit card details to have my business listing managed.
Now after reading many of the over 200 complaints on this site, it is obvious to me that this well-known site called TripAdvisor is run by scammers. I have no doubt now, that had I given them my credit card details, they would have charged me money in one way or another without my permission. Read carefully all the bad feedback on this site (Consumer Affairs) and see for yourself. My advice again is cancel your account, and encourage others to do the same!! I do not need TA in order to run my business successfully. TA can do more harm to your business than good. Be safe.
Reviewed Aug. 8, 2015
So I booked a hotel on TripAdvisor for a trip to NYC 3 night stay. At checkout, my entire total came down to 591$ at checkout. Guess what, they charged my credit card 691$. When I called to complain, they told me that is the amount of the booking. I got charged more than what the actual checkout price was. If anyone has any sense, stay away!!! From this website. When I tried to dispute it by calling customers service, this woman had the nerve to tell me to produce a screen shot of my total on the website because they had other customers complain. So they know exactly what they are doing. If you want to give away your hard earned money, it's your choice.
Reviewed Aug. 5, 2015
I had a horrible thing happen to me at a motel. It was covered in bedbugs and we had to leave at 3 am to find another hotel. I instantly wanted people to know what happened so they didn't have to deal with what I had to, and so to TripAdvisor I went. They had no problem posting all of my positive reviews on the other hotels I was at, but when it came to giving a bad one, it suddenly was deleted as if it never existed after pending for days. I figured it was my wording, maybe I had violated the terms and conditions, so I wrote another review on the same place, watching what I said very carefully. Multiple days in pending status and this one was removed as well. I'm assuming they are getting kickbacks to delete bad reviews from some places, then advertising as otherwise, but this is not acceptable at all, people should know if a place has a horrible reputation rather than finding out after they pay to stay.
Reviewed Aug. 2, 2015
TripAdvisor advertised "up to 30% off regular rates" if I booked through them for a trip to State College PA. When I got to the hotel, they said my reservation had been made with getaroom.com And that they had not heard of that site. Neither did I and I explained I used TripAdvisor. I then found out my 30% discount was actually 60.00 MORE than the rate the hotel charges if you just book through them. No answer from TripAdvisor and there isn't even way to contact getaroom.com. This is a scam operation. I am afraid my credit card was compromised through getaroom.com as well. I need to check with the bank tomorrow morning. NEVER book through TripAdivsor! You are taken to shady sites without warning.
Reviewed July 30, 2015
I have tried many times to leave reviews for hotels that were bad. They never get posted. One in the U.K. I have reported 10 times. Review never appears. Also TA is impossible to communicate with. Used to be good, now you cannot rely on it at all. I am going to stop reviewing. All reviewers are unpaid servants to TA. A DISGRACE.
Reviewed July 27, 2015
I posted a review about a terrible experience I had at a Mexican resort, El Dorado Royale. The manager at the resort actually emailed me to take down my review. The resort was so dishonest. They lied about everything and we were sold on a resort that had a nice beach, but when you get there the beach is disgusting. I sent this information to Content Protection and instead of assisting me they took down my review. I think that they are not allowing the 1 star reviews to be posted for this hotel. I think there must be a conspiracy because I have tried numerous times to revise my review to get it posted to no avail. Has anyone else encountered this problem?
Reviewed July 27, 2015
I read an article from 'The Guardian' online which said that TripAdvisor was editing reviews to delete 'feminist' content (the traveler was offended to observe a restaurant's female waitstaff being fondled and insulted by male colleagues). It appears that in over-editing contributions, TripAdvisor is overdoing the 'political correctness' thing. In my experience, TripAdvisor's value for travel-related reviews is diminished because they certainly do excessively edit and restrict contributors from fully expressing themselves.
For instance, I have been trying to post a review of a Los Angeles hotel, which happens to be a branch of a large and famous hotel chain. When I lodged there, I found the staff did not speak English and did not react to my needs in a manner to which I am accustomed when I travel in my own country. All the staff were Asians and the unhelpful reactions I got when I asked for simple things (a bathtub drain plug, a working remote for the room TV) were consistent with the kind of indifference I too often have experienced when traveling in Asian countries. TripAdvisor deliberately omitted my comments about the staff all being Asians and not speaking serviceable English. This will make my review less helpful to other travelers... and, in that case, why operate a site like TripAdvisor at all?
Reviewed July 26, 2015
I wanted to rate FLIPKEY "0" but this site won't let me. I booked a wonderful Studio Apt. in Paris through FlipKey. The agreed upon rent with a booking fee of 50 Euros (that I didn't know about until after transaction), came to 565 Euros. At the exchange rate on July 11/12 the total USD transaction should have been $611 to $617 USD. I was billed $633. If during exchange rate they overbill $16 - $22 per transaction they have a major fraud going on. I am sure I am not the only one. There is no itemized statement showing the actual exchange. EVERYONE WHO IS NOT ON EUROS PLEASE CHECK THE EXCHANGE RATE ON THE DAY OF YOUR TRANSACTION! I DON'T THINK I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO IS HAVING THIS PROBLEM.
It took me over 20 minutes to find a number to call for FlipKey. When I called the number I got a recording that sounded as if it was made in someone's private residence while on speaker phone -- echoes and all. I was on hold for 20 minutes. The call was answered by a young lady in India. The customer service representative would not forward me to a supervisor nor tell me how I can contact the company. There is no way to speak to the corporate owner who is in Boston, Massachusetts, USA!
Finally, she wanted me to send a "screen shot" of my Credit Card or Bank Statement showing the charge. Why would I send my personal banking information to someone I don't know, showing important personal information? This violates all common sense. Not to mention, they are the ones who processed the charges and they are the ones that should have all the records they need to process a refund. I think that the US Government should look into how FlipKey by TripAdvisor does business. This company should be audited! I will never book through any of TripAdvisor's sites again. BEWARE, YOU WILL NOT GET ANY CUSTOMER SERVICE FROM THEM. Just to let the rest of you know, the owners of these rentals are not to blame -- It is the corporation making money off of them and the renters.
Reviewed July 26, 2015
I should have looked at Consumer Affairs before ever believing anything written in TripAdvisor. They only exist to get money; and NOT a forum for objective consumer reviews. A few years ago, my husband and I, based on the positive reviews on TripAdvisor, hired a car from Go Car with GPS Guided Tour in San Francisco. We had an AWFUL time. Go Car's cars kept breaking down and kept leaving you stranded, and the GPS never worked.
When I wrote my scathing review, TripAdvisor had the audacity to tell me that my review won't be posted as they did not review car rental huh?? When I wrote back that that was ridiculous as it was based on their positive reviews that we even rented one!! Instead of responding, they took out the original positive reviews, but Go Car had at least a year of people thinking they are wonderful. So I decided to look again to see if Go Car is again getting positive reviews. And lo and behold, AGAIN, I see that positive reviews regarding Go Car are on TripAdvisor's website. I can only surmise that TripAdvisor is NOT objective but are paid by vendors to push their services, and TripAdvisor is NOT to be trusted.
Reviewed July 26, 2015
I was very disappointed in a hotel that was highly recommended by TripAdvisor. I do not normally bother to take the time to lodge a complaint, but this was egregious. I took a picture of the problem and I posted a review to tripadvisor. They never published the negative review or the picture. So, I assume that tripadvisor is taking some kind of kickback for not publishing all the reviews. So, they are not as "truthful" as they advertise themselves and I think this needs to be exposed. People rely on tripadvisor and they are proving themselves to be less than what they advertise. I think they should be exposed for their fraudulent advertising.
Reviewed July 22, 2015
My family and I booked and stayed at LomaniWai Private Resort Villa Fiji in May this year. We were lead to believe it was a private villa. In fact it was a homestay with the owners living on the 1st floor. The owner bullied and harassed us from the first evening. Every time we would leave the villa he would let himself in. We had a smartphone damaged by water leaking into the the villa and several items of brand name clothing go 'missing'. We didn't realise the clothing was missing until we arrived back in Australia but did notify the owner of the damage to the phone when we were there. He assured me that he would pay for the damage as I didn't have any travel insurance.
On arriving back to Australia and obtaining a quote for the repair of the phone the owner would not answer emails and when I phoned him he advised that he never said he would pay for the repair. When I submitted a review to TripAdvisor he responded that I tried to blackmail him. On reading the terms and conditions of the use of reviews for TripAdvisor it states that you can't try and blackmail someone. So as he used the word blackmail my true and correct review was removed from TripAdvisor. The owner knows how to work the system. I emailed TripAdvisor and they told me that the removal would have been automated. I will not trust TripAdvisor again. I feel for the people who will encounter the owner of LomaniWai Private Resort Villa in Fiji as I don't believe any of the current reviews on TripAdvisor for the property.
Reviewed July 20, 2015
Twice in a row recently we almost got sucked into losing over $8,000.00 following TripAdvisor where TripAdvisor gives them 5 * rating: Road Runner Travel (Turkeytours.net and roadrunnertravels.net). I received info from one Elif on a 8 day Turkey Tour. Stay in all 4* hotels with breakfast and all travel (flights within Turkey from Istanbul to Cappadocia to Izmir to Pamukkale to IST) included. I tried calling his number, he never picks up! I emailed asking him for travel insurance, no reply. I called many times, no answer.
Second experience was with Medhills Travel. Similar experiences. Here's what happened with Medhills Travel: Few months ago, I got trapped with a scammer posing as a Microsoft Support. They charged me $150 to speed up my computer. Not only did they NOT fix my computer, but they charged many other expensive merchandise on my credit card and had to go through aggravation to get those charges cancelled and change my credit card!
I programmed their number 1-661-748-0240 in my cell phone. Now what does that have to do with Medhills Travel? I got a little suspicious when I saw 178 5* reviews and 4 4* reviews. No complaints! So I believed TripAdvisor and tried to book a trip through Medhills Travel. I received a call back from Cenan! But my cellphone caller id showed "Microsoft Scammer"!!! I did not pick up thinking that it was the scammer trying to call me. Then he called my wife's phone and spoke with her. My wife had some questions later so she called Cenan. The recording clearly says... This number has been reported for fraudulent activities!! She then asked me to call that number (1-661-748-0240). When I dialed Cenan's number, guess what, I already had that number programmed in it… as "MICROSOFT SCAMMER". So basically this is another one of those scammers.
Reviewed July 18, 2015
Shortly after writing a review, I realized I had misidentified a landmark in the area I had reviewed. Tripadivsor does not have a way for the original writer of a review to edit it. Also, although they have a choice that says "Contact us" on almost every page of their site, clicking on that does not actually give a person a way to contact them.
Reviewed July 17, 2015
Booked what I thought was a cabin for a week, had to pay a large deposit via Trip Advisor's sister company. Flip Keys policy is if you cancel right away, as I did, you lose your deposit and you have to pay the rest of the fees within a few days, in my case it was almost 3 weeks. The booking was advertised as a cabin when in fact it was a second story suite in a private home. Both my wife and I are in or close to our 80s and cannot handle that many stairs on a continual basis because of health reasons. Got in touch with Trip Advisor and was assured we would not be charged on our MC. Got my statement yesterday and found out they had charged $283+ to my card. Now fighting to get that deposit back. Won't use TA again.
Reviewed July 15, 2015
I tried to rent a house through this site. I clicked on contact owner and got a mail from a fake owner. The scammer must have infiltrated Flipkey or is Inside FlipKey. I received FlipKey documents and formula and a FlipKey like banking address. I lost $7200 dollars because a scammer contacted me after my visit on this site and he used all logo and documents of FlipKey. FlipKey claimed that their site is ultra safe and did nothing for me. I've lodged three complaints against them. Never trust this site. It is unsafe and FlipKey will do nothing for you (if you managed to reach them).
Reviewed July 15, 2015
I wrote a negative review about a hotel I stayed in. When I checked it said my name and 4 star review with positive feedback that I didn't write. What's going on? Now I know I can't trust this Trip Advisor anymore. When I check places to go, they change my negative feedback and turned into a positive one.
Reviewed July 8, 2015
Purchased a room in a town close to ours through TripAdvisor for the hot tub in room. When confirmation came through I had been given 2 rooms so I called and cancelled one. Went to the motel and was informed that they didn't have any Jacuzzi rooms. They were all broke, so I called TripAdvisor. After talking with them, they said that I would receive 32$ back for my inconvenience. So long story short, I have not received a dime in return of the 300$ that is owed to me. This is my first and last time I will use these jokers!!!
Reviewed July 8, 2015
We came to this hotel on the 22nd June. The landlord came to my mum hotel room. He was banging on her door. He was verbal abuse to my mum on the 23nd of June. On the 26 June the landlord verbal abuse me outside when they there was people. I would like someone to ring me I can explain to you. I booked with Gee Vee to go back to black pool to a different hotel. Gee Vee believed them at hotel then Gee Vee said to me "we would like you to cancel." My holiday for Christmas there didn't want me to go with Gee Vee anymore. She made that quit plain to me. Gee Vee is bang out of order saying that to me. End of the day me and my husband and my mum haven't done any.
Reviewed July 8, 2015
I booked a condo 6-1/2 months in advance in Mexico through flipkey, a subsidiary of TripAdvisor. They held my money hostage for 24 hours to allow the owner time to consider the booking and yet when I had to cancel my reservation for medical reasons only 28 minutes later I lost $1700 (that's 60 dollars a minute) because neither the condo owner nor flipkey felt their business reputation mattered more than stealing my money. Flipkey kept $294 for their reservation fee. Their competitor in the area, Sayulitalife, only charges $100 as long as you cancel with-in 90 days. Do yourself a favor and shop around for an honest rental service. Also, avoid doing business with the owner of "2 bdrm surf view condo" in Sayulita Mexico.
Flipkey does not represent you the customer. Their only concern is for themselves and the rental owners. Look at how many negative reviews they receive and take heed. If the owner deserves 24 hours to consider my offer, shouldn't I the customer deserve the same consideration? I pleaded with both the owner and flipkey to show some compassion to no avail. The owner has 6-1/2 months to find another renter and still gets to keep my money. I offered him to settle for a reasonable fee but his greed knows no end. Flipkey was worthless in offering me any protection and now I'm out $1700 and didn't even step foot in the condo. Shame on you flipkey!!
Reviewed July 7, 2015
I own a small hotel in central Greece mainland and I accidentally found out yesterday that my hotel is listed on TripAdvisor's website since 2009. The problem is that nobody ever asked FOR MY PERMISSION. They never even bothered to notice me. Maybe TripAdvisor is really popular in the US, but here in Greece only a few people know about it or use it. Anyway, after going through their website I also found out that there wasn't an email available in order to contact them (which is really weird if you consider the size of this company) and I had to call them in the US in the middle of the night, due to the time difference, asking for an explanation.
The reasons they gave me on the phone were really poor. They said that my hotel was listed on their website because I once worked with Expedia, which belongs to the same company with TripAdvisor, and because of that my hotel is still listed on their site, despite the fact that I stopped working with Expedia 6 years ago. I want to make clear again that nobody told me that I would be listed on TripAdvisor until the day I die only because I worked with Expedia for one year, 6 years ago. As I got really angry on the phone, their employee agreed to email me instructions on how to remove my property from their website.
Following the instructions, I got to a point that I received an automated message telling me that the ONLY possibility for my hotel to be removed from their website is when it stops its legal operation and that they'll check the hotel's official website, its Facebook profile and so on in order to verify that my hotel does not operate anymore. I couldn't believe my eyes...
In other words they made clear to me that I CANNOT DECIDE OVER MY OWN BUSINESS, that I cannot decide whether I want to list MY OWN BUSINESS on their website or not. After sending them an email in reply to the "removal" instructions I received this: Your request to TripAdvisor Support (**) has been updated with the comments below. To add additional comments, please reply to this email. Rochelle ** (TripAdvisor Support).
Jul 7, 4:41 PM. "Hello Efi, Thank you for contacting TripAdvisor. TripAdvisor is a travel research website and it is our goal to have a comprehensive list of resources for travelers. Once a business is listed on our site we do not remove that listing while that business is still operating. Thanks for being a part of TripAdvisor community! Kind regards," Chelle (TripAdvisor Support) These things are unbelievable. THESE THINGS DO NOT HAPPEN EVEN IN NORTH KOREA.
Reviewed July 7, 2015
Just FYI. If you are using TripAdvisor to review hotels, before you book with TripAdvisor, please look at the hotel's website first. I have found that frequently TripAdvisor's prices are 5 to 15% higher than if you book directly thru the hotel. That is probably why TripAdvisor is now running commercials encouraging people to book through them. Just want everybody to know.
Reviewed July 6, 2015
In an effort to remove former inquiries about vacation properties causing redundant email, I was first referred to their Help Forum. Useless. Subsequent inquiry landed somewhere in Asia I believe. Totally useless to the point of being comedic... After several years of satisfactory experiences, disappointing. I no longer use TA and cannot recommend it. There are numerous other sources for travel assistance and info.
Reviewed July 2, 2015
I booked a hotel through TripAdvisor. The hotel accepted my booking. I got a confirmation from the hotel and my credit card was charged. The day before my trip, I noticed the hotel had refunded the charge so I called. They said it was canceled and they couldn't tell me why. I never received a cancellation email or call. I reached out to TripAdvisor and they said they do not handle issues after booking. So, I ended up spending 3 times more for a different hotel at the last minute to avoid canceling my whole vacation. NEVER AGAIN!
Reviewed July 1, 2015
I'm reviewing certain experiences and locations and after they sit in pending lots of days, the review vanish. Now that's a hell of a respect. Wanted to delete the tripadvisor account and when I hit the close the account button nothing happens! How can I delete my tripadvisor account? Because from settings it's not possible, nothing happens when I click on close account!
Reviewed July 1, 2015
Vacationed a week at a beautiful area in the Black Hills. The area had all kinds of wildlife and beautiful scenery from dusk to dawn. A large pond loaded with large rainbow trout was a fun thing to fish for and we had our own kitchen facilities to cook the trout and our meals. There was a spacious deck with barbecue facilities we had access to. This is in the heart of the Black Hills where you can rent ATV'S, Snowmobiles, hike, fish, ski, hunt, visit Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, enjoy the badlands and pick your own fruit from apple trees. This setting in the same location where General Custer camped in August of 1874. The owners were helpful in helping us plan our itinerary for the surrounding area. We have reservations to return next June. An incredible vacation and perfect hosts.
Reviewed July 1, 2015
So I booked a hotel room same day on TripAdvisor. I booked at 7AM and didn't check in to my hotel until after 9PM, so there was plenty of time to fax (yes they fax reservation confirmations) the reservation to the hotel. I got to the hotel, they had no reservation for me, and not only that they didn't have any rooms available. The hotel front desk manager helped me get into another hotel, but I had to call TripAdvisor 4 times and talked to 7 different people before they could simply fax my reservation to a hotel a few miles away, and I had to keep forcing the issue to get it done. They call the hotel my reservation was at three times to confirm that there wasn't the rooms available. I will never book with them again. They wouldn't even offer me a discount for all my trouble or to reimburse me my funds because they screwed up. Plus they kept asking me for different numbers I didn't have. All I had was my confirmation number.
Reviewed June 30, 2015
I am trying to cancel a reservation and I've called their contact number. After 5+ minutes of getting no real information in their phone tree I stumbled across an option that told me I was "...first in queue and to please hold and a customer service representative would be right with me." After holding for 10+ minutes no one picked up and I finally had to hang up. This business seems to be great at taking money but anything else just doesn't exist!
Reviewed June 29, 2015
I made a reservation for 4 people in Feb of 2015 to stay at a vacation rental in Certaldo, Italy. It was for 3 months in advance of our vacation which was to begin on 5/12/15. We were already in Italy at another rental that we booked through Airbnb, when I received an email on 5/7 from the host, saying that they had to cancel our reservation because they hadn't received emails from us (which had been sent). The hosts were wonderful as far as previous communications and I do not blame them.
I DO blame a glitch in the TripAdvisor website because I was also not receiving emails from the host either. I was very depressed about the cancellation and had to find a suitable accommodation in only 6 days. I did receive a full reimbursement, which the host helped me to secure, but I lost an extra $200 on the new accommodation (mostly because of the short notice). I decided right there that I would never use TripAdvisor again.
I have used Airbnb about 10 times and I highly recommend them. They are great at encouraging reviews by prompting you to do so with emails (more than once). And if there is a problem with an accommodation or reservation, you cannot only contact them through a live person on the phone, but they compensate you monetarily for the inconvenience. I was going to contact TripAdvisor with my complaint to see if they would compensate me at all but now that I have read about their extremely poor customer service, I won't even waste my time.
Apparently, TripAdvisor's reviews are not worth much. So although I have used them extensively for research of things to do and restaurants, I now understand that their "review" process is quite flawed. And not only will not ever use them for making an accommodation reservation, but will compare their "good reviews" for restaurants, with other sites.
Reviewed June 29, 2015
I made contact with someone that has an open schedule. He doesn't update to show it's been taken and never does so he doesn't get charged from tripadvisor. This was a poor user experience as he isn't the only one. There was no good contact to find anywhere on tripadvisor suitable for a consumer alert or complaint. We had our heart set on it.
Reviewed June 22, 2015
I booked a villa through TripAdvisor and paid the deposit of £560. Then having been in touch with the rental owner he said we couldn't have any friends around in the day, no more than the amount staying there as it wasn't suitable. We was upfront with him as we are getting married and was going to have a few drinks with friends in the day. The day after the wedding the owner said it wasn't suitable so we said we would have to cancel. This was less than 24 hours.
When we tried to get our deposit back he said he didn't get it until we had stayed and would have to contact (TripAdvisor Holiday lettings). When contacting them they said they didn't have it and I would have to contact the owner. Over nearly 5 weeks back and forth with TripAdvisor and now they are saying it's up to me to get the money back from the owner even though the money was taken out of my account by TripAdvisor. The owner has said he can give me a credit note but he has lost money through exchange rate and other things TripAdvisor take. What's the point giving me a credit note if he cannot supply me what I want? He said it was TripAdvisor to refund me which I agree as it's them who took my money. Can anyone help?
Reviewed June 22, 2015
Many times negative reviews are removed. I have had two of my reviews removed or not listed at all. I will never use TripAdvisor any more. I don't believe what they post.
Reviewed June 21, 2015
Having booked a hotel on Trip Advisor, I found a cheaper rate elsewhere. Trip Advisor told me they aren't the booking agent and I would have to call the hotel. The hotel chain told me they were not Trip Advisor and I would have to call Trip Advisor for help. Trip Advisor is NOT the way to book a hotel. Would never do it again. I cancelled the reservation and booked the room cheaper elsewhere.
Reviewed June 20, 2015
We stayed at the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa while visiting family in the area. It was the most comfortable & relaxing experience. The rooms were large & comfortable so we could enjoy visiting with our family. The New Moon Spa was a wonderful experience! ** gives amazing massages! Everyone should try it!
Reviewed June 19, 2015
I went to pay the remaining balance for a hotel in Jamaica that I booked through TripAdvisor. The amount kept changing... every 5 minutes. I did read the panel that said that I was subject to the currency changes. However it kept changing every 5 minutes and they also charged my bank more than the amount that was said over the phone and displayed on the computer. I then called TripAdvisor's customer service line. I explained my situation and the guy hung up on me. I then called again and asked for a manager and they hung up... again. I'm very DISGUSTED with TripAdvisor terrible customer service and a terrible service that tries to steal from their customers.
Reviewed June 15, 2015
We have used FlipKey to rent multiple vacation rentals. This was at one time a very efficient way to increase bookings (however it was expensive). When TripAdvisor purchased Flipkey from the first day it was a disaster. Multiple times all of our properties have been knocked off line, with the bill paid and up to date. The only resolution was to wait for a email or call from the UK. This company has turned into another "UK SCAM COMPANY" - property owners and managers BEWARE!!!!!!!!!
The only form of CSR is a subbed out call center in the middle east. None of these CSR's have the ability or information to help. Currently we are owed a credit for two months, roughly $400 - our properties are still off line and the CSR's are requesting payment for properties that are still off line. We have been told 3 times per week for two months that we are a priority and that someone will call us within 24 to 48 hours. That has not happened so we will be moving our properties to another service as recommended in one of the other posts.
Reviewed June 8, 2015
I booked accommodation in Amsterdam through TripAdvisor/Flipkey which required my credit card. This accommodation was accepted & then cancelled the next day as the owner stated she had incorrectly listed the price. Flipkey charged my credit card & then refunded my credit card. The refund was over $100 short. They stated this was due to the exchange rate & not their issue - that they are only an 'advertising platform'. I am now out of pocket over $100 Australian dollars for a booking that was made in good faith & cancelled by the owner & Flipkey/TripAdvisor will take no responsibility.
Reviewed June 5, 2015
I wrote a factual review of our poor experience with a tour operator and the review was removed by TripAdvisor without explanation and they will not engage with me on the reasons why. I can only assume that booking fees from tour operators are more important than factual information from consumers on their website.
Reviewed June 4, 2015
I recently traveled to Glencoe Mountain Resort in Scotland, as part of a 96 mile backpacking trip along the West Highland Way. Four people in my group became seriously ill after staying/eating in Glencoe Mtn. Resort, four others we met there also became very ill with the same symptoms. I tried getting TravelAdvisor to post it in order to save other backpackers from getting sick - it's horrible at this stage of the trail with a 12.5 mile day of mountain climbing ahead of you.
However, TravelAdvisor refused to print it indicating I used "hear-say" information. So I reposted using only my own experience (which won't help people really understand how serious this is/was) and they still keep kicking it back to me indicating I should revise it. I can't state it any more clear and factual. It's so unfair to the backpackers and any travelers who stop there, not to know what they might be in for. I'll never use TravelAdvisor again for anything, they don't seem to be looking out for us "travelers" at all.
Reviewed June 4, 2015
I stayed at a hotel booked through TripAdvisor in January 2015, in San Francisco. The site photos were great - bridge views, balcony, a suite. Paid a high price. Upon arrival the hotel was clad in scaffolding. We experienced construction noise the first day and couldn't use the balcony at all. I rated it a one. TripAdvisor put the review "under review" while the person I rented from tried to offer me $100 to compensate me and argue with me. She asked if I had a PayPal account. I was insulted. My review didn't show up for two weeks. During that time a number of other reviews popped up. By the time mine was posted it was on page two - buried. Because TripAdvisor has a business relationship with the rental properties, one in which money does exchange hands, they do not appear to be neutral. In closing their trip guarantee is a joke. I asked for a refund but was never even contacted. Oh and good luck finding a phone number to call anyone.
Reviewed June 3, 2015
I used TripAdvisor to find a studio in Prague, which required payment via a credit card. It is noted on the site that the owner may or may not accept the booking. Turns out the owner has availability but now will not honor the price and wants 21% more. TripAdvisor will not allow adding a comment to the listing on their website.
Reviewed June 2, 2015
Worst customer service seen so far. No one is ready to listen. I have sent so many mails but no one is ready to reply. Worst company ever.
Reviewed June 1, 2015
Good: The breakfast was excellent. Enjoy our stay, pleasant environment. The manager was very nice, help lot, he has done good job. I would definitely stay again and especially my thanks to manager. Appreciated. See you soon.
Reviewed June 1, 2015
They advertised a vacation rental like this "well-appointed 2 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms apartment" Kissimmee, FL. They didn't advertise the reviews or the name of the place. I trusted them and booked it May 29th for a stay in July 29 to August 4, 2015. I googled and found reviews of home invasions in the complex, a murder and the most scary comments ever. Had the name been advertised first I would have NEVER booked that place. I found the review on another site. I asked for a review after I called them less than 24 hours later. I cannot travel and live somewhere for 6 days where I am danger. I sent messages in my inbox on TripAdvisor which they have conveniently removed the bad messages I sent them explaining why. I even called them and the rep told me they have to keep half of my money plus a $50 booking fee. Other travel sites like Expedia do not do this. They also do not clearly outline this before you pay as Expedia does.
I have never used them before. They told me to contact the owner even though they took my money. I did and the owner told me to contact them. They had me back and forth and neither did anything, TripAdvisor or the owner. They are both thieves. They agreed to refund me $195 of my hard earned money and keep the rest. I am upset on the grounds of insufficient information given so that a consumer can make a sensible decision. I am extremely angry about this! They should not be allowed to keep people's money like this. The TripAdvisor rep told me, "Ma'am it's policy and have a good day!"
Reviewed May 31, 2015
We traveled to Bali in April 2015. We had the misfortune to stay at extremely bad property. We are older, well traveled people with realistic expectations. The property we stayed at was not as advertised. So after cutting our trip short, we wrote an honest critical review of the property in question. I tried six variations and got the same response each time, I was not following review guidelines. I suspect fraud of the worst kind here.
Reviewed May 28, 2015
I made a reservation for a hotel booking about 3-4 weeks ahead of event. The only thing I received was an email that said yes, you made a reservation. Did not think about it again until the day before the trip and then noticed that it said 4 adults instead of 2 adults and 2 children. So I called the hotel directly and asked them to change it. They could not and referred me to TripAdvisor had to make the changes. So I called them and then they could not help me so they had me speak to another department. The man asked me if I received a confirmation email. I said yes but it does not lay out the details for you in the email, only that you made a reservation and I already knew that. He then told me that in order for me to change from 4 adults to 2 adults and 2 children, they had to cancel the reservation and rebook it and it would cost me more to change.
I am not sure how it was booked for 4 adults when I know I put 2 adults and 2 children but it is a simple mistake that should be easily changed and not have to charge me more for a website mistake. What happened to simple customer service and going the extra mile for your customers. Are we so such a big company that we can't take care of your customers that it's all about the money!! A simple mistake that was made from their website should not cost me, the customer.
Reviewed May 27, 2015
TripAdvisor lets stand reviews on its site that contain outright lies. It does not vet reviews on its site. This damages small establishments like ours (Green Cat Guest House). TA does not have a customer service dept.
Reviewed May 25, 2015
I have posted over 140 reviews on TripAdvisor and have in the past enjoyed doing so. Generally I have found TripAdvisor helpful and of course understand my interests will be different to others. However I took a trip with one recommended company and felt obliged to leave a review based on my genuine experience. It was first removed by TripAdvisor because I was not allowed to review a tour company (even though the company itself was a tour company with 119 reviews).
My second review was again removed - this time for a far more tenuous reason. I have now left 7 reviews and they have all been removed despite my efforts to be factual, to the point and discuss my experience. TripAdvisor have not since used the excuse of not being allowed to review tour companies and I believe I now have a automatic block on my name for reviewing this company. I have separate issues with the tour company, hence my obsession. I should add that only around 6/140 reviews are 1/5 * on TripAdvisor.
Reviewed May 23, 2015
This website needs to be held responsible for the unverified content they post. Most of it is lies and they do nothing about it even after they are noticed by the business owners. It is a serious flaw that is allowed to continue. It is about time for a class action suit. They make lots of money and should use some of it to compensate those they are hurting.
Reviewed May 21, 2015
Just heard TripAdvisor just released a list of the Top 10 bbq restaurants in the country. Although NC did make the list as #4 for states with the best bbq, not one restaurant made the Top 10 list. There are literally hundreds of bbq restaurants throughout the state. Makes one wonder how this list was compiled.
Reviewed May 19, 2015
We rented a private villa in Bali and had an extremely unpleasant experience. We are members of TripAdvisor and post reviews routinely. All of our reviews except for this one have been promptly published. We are unable to get TripAdvisor to publish our single negative evaluation (written with various verbiage and submitted eight times) of a property that we found did not meet the attributes they had advertised and that we had contracted for. The only response from TripAdvisor is that our reviews do not meet their guidelines but we are unable to determine which guidelines they feel we may have violated. We believe that TripAdvisor owe their public sincere and constructive reviews so that fellow travelers will be able to make informed decisions. We are very disheartened and disappointed.
Tripadvisor Company Information
- Company Name:
- Tripadvisor
- Ticker Symbol:
- 2000
- Address:
- 400 1st Ave.
- City:
- Needham
- State/Province:
- MA
- Postal Code:
- 02494
- Country:
- United States
- Website:
- www.tripadvisor.com
