Wild Parties and Damaged Dreams: Sydney Homeowner’s Booking.com Nightmare
A wild house party, attended by approximately 200 revellers, has left a south-west Sydney homeowner reeling from extensive damage, including holes punched through walls, stolen knives, and an estimated $15,000 in repairs. For Joyce Zhang, the incident has been an ongoing “nightmare,” leaving local residents feeling terrified and questioning the safety of short-stay accommodation bookings.
The chaos was captured on CCTV, showing partygoers engaging in destructive behaviour, including one individual kicking a fence before a scuffle with a resident. In a separate incident, two others were seen jumping into a neighbour’s yard, with one tragically falling into a swimming pool.
Ms. Zhang’s property, which she rents out as short-stay accommodation, was booked through online travel giant Booking.com just before Christmas. However, she claims her strict house rules were flagrantly ignored. This has led her to question the platform’s vetting processes, alleging that Booking.com failed to adequately verify the identities of guests.
The group had deceptively presented themselves as a small family holidaying from Cairns. Ms. Zhang later discovered that one of the applicants was a local resident who had booked under a false name. When she pressed a Booking.com representative about identity checks, she claims they admitted to not conducting them due to privacy concerns. Adding insult to injury, Booking.com also rejected her damage claim for $500 – the maximum she was permitted to claim – without providing a reason.
“It is a nightmare, I will never put my property on Booking.com again,” Ms. Zhang stated emphatically. Her lawyer has estimated the total financial fallout, including lost rent and damages, to be over $27,000, a sum she is now pursuing through civil action. When asked if Booking.com needed to improve its reservation and complaint handling systems, Ms. Zhang was unequivocal: “I think so, because they are a huge platform.” She plans to lodge a formal complaint with Fair Trading, and the NSW Police are currently investigating the incident.
Following contact from the ABC, Booking.com announced it had permanently blocked the guest account responsible for the damage and reversed its decision on Ms. Zhang’s claim, promising to pay the $500 and offering further support.
A Growing Tide of Complaints Against Online Travel Agents
Ms. Zhang’s experience is not an isolated incident. Fair Trading has reported a significant surge in similar complaints, issuing renewed warnings for consumers to scrutinise booking terms and conditions, particularly amidst current global travel disruptions.
Last year, Booking.com was identified as the fourth most complained-about company to Fair Trading NSW. The ABC has spoken with five customers, including Ms. Zhang, who allege that the Dutch travel giant has mishandled their concerns, adopted a rigid stance on terms and conditions, and ensnared them in a “responsibility loop” where blame is shifted to other parties.
One woman recounted being forced to sleep in her car during Canberra’s Summernats festival after her accommodation was double-booked. She claimed Booking.com was too slow to release her funds, preventing her from securing alternative lodgings. In response to ABC inquiries, Booking.com stated they offered her a relocation budget and provided a full refund for the double-booked accommodation.
NSW Fair Trading Commissioner, Natasha Mann, has urged the travel company to elevate its service standards. “We certainly, as a regulator, do not want to be the de facto complaints department for a large company like Booking.com,” Ms. Mann remarked. She advised consumers to meticulously review all terms and conditions before booking, especially given the current travel landscape, where special clauses related to geopolitical events may apply.
Booking.com is a flagship brand of one of the world’s largest online travel conglomerates. The platform boasts over 28 million global accommodation listings and facilitates bookings for flights, rental cars, and attractions. In Australia, it holds a dominant position, accounting for over 30 per cent of online travel agent bookings according to IbisWorld. Its parent company, Booking Holdings, achieved over $38 billion in revenue last year, also owning brands like Agoda, Kayak, and Priceline.
National data compiled by the ABC reveals 842 complaints lodged against Booking.com with state and territory consumer bodies over the past two years. However, this figure is likely an underestimate, as Victoria, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory do not publicly disclose individual company complaint data. NSW Fair Trading received the highest number of complaints, with 558 logged in 2024 and 2025, primarily concerning refunds, accommodation quality, cancellations, and fees. This number significantly overshadows its closest competitor, Expedia Group, which had 180 complaints in NSW during the same period.
Booking.com declined an interview request but issued a statement asserting that complaints are “extremely rare,” representing less than 1 per cent of millions of annual reservations in Australia. They highlighted their 24/7 customer service team dedicated to resolving issues.
Scams and Chatbots: The Darker Side of Online Bookings
Beyond direct service failures, Booking.com is also being implicated in scams. These can range from the platform being directly used in fraudulent activities to its mention as a lure in phishing attempts. Scamwatch data from the ACCC indicates that 515 reports mentioning Booking.com were received in 2025, an increase from 416 the previous year.
Lesley Dodd, a former frequent Booking.com user and member of its “Genius” loyalty program, shared her own distressing experience. After a serious accident in Japan left her nearly $2,000 out of pocket, she vowed never to use the platform again. “The one time that things went a bit pear shaped, they weren’t there,” Ms. Dodd lamented.
During a dream family holiday near Hiroshima, Ms. Dodd slipped and broke her leg. After a painful rescue and 17 days in hospital, she attempted to secure a refund from Booking.com for her Tokyo accommodation. Her request was denied due to a “no cancellation” clause. Despite explaining the extenuating circumstances, including her hospitalisation and surgery, Booking.com flatly refused her refund for the nearly $2,000 booking. “I should’ve received something. I’d been with them for over 80 different bookings, never had an issue with them,” she expressed.
Adding to her frustration were the responses she received, which appeared to be automated chatbots, with other correspondence going unanswered. “There was nobody to help you,” she stated. “There was just crickets and bots. Something needs to be done, they need to be held accountable.”
Interestingly, Booking.com reversed its decision regarding Ms. Dodd’s refund only after the ABC contacted them, though they maintained that refund policies are ultimately determined by accommodation partners.
Caught in the ‘Responsibility Loop’
The sheer volume of complaints has prompted NSW Fair Trading to assign a dedicated officer to handle Booking.com cases. Commissioner Natasha Mann stressed the need for well-resourced companies like Booking.com to invest more in their complaint resolution services. She noted that by the time customers reach Fair Trading, they are often at their wits’ end.
“When something goes wrong, consumers will try to seek redress through Booking.com,” Ms. Mann explained. “Booking.com will send them to the service provider, so the airline or the hotel, only then for the consumer to be sent back from the service provided to Booking.com, and so they find themselves in what we call a responsibility loop.” In approximately half of these cases, Fair Trading has successfully negotiated satisfactory outcomes for consumers.
Legal Battles and Pricing Practices
Internationally, Booking.com is facing legal challenges. Two Dutch consumer groups have initiated a class-action lawsuit, alleging that through agreements with hotels, Dutch travellers have been overcharged for 13 years, resulting in estimated losses of around 1 billion Euros. This centres on “price parity clauses,” which historically prevented hotels from offering lower prices on their own websites. Such arrangements, coupled with significant commission fees paid to Booking.com, have been criticised for potentially inflating overall accommodation costs.
Booking.com has responded by stating that hotel partners control pricing, including discounts, and that they sometimes offer additional customer discounts not funded by hotels. They also claim that commissions paid by Australian providers are among the lowest globally, averaging about 15 per cent. The company has rejected the allegations in the Dutch lawsuit as “incorrect and unjustified,” highlighting their operation within a competitive market.
Expedia, a rival, stated that its 24/7 customer service team endeavours to resolve complaints, even when consumers involve NSW Fair Trading. A spokesperson noted, “While we do our best to advocate for travellers looking to change their booking outside our travel supplier policies, when issues arise ultimately the decision to allow additional flexibility is up to the travel supplier who sets the policies for cancellations and refunds.”
The ACCC has previously investigated Booking.com and Expedia’s price parity clauses. In 2016, this led to the removal of contractual requirements that prevented Australian accommodation providers from offering lower rates to competitors or direct bookings. However, some in the accommodation sector argue that clauses preventing hotels from offering cheaper rates on their own websites remain problematic.
