Hostelworld manipulate their rating at Trustpilot while selecting only the "good voters" to review them - first they send u an e-mail requiring your review for the accommodation you booked through Hostelworld and if you vote positively Hostelworld, ,,would you reccommended Hostelworld another travellers" then you will receive another request to review Hostelworld, but if your vote negatively for the Hostelworld you've been to you will never get the chance to write your personal opinion about Hostelworld in Thrustpilot.
When booked a reservation through hostelworld.com I contacted the hostel, and asked them to cancelled my booking. This was well over 24 hours in advance, and they said they would do it. Well, they didn't do it. Instead, they cancelled the reservation so that hostelworld would refund my deposit, then charged me the full amount.
Upon my return home, I contacted hostelworld, because I had not received a refund (which should have been automatic if the hostel had cancelled the reservation). They said they would look into it, but did not get back to me. I had to contact them again two weeks later, and they said they would look into it again. After a few e-mails, they refused to refund my money, and hid behind their policy, which again, says NOTHING about modifications. For a measly $5 they could have refunded, they wasted all this time and money calling and e-mailing the hostel, and e-mailing me. They were very rude about it all, too. Heh, they might as well be called "HOSTILEworld"
I always preferred hostelbookers over hostelworld. The Accommodation link at the top of the page uses both.
Last year I used hostelworld for a hostel in Torremolinos (Spain) and the photos didn't look bad but the room was like a prison cell (and it was not very cheap). I had ten days booked there but one night was enough for me. I said I wanted to go elsewhere, and they charged me just the one night and refunded the rest so I can't really complain about them.
A review of the place I was told would be shown to the owner first, who would not have been happy had I been truthful, and to be honest she was a helpful woman, so I didn't do one.
I often prefer to pay more, and it is sometimes just a little more, and use someone like lowcostholidays, booking.com. hotelscombined, etc which is usually hotels rather than hostels, but as I said, sometimes just a little more, and obviously far better accommodation that you would get in a hostel.
Dear Cyberia,
Hostelworld.com possesses several of the most popular booking engines in the web space - Hostelbookers.com, Hostels.com, bed&breakfast and many others which makes them pretty much monopolists.
Interesting. Any suggestions for booking engines not owned by them? For those of us who would prefer not to do business with them.
My bad experience was a hostel booking in Kiev for a hostel which didn't exist. They didn't want to reply to emails till I took it to their Facebook page.
Yeah, since last year Hostelbookers is also owned by Hostelworld, so not much competition in this space, apart from competition with the even bigger guys like Booking and Expedia. I think Hostelsclub is probably about the only hostel-specific one left, but the inventory is much smaller.
Regarding Trustpilot, can't you just go directly to Trustpilot and enter a review? As manipulative as it may be, it seems pretty normal for companies to only send review invites to people who they think are likely to leave a positive one.
When booked a reservation through hostelworld.com I contacted the hostel, and asked them to cancelled my booking. This was well over 24 hours in advance, and they said they would do it. Well, they didn't do it. Instead, they cancelled the reservation so that hostelworld would refund my deposit, then charged me the full amount.
Upon my return home, I contacted hostelworld, because I had not received a refund (which should have been automatic if the hostel had cancelled the reservation)
I'm not sure of the details of your reservation, but it sounds to me like you just cancelled because you changed your mind. Hostelworld actually is pretty clear that the deposit is non-refundable and offers an option to pay extra to insure it. It's non-refundable for a reason and that reason is to provide some certainty to hostels that the guests will actually turn up! Otherwise, what's stopping people making bookings and then all cancelling a day in advance. Meanwhile the hostel may have turned away actual paying customers and be stuck with a half-empty hostel.
Now, if the property charged you for the first night despite cancelling sufficiently in advance (this policy varies by hostel, so 24 hours may or may not be enough), then there is an issue with the hostel there that you should follow up.
Regarding Trustpilot, can't you just go directly to Trustpilot and enter a review? As manipulative as it may be, it seems pretty normal for companies to only send review invites to people who they think are likely to leave a positive one.
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Thank you for your email.
We would very much like to see the email invitation Hostelworld sent to you, so that we have proper documentation to investigate the company even further. Off course we do not allow companies to "cherry pick" their customers, so that only positive customers are invited to leave feedback on Trustpilot.
We therefor hope that you could help us, and have the possibility to send us the review invitation sent from Hostelworld. When we receive this from you, we will investigate the matter even further.
Thank you in advance.
Should you need to update or write additional comments regarding this request, please reply to this e-mail without changing the subject.
Best regards
Trustpilot Support
Please remember that you can review Trustpilot here -> http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/evaluate/www.trustpilot.co.uk
Thank you for helping us improve the quality of the reviews on Trustpilot. We really appreciate your help!
Although I am unable to comment on the specific investigation, I can assure you, that we will look into hostelworld.com. If we find any reason to take action, we will do so.
Thank you again for using Trustpilot and for actively helping us keep the site updated.
If you have any further questions, comments or information regarding this please let me know.
Should you need to update or write additional comments regarding this request, please reply to this e-mail without changing the subject.
Best regards
Trustpilot Support
Please remember that you can review Trustpilot here -> http://www.trustpilot.co.uk/evaluate/www.trustpilot.co.uk
You could always do it the "old fashioned" way, and book direct with the hostel. I tend to use such search engines to see the choice and likely cost, and then book direct.
you have to figure most all ratings are manipulated, its the internet.
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