I’ve been a Genius Level 3 member with Booking.com for years, spending well over £10,000 with them — but after this trip, I’ll never use them again. We arrived at our booked property in Athens to find it looking abandoned — smashed front door, dirt-track street, feeling unsafe. The door code didn’t work and the host never answered calls or messages. The property had good reviews when we booked, but while trying to sort this mess we checked more recent reviews and saw multiple guests reporting the same thing — it looks like a scam or severe mismanagement, and it should never still be on Booking.com’s platform. In 40°C heat, we spent almost two hours on the phone with three different Booking.com agents, all polite but unable to reach the property either. Eventually, they cancelled the booking and issued a refund plus half the refund again as Booking.com credit. Sounds generous, but same-day hotels in peak August Athens cost far more than ones booked months in advance — and the credits weren’t even in my account. When I called back (now over three hours in, still stranded), I was told credits could take 24+ hours to appear and “nothing could be done.” I asked for a manager and got “Mohammed” — without doubt the rudest, most condescending supervisor I’ve ever spoken to in any industry. Mohammed constantly interrupted, refused to take any accountability, and even snapped “Excuse me, I’m talking” mid-sentence while I calmly explained the situation. Mohammed’s attitude was belittling, dismissive, and completely unprofessional. The regular agents were leagues better than Mohammed, who either needs immediate retraining or should not be in customer service at all. After this disgraceful experience, and after spending over £10,000 with Booking.com, I will never use them again. In the end, we had to rebook somewhere ourselves at much higher cost, are still out of pocket, and the credits still haven’t appeared in our account.