Amanda H.
Technical issues and unfriendly policies!
Fairly many bugs in the system and exploitative terms & conditions. For tour operators: If a tour gets cancelled by the customer for whatever reason (sickness, travel restrictions due to covid 19, change of travel plans etc.) Bokun keeps all fees paid for the bookings if it is cancelled later than 1 month after the booking was placed by the customer. In total our company has lost about 10k NOK due to this policy, and we are expecting to loose quite significant amounts due to all the covid 19 related cancellations. While we refund the customer, being an understanding company that treats our guests with respect and doesn't take money for a tour that the guest cannot attend due to the world being in a crisis, bokun still takes the fees leaving the tour operator not only without income but with the burden of having to pay a fee for a booking that was cancelled!! At the same time their marketing strategy is trying to make them seem understanding and helpful to its users. Hypocrisy and lack of solidarity during an international crisis situation. After having used bokun for quite some time now we have decided to look for an alternative booking system with less technical issues, provided by a company that values its customers and treats them fairly.
Response from Bókun, a Tripadvisor companyApr 16, 2020
Hi Amanda, We are sorry to hear about your poor experience. Our support team is here to help. They will be reaching out to help clarify and rectify this situation, but please do not hesitate to reach out to [email protected]. To clarify a bit, we only charge a service fee for bookings made on your website when using our online booking engine; all bookings from other channels such as offline, from OTAs, or travel agents come at no charge from Bókun. We don’t charge a fee for cancelled direct online bookings that are cancelled within the same month as the booking. But we do not automatically refund for past fees you've already paid to Bókun for bookings made in previous months. We do hope that clarifies, and again our support team is here to help always, and especially during this difficult time. Best, The Bókun Team



