Hostelworld

We want to write this as a warning to anyone who books here. We booked our stay here through HOSTELWORLD yesterday. We were presented with a price of roughly £200. After paying, we immediately (within 10 minutes) were billed for close to £1100. These were both taken directly from our bank account. It turns out that HOSTEL WORLD collects some sort of commission, and that they only displayed the commission price, and not the actual total. We were charged 2 payments, one from Hostel World, and another from Wombats.

We immediately contacted both Wombat & Hostelworld (within 15 minutes of booking). Wombat has ignored our emails and are not responding whatsoever. Hostel World basically said "Too bad, too sad. Should have read the fine print".

After reading a little bit more, it turns out that Hostel World is known for this scam. They display a price very different when you are booking, but then put the actual price very small and hidden. If you look of "HOSTEL WORLD SCAM" on google, you will find many people discussing this same issue. Please see the attached images I have included.

As for Wombat's, they are complacent in this scam as well. They have access to the same knowledge that we do in regards to Hostel World's less than ethical system, and still are registered with them. Wombat's could simply say that they are not affiliated with them, however my credit card was charged by WOMBATS own internal system within 15 minutes of making this reservation. This means that they are working directly with Hostel World.

Wombats is fully aware of this system, and yet they still continue to affiliate and pay commissions to Hostel World.

The fact that they ignore my emails is also telling of this situation, in that it must not be surprising to them.

Hostel World is a commission collecting 3rd party company that will charge your credit card immediately upon booking for amounts that don't necessarily match their advertising rates.

I guess Wombats could comment here saying it's better to book directly with them, which is probably the case, but this does not address the fact that they continue to work with a company that is specifically deceptive in it's core business model.

Again, please google search "Hostel World Scam" and be sure to read through the reviews. Also be sure to read through all of the negative before booking.

Also be aware that Wombats does not message you back in regards to this.

I have attached screenshots of the the prices that are listed on the their website, and the actual price I paid.

Beware of this.