KUALA LUMPUR: A system glitch at the popular hotel booking website Booking.com is believed to have led to overbooking at a Kuala Lumpur hotel, creating chaos at its reception area.
The problem left more than 20 customers stranded as there weren't enough available rooms for them when they arrived to check into the boutique hotel in the heart of the city.
It was understood that the hotel had previously advertised a low promotional rate, which had been quickly snapped up by customers.
A hotel spokesman told the New Straits Times that a day before the incident, their staff saw a notification that their rooms had been overbooked.
This would mean that guests, despite making a reservations, would still not be able to secure rooms upon arrival.
"When we saw the overbooking alert, we sent out an email to Booking.com's customer service , informing them to cease all bookings for our hotel rooms.
"However, when our staff checked the next day, they were stunned to see that the names of the overbooked guests were still there.
"When we contacted Booking.com, they denied receiving any emails on the matter. We resent the email to them and only then was the system closed.
"We believe that a glitch triggered this chaos," said the spokesman.
This left more than 20 rooms overbooked, with guests stranded and having little choice but to find another place to stay.
The hotel spokesman said the situation was chaotic in the morning.
“The situation was bad; it was chaotic as many guests were left stranded.
"However, we explained the situation to them that it was not the hotel’s mistake but a technical glitch experienced by the booking site,” said the spokesman.
The spokesman said the whole team remained until 2am to ensure that their system remained closed until further notice.
The NST has sent a query to Booking.com for more information on the incident.
Checks by NST at 5.30pm today at the hotel suggested that the situation was under control.