Booking.com Still waiting on 434.00 refund one month later

 Contrary to what you may think, the BBB is NOT your friend. The BBB is most definitely NOT part of any governmental or law enforcement body. The BBB is NOT the business police. The BBB and all their PHONY BALONEY has absolutely ZERO POWER to enforce any business laws and ZERO POWER to force ANY business to do anything. They call themselves "the bureau" as part of the DECEPTION. The ONLY purpose of the BBB and their well known PHONY BALONEY is to SELL their FAKE ratings and their FAKE accreditations to ANY business which wants to pay the price. If a business wants an "A+" PHONY RATING from the BBB to hide behind, THEY BUY IT. Would you like to go to a doctor where their was a FAKE certificate hanging on the wall which was SOLD to that doctor? Of course not. What the BBB and their PHONY BALONEY will do is use your complaint to try to sell them their "A+" PHONY RATING. Having said that, sure I understand your problem here. There is a big lesson to be learned here and I don't want you to miss it. Nobody needs ANY of these third party reservation places! They are all SCUM. Nothing has changed in the business. You pick up the phone and you make your reservations yourself and directly. You need to be absolutely positive you are talking directly with the hotel, airline or car rental company because these third parties are so sleazy, they are running websites which look just like the OFFICIAL website of the service you want and even have people answering the phone using the name of the service. These third parties are all absolute trash and are choking on the stench of their own deception. So then, how are you going to get your money. I would write them a short, formal letter demanding your money and reference this approval you said they issued. I would also set a date by which you need to have that money in your hands (be reasonable) and mention your next step is small claims court. If no response, you carry out that threat and you do not need an attorney. Reiterating, don't ever, ever again use ANY of these third parties. They cater to inexperienced travelers and they just wait for something to go wrong so they can keep your money. Oh yes, if you paid for this with a credit card, I would put the purchase in contest TODAY! There is a time limit to contestations. They may be dragging their feet so the time limit is exceeded.