Tripadvisor customer care: an expert, practical guide (2025)

What Tripadvisor customer care does (and doesn’t)

Tripadvisor is a travel marketplace founded in 2000 and spun off as a standalone public company in 2011. As of 2024, Tripadvisor reports more than 1 billion reviews and contributions across 8+ million places to stay, eat, and visit worldwide. That size matters for support: a large share of issues relate to content (reviews, photos, listings) and to reservations that are actually fulfilled by partners, not by Tripadvisor itself.

In practice, “Tripadvisor customer care” spans three layers. First is the Traveler Help Center for account issues, site features, and community/content policies. Second are partner support channels: experiences and tours are handled by Viator (a Tripadvisor company acquired in 2014), and many restaurant reservations are handled by TheFork (also acquired in 2014) or other reservation partners. Third is business owner support via the Management Center for listing claims, review disputes, and paid products. Understanding which layer owns your issue is the fastest way to a fix.

Fastest contact paths and official portals

Tripadvisor does not publish a general phone line for travelers, and most cases are resolved online. The most efficient path is to start at the official Help Center and, when the article does not solve your question, use the “Contact us” link at the bottom of that page while signed in; that routes your request to the correct queue with your account context attached. Owners should use the Management Center, where authenticated tools (claiming a listing, reporting fraud, or responding to a review) live behind login.

• Traveler Help Center (24/7 self-service, web forms): https://support.tripadvisor.com/hc/en-us
• Owner Management Center (claim a listing, respond to reviews, billing): https://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners
• Experiences and tours (Viator) support, bookings/refunds: https://support.viator.com
• Restaurant reservations (TheFork) support: https://support.thefork.com
• Privacy policy and data rights portal link: https://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/privacy.html

If your confirmation shows a third-party provider (e.g., Booking.com, Expedia, Agoda, OpenTable) rather than Tripadvisor, contact that provider first; they control inventory, cancellations, and refunds. You can still keep Tripadvisor in the loop by submitting a short note via the Help Center with your case number so Trust & Safety can monitor patterns or listing quality.

Solving booking issues: hotels, experiences, restaurants

Hotels and flights you find on Tripadvisor are usually booked with a partner, which is named on your confirmation. The partner owns your reservation and can change dates, update guest names, or process refunds. Typical refund timelines after a confirmed cancellation are 3–10 business days, depending on your bank. If a hotel cannot find your reservation on arrival, show the provider confirmation, record locator, and payment proof; ask the front desk to call the provider’s partner desk while you call consumer support. Immediately document out-of-pocket costs (e.g., a walk to another hotel) to support a reimbursement claim.

Experiences and tours purchased via Tripadvisor are fulfilled by Viator. Your confirmation email includes a “Manage booking” link and the supplier’s contact. Most products allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start time; exceptions are clearly labeled at checkout. For same-day issues (guide no-show, weather cancellations, safety concerns), call the supplier first for the quickest resolution and follow up with Viator support to formalize refunds or credits. Once Viator issues a refund, banks typically post it within 3–7 business days.

Restaurant reservations on Tripadvisor are often powered by TheFork in Europe and by other partners (including OpenTable) in some regions. For edits or no-show disputes, use the “Modify/Cancel” link in your confirmation or in the partner’s app. If you were charged a no-show fee you believe is incorrect, contact the restaurant first with proof of attendance (timestamped receipt or photos) and then escalate through the reservation partner’s support if needed. Tripadvisor’s role is to address listing accuracy and review fairness, not to reverse partner-processed card fees directly.

Managing reviews and content disputes

For travelers, use the “Report” link beneath any review or photo to flag issues such as policy violations, impersonation, or irrelevant content. Add specific facts: dates, what’s inaccurate, and supporting documents. For straightforward policy violations, moderation is often completed within a few days; complex cases (identity verification, legal requests) can take longer. You can also edit or delete your own recent review via your profile if you need to correct an error.

For business owners, the Management Center lets you: claim your listing, submit a correction (hours, address, map pin), respond publicly to reviews, and dispute content that violates guidelines. When disputing a review, submit verifiable evidence (reservation logs, CCTV timestamps, staff rosters) and stick to facts. Tripadvisor rarely removes opinions simply because they are negative, but it will act on fake, competitor, or irrelevant reviews. Aim to post a Management Response within 72 hours; businesses that respond consistently see higher engagement and, according to multiple hospitality benchmarks, can improve review sentiment over time.

Account, payments, security, and privacy

Account access issues (password reset, locked account) should be started at the Help Center. If you sign in with Apple, Google, or Facebook, perform a password check on that identity provider as well. For suspicious activity (unexpected reviews, messages, or bookings), immediately change your password, revoke app permissions you don’t recognize, and submit a security report via the Help Center with timestamps and IP/location evidence from your email login alerts.

Payment questions fall into two buckets: charges from a partner (most hotel/flight reservations) and charges from a Tripadvisor company (commonly Viator for experiences, or owner billing for business products). Match the descriptor on your card statement to your confirmation. Never send full card numbers in tickets; redact to last four digits. For chargebacks, your bank’s investigation windows are typically 30–90 days; keep all correspondence and supplier acknowledgments.

Tripadvisor’s privacy policy (https://www.tripadvisor.com/pages/privacy.html) links to the portal for data subject rights requests (access, deletion, correction). When submitting, include the email addresses you have used on Tripadvisor/Viator/TheFork so the privacy team can locate all records. Identity verification (a standard requirement under GDPR/CCPA) can add a few days to processing time.

Escalation, timelines, and what to prepare

Well-routed cases get solved faster. A typical cadence is acknowledgment within a few hours to 2 business days, with resolution for straightforward issues in 3–7 business days. Viator same-day tour problems are often resolved in under 48 hours once the supplier confirms. Complex disputes (fraud rings, legal removals, third-party chargebacks) can take multiple weeks because evidence must be collected from several parties.

• Have ready: booking confirmations (PDF or screenshots), supplier names, dates/times, photos, and receipts; for review disputes, reservation logs and any internal incident reports; for account issues, email headers and device/IP info if available.
• Include precise identifiers: order/confirmation number, the URL of the listing or review, your Tripadvisor profile URL, and the last four digits of the card charged; note all times with time zones.
• Use one ticket per issue and avoid reopening new threads; adding to the existing case with concise updates keeps SLA clocks clean and reduces re-verification loops.

If personal safety is at risk (e.g., dangerous activity on a tour, property safety hazards), contact local emergency services first (e.g., 911 in the U.S., 112 in the EU), then notify the supplier and submit a report through the appropriate support portal. For suspected review fraud patterns or listing scams, provide multiple examples with URLs so Trust & Safety can link cases and act at scale.

How do I ask a question on Tripadvisor?

If you wish to ask a reviewer for more info about their experience, then click on the blue hyperlink underneath their review ‘ask about . Alternatively you can click on their avatar or user name which will take you to their profile page.

How do I send a message to Tripadvisor?

For North America, the email is: [email protected]. For the UK, Ireland, and the EMEA region it is: [email protected]. For Singapore and Asia Pacific it is: [email protected].

How do I contact Tripadvisor by phone?

Our principal executive offices are located at 400 1st Avenue, Needham, MA 02494, and Tripadvisor’s telephone number at that location is (781) 800-5000.

How do I make a complaint to Tripadvisor?

Travellers reporting a review

1. Locate the review in question.
2. Click the flag Problem with this review? that appears in the bottom-right corner of the review box.
3. Select the most appropriate reason from the list.
4. Click Next.
5. Leave a comment and submit.