Your logic is you got tails once allegedly and all flips will be tails... So far people have booked them over a hundred times in this thread alone without issues, it's clearly not a 50:50 of whether you'll be scammed.
While third party has some issues the well known sites of booking (Agoda) and Expedia are not scams, scammers may try and use them which is different, but the companies are legitimate. If they were stealing everyone's money and not making bookings it'd be a lot more well known and there'd be a lot more failures.
I've made close to 1000 bookings through them with not a single issue. Odds are much more in your favour than against
My point is that there should be no odds. They should simply provide you with the product that you pay for. In the event that their product results in a failure to deliver they should fix it.
Unfortunately you have odds with most financial transactions. Booking directly with the hotel, they are able to cancel on you because they overbooked. Granted in that situation you should be getting your money back. But you should be getting your money back from Agoda as well. It should be pretty easy to prove that you didn't cancel.
Stupid question you definitely went to the right hotel? When we went to Nice france (booked elsewhere) we went to mercure Hotel on maps it brought us a 10 minutes walk from the train stop then the same thing no reservation didn't hear of us. Only when I went into my emails and showed the guy at check-in he directed us to the other mercure that was 2 min walk from the stop we got off but the other way. It was 11pm, and we were tired when we checked in, so it was a silly mistake. Is it possible you made a similar one?
Yeah, I figured that could have happened so I showed the reception the reservation and they did agree that it was the same hotel but that they did not have a reservation.
It was just a hotel for a long layover. Honestly, I’m just trying to get people to avoid ending up in this situation. I find it very strange how willing people seem to defend a company that will receive money for something and not fulfill their end of the agreement. Weird.
Never used agoda. I was considering them last week for our October trip, but after this post, I don't plan on using them. I see posts defending them, but if it makes you feel any better, your post persuaded me to avoid. Keep reaching out to agoda to try to get some resolution. If you get somewhere, please update the post.
I am sure they suck when you most need them. However, I don't think they scam people or are frauds. I used them countless times during my SEA trip and it worked quite well. Having said that, I don't expect any customer service if I face any issues. Similar situation with budget airlines.
Yeah, I had used it many times too. I’m just trying to help people not get scammed. I asked Agoda to provide any proof that they made the reservation and made a related payment to the hotel and they have given me nothing.
As this is their business I’d expect them to not try to keep my money as it appears that if it is simply a mistake that it is their responsibility to fix the situation.
Are you sure you had the right dates of travel?
It happened to me once (not through Agoda) that I had inputed the wrong dates and arrived 2months before to the hotel.
Could it be a MM/DD vs DD/MM mistake?
If that is the case, which is entirely possible, Agoda should be able to get me my money back. I did get documentation from the hotel, which I shared with Agoda, stating that I went to check-in with the Agoda reservation and that they did not have any record of the reservation. That should be sufficient for Agoda to challenge the hotel for the payment. Since my agreement was with Agoda it is their responsibility to handle that. The fact that they seem incapable of rectifying the situation is the reason that I am warning others not to use them.
Sounds like a "you" issue.
I use Agoda almost exclusively when booking hotels and never once had a problem. Been using them for years!
Always worked perfectly fine.
We had similar issue recently - we have reserved a room in hotel in Thailand. Hotel seemed alright from pictures and reviews. In booking details it was saying we will need to pay at property which means cash at reception - it's fine. We came , paid at reception.
We came to the room and it was worst. It feels room was not cleaned for month or so. Few highlights - Nasty little fridge with a lot o hair inside and this odd smell which later on we found 2 rotten cucumbers or some similar vegetables in drawer.
We decided to not to stay and cancel reservation. Contacted Agoda telling what state room is in and that it's not acceptable. They - Agoda said that has been contacted hotel managment and agreed to cancel free of charge.
BUT then it took money from bank account and received message it has been taken because of 'booking cancelation policy'.
We went to reception they said they do not even know that we cancelled booking and Agoda never contacted them.
Later we got Agoda cash to cover pay for stay.
15+ days till talking to them or it \[Agoda\] on chat trying to get money back.
I’ve used Agoda hundreds of times without issues from them.
I used Agoda about 15 times in Taiwan about 2 months ago and they're all fine.
Your logic is that you flipped a coin. It came up heads. Therefore all future flips will be heads.
Your logic is you got tails once allegedly and all flips will be tails... So far people have booked them over a hundred times in this thread alone without issues, it's clearly not a 50:50 of whether you'll be scammed. While third party has some issues the well known sites of booking (Agoda) and Expedia are not scams, scammers may try and use them which is different, but the companies are legitimate. If they were stealing everyone's money and not making bookings it'd be a lot more well known and there'd be a lot more failures. I've made close to 1000 bookings through them with not a single issue. Odds are much more in your favour than against
My point is that there should be no odds. They should simply provide you with the product that you pay for. In the event that their product results in a failure to deliver they should fix it.
Unfortunately you have odds with most financial transactions. Booking directly with the hotel, they are able to cancel on you because they overbooked. Granted in that situation you should be getting your money back. But you should be getting your money back from Agoda as well. It should be pretty easy to prove that you didn't cancel.
Like any such service, you will run into occasional issue but that does not mean it’s a fraud. Like others, I have used it without issues.
If it is just incompetence on their part I’d expect them to give me a refund.
Stupid question you definitely went to the right hotel? When we went to Nice france (booked elsewhere) we went to mercure Hotel on maps it brought us a 10 minutes walk from the train stop then the same thing no reservation didn't hear of us. Only when I went into my emails and showed the guy at check-in he directed us to the other mercure that was 2 min walk from the stop we got off but the other way. It was 11pm, and we were tired when we checked in, so it was a silly mistake. Is it possible you made a similar one?
Yeah, I figured that could have happened so I showed the reception the reservation and they did agree that it was the same hotel but that they did not have a reservation.
I'm sorry to hear your trip didn't work out. Did you only go for one night or did you arrange somewhere to stay afterwards.
It was just a hotel for a long layover. Honestly, I’m just trying to get people to avoid ending up in this situation. I find it very strange how willing people seem to defend a company that will receive money for something and not fulfill their end of the agreement. Weird.
Never used agoda. I was considering them last week for our October trip, but after this post, I don't plan on using them. I see posts defending them, but if it makes you feel any better, your post persuaded me to avoid. Keep reaching out to agoda to try to get some resolution. If you get somewhere, please update the post.
Thanks. I’ll let you know if I manage to get any response.
I am sure they suck when you most need them. However, I don't think they scam people or are frauds. I used them countless times during my SEA trip and it worked quite well. Having said that, I don't expect any customer service if I face any issues. Similar situation with budget airlines.
People throw the word scam around any time they are mildly inconvenienced.
I agree. I’ve used booking and agoda thousands of times in the last eight or nine years without a single problem.
I’ve been screwed by Agoda twice and agree, they suck
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Yeah, I had used it many times too. I’m just trying to help people not get scammed. I asked Agoda to provide any proof that they made the reservation and made a related payment to the hotel and they have given me nothing. As this is their business I’d expect them to not try to keep my money as it appears that if it is simply a mistake that it is their responsibility to fix the situation.
Are you sure you had the right dates of travel? It happened to me once (not through Agoda) that I had inputed the wrong dates and arrived 2months before to the hotel. Could it be a MM/DD vs DD/MM mistake?
Nope. Definitely not the case here. The day of the month was greater than 12
I used Agoda 4 times in the last 6 months and never had a problem, also been cheapest option on google.
What really happened is the hotel was overbooked, you arrived and the Hotel lied to you.
If that is the case, which is entirely possible, Agoda should be able to get me my money back. I did get documentation from the hotel, which I shared with Agoda, stating that I went to check-in with the Agoda reservation and that they did not have any record of the reservation. That should be sufficient for Agoda to challenge the hotel for the payment. Since my agreement was with Agoda it is their responsibility to handle that. The fact that they seem incapable of rectifying the situation is the reason that I am warning others not to use them.
Not if the hotel also took the money from Agoda too and claimed you no-showed on the booking. Your credit card company should sort this out for you.
Future lesson for you. I always contact the property through Agoda atleast a week before the day of travel. Saves any last second misunderstandings.
Thanks. This is a good idea.
Sounds like a "you" issue. I use Agoda almost exclusively when booking hotels and never once had a problem. Been using them for years! Always worked perfectly fine.
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So everyone telling you otherwise is a bot. Got it, sparky.
And what’s with the “sparky” comment? What an oddball.
Must be a coincidence that my chihuahua is named sparky
What are the chances? I bet your pup is cute! BTW, I hope you get your money back.
Thanks. And thanks
We had similar issue recently - we have reserved a room in hotel in Thailand. Hotel seemed alright from pictures and reviews. In booking details it was saying we will need to pay at property which means cash at reception - it's fine. We came , paid at reception. We came to the room and it was worst. It feels room was not cleaned for month or so. Few highlights - Nasty little fridge with a lot o hair inside and this odd smell which later on we found 2 rotten cucumbers or some similar vegetables in drawer. We decided to not to stay and cancel reservation. Contacted Agoda telling what state room is in and that it's not acceptable. They - Agoda said that has been contacted hotel managment and agreed to cancel free of charge. BUT then it took money from bank account and received message it has been taken because of 'booking cancelation policy'. We went to reception they said they do not even know that we cancelled booking and Agoda never contacted them. Later we got Agoda cash to cover pay for stay. 15+ days till talking to them or it \[Agoda\] on chat trying to get money back.