Online Booking Engines
These days, I have mostly moved onto booking directly with the hotels or the airlines. However, I often do a comparison check on popular booking engines as they sometimes offer a better deal or bundle offers. There are a couple of major online travel booking companies in the states, which includes Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz and Hotwire.
Generally speaking, I have a favorable impression of Expedia as I never run into issues with any of my bookings with them. In one instance when I had to cancel portions of a trip due to some extenuating circumstances, Expedia’s customer service came through for me.
Change of plans
On my recent trip to Asia, however, I deviated from the tried and true. I needed a hotel near a specific location, and I found a hotel that seemed to fit the bill. The hotel does not have its own website for direct booking, but it’s bookable on some of the hotel booking engines. Unfortunately, the dates I want were “sold-out” on all major booking sites, save for one: Agoda.
I have heard of Agoda before, so it’s not a total unknown. I did my due diligence and researched on people’s experience. Reviews seemed to be a mixed bag, but at least I can ascertain that it’s a legitimate company. I decided to give it a shot and booked two rooms. In the back of my mind, I was wary how Agoda could still show room availability when other agencies showed a “sold out” status. I pushed that thought out of my head, once I got this confirmation:
Security/Fraud Verification
If something is too good to be true, it probably is. About eight days before my trip departure, I received this email:
I was not pleased. As part of the fraud security alert, they want me to send them a photocopy of my credit card and driver’s license. Otherwise, they will cancel my reservations. If I don’t respond before a specified date, they will automatically cancel my reservations. And oh, “Your booking request is subject to continued availability. No room is being held whilst we wait for your verification.”
Taking Actions
In an age where people worry about identity thefts, Agoda would be remiss if they think I will send them the requested documents. I never had to send any of the information for reservations on other booking engines. While it’s not a phishing email, who knows who will take possession of my personal info?
Peeved at Agoda for throwing a wrench right before my trip, I decided to take immediate actions. I went online and booked directly with another hotel. The hotel is bit further away, but at least I got the peace of mind I needed. I then promptly cancelled my existing reservations with Agoda.
If Agoda can’t guarantee my reservations (which is the most basic function of an online booking company), what good is a “confirmation”? If they can’t even get a simple reservation right, I don’t have a lot of faith that it will get anything else right either.
Maybe others have had a better experience with Agoda. As for me, I don’t expect that I will book with them again anytime soon.
Have you ever run into issues with agoda.com or other booking engines?
Agoda Fraud, they charged my card INR 2732, without actually booking the hotel.. And then they deny any booking and say booking ID invalid, then why did they charge my card, do they have an answer
Agoda is a terrible company to deal with. They do not answer to request. They took money without service.
I just had the same issue with them, we tried booking the same place with two different accounts and cards too. We emailed them for clarity but haven’t heard back for over 6 hours since. I shan’t ever be using them again – what a ridiculous request! Thanks for writing the blog post – it gave us the peace of mind we needed.
What city was this and what hotel? This will be helpful for others. I used Agoda for a hotel reservation in Reykjavik. No issues. I also used them once for a hotel reservation at Vegas. It was a refundable rate and I had to cancel the reservation later when my plans changed. No issues either.
Thanks for posting this! Like you, we are booking a room during Peak season in Japan. And despite all major sites showing this hotel at a specific location near Ueno park is completely sold out, we went ahead (despite better judgement) to book with Agoda.com for 2 nights. Hours upon confirmation, the hotel was responsive enough to inform us that their non-smoking rooms were completely sold out, and they’ll do their best to clean the smoking room before our arrival. This is when I read your blog and seen all these comments to realize – I’m not going to risk it to arrive in a foreign country to not have any place to sleep for the night. Needless to say, I went ahead to cancel my booking, as it had free cancellation for another week.
I tried to book with Agoda yesterday and but the site experienced technical difficulties, and the booking didn’t go through. However, my credit card was still charged a small sum. Not knowing what this sum is about, even though it was a small amount, I’m uncomfortable knowing that someone can charge me for a booking that never happened anyway.
So I tried to get in touch with Agoda, but it was impossible to even get access without a valid Booking ID. Without a booking, there was no way I could get that. Desperate, I used a fake Booking ID to get through to Online Chat.
I was completely upfront about using a fake Booking ID the moment I could communicate with someone. And I asked for an explanation why I was charged even though no booking was made. All the customer service rep could tell me, was that my last booking with my email was made in 2012. How does that even answer my question on why my credit card was charged? I tried again and again to explain my situation, but the rep’s irrelevant answer never changed. Until I asked for someone who could answer me relevantly, the same rep finally explained that this was a ore-authorisation charge, a charge that makes sure that my card is valid when a booking is made. Naturally my next question is, would the charge be reversed since this booking never happened? No answer from the rep, who immediately asked if there was something else I would need help on before we ended the online chat.
I never initiated an end to the conversation! I was still not done with finding out what’a going on!
Since this was going nowhere, I asked for a chat transcript to be emailed me. The customer service rep informed me that since I was using a fake Booking ID, they couldn’t send me the chat transcript. He / she has my email! Right at the beginning of the Online Chat, they used my email to trace my last booking!
Argh.
Never use Agoda. Shady transaction practices, no recourse for legitimate billing issues, terrible customer service response.
Update: My credit card company confirmed that pre-authorisation charge was reversed, but this doesn’t absolve Agoda for everything I’ve complained about here.
I recently booked for a gift to my god daughter, a room at the New yorker hotel, with Agoda through the Hotelscombined site. When she arrived there with her mother, the double room booked with 2 double beds, turned out to be a single room with one queen bed. They told them at the desk, that it was Agoda’s fault : although I paid for the double room and received an e-mail confirmation about it, they did the booking for a single room and never send me any update e-mail about the change. As the hotel was fully booked for the week-end, they had no choice but to sleep in the same bed despite having, for the mother, serious back problems. I tried to reach the Agoda people, but when I entered the reservation ID, it told me that it was not valid. As for speaking to a real person there, well it doesn’t seem to exist. Only dumb artificial intelligence! This is the last time i will deal with Agoda !!! No service, totally unreliable and unthrustworthy!
I booked a room through Agoda but never will again. First of all, the hotel was in a state of disrepair and there were no other options close by so we stuck with it. Second, when I checked out, the bill that I got from the hotel was $40+ less than what Agoda charged me. I contacted customer service via email and they sent me the information to file a claim. I have sent the information 5 times and I haven’t heard anything back. Have tried contacting them multiple times. Terrible customer service!
Yeah I cancelled a booking The said I could have my money back but charged me one night But I can’t get any access to the remaining money. Can’t get any support it is so hard to contact anyone I am still trying
I booked my reservation in a book now pay later option. Unfortunately, i have to change my credit card because the one i used was no longer valid. I asked agoda if they can provide me a secure option. Surprisingly, the only way to proceed with the reservation is to give them the credit card details via a “secured call” i will have to type my verification code. How secured is that?
I was searching for deals in agoda.com for my duration 6 nights for 2 Rooms. and I found Ascot hotel for 98/night, i have entered my booking details and paid 1500 USD. and booked it. After i made booking, i checked my account, and i saw money was deducted from my account. After few minutes, i login to agoda to enter guest details in my booking, and surprisingly, i saw my booking in cancellation tab. I tried to call them via customer care numbers ( I tried United states number +1 866 656 8207) but this number is not exist. then i tried to contact them through online chat support, i explained all my situation to them and their answer was ”Our records show that this booking encountered technical error which lead for it not getting fully confirmed. That’s why there was no confirmation email sent to you. Since the technical error reflected that no room is available, the system have automatically cancelled this booking without any charge on your card.”. then why your system deduct money for no service. they continued to try themselves by using technical error terms. about my money they are saying that they haven’t received any money for my booking, if they get it, then they will released it with in 24 hours to 48 hours. I dont know if i should wait or file a cyber crime complaint against them. i have all proofs about my transaction number , chat script, booking emails. I don’t have any knowledge of cyber crime complaint. I think we all should file cyber crime complaint against them so we can save many victims like us.
I think I need to file a cyber fraud against Agoda. This issue will not end until the law intervene . I am a recent victim too!
Hi, I booked an overnight room. Received confirmation showing date: one night: departure next day, and the hotel advised me that is Agoda booking. Agoda have only booked a day room ! I had to pay double the price quoted !
Due to travel to China and Japan during this summer, when booking the hotel, often saw Agoda with good price, and booked 3 hotels via it. The things happened:
The original message was from the booked hotel in China:
“Hello! excuse me! Because the hotel cannot accommodate foreign guests, you cannot check into the hotel normally. You have only informed the website in advance. In order not to delay your trip, you can cancel your order! Thank you!”
I was spend 3 hours to contact customer service to confirm the issue, due to nobody answer the phone.
The second message was from Agoda in Chinese: (Translated):
“In order to complete done your booking, you must upload and attach the following files:
A. Please submit a scanned or copied file of the front side your credit card. And…
B. A valid photo ID (e.g. passport, driver’s license) that must be issued by the government and must be the same information as credit card.
Please note that we will also send you this security link so that you can download your data later.
If we did’t receive your files by (Month/Date 2018), your booking will be automatically cancelled and NON-Refundable.”
When I received this email, I feel lucky like won lottery:
I know Chinese language.
I already left Chine to Japan, so I was able to access “Google.com” to check my Gmail.
Tried call customer service at different country for whom can quick pick up the phone to do the cancellation booking. I cannot provide my top security information to Agoda.
Agoda has good deal at some hotels in Asian, but beware, you have to open eyes to watch your email, message, and any device for communication to see anything happened until your book a stay.
The customer service is all good, if someone could pick up your phone.
I am sorry to read about the latest reports, They are repeatedly consistent that i’d caution others to “beware”. It might work out, or it may not (and when things go wrong, Agoda just isn’t strong on the customer support side). They nearly screwed me over with my trip, so I am just not inclined to book with them again when there are more reliable choices.
Someone mentioned that Priceline owns Agoda. I’ve never tried Priceline but I think I tend to hear fewer complaints about Priceline.
I have an issue with Agoda right now. I booked a room 5 months ago and when arrived to hotel a few days ago they said that there’s no room for us due to overbooking. It was midnight, thousands kms from home and we didnt have a room for 6 days.
I didnt receive any email from Agoda that the reservation is cancelled, I have only an email with confirmation. I tried to contact them via email and phone but with no success. Today, on last day of my trip, I checked my bank account and see that they charged me for full stay! So I didnt have a room AND money! Over 500$… no contact from their side, I cant reach them as well.
Traveler BEWARE. I booked a hotel through their site that boasted a 6.8 stars out of 10 for a week in Hawaii. The pictures made the hotel look clean and fresh, and while I realized it was not the best available, I booked it because of the price point. We stayed one night. It was horrible. There were roaches in the bathroom, the entire “hotel” was grimy and worse than some hostels I’ve stayed at. We attempted to get our refund for the remaining 7 day we refused to stay at the, clearly not vetted, hotel. Agoda had no easily accessible customer service line, and apparently, once your stay is over, you cannot call their help line to assist you. It took reporting them as fraudulent charges to my bank before they would contact and refund me. They even went as far as to ask the grimy hotel how much they wanted to charge me for the one night we stayed, because we couldn’t find another hotel on such short notice. I ended up being charged MORE than the price I’d agreed to pay nightly and some bogus “amenity fee” the hotel threw in even though we couldn’t have used any of their facilities even if we’d wanted to.
I booked Hotel for two families going to Italy, they friends and they were travelling with 6 kids, when they got to Hotel in Rome, they were told no place is confirmed for them because the Hotel couldn’t reach Agoda.com on the phone or email. my friends had to pay double amount in the middle of the night for place to stay, not knowing in the other hand this Stupid Agoda had my credit card details and had taken over £1000 from my card in 5 different transactions without my knowledge. their phone lines are not responding and you email and get no response, I am left with no tools to fight this foreign dodgy company and don’t know what to do!
anyone have number for this people because the numbers I have is Automated and unhelpful,
here is the numbers I have,
+39 02 38959 1359
+44 203027 7900
Bahjat
i used agoda last year and had no problems, so decided to use them this year for 5 countries and some countries a few resort, so far few hotels booked. the odd 1 wasnt as good as expected others good.
i have to say i arrived at mihilaka villa in sri lanka at 3am shattered and omg it was horrendous, i booked a 2 bed 2 bathroom villa , photos looked great, was advertised a with hot tub, washing machine which is why a booked being away a month, full kitchen , air conditioning, good wifi , lounge etc.
it ended up 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, no hot tub, no full kitchen, no washing machine, wifi poor, air con only in bedroom and hardly worked, the lounge was brick like a garage with deck chairs and a fridge. it was absolutely hideous with dead cockroaches, i asked why it didnt look as described and he admitted he had used some of his own house photos omg. we refused to stay the whole time, but had to stay 1 night due to it being 3 am and booked somewhere else with agoda so they could see we hadnt stayed there.
i tried to ring from the villa first but got no reply. i emailed them a big complaint explaining all issues, put a negative and honest report on agoda site . the report 1 mth later has not been added, so ive put 1 on here for others to see. they asked me for photo evidence i had loads of photos and told them man admitted he used some of his house pics. they have not done anything about it. nor are they answering the phone or answering my questions via email as to why they havent added my honest review or why they havent altered the villa description and changed photos, which is falsely advertised in both description and photos i will never use them again, not sure if they can be reported anywhere for false advertising , be very careful anyone that uses this company as they ignore emails too
Wow, ooks like this Agoda is slithering in everywhere. I booked a hotel while looking at MapQuest. I guess it’s on me, I should have paid more attention to who it was through but it’s for tomorrow and the price was good and I wasn’t thinkiing. Imagine my surprise when I get this “antifraud” email from a foreign country wanting me to either authorize more money or send them a copy of my drivers license and credit card. Reallly?!!!! It says if I don’t send the info the reservation will be cancelled but who knows whether they will actually try to take the money out or not. Thank goodness it’s a pre-paid debit with limited funds but still makes me ill.
I had an odd one with a similar result with Agoda. Originally, I booked a couple of hotels with Priceline. I got a confirmation e-mail from Priceline afterwards. A few minutes later, I got the exact same e-mail as the OP, except it’s from Agoda. Why would Agoda send a confirmation e-mail when I didn’t even use them as my booking agent?
Hmm, I thought Priceline book directly with the hotels. Unfortunately, I can’t offer any additional insights there as I don’t usually book on priceline. It sounds strange to me; I wonder if Priceline has a subcontract with Agoda.
Agoda s apparently owned by Priceline. I got the same doublr confirmation from Priceline and Agoda when booking a domestic hotel room up in PA. When I showed up there was no booking in the hotels computer system and a call to Agoda’s customer service got me in touch with a less than useless CSR who seemed to have been working from home. He told me Priceline and Agoda used different booking numbers (not apparently true) and that he couldn’t help me if all I had was the Priceline confirmation. I went back to the desk to see if they had any rooms and the clerk apologized and said it was not uncommon with Agoda for their bookings to not come through She booked me in and at a better price. Now I am in dispute with Agoda over the room charge as they say I did not cancel the booking they did not complete. I suspect these folks are sleeze buckets and am highly unlikely to use them again. Your mileage may vary but forewarned is forearmed.
I used my employers booking website to book a one night stay at a Hyatt in San Antonio. I have stayed at the hotel before and we like it but we usually get points booking it thru my employer although we don’t get to chose sometimes who its book thru. When we stayed at the hotel the lock was not working and they did not have any more rooms for us to switch to. They immediately offered to refund the room and let us stay at no charge. They gave me a receipt showing there was no charge for the room and told me just to reach out to Agoda to initiate the refund since I paid it to them. Agoda refused to refund me stating that they are unable to reach anyone at the hotel. I thought this was very low on their part seeing as the hotel is very diligent about answering their phones. This just goes to show the company did not really try to reach out. They then stated the receipt from the hotel was not sufficient for a refund even though it states there is no charge and clearly shows that there was nothing charged. I am so grateful for the dispute process at my financial institution because I filed my dispute and within a couple of days my refund was given to me and my dispute case was closed. My bank was somehow able to contact the hotel with the same number on the first try and speak to them about the refund and confirm it was indeed a valid dispute. I went on Agoda’s page to write a review and funny enough they stated a review will take place before my post will be public. This company is a shameful joke and needs to be shutdown.
Yikes. I’m glad the dispute process worked out with your financial institution. It seems better than trying to go back and forth with Agoda to try to get your refund back. I’m glad that worked out for you.
I have also had a terrible experience with Agoda. I am actually now waiting in a foreign city in the middle of the night with no place to stay as a result. Similar to other comments, they asked me to send an ID. I did – 6 days before my reservation date. Then the night I arrived (after midnight) I check my mails at the airport and was surprised to find one that said my reservation had been cancelled! I have now been on the phone with customer service for almost three hours – it’s 3 in the morning and my first meeting is in 5 hours. Terrible situation. And the customer service has not been good – for example they don’t seem able to place a customer on hold and also call the property at the same time. I urge all consumers to not use this company, unless you like paying for a room and then having no place to stay in a foreign city in the middle of the night.
I’m sorry. That’s terrible to hear. You actually send in your ID and Agoda still somehow managed to screw you over. I really have no plans to use this company ever again. Thanks for sharing your story, and I hope your find a suitable resolution to your hotel saga.
agoda will list rooms that arent available. and then cancel your reservation, and still charge you. their customer service is non existant
reservation cancelled obviously because no rooms were available. but agoda will still list the room even though its sold out, and more than glad to take your credit card. when i arrived, hotel told me they were fully booked 2 days before. but nonetheless, agoda still lists the room as available even though its not. no phone calls or emails from agoda about the cancelation. find out i had nowhere to sleep that night only after i got to the hotel
For a trip to California last week, through Agoda I booked a Bungalow Suite at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Agoda’s portal specifically listed it at ~800sf, usually $3000/night and specifically ~80% off at $600/night. When we arrived, the hotel checked us in to a Bungalow Room (which is typically about $600 a night). We called Agoda, who took their time but eventually came back to tell us that we would need to pay the difference ($2400/night) if we wanted a Bungalow Suite (notwithstanding that our certificate of confirmation said ‘Bungalow Suite’). I asked the hotel manager who said that indeed our certificate said Bungalow Suite and while Agoda was wrong, the hotel would honor it even if Agoda wouldn’t. Agoda is not good at honoring their contracts and/or acknowledging that they didn’t deliver on what they sold. I would not use them ever again.
That’s amazing that the hotel manager actually honored the reservation (even though they aren’t obligated to if Agoda is the one that screwed up). I am glad it all kind of worked out for you in the end.
I have just had my first and last travel experience with Agoda. I had not used this company before, but as other reviewers note, they were offering attractive prices. I made a reservation 60 days before my travel dates and received confirmation emails from Agoda, and from the property. Ten hours before I was to check in to the property, I received an email from Agoda saying that they were unable to honour my reservation. They offered me another hotel at the same price. I accepted this offer, as a preliminary search on my own wasn’t finding other available properties. Agoda lied to me, stating they had obtained a room similar to what I had reserved. They had not — but the hotel, (Indigo in Liverpool) graciously corrected Agoda’s mistake and didn’t charge me extra. (Thank you, Indigo) Agoda also promised that the new hotel price would equal that of the reservation, and they have charged me more than was agreed. I am trying to follow up, but Agoda’s US customer service phone number is no longer in service. I would urge extreme caution in any dealings with Agoda, and only if you can afford to be overcharged and/or left without a place to stay.
I am glad you at least found an alternative place to stay. I’ve not booked with Agoda since my post and I don’t expect to book with them again given its unreliable reservation practices. Thanks for sharing your story and words of caution.
I had a similar experience earlier this summer with Agoda bookings that were “confirmed” for rates well below other websites, except that I never received the emails “verifying my identity”.
Two reservations for my recent trip to Europe were cancelled by Agoda just days before my trip, with no explanation. I had made one of the reservations on Priceline and didn’t even notice the “fulfilled by Agoda” language on my booking. Priceline handed me off to Agoda, and Agoda handed me off to Priceline. Finally, Agoda notified me:
“Please be informed that your booking has been cancelled.” That’s it.
I requested an explanation, and received only this response: “We are regret to inform that your booking has been highlighted as higher than normal risk and due to security concern. We have to cancel it without any charge.”
After days of unanswered emails to escalate the matter, and hours on hold with agents who intentionally disconnected the phone line, I received the following:
“Please find below our terms of use which has been mentioned on our website for your reference.
We reserve the right not to accept customers or bookings (or in exceptional cases to cancel confirmed ones) at our discretion and for whatever (legal) reason without the need to justify such refusal. [BOLDING THEIRS]
However, please note that this is the terms of use for our bookings not only to you, but for every user on our website.
We alos [sic] will not be able to assist with any booking creation as we do not have the system that allows us to do so.”
I’m convinced Agoda.com, a company of The Priceline Group, intentionally “confirms” and then cancels bookings at sold-out hotels and for rates well below the market. Priceline customer service will not assist with any reservation fulfilled by Agoda, regardless of whether the booking was made on Priceline.com or Agoda.com.
Wow, that’s absolutely terrible that they gave you that line, “without the need to justify such refusal” (way to go, customer service). I think you’re onto something with Agoda which “intentionally “confirms” and then cancels bookings at sold-out hotels and for rates well below the market.” I suspect that was really my case, except they used the fraud verification to force my hand in canceling the reservations. That’s a shady business practice (which is why I probably will never book with them again).
I guess you can’t count on it even with it being a subsidiary of a major company, Priceline. Somehow I thought they may be able to help you out. Sorry that it happened to you too.
Similar story. I did a booking for a small hotel/inn in Sicily via TripAdvisor, because I was unable to do so on the hotel’s website – some technical issue. It turns out that TA’s booking service ( I think it was Getaroom) did not confirm the booking which I found out only when I emailed the hotel directly to ask a couple of questions. And the booking service had charged me upfront with a $10 fee to boot! The hotel owner suggested that I cancel the TA booking and he’d take my booking directly via email, with payment due upon arrival. Which I did. Unfortunately, had to cancel the entire trip due to illness, but am rescheduling it, and for sure, I am booking directly in the future.
Sorry to hear your trip got cancelled, but better to travel when you feel 100% (or close to it anyway). 🙂
I’m quite curious (that is, if you don’t mind sharing): Did your $10 fee get refunded when you canceled the TA booking? Or was that basically a sunk cost?
Well, it was my husband who got severe bronchitis on the verge of pneumonia so we had doctor’s letter that got everything refunded 3 days prior to our trip. Only lost $22.35 on a tour that was non-refundable, so we were very fortunate. Re-planning trip for next April.
As for the TA booking, yes, I got the entire amount refunded. It was Getaroom that was the service TA used. What was so disconcerting was Getaroom telling me that they contact the hotel closer to the date. Wait – this place is small and only has 4 rooms. Seriously?
I had a similar experience with Amoma.com, based in Spain that I found through Kayak: I booked a really great rate through them at a 4* hotel during a sporting event, got a confirmation, and filed it away. There were decent rates with some other hotels in the area too, but this was the best deal. A week before the event, they told me that they no longer had the room because it was never confirmed, it was only “on request” and the hotel had no more availability. They would keep my money and move me to a Hampton Inn, which they claimed was a comparable 4* hotel. By then, all of the hotels in the area were close to sold-out, and the prices were outrageous. It was a huge time suck arguing with Amoma since they were based in Spain and refused to help. Lesson learned – do not book with international travel agencies! Stick with the direct websites or major US agencies!!!
Yikes! I’ve never heard of Amoma but the worst part about these things is that the reservation “appears” to be confirmed when it’s not (which is very deceiving to consumers). Had they notified you earlier, you may still have time to make alternate plans.
In your case, it sounds like they may have done a bait and switch. In spite of it, I hope you still ended up having a good trip in Spain!
wow, that was a bummer of an experience. Fortunately hasn’t happened to me. Like you though I book directly with airline and hotel sites. Some places do ask to fax over the card but I never do, and they accept the details on the phone. Agoda is a big firm here in Asia and I am really surprised by this.
Wow. You got hosed in a major fashion. You’re absolutely right in that Agoda failed to fulfill the most basic premise of a booking engine. I’ve used them a couple of times without issue, but given their ineptitude, I’m steering clear from now on.