Agoda Booking Scam

[Dan747]

 While back in the USA for over one month, I noticed a charge on my Visa card for a Hotel in Thailand through the subject when I am not in Thailand and have absolutely have no knowledge of and at home and never accessed Agoda. Now I am trying to dispute and Agoda says the Hotel will not cancel the reservation saying it's my fault for booking when I did not. Contacted the Bank the hotel debit is still pending so I have to wait to dispute after it is posted. Agoda somehow posted this room for me from a saved Visa card I had on file through their website-Lessons learned. Looks like I am going to eat this charge since I will not be able to prove I did not make this charge via their website. Anyone else had this problem??

Edited March 28, 2023 by Dan747

[The Fugitive]

Not with Agoda but last year someone hacked my passwords and ordered goods from AliExpress,  paying for them with my stored UK credit card and entered a delivery address in Moldova. Unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to stop the initial order, however it was only for six USD. I cancelled my credit card with my bank and they reimbursed me the six dollars. I had already cancelled a large subsequent order on my AliExpress account. Of course I immediately changed my passwords but the hackers must still have gained access because they kept on loading up the 'cart' but were unable to make payment because I had cancelled my credit card. Unusual log in notifications followed for many of my other accounts. It was as if the hackers had taken a snapshot of my Google Bookmarks?   

[Dan O]

Im surprised that agoda won't cancel it but your bank should take care of it for you if agoda doesn't cancel it. 

[Yellowtail]

Must have been a debit card. 

[Ohyesuare]

You won't eat the charge, you do a chargeback through Visa since it was unauthorized/fraud.

[pomchop]

7 minutes ago, Ohyesuare said:

You won't eat the charge, you do a chargeback through Visa since it was unauthorized/fraud.

yes...why anyone would use a debit card or leave one on file is a mystery...use a credit card and no worries re fraud.

[still kicking]

4 minutes ago, pomchop said:

yes...why anyone would use a debit card or leave one on file is a mystery...use a credit card and no worries re fraud.

Hahaha I used my credit card many years ago and it got hacked for a few hundred dollars I changed to Debit card and no problem since, but my bank refunded all the money. You got no idea a debit card is safer than a credit card a credit card you can overdraw but not so with a debit card 

Edited March 28, 2023 by still kicking

[wwest5829]

8 hours ago, Dan O said:

Im surprised that agoda won't cancel it but your bank should take care of it for you if agoda doesn't cancel it. 

Yes, my thought also. Send a registered letter showing copies of your Passport exiting Thailand before the Agoda charge. This demonstrates you were not in Thailand to make the commitment for the room. My experience … a speeding ticket in the US on a car I had sold. Sent the Passport entries demonstrating I was not in the USA anywhere near the cited dates on the ticket and further explaining that the car had been previously sold.

[eisfeld]

4 hours ago, pomchop said:

yes...why anyone would use a debit card or leave one on file is a mystery...use a credit card and no worries re fraud.

You can do chargebacks with debit cards just as well. Debit cards are a bit safer in terms of fraud because you at least can't overdraft. They also don't work offline.

 

7 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

Yes, my thought also. Send a registered letter showing copies of your Passport exiting Thailand before the Agoda charge. This demonstrates you were not in Thailand to make the commitment for the room. My experience … a speeding ticket in the US on a car I had sold. Sent the Passport entries demonstrating I was not in the USA anywhere near the cited dates on the ticket and further explaining that the car had been previously sold.

It's very normal to book hotels from another country.

 

9 hours ago, Dan747 said:

Looks like I am going to eat this charge since I will not be able to prove I did not make this charge via their website.

I don't see a reason for you to eat it. Just do a chargeback once it has actually gone through. They have to prove you did the booking. I would assume soneone got access to your Agoda account. Better to reset the password and see if any other of your logins have been compromised as well.

[alex8912]

20 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

Yes, my thought also. Send a registered letter showing copies of your Passport exiting Thailand before the Agoda charge. This demonstrates you were not in Thailand to make the commitment for the room. My experience … a speeding ticket in the US on a car I had sold. Sent the Passport entries demonstrating I was not in the USA anywhere near the cited dates on the ticket and further explaining that the car had been previously sold.

You are comparing two completely different things. Making hotel charges in one country while being in another is done daily by many people. 

[wwest5829]

10 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

You are comparing two completely different things. Making hotel charges in one country while being in another is done daily by many people. 

Charging a room for a date where you had already planned to be out of the country and could demonstrate you were indeed out of the country? Yes, possible but I am thinking the weight of demonstrated evidence would support that it was a charge made by someone else.

[pomchop]

6 hours ago, still kicking said:

Hahaha I used my credit card many years ago and it got hacked for a few hundred dollars I changed to Debit card and no problem since, but my bank refunded all the money. You got no idea a debit card is safer than a credit card a credit card you can overdraw but not so with a debit card 

never lost a penny to fraud on credit card and i get points/cash back so why would i ever want to use a debit card when i can use a credit card......not aware of debit cards that give you points/cash for credit card is way to go for me.

[pomchop]

9 hours ago, eisfeld said:

You can do chargebacks with debit cards just as well. Debit cards are a bit safer in terms of fraud because you at least can't overdraft. They also don't work offline.

 

It's very normal to book hotels from another country.

 

I don't see a reason for you to eat it. Just do a chargeback once it has actually gone through. They have to prove you did the booking. I would assume soneone got access to your Agoda account. Better to reset the password and see if any other of your logins have been compromised as well.

Nearly all of today's top credit cards offer zero fraud liability on unauthorized charges, which means you won't owe a penny on any charge determined to be fraudulent. Debit cards also limit your fraud liability but require you to report your lost or stolen card within two business days to limit your liability to $50.Dec 12, 2022

[Skipalongcassidy]

Vietjetair charged me for tickets and the flight was cancelled... they wanted to issue a voucher instead of a refund... I told them no and messaged my card company... the refund was issued... have never heard of a card company not getting a refund issued.

 

On a side note... has anyone ever really gotten Agoda cash back... I always apply for it but have never received one penny.

[pomchop]

17 minutes ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

Vietjetair charged me for tickets and the flight was cancelled... they wanted to issue a voucher instead of a refund... I told them no and messaged my card company... the refund was issued... have never heard of a card company not getting a refund issued.

 

On a side note... has anyone ever really gotten Agoda cash back... I always apply for it but have never received one penny.

not back but applied to a new booking...yes several times

[Dan O]

No need to eat this. I've never seen a US bank not deal with a fraudulent charge especially an international one without sufficient proof showing it was valid. It may take a couple days. Down side is they will cancel your debit card and issue a new one 

[stupidfarang]

Agoda HQ is in Singapore, I suggest you read up on the Trade Practice act that they full under in Singapore and then see if you can get a full refund. I have done this after I booked a hotel with them in Thailand and the rooms were nothing like what was showen on the website, this booking was non-refundable but I looked at the Trade Practice law then spoke to them, they straight away refunded the money.

[sandyf]

12 hours ago, Dan747 said:

Looks like I am going to eat this charge since I will not be able to prove I did not make this charge via their website. Anyone else had this problem??

I have had issues with Agoda but there are a couple of points you have not made clear.

Firstly to book with Agoda you need an account which you must have if made previous bookings. You have not mentioned what appears on the account, the majority of Agoda bookings have a cancellation policy. If the charge is not yet confirmed the booking must still be open. You never mentioned when the booking was for or when it was made. You have not indicated if the booking was made on your account or the possibility someone has added your card to their account.

You have not mentioned emails. When the booking took place you would have received a booking confirmation email. Agoda will not respond in a sensible manner to any communication from an email that is not the email attached to the Agoda account. You would need to check the junk folder on the Agoda email, if the booking was recent the email should still be there. Unfortunately some emails will auto delete junk after a certain period. Is there any possibility the email has been hacked, a couple of years ago I found someone using one of my emails.

The type of card used can make a difference and being from the UK I am not sure about the US, in the UK credit cards come under the Consumer Protection Act but there should be some cover for illegal activity.

I had to pay for 14 days quarantine but due to changes I only did 7 days and Agoda refused to refund the difference. I took the matter to the bank and there was a protracted process but Agoda capitulated in the end.

[sandyf]

21 minutes ago, stupidfarang said:

Agoda HQ is in Singapore,

Agoda is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings. When I initially had a problem I wrote to both Agoda and Booking Holdings by registered mail.

The fact that neither replied was part of the case put forward by the bank.

[ChipButty]

21 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Agoda is a subsidiary of Booking Holdings. When I initially had a problem I wrote to both Agoda and Booking Holdings by registered mail.

The fact that neither replied was part of the case put forward by the bank.

Booking Holdings, That is Booking.com getting refunds out of them well maybe more chance of landing on the moon, they are well know for it, 

[JimmyJ]

51 minutes ago, stupidfarang said:

Agoda HQ is in Singapore, I suggest you read up on the Trade Practice act that they full under in Singapore and then see if you can get a full refund. I have done this after I booked a hotel with them in Thailand and the rooms were nothing like what was showen on the website, this booking was non-refundable but I looked at the Trade Practice law then spoke to them, they straight away refunded the money.

"...but I looked at the Trade Practice law then spoke to them...".

 

Who did you call - the basic CS #?

[NanLaew]

4 hours ago, Skipalongcassidy said:

On a side note... has anyone ever really gotten Agoda cash back... I always apply for it but have never received one penny.

Years ago when agoda was leading the pack and I was a frequent user, the money back was quite considerable and could be spent towards getting a better room or hotel or adding days. More recent, post-Covid experience looks like they offer tiny cash back rewards that have quick expiration dates.

 

With regard to the OP's problems, when any of my registered cards expired on agoda or any website, I don't renew them. I prefer to do one-off charges as needed and option NOT to save card information. The extra time or inconvenience is minimal. I don't trust the security offered by commercial websites no matter how much they say it's safe and secure.

Edited March 29, 2023 by NanLaew

[MrJ2U]

15 hours ago, Dan747 said:

Anyone else had this problem??

Yes.

I called and explained I did not make the booking and they reimbursed the charge.

 

Perhaps It was because I used a Visa card and not a Visa debit card?

 

Good luck.

 

 

[dddave]

I will plead guilty to having my Debit Card details stored on a number of sites: Lazada, Booking.com and a few more.  I assumed these sites were secure.

So, not a good idea?  Enter details with each sale?

How does one clean stored card details out of the PC?  (Windows 10, Chrome)

[Yellowtail]

1 hour ago, dddave said:

I will plead guilty to having my Debit Card details stored on a number of sites: Lazada, Booking.com and a few more.  I assumed these sites were secure.

So, not a good idea?  Enter details with each sale?

How does one clean stored card details out of the PC?  (Windows 10, Chrome)

I doubt very much the data are stored on the PC. 

[eisfeld]

7 hours ago, pomchop said:

Nearly all of today's top credit cards offer zero fraud liability on unauthorized charges, which means you won't owe a penny on any charge determined to be fraudulent. Debit cards also limit your fraud liability but require you to report your lost or stolen card within two business days to limit your liability to $50.Dec 12, 2022

I've done chargebacks on debit cards and paid $0. What you quoted is not a universal thing that applies to all debit cards. It depends on the terms of the card issuer. What you quoted is the minimum they have to offer in the US and is the same for debit or credit cards.

[CFCol]

There are two separate offers from Agoda.

1 Agoda cash; can be redeemed against a future booking

2 Agoda cashback; it can be requested 60 days after your hotel stay and will be credited back to your payment card 30 days after that.

It depends whether the hotel you book offers 1 or 2

Never had a problem with either system.

[eisfeld]

2 hours ago, MrJ2U said:

Perhaps It was because I used a Visa card and not a Visa debit card?

Of course not, why would Agoda care what kind of card you paid with to decide if they should refund you or not?

 

7 hours ago, pomchop said:

never lost a penny to fraud on credit card and i get points/cash back so why would i ever want to use a debit card when i can use a credit card......not aware of debit cards that give you points/cash for credit card is way to go for me.

Unfortunately credit cards increase the prices for everyone. Where do you think the cashback/points come from? The card networks charge a fee to the merchant who in turn has to increase the prices. And because the merchant either can't differentiate between debit and credit card or doesn't want to put different prices on different payment methods he just increases the average selling price. These credit card processing fees can be as high as 3-10%. I know because I've worked on the merchant side.

[iaminwa]

Never use Agoda anymore - the prices they advertise per night, is not what they actually charge on check-out. They add their service charge(10%) plus VAT on check-out, making the room a lot more expensive per night than the listed price..

[eisfeld]

2 minutes ago, iaminwa said:

Never use Agoda anymore - the prices they advertise per night, is not what they actually charge on check-out. They add their service charge(10%) plus VAT on check-out, making the room a lot more expensive per night than the listed price..

I also really don't like this practive but you can change that via a setting on the page.