Be careful of fake websites copying hotels. My wife was scammed making a hotel booking

[1sickpuppy]

On 3/16/2024 at 11:37 AM, advancebooking said:

We recently went on a holiday and I regrettably let my wife make the booking for a nights hotel stay. Details are vague but I think she searched for the hotel via facebook and found a fake page that imitated the actual hotel. Or maybe it was a copy of the actual website with a different url. 

 

My wife chatted with them on fbook and they persuaded her to pay the full amount of the room to their bank account. After that they sent another message asking for key deposit She thought this was an odd request but transferred another 1500 baht.....

 

My wife called the police who said fill out an online form. An officer called her and made an appointment for my wife to go to the station. She did this and he didnt turn up saying he had an emergency. My wife has western personality now and was quite rude to him. He later called and said they have blocked the bank account but who knows...

 

Now we make another booking a few weeks later in a different location / hotel and they seem to have the same problem. But this hotel is professional enough to display a warning message of the problem: 'beware of fake websites and dont transfer any money to anyone etc'. They give the only bank account for the hotel and account name. 

 

Just giving everyone the heads up on this as clearly its a problem in thailand at the moment. Do not chat with hotel facebook sites. 

 

 

i have used ago here for many years never had a problem , try that is safe

[1sickpuppy]

Just now, 1sickpuppy said:

i have used ago here for many years never had a problem , try that is safe

i forgot any many places you can pay on arrival with it, so easy peasy

[cdemundo]

2 hours ago, PaoloR said:

Complete bull excretion, Agoda charge hotels between 5% and 20% for their services. Most hotels will give a discount for a direct booking. However, larger chain hotels will often make their front desk charge a higher price as there is no record of the transaction. If the guest pays in cash, the money may not reach the account. A symptom of them not trusting their front desk staff.

In addition, there are not stop scammers attacking hotels at the moment, duplicating OTA (online travel agent) websites, pretending to be previous customers with a complaint, requesting bank details to transfer a deposit etc. So, chain hotels have implemented strict policies to mitigate losses which involves restricting the front desk's ability to make any financial decisions.

If the front desk won't offer a discount for a walk-in, then go elsewhere or ask for the manager and point out you are saving him money.

 

In general, but especially when extending my stay, I don't want to "go elsewhere".

Your strategy means not making a reservation so not knowing where I will be staying.

I have seen travelers walking from hotel to hotel dragging their luggage looking to save a few baht, no thanks.

[cdemundo]

On 3/17/2024 at 8:17 AM, JimTripper said:

I got runs at the border and needed to book a hotel room. The toilet did not flush.

Great story dude.

Thanks for sharing.

Edited March 18 by cdemundo

[sandyf]

On 3/16/2024 at 9:11 PM, Dolf said:

Same companies. Both have apps. 

They are not the same companies, they are both subsidiaries of the holding company Booking Holdings Inc based in the US.

Agoda operates out of Singapore and Booking,com from the Netherlands.

Price is variable depending on location required and your status with Booking.com. I use both and have had problems with Agoda and they can be very difficult to deal with, yet to encounter a problem with Booking.com.

Booking.com tends to offer more pay at the hotel than Agoda does and free cancellation tends to be closer to check-in than Agoda but Agoda generally is a bit cheaper in this area.

[Dolf]

Just now, sandyf said:

They are not the same companies, they are both subsidiaries of the holding company Booking Holdings Inc based in the US.

Agoda operates out of Singapore and Booking,com from the Netherlands.

Price is variable depending on location required and your status with Booking.com. I use both and have had problems with Agoda and they can be very difficult to deal with, yet to encounter a problem with Booking.com.

Booking.com tends to offer more pay at the hotel than Agoda does and free cancellation tends to be closer to check-in than Agoda but Agoda generally is a bit cheaper in this area.

Owned by the same company. Agoda is cheaper normally. Booking.com as you say offers more pay at hotel.

 

 

[Dolf]

3 hours ago, PaoloR said:

Complete bull excretion, Agoda charge hotels between 5% and 20% for their services. Most hotels will give a discount for a direct booking. However, larger chain hotels will often make their front desk charge a higher price as there is no record of the transaction. If the guest pays in cash, the money may not reach the account. A symptom of them not trusting their front desk staff.

In addition, there are not stop scammers attacking hotels at the moment, duplicating OTA (online travel agent) websites, pretending to be previous customers with a complaint, requesting bank details to transfer a deposit etc. So, chain hotels have implemented strict policies to mitigate losses which involves restricting the front desk's ability to make any financial decisions.

If the front desk won't offer a discount for a walk-in, then go elsewhere or ask for the manager and point out you are saving him money.

Front desk don't care. You either pay them or app. About 50% of the time walk in is cheaper. 

[ChrisKC]

The Headline should read:

 

"Beware of Anything on Facebook that Requires Honesty and Serious Advice about Anything"

[sandyf]

12 minutes ago, Dolf said:

Owned by the same company. Agoda is cheaper normally. Booking.com as you say offers more pay at hotel.

 

 

With conglomerates ownership is a bit irrelevant, companies are autonomous. The parent company used to be called Priceline and is currently in dispute with the UK over an intention to aquire "GotoGate" and "Getaroom".

 

In 2021 I had to book a quarantine hotel which I did through Agoda. A few days before I was due back the governemnt reduced the quarantine period from 2 weeks to one week, Agoda refused to refund the difference. They claimed I was outside the cancellation period and I argued that if they joined the government scheme they should follow the government rules. The bank pursued the case on my behalf and resolved it in my favour, took about 6 months. I made a complaint to the "owners" but never got any response.

[Dolf]

4 minutes ago, sandyf said:

With conglomerates ownership is a bit irrelevant, companies are autonomous. The parent company used to be called Priceline and is currently in dispute with the UK over an intention to aquire "GotoGate" and "Getaroom".

 

In 2021 I had to book a quarantine hotel which I did through Agoda. A few days before I was due back the governemnt reduced the quarantine period from 2 weeks to one week, Agoda refused to refund the difference. They claimed I was outside the cancellation period and I argued that if they joined the government scheme they should follow the government rules. The bank pursued the case on my behalf and resolved it in my favour, took about 6 months. I made a complaint to the "owners" but never got any response.

Yes they are. I never book more than 3 days at a time but i guess covid was an exception. Some managers are a holes.

[steven100]

I stopped reading at facebook

 

[steven100]

56 minutes ago, Dolf said:

Front desk don't care. You either pay them or app. About 50% of the time walk in is cheaper. 

yes agree  ... walk in is much safer and you can see what you're getting

[jimn]

On 3/16/2024 at 6:46 PM, advancebooking said:

The fact that it is 2 different hotels in 2 provinces next to each other says a lot. Its probably the same fraudsters. 

May I suggest the problem is you and your wife and the method you are using to book a hotel. Plenty of reputable easy to navigate sites like Agoda. Book now and pay later option, free cancellation etc. Why on earth your wife paid in advance and a deposit for a key is beyond me.

[NoshowJones]

On 3/16/2024 at 8:29 PM, Keeps said:

Totally agree. Have made well over 200 bookings with Agoda and not once experienced a problem. 

I have had hotels recommend going via Agoda when trying to extend a stay as they are not prepared/able to match the price.

 

Also, I have a regular apartment I stay at in Chiang Mai who will always do me a 'tickle' beneath the Agoda price despite it being less than half the standard price quoted on their own website.

 

The other plus point with Agoda is I accumulate cash to redeem and get VIP prices and upgrades.

i used to always avoid Agoda because of their small print tax add on's of 17%. But last week I booked with Agoda by mistake and found their were none of this small print nonsense and everything went through just fine. Would I be right in saying that Agoda is now upfront with their hotel room prices?

[Keeps]

3 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

i used to always avoid Agoda because of their small print tax add on's of 17%. But last week I booked with Agoda by mistake and found their were none of this small print nonsense and everything went through just fine. Would I be right in saying that Agoda is now upfront with their hotel room prices?

For my most recent bookings (both current and further hotel end of the week) I paid the advertised price, everything included. The hotel voucher provided then shows a taxes and fees amount already included within the price. FYI the price paid was circa £60 and shows an included taxes and fees amount of £9.

[Irish star]

I have booked 3rd party since inception never got burned in decades , Agoda even gave me 70,000 b back during Covid , Centre Point agreed to return 

[Irish star]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

yes agree  ... walk in is much safer and you can see what you're getting

Maybe years ago , now they tell you sit lobby and book 3rd party been like this for years , they can’t undercut the hotel sites or big Problems with lawsuits 

[Lacessit]

On 3/16/2024 at 11:45 AM, TroubleandGrumpy said:

It astounds me that Thais use Facebook and Line for commercial transactions and dont have a clue about the dangers.  What are they teaching them in schools ......... never mind, silly question.  

If Thais were actually taught financial security etc. there would be unemployment among some of the people higher up the food chain.

[sandyf]

21 hours ago, NoshowJones said:

i used to always avoid Agoda because of their small print tax add on's of 17%. But last week I booked with Agoda by mistake and found their were none of this small print nonsense and everything went through just fine. Would I be right in saying that Agoda is now upfront with their hotel room prices?

Not really. I heard one time that there was a setting where you could have total price displayed but never did find it. I have found that sometimes prices displayed are the total and sometimes it is before the fees are added, you need to be careful.

[NoshowJones]

5 hours ago, sandyf said:

Not really. I heard one time that there was a setting where you could have total price displayed but never did find it. I have found that sometimes prices displayed are the total and sometimes it is before the fees are added, you need to be careful.

Thanks Sandy. I booked a hotel and was pleased with the price and no add on's. I was really surprised to see it was Agoda. I had avoided them for years.

[sandyf]

59 minutes ago, NoshowJones said:

Thanks Sandy. I booked a hotel and was pleased with the price and no add on's. I was really surprised to see it was Agoda. I had avoided them for years.

Generally speaking they are not that bad but if you do end up with a problem they can be difficult so have to be careful on the options.

In 2020 we had a booking with Agoda for a hotel at Gatwick and when everything got cancelled the hotel refused to provide any refund. My wife contacted Agoda and they said it was down to the hotel for a refund but in the end they gave us a credit for the amount which could be used against future bookings.

Not all bad.