British Tourist Duped by Nonexistent Hotel on Thai Island

[mfd101]

Huge hotel? Well, the name should have been enough for AN habitués to mention. "Lek lek' means 'Very small' in Thai.

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, Nick Carter icp said:

Seems like Parke booked the room online and wanted something  bit better when he arrived and moved to somewhere better .

 

Or he just wanted to scam booking.com out of 7000 pounds.

[Nick Carter icp]

21 minutes ago, arick said:

Booking.com had huge problems with non-existent properties I thought they cleaned up their act but obviously not

 

   Did you just read the headline and post that comment ?

The property does indeed exist and has accommodation as publicised  

[John Drake]

1 hour ago, Upnotover said:

It's still on Booking dot com and a simple search would have shown him where he was going before he got "ensnared".

 

Don't know how old the British scammer is, but if I was a young guy, this looks just fine to me, with the benefit of the pharmacy and access to imodium on the ground floor.

[spidermike007]

I think it's safe to say that many of these stories have a lesson an inherent lesson.

 

If you're booking a hotel in low season, where you know the occupancy is going to be low and hotels are going to be easy to find, you book two or three nights, see how you like the place, knowing you can always extend it and get a good deal.

 

Life can be so simple sometimes when we try not to overcomplicate it. 

[thesetat]

Another B.S. OP. Where is the hotel scam? If Booking.com was in error for the booking then it is not a scam. As stated in the OP. 

[WhatMeWorry]

It seems like it always the British, do these people have a brain.

[garzhe]

32 minutes ago, animatic said:

17,000 + rental rooms

and this is the best he can do??

 

119,000 baht paid, twice, for long term rental??? And second rental takes all money and then says too much demand??? But holds on to money till forced to return???

Scams all about. Seems like Booking is not running too well. Or getting played by locals 

 

Read earlier posts. The hotel is available on Booking.com at 1000 baht per night, yet this Guy says he paid 229 baht per night. Something wrong with this story.

[Bangkok Barry]

There are so many inconsistencies and ridiculous sums being quoted that I don't believe a word of it.

[brianthainess]

31,000 THB a night, is the most expensive hotel on Samui and yet he payed 160,000thb a night. What a load of Bullocks. Stop wasting my time AN and get your facts right ! 

[Balance]

3 hours ago, petermik said:

13,000 baht for a 59 night stay....that should have raised a red flag from the start

My takeaway: I'll never do business with Booking.com again

[CygnusX1]

Great photograph of Koh Samui. Never considered going there before, but I might now.

[garzhe]

2 minutes ago, Balance said:

My takeaway: I'll never do business with Booking.com again

Nothing wrong with booking.com. The hotel exists and has a room price starting at 1000 baht per night. something wrong with this story, says he booked 59 nights for 13,000 baht

[Nick Carter icp]

31 minutes ago, thesetat said:

Another B.S. OP. Where is the hotel scam? If Booking.com was in error for the booking then it is not a scam. As stated in the OP. 

 

   Where was the error with booking.com ?

Seems like the guy booked a cheap long term room and then changed his mind when he got there and wanted a better room and then moved to a better room and wanted a refund .

[Photoguy21]

3 hours ago, Bday Prang said:

So from £282 for 2 months   it ballooned to £7000 spent in the first 2 days ?.  what a load of rubbish,   (or the guy really is a simpleton)

I would opt for the latter.

[Mr Dome]

Booking dot com has the worst customer service of all these sites, I have found. Trip I found to be the best, followed by Agoda.

 

If booking a new place, especially for so many nights, don't choose an unknown property with a low/no number of reviews. The price was also just too good to be true.

[sahibji]

Did not expect that from Booking.com but a good lesson to be aware of this site. I wonder how much reimbursement the victim got finally.

[Nick Carter icp]

2 minutes ago, sahibji said:

Did not expect that from Booking.com but a good lesson to be aware of this site. I wonder how much reimbursement the victim got finally.

 

   Another one who just seems to have read a few headline words and made his mind up about what happened .

   The headline is incorrect , the hotel does exist and the guy wasn't duped .

He booked a hotel and changed his mind when  he got there 

[ronster]

Utter lies !!!

So he pays 280 quid for 2 months stay somewhere, then pays 3 grand when can't stay at first place. Then after coughing up 3000 he is suddenly told to leave so goes and pay 3500 quid  🤣

Why would he suddenly decide to spend 3 grand when he originally spent 280 quid ? There is no shortage of rooms at all prices available in samui on various booking sites.

Why would the place he paid 3 grand too ask him to leave and not return his money after a few days ! 

La la land in his head 🙄🙈

[Nick Carter icp]

10 minutes ago, Mr Dome said:

 

 

If booking a new place, especially for so many nights, don't choose an unknown property with a low/no number of reviews. The price was also just too good to be true.

 

   There are 260 reviews of this hotel on booking.com and many are positive about the hotel , although its located in a noisy area

[Peterphuket]

It doesn't seem that difficult to me to hold booking dot com responsible.

 

[Peterphuket]

38 minutes ago, CygnusX1 said:

Great photograph of Koh Samui. Never considered going there before, but I might now.

It is nearly a second Phuket, think twice.

[Nick Carter icp]

31 minutes ago, ronster said:

Utter lies !!!

So he pays 280 quid for 2 months stay somewhere, then pays 3 grand when can't stay at first place. Then after coughing up 3000 he is suddenly told to leave so goes and pay 3500 quid  🤣

Why would he suddenly decide to spend 3 grand when he originally spent 280 quid ? There is no shortage of rooms at all prices available in samui on various booking sites.

Why would the place he paid 3 grand too ask him to leave and not return his money after a few days ! 

La la land in his head 🙄🙈

 

  He claims that his Brother booked the second  room and when he arrived at the hotel , the hotel was full and he couldn't stay and he wants the money paid back to him .

   Sounds like there's a scam there somewhere 

[Nick Carter icp]

4 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

It doesn't seem that difficult to me to hold booking dot com responsible.

 

 

   What are booking.com responsible for ?

[hotchilli]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

A British tourist, Glen Parke, has been ensnared in a huge hotel scam while on holiday in Thailand. Parke booked a 59-night stay at the apparent Lek Lek Residence on Koh Samui through Booking.com, paying £282 (around 13,000 baht).

Too good to be true.

[Peterphuket]

6 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   What are booking.com responsible for ?

You're right, I didn't read properly.

[Grumpy one]

4 hours ago, petermik said:

13,000 baht for a 59 night stay....that should have raised a red flag from the start

Classy place @ 220 baht per night, I'm sure the roaches like it

[scorecard]

4 hours ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

   Are those hotel prices for the night or for the 59 days ?

That is extraordinarily expensive for one night , but quite reasonable for 59 days .

Why did he have to have hotels again ?

Phuket?

[Nick Carter icp]

2 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Phuket?

 

  Wait, I will go and read the O.P and see where this story is located and get back to you

[Jonathan Swift]

4 hours ago, petermik said:

13,000 baht for a 59 night stay....that should have raised a red flag from the start

Booking dot com is owned by Booking Holdings Inc in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA, not far from the house I own and stay in the summer. I have sued them twice for refusing to refund airfare. The airfare was $165.00 US. To settle the lawsuit it cost them $1000.00 US. It was easy, I got a phone call from their negotiator whom I told I would be happy to drag all of them in front of a judge to explain themselves. Nah they didn't want to do that and spend $5,000.00 US on attorneys plus pay me. So, $1,000.00 it was. They also own priceline and agoda. back to court this year because agoda refused a refund after the airline (Thai) tried to cheat me on baggage and a guitar. I'll probably talk to the same guy as last year, whom I will tell to clean up his act or he will likely hear from me on a regular basis.