Agoda Bookings

[drum]

just booked a hotel using agoda website,,room advertised £240,,has per ad last room avalible at special price,,£44 per night,,booked it paid it,,arrived at the hotel,and found out they have no rooms at this price£240 never have,just paid the going rate has per hotel set £44 pernight,,including breakfast, misleading or out and out scam,,

[ukrules]

What hotel and where ?

[drum]

What hotel and where ?

patong thai,hotel horizon,,not a bad hotel,no complaints about the room staff or food,very good hotel,,for the money,,

[cardholder]

Even on the hotel's own website the most expensive room is quoted at 5,000 Baht.

Agoda are advertising a family room at £222 (although there is also a 'flash deal' at £100) - hotel website 4,100 Baht.

[drum]

Even on the hotel's own website the most expensive room is quoted at 5,000 Baht.

Agoda are advertising a family room at £222 (although there is also a 'flash deal' at £100) - hotel website 4,100 Baht.

maybe right price for this time of year,most flights and hotels double this time of year,i booked in september this year,,so is agoda misleading the price, the room i booked as per agoda was pool side room,when on checking in,no such room,but i showed reception agoda's ad and she did offer to give me pool side room when one came free, again no fault with hotel just misleading ad by agoda,

[cardholder]

Even on the hotel's own website the most expensive room is quoted at 5,000 Baht.

Agoda are advertising a family room at £222 (although there is also a 'flash deal' at £100) - hotel website 4,100 Baht.

maybe right price for this time of year,most flights and hotels double this time of year,i booked in september this year,,so is agoda misleading the price, the room i booked as per agoda was pool side room,when on checking in,no such room,but i showed reception agoda's ad and she did offer to give me pool side room when one came free, again no fault with hotel just misleading ad by agoda,

I don't see how the lack of poolside room is down to Agoda - surely the hotel were at fault for not supplying what had been booked.

[bkkjames]

I looked at a rate for HI in pattaya for this week. When I looked it said 2,400 baht then when I clicked buy there was 1,600 in taxes and services charges-<deleted>?

Perhaps just a pricing error.

[drum]

Even on the hotel's own website the most expensive room is quoted at 5,000 Baht.

Agoda are advertising a family room at £222 (although there is also a 'flash deal' at £100) - hotel website 4,100 Baht.

maybe right price for this time of year,most flights and hotels double this time of year,i booked in september this year,,so is agoda misleading the price, the room i booked as per agoda was pool side room,when on checking in,no such room,but i showed reception agoda's ad and she did offer to give me pool side room when one came free, again no fault with hotel just misleading ad by agoda,

I don't see how the lack of poolside room is down to Agoda - surely the hotel were at fault for not supplying what had been booked.

how is the hotel at fault,agoda where offering the room and price,,nothing to do with the hotel ,i viewed and booked and paid agoda,they offered the pool side room at there special price,im not out of pocket,im not complaining about the cost,or the hotel,,i just feel agoda placed a misleading ad,

[cardholder]

Even on the hotel's own website the most expensive room is quoted at 5,000 Baht.

Agoda are advertising a family room at £222 (although there is also a 'flash deal' at £100) - hotel website 4,100 Baht.

maybe right price for this time of year,most flights and hotels double this time of year,i booked in september this year,,so is agoda misleading the price, the room i booked as per agoda was pool side room,when on checking in,no such room,but i showed reception agoda's ad and she did offer to give me pool side room when one came free, again no fault with hotel just misleading ad by agoda,

I don't see how the lack of poolside room is down to Agoda - surely the hotel were at fault for not supplying what had been booked.

how is the hotel at fault,agoda where offering the room and price,,nothing to do with the hotel ,i viewed and booked and paid agoda,they offered the pool side room at there special price,im not out of pocket,im not complaining about the cost,or the hotel,,i just feel agoda placed a misleading ad,

Agoda are agents for the hotel.

On behalf of the hotel Agoda sold you a poolside room, the hotel failed to deliver - fault of the hotel. The hotel are the principals not Agoda.

Simple. Surely ?

[MrHammer]

Common thing on all booking sites, they do this on Hotels.com and other sites as well. Still cheaper most of the time.

[steve down under]

I too have had experience of Agoda and prices way different to those offered on a hotel website though this was for hotels in Bali an example was a new hotel in Legian advertised on Agoda at just over AU$ 400 per night yet on the hotels website their price for the same room and same dates was just AU$ 50 per night somewhat of a discrepency needless to say I didnt book that particular hotel with agoda

[simon43]

Cardholder is correct.

The hotel has a contract with Agoda to sell their rooms at a rate and availability that the hotel determines, not Agoda.

The hotel is solely responsible for keeping room rates and room availabilities updated on the Agoda web site - either by manually logging into Agoda's admin web-site and setting these details, or by automatic updating of these rates/availability using a Channel Manager.

The hotel is contracted with Agoda to supply the room that the customer has purchased from Agoda. If the room is not available, then the hotel is contracted to find a similar standard of room at the same rate, either at that hotel or at another hotel - and any expenses incurred to obtain that room is the responsibility of the hotel, not the guest.

If the hotel fails to provide the room, then complain to Agoda and you will obtain a refund from the revenue that Agoda pays to the hotel each month - and that hotel may well be removed from the Agoda web site.

I've worked with Agoda for many years, (as a hotel), and their contract is very clear. It's up to the hotel to make good on what they offer via the Agoda (or other travel agent) web site.

Simon

PS - If a hotel room rate on Agoda (or other online booking web site) is different in price from the hotel web site, then it's because the hotel has chosen to sell at this higher price on Agoda.

Blame the hotel, not the online agents. The hotel sets the price, not the agents.

Edited December 13, 2011 by simon43

[gkinbkk]

Simon is right.

I don't see why you didn't call or email Agoda and give them a chance to put things right. The customer service is very good and they have clear processes to deal with incidents such as this.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

It's common, but the OP does have a point. Consider the following, true recent account:

- A Thai acquaintance opens a bed & breakfast with her husband. Really nice place. Doing well. The room rate is 990 Baht for a nice, new aircon room, flat screen TV, good bathroom, WiFi and a basic breakfast. Old City Chiang Mai.

- They decide to market it on the hotel booking sites as well, so they sign up with Agoda.

- Agoda now grabs a new 'standard rate' out of thin air: 2700 Baht ! They never had that rate in their life; place is only open a couple months.

- Agoda's price is 1011 Baht. 'Only two rooms left!' they add. (This is not true, it's just that it's the last one left for booking on Agoda.) After they add their VAT and whatever else it becomes 1189.91 Baht. "The room is available. We can only hold the room for the next 20 minutes!" they add. (Again referring to those 2 rooms they manage themselves, not what's actually available, and it's not like they actually hold it within the hotel's system either.)

- Meannwhile, the same room when booked direct on the hotel's site is still 990 baht.

Don't get me wrong, Agoda is a good site with some good deals, but especially in the lower range, it pays to keep your eyes open a little and not get caught up in their spiel too much.

Edited December 13, 2011 by WinnieTheKhwai

[drum]

It's common, but the OP does have a point. Consider the following, true recent account:

- A Thai acquaintance opens a bed & breakfast with her husband. Really nice place. Doing well. The room rate is 990 Baht for a nice, new aircon room, flat screen TV, good bathroom, WiFi and a basic breakfast. Old City Chiang Mai.

- They decide to market it on the hotel booking sites as well, so they sign up with Agoda.

- Agoda now grabs a new 'standard rate' out of thin air: 2700 Baht ! They never had that rate in their life; place is only open a couple months.

- Agoda's price is 1011 Baht. 'Only two rooms left!' they add. (This is not true, it's just that it's the last one left for booking on Agoda.) After they add their VAT and whatever else it becomes 1189.91 Baht. "The room is available. We can only hold the room for the next 20 minutes!" they add. (Again referring to those 2 rooms they manage themselves, not what's actually available, and it's not like they actually hold it within the hotel's system either.)

- Meannwhile, the same room when booked direct on the hotel's site is still 990 baht.

Don't get me wrong, Agoda is a good site with some good deals, but especially in the lower range, it pays to keep your eyes open a little and not get caught up in their spiel too much.

i also did take it up with said hotel reception,and they had no idea where agoda got there price from,has for the room,put it down to over booking or agoda or hotel not keeping upto date with each other ,has for the price and yes agoda can only hold this last room at discount for 20 minutes,a little misleading,but again the hotel where willing to honour my booking thru agaoda with pool side room when one came free,which it did 7 days in to my stay,couldn;t be arsed to move by then,,

[simon43]

Just to explain again, Agoda does not control the room rate, room availability, room description, standard rate or whatever. It is all managed by the hotel by logging into the Agoda admin web site and setting the correct values (eg number of available rooms), or desired values (eg room rate).

When a hotel signs up to be listed on the Agoda web site, or that of another online agent, such as Booking dot com or Wotif dot com, they agree to 'the rules of the game'/contract, which states that the hotel (and only the hotel) is responsible for keeping their listing details up to date on the booking web site. If they fail to update room availability/rates, and an overbooking occurs or a room is sold at a cheaper rate than the hotel now wants, (eg due to change from low to high season), then the hotel must honour that booking, (because they offered the room at that rate, not Agoda).

If a hotel cannot be bothered to efficiently manage their listing on Agoda, then that is their problem, not Agoda's and certainly not the guest who has booked the room that was offered.

In the example quoted by WinnietheKhwai, Agoda has to charge VAT, so the final room rate price is going to be higher than the hotel's direct rate. If that hotel wants to offer an identical price, then they can adjust their net rate on the Agoda admin web-site accordingly.

Agoda is correct to highlight the number of rooms left for booking on their web site. Also, they cannot hold the booking for an extended period - other people may want to book the room.

By the way, I'm defending Agoda because I have managed hotels in Thailand for 6 years and I use companies such as Agoda, Booking, Wotif etc etc to sell my rooms on the internet, at no upfront cost to me, (I only pay a commission to the booking company when a room is booked).

I recognise that I have made a contract with the booking company, and that I must adhere to the conditions of this contract. what I hear about (on many occasions), is the hotel trying to avoid it's responsibilities to the guest who has made a booking on the travel web site in good faith.

In these circumstances, the only party that is responsible for sorting out a solution is the hotel - and the person who booked the room should stick to their guns and insist that they are provided with a room of similar standard, either in the hotel or at a nearby hotel - and at no extra cost to them.

Sorry to ranting, but I'm tired of hotels who give the hotel industry a bad name by failing to meet the responsibilities that they agreed to when signing up with Agoda etc.

Simon

[Wallaby]

About a year ago I booked a room at a hotel with Agoda for 4 days. Being the ting tong I was meant to book it for 5 days.

When I got to the hotel I told them of my error and the price for the extra night was quite high. I told them I can get it cheaper through Agoda and they said that they can't give the same price as they have on Agoda. Huh? It's your hotel and you can't match what you say the room is on Agoda?

Anyway, they allowed me to use their computer to book the extra night through Agoda at the cheaper rate.

I had no issue with the service at all, just found it all very strange that the hotel itself couldn't give me the same rate as Agoda. Seemed a round about way to book the room but you get that.

[PattayaParent]

It's common, but the OP does have a point. Consider the following, true recent account:

- A Thai acquaintance opens a bed & breakfast with her husband. Really nice place. Doing well. The room rate is 990 Baht for a nice, new aircon room, flat screen TV, good bathroom, WiFi and a basic breakfast. Old City Chiang Mai.

- They decide to market it on the hotel booking sites as well, so they sign up with Agoda.

- Agoda now grabs a new 'standard rate' out of thin air: 2700 Baht ! They never had that rate in their life; place is only open a couple months.

- Agoda's price is 1011 Baht. 'Only two rooms left!' they add. (This is not true, it's just that it's the last one left for booking on Agoda.) After they add their VAT and whatever else it becomes 1189.91 Baht. "The room is available. We can only hold the room for the next 20 minutes!" they add. (Again referring to those 2 rooms they manage themselves, not what's actually available, and it's not like they actually hold it within the hotel's system either.)

- Meannwhile, the same room when booked direct on the hotel's site is still 990 baht.

Don't get me wrong, Agoda is a good site with some good deals, but especially in the lower range, it pays to keep your eyes open a little and not get caught up in their spiel too much.

So what you're saying is that Agoda operate in exactly the same way as every other online booking agent.

That's really shocking to hear!

[sbk]

Guess its easier to blame and not read a perfectly reasonable and accurate explanation from a seasoned hotelier. So, I will reiterate, as an Agoda user. The HOTEL sets the rates and the availability. NOT AGODA.

If the rate is incorrect or the room unavailable its because the HOTEL failed to do it accurately.

Maybe that makes it a bit clearer?? or perhaps not, and its just easier to skip over the correct explanation.

[Rooo]

Funny that, I always walk in with the signed booking form stating exactly what I booked & I get what I paid for. To get that form, it must be first confirmed to Agoda via the hotel in question.If you have a problem at check In , Agoda provide you a number to call.

I think the OP had the wool pulled over his eyes lmao.

[andrew55]

Just to explain again, Agoda does not control the room rate, room availability, room description, standard rate or whatever. It is all managed by the hotel by logging into the Agoda admin web site and setting the correct values (eg number of available rooms), or desired values (eg room rate).

When a hotel signs up to be listed on the Agoda web site, or that of another online agent, such as Booking dot com or Wotif dot com, they agree to 'the rules of the game'/contract, which states that the hotel (and only the hotel) is responsible for keeping their listing details up to date on the booking web site. If they fail to update room availability/rates, and an overbooking occurs or a room is sold at a cheaper rate than the hotel now wants, (eg due to change from low to high season), then the hotel must honour that booking, (because they offered the room at that rate, not Agoda).

If a hotel cannot be bothered to efficiently manage their listing on Agoda, then that is their problem, not Agoda's and certainly not the guest who has booked the room that was offered.

In the example quoted by WinnietheKhwai, Agoda has to charge VAT, so the final room rate price is going to be higher than the hotel's direct rate. If that hotel wants to offer an identical price, then they can adjust their net rate on the Agoda admin web-site accordingly.

Agoda is correct to highlight the number of rooms left for booking on their web site. Also, they cannot hold the booking for an extended period - other people may want to book the room.

By the way, I'm defending Agoda because I have managed hotels in Thailand for 6 years and I use companies such as Agoda, Booking, Wotif etc etc to sell my rooms on the internet, at no upfront cost to me, (I only pay a commission to the booking company when a room is booked).

I recognise that I have made a contract with the booking company, and that I must adhere to the conditions of this contract. what I hear about (on many occasions), is the hotel trying to avoid it's responsibilities to the guest who has made a booking on the travel web site in good faith.

In these circumstances, the only party that is responsible for sorting out a solution is the hotel - and the person who booked the room should stick to their guns and insist that they are provided with a room of similar standard, either in the hotel or at a nearby hotel - and at no extra cost to them.

Sorry to ranting, but I'm tired of hotels who give the hotel industry a bad name by failing to meet the responsibilities that they agreed to when signing up with Agoda etc.

Simon

Appreciate Simon's industry experience and all he has stated sounds reasonable.

Didn't really address Winnie's example in Chiang Mai. VAT was only one thing. How did that happen?

[PattayaParent]

Guess its easier to blame and not read a perfectly reasonable and accurate explanation from a seasoned hotelier. So, I will reiterate, as an Agoda user. The HOTEL sets the rates and the availability. NOT AGODA.

If the rate is incorrect or the room unavailable its because the HOTEL failed to do it accurately.

Maybe that makes it a bit clearer?? or perhaps not, and its just easier to skip over the correct explanation.

This always happens on Agoda and Air Asia threads.

[cardholder]

Guess its easier to blame and not read a perfectly reasonable and accurate explanation from a seasoned hotelier. So, I will reiterate, as an Agoda user. The HOTEL sets the rates and the availability. NOT AGODA.

If the rate is incorrect or the room unavailable its because the HOTEL failed to do it accurately.

Maybe that makes it a bit clearer?? or perhaps not, and its just easier to skip over the correct explanation.

There are none so blind as those who will not see

[nattergal]

look at this. it might be interesting in order to get it even cheaper.

http://asien-info.dk/

[siam2007]

look at this. it might be interesting in order to get it even cheaper.

http://asien-info.dk/

ah, another case of self-promotion by a dormant member ;-)

BTW:

years ago, the rooms - as well at agoda's website - came INCLUDING ALL COSTS AND CHARGES.

agoda was the first one to EXCLUDE the charges so they appeared to be the cheapest always.

since then, many other booking systems (such as latestays.com which I used a lot in earlier years) followed suit, because otherwise people would think they are more expensive.

The only websites that do include charges are the very reputable non-nonsense WOTIF (though with a rather limited choice of hotels in many locations), asiarooms/laterooms (not exactly a reputable company years ago, but they have been taken over by TUI U.K. couple of years ago and are now okay) and Hotelclub/ratestogo.

AGODA is certainly SMART, but they always try to find new ways to release you from more money than necessary.

They recently started another thing that I would call a RIP-OFF: Before, they would ask you on the "make your payment" - page, if you would want to pay in your home currency, or in the hotels currency (which would be BAHt in case of Thailand). If you decided to choose your home currency, this meant you would pay a premium of around 3% extra commission, as the exchange rate would be 3%+ the original bank rates.

NOW since lately, they don't even ASK you anymore (not sure if this is actually legal). They just charge you, let's say for example, 3.500 Baht, and then when you finalize the purchase, they will tell you: " the amount charged is XX Euro, XX Dollars" or whatever the original currency of your card is.

so you are being charged 3% extra without a choice to avoid that ! In case your booking is, for example, worth 300 Euro, that makes no less than 9 Euro extra for agoda ! Lovely, innit ?

BUT YOU CAN AVOID THE RIP-OFF !

Here is how:

When they ask you to fill in your credit card details, do not fill your home country in the form "COUNTRY OF ISSUING BANK". instead, fill - in that example - THAILAND (or if you want to book a room in Malaysia, fill "Malaysia" a.so.). Then they will use the REGULAR BANK EXCHANGE RATE, and do not add the 3% hidden commission !

I made the test when booking 4 nights at a hotel just now in December 2011.

the first 2 nights I booked using my home country as "Country of Issuing Bank" (Euro zone), and the other 2 nights I used "Thailand" as "country of issuing Bank".

both payment were confirmed, but in the end, one "final amount" was confirmed at 51.70 € (when I used "Thailand"), whereas in the other case it was about 53.25 € (when I filled in my cards real issuing country).

just be smarter than the RIP-OFFers ;-)

Edited December 20, 2011 by siam2007

[Jiu-Jitsu]

look at this. it might be interesting in order to get it even cheaper.

http://asien-info.dk/

ah, another case of self-promotion by a dormant member ;-)

BTW:

years ago, the rooms - as well at agoda's website - came INCLUDING ALL COSTS AND CHARGES.

agoda was the first one to EXCLUDE the charges so they appeared to be the cheapest always.

since then, many other booking systems (such as latestays.com which I used a lot in earlier years) followed suit, because otherwise people would think they are more expensive.

The only websites that do include charges are the very reputable non-nonsense WOTIF (though with a rather limited choice of hotels in many locations), asiarooms/laterooms (not exactly a reputable company years ago, but they have been taken over by TUI U.K. couple of years ago and are now okay) and Hotelclub/ratestogo.

SNIP

There is also AtSiam

Edited December 21, 2011 by Jiu-Jitsu

[cardholder]

I find At Siam very good.

The website is a bit old-fashioned and 'lumpy' but prices are usually pretty good.

[PattayaParent]

You could use HotelsCombined which will give you the websites all inclusive prices.

[Forethat]

Just to explain again, Agoda does not control the room rate, room availability, room description, standard rate or whatever. It is all managed by the hotel by logging into the Agoda admin web site and setting the correct values (eg number of available rooms), or desired values (eg room rate).

When a hotel signs up to be listed on the Agoda web site, or that of another online agent, such as Booking dot com or Wotif dot com, they agree to 'the rules of the game'/contract, which states that the hotel (and only the hotel) is responsible for keeping their listing details up to date on the booking web site. If they fail to update room availability/rates, and an overbooking occurs or a room is sold at a cheaper rate than the hotel now wants, (eg due to change from low to high season), then the hotel must honour that booking, (because they offered the room at that rate, not Agoda).

If a hotel cannot be bothered to efficiently manage their listing on Agoda, then that is their problem, not Agoda's and certainly not the guest who has booked the room that was offered.

In the example quoted by WinnietheKhwai, Agoda has to charge VAT, so the final room rate price is going to be higher than the hotel's direct rate. If that hotel wants to offer an identical price, then they can adjust their net rate on the Agoda admin web-site accordingly.

Agoda is correct to highlight the number of rooms left for booking on their web site. Also, they cannot hold the booking for an extended period - other people may want to book the room.

By the way, I'm defending Agoda because I have managed hotels in Thailand for 6 years and I use companies such as Agoda, Booking, Wotif etc etc to sell my rooms on the internet, at no upfront cost to me, (I only pay a commission to the booking company when a room is booked).

I recognise that I have made a contract with the booking company, and that I must adhere to the conditions of this contract. what I hear about (on many occasions), is the hotel trying to avoid it's responsibilities to the guest who has made a booking on the travel web site in good faith.

In these circumstances, the only party that is responsible for sorting out a solution is the hotel - and the person who booked the room should stick to their guns and insist that they are provided with a room of similar standard, either in the hotel or at a nearby hotel - and at no extra cost to them.

Sorry to ranting, but I'm tired of hotels who give the hotel industry a bad name by failing to meet the responsibilities that they agreed to when signing up with Agoda etc.

Simon

You are correct in most of this. However, the process is somewhat different than you describe, especially up to the point where the customer makes the booking. When he does, the hotel must confirm the booking, and it is at this point that some hotels back out of deals - especially the ones that doesn't update the agoda admin site to reflect the available rooms.

If they send out a confirmation you should be in the clear, the hotel must honor the booking. If they dont, then you dont have a booking at all (and no voucher).

[NanLaew]

I was staying for 5 nights at a Singapore hotel, booked through agoda. My plans changed and I needed to stay an extra 3 nights. I asked at reception and they said sorry, they were full. I checked the hotels own booking website and it confirmed that nada was available. I fired up agoda to find another hotel but noted that the hotel I was in was still listing availability. I asked the front desk and they said go ahead and book with agoda and they will honour it, so I did. As it happens, they upgraded me to a suite at no cost for my extra stay. These suites were not listed on their agoda page btw. So win-win for me, agoda and exemplary customer service from a hotel that now is ensured of my return.... if they aren't full that is!

I reckon the OP was played by the Phuket hotel and agoda really do have excellent customer service so let them know what happened. I once booked a room in Pattaya via agoda where on early morning checkout, the hotel insisted that i needed to pay them. It was a new hotel and the staff were a tad clueless and since i had a flight in 3 hours, didn't need to bugger about so paid with my credit card. After my flight, I logged onto my agoda account and told them i had been double charged. They emailed back within the hour requesting a copy of the charge which I sent. A few hours later, agoda emailed an apology and said a credit was being posted and indeed, it appeared the following week.

I also had a new Phuket hotel front desk try and charge me on checkout on an agoda booking but luckily I managed to get the ear of a manager who explained to the bemused staff how agoda bookings work.