| Name of Complainant | |
| Date of Complaint | December 16, 2022 |
| Name(s) of companies complained against | Agoda |
| Category of complaint | Internet Services |
| Permanent link of complaint | Right click to copy link |
| Share your complaint on social media for wider reach | |
      |
|
When on the homepage Agoda shows a price for an hotel room, one of course expects to pay that price, even if the payment is in another currency, but when, at the moment of payment, the price becomes around 10 times higher and suddenly is not more refundable, in contrast to what it is previously shown on Agoda’s site.
The first of October 2022 I wanted to reserve a room in Mexico City for 3 nights from the 25th to the 28th October 2022 at the 3 -stars hotel del Principado.
The price, as with other booking sites, was under 60 US dollars per night (files 02a, 02b and 02c), in Danish crowns (which I the currency og my card) 392 DKK, and fully refundable before the 7th of october (files 01).
When I paid (Booking ID 333559507), the price was charged in Philippine Pesos (probably because my last booking was made in the Philippines) and was PHP 14,338.17, which was around 250 US dollars and that was around 83 US dollars per night .
The price was therefore higher than the price shown on the homepage, which was ca. 45-50 US dollars per night.
This already shows that there was an issue with the currency conversion, Agoda cancelled the payment because of ‘system error’ . Then I paid again (Booking ID 333559271) and the booking was cancelled again. (files 03a, 03b, 04a, 04b ).
After that, I switched to Danish crowns (DKK), but right after I had paid (Booking ID 333560123) I realized that the amount was nearly 11.000 DKK, over 1.500 US dollars (500 per night), almost 10 times the real price! And now the amount was suddenly no more refundable (file 05a, 05b, 05 c).
I cancelled the booking with Agoda (file 06) and contacted the customer servicebut they said that the amount was not refundable and could not help me.
I have myself been at that hotel from the 25th to the 30 October, the hotel charged on the spot 70 US dollars per night.
Agoda pretends to be cheaper than other and even has a ‘Best Price Guarantee’ police es but then I was charged for the same room and on the same date around a price that was 10 times higher than the price which was shown on Agoda homepage
At my return I filed a complaint with Agoda customer service, but despite the evidence my request for refund was rejected by Agoda customer service and my bank in Denmark (Nordea bank) did’t want to help with that.
PS I could not upload all the files but documentation is availble
Image Uploaded by Giovanni Del Buon: