Agoda - false info on their website leading to unexpected charge

SeaVixen

Hi all,
Before I start - I want to be clear that I'm aware that there are far bigger problems in the world right now, but I'm curious as to how you would all proceed in this instance.

I booked a hotel in Finland through Agoda.com. It needed a card to hold the booking, but was free cancellation until the week before arrival, and pay at the hotel.  OH and I couldn't remember which of our credit cards didn't charge for foreign currency transactions, but reasoned that we can check before getting to the hotel, and pay with the correct one there. 
Since then, I have been charged the full amount of the hotel, and a £16 foreign currency transaction fee. I've cancelled the hotel (was due to travel in May, haven't received the refund yet but it's only been a couple of days), but obviously still have to pay this unexpected fee.

I raised this with Agoda customer services, and was told: "Pay at hotel booking means that property is the one who collected this booking. In this kind of booking, hotel can charge the amount at anytime, whether it's on the day of your check in or before your arrival at the property."

While this suggests a questionable grasp of the English language, Agoda's own website contradicts this by saying: "Pay at the hotel: In such cases we will not charge your card. You will be required to pay the hotel directly upon check-out and the hotels own cancellation policy will apply." 
I've quoted this to the customer services team, and asked for a £16 voucher to re-book with them in future.They replied to say that they can't issue vouchers due to a system limitation, and reiterate the point that "pay at hotel" does not mean that you actually pay at the hotel, without acknowledging that their website says otherwise. 

Has anyone ever encountered this meaning of "pay at hotel" before? Can my bank do anything about this? Is there anyone I could tell to make them correct the information they have on their website? Any other ideas?

I'm fortunate enough that a £16 unexpected charge isn't going to have a big impact on me, so I don't want to put unnecessary pressure on the staff at Agoda or my bank who are no doubt working overtime right now. However, others might be more impacted by an unexpected fee, and it sounds like Agoda aren't going to make their wording clearer any time soon! 
Thanks! 

Alan_Bowen

Agoda is based in Singapore, a rather strange choice to book a hotel in Finland from the UK. UK definitions of what paying at the hotel may mean appear to be different but if it was the hotel that debited the card, then it really is the hotel you should be complaining to not Agoda who did nothing other than pass your details onto the hotel

SeaVixen

Alan_Bowen said:

Agoda is based in Singapore, a rather strange choice to book a hotel in Finland from the UK. UK definitions of what paying at the hotel may mean appear to be different but if it was the hotel that debited the card, then it really is the hotel you should be complaining to not Agoda who did nothing other than pass your details onto the hotel

Thanks Alan. I've also emailed the hotel and had no reply yet.
Agoda was the cheapest choice for this hotel/these dates when looking at Trivago. Not sure why that would be an odd choice...
I do understand your point around how it may translate differently, but given the Agoda website clearly says that pay at hotel means I will pay the hotel directly upon check-out, I don't see how Agoda could use that as a basis for defence. 

Westin

Whilst your expectation generally holds true I have also seen hotels indicate on their information pay that they may charge the card on file prior to arrival.  Which hotel was this for?

SeaVixen

Westin said:

Whilst your expectation generally holds true I have also seen hotels indicate on their information pay that they may charge the card on file prior to arrival.  Which hotel was this for?

Yes, I've seen that a few times as well Westin, so it's something I generally look out for.
It was for this hotel, though the page has changed since I booked. If you try to make a booking, where it now says "Pay Agoda Now" it definitely said "Pay at Hotel". I still can't see anything that suggests the hotel would take payment beforehand, though if you now pay up front, that explanation would be unnecessary. 

We booked this very recently (we were waiting to see if our flights were cancelled, and the free cancellation period on our first hotel was about to run out, so we cancelled that and booked this one) - and my OH was there with me and remembers the CC discussion, so I know we're not mis-remembering. 

Westin

Thanks for posting the hotel info.

I also can see no additional terms or conditions set by the hotel regarding a payment being taken against a "Book Now, Pay Later" reservation.   I would expect to see any such condition on the hotel description page under Property Policies.   This can often be missed by people but I would agree that it seems to be missing for this hotel.   To further support your claim, when I attempted to do a dummy booking I also had the pop-up box tell me "Book Now and Pay at the Hotel when you check in".  Again nothing to suggest at this point an advance charge.

In Agoda.com's favour are the general booking terms and conditions which do make some reference to a pre-authorsation charge to check for fraudulent card use.  See section 5 of  https://www.agoda.com/en-gb/info/termsofuse.html and specifically -  
 "some Accommodations may pre-authorize your card, charge a deposit or charge the full price of the reservation up-front. Accommodations may require credit card details in order to guarantee your reservation. As such, Agoda will send your Payment Instrument information directly to the Accommodation at which your booking is made and may verify (i.e. pre-authorize) your Payment Instrument as well.

This indicates that a hotel could make a charge or pre-authorisation up to the full amount prior to arrival.

Whilst in the T&C I do feel it could be more clearly highlighted on the property page and during the booking flow. especially when they have a contradictory message referencing "pay at the hotel when you check in". 

I would be tempted to take some screen shots and flag up the misleading information and challenge Agoda again.

Good luck.

SeaVixen

Thanks Westin!
It's worth noting that the T&Cs refer to "book now pay later" and "pay at hotel" as separate types of booking. What you've quoted appears in the "book now pay later" section, but not in reference to "pay at hotel" bookings. Combine this with the page on their website saying "Pay at the hotel: In such cases we will not charge your card. You will be required to pay the hotel directly upon check-out and the hotels own cancellation policy will apply."  and you're very right - it's incredibly misleading. 

Yesterday Agoda asked for a copy of my bank statement as proof of the money being taken from my account. This morning received a reply to say that I had cancelled my hotel booking and a refund will be with me in 10 days. I asked if this would include a refund of the non-sterling transaction fee, they replied to say that they would let me know. 

I've taken screenshots as you've suggested, Westin. Wish I'd done it on the day of booking as well now! That'll teach me! 

Many thanks!

Westin

No problem and well done.
I wouldn't hold hope on the sterling transaction fees but at at least it seems a refund of the disputed amount is forthcoming. 

SeaVixen

Update if anyone is interested - they've conceded that the hotel shouldn't have taken the funds out of my account, so are also refunding me the non-sterling transaction fee. However, the exchange rate has changed massively, so I'm still £14 down. 

I've raised this with them, and they've said they are unable to absorb differences in the exchange rate. I've pointed out that they have currently absorbed the difference in that it's a profit to them. I'm sure across the board it probably balances out for them, as they will lose money in some instances. However, as the funds should not have left my account in the first place, I'm still a bit miffed that I have to absorb this cost as a result of their mistake. 

Westin

I think you will find it is the bank that makes the non-sterling transaction fee charge rather than a charge made by and benefiting the merchant. 

Glad you received the stay refund and thanks for updating the thread. It may benefit others who find themselves in a similar position in the future.