Agoda complaints procedure - Taking Things Further.

Jonothon

Hey all,

When I look for a place to stay on holiday or travelling, I don't go for the cheapest or the most expensive. As long as the bed, shower, toilet are fine and there's a place to charge my phone then I am happy. I hardly stay in any hotel/hostel room I stay except to sleep at night.

I booked a 3-night stay at a hotel in Keelung, Taiwan with Agoda. The room I had been given was a deathtrap. All but 1 plug socket was protruding from the walls, the toilet gushed out water when flushed, and there were holes in the wall. I obviously saw the socket problem when walking in, but there was one in tact. I knew I wasn't coming back to sleep until about 22:00. When I used the toilet before sleeping, I discovered the leak. I thought I'd tell the only staff member operating the hotel in the morning. From what I saw, the hotel was only staffed by one elderly Taiwanese woman who needed a stair lift to climb the first set of stairs of the hotel. I was on the fifth floor, so I'm unsure how she manages anything as there was no elevator in the building.

The last straw was that the room was infested with mosquitos. I found out about the mosquitos when I suffered an allergic reaction to their bites for the first ever time. I ended up with huge lumps on my head like some hideous ogre. I left the hotel at 4AM on the same first night. I drew the line at safety. This room was not safe for anyone to sleep in. I must have had the patience of a saint to last until 4AM to be honest, or I was being too nice to let things slide.

I contacted Agoda via live chat just before I left the hotel. I told them I will be checking out and booking accommodation elsewhere which I did. I left the hotel key on the vacant reception desk and left. I told Agoda I wanted the final two nights refunded based on the safety concerns of the room. I took pictures of the room and a video of the leaking toilet and, if applicable, the allergic reaction on my head.

I heard nothing from Agoda for 2-3 days except for some silly automated E-mail once a day explaining that the hotel hasn't responded to them which is really not my concern at all. I E-mailed them directly and they're trying to offer some ridiculous Agoda cash !!!!!! which has nothing at all to do refunding the money to my original payment method.

I have replied to them and demanded the refund within 5 working days, or I'll take the matter further. I've read some other posts on this forum about Agoda being a third party and not regulated, yet there must be a way to take things further. Their policies are not a law. At most it would be a binding contract at the time of purchase; but since the room I purchased is a health and safety issue, they would have in theory broken their own contract of failing to produce a room fit for purpose to their customers.

If anyone has managed to to go over Agoda's head, I would love to hear how you did it.

eskbanker

Jonothon said:

I have replied to them and demanded the refund within 5 working days, or I'll take the matter further. I've read some other posts on this forum about Agoda being a third party and not regulated, yet there must be a way to take things further. Their policies are not a law. At most it would be a binding contract at the time of purchase; but since the room I purchased is a health and safety issue, they would have in theory broken their own contract of failing to produce a room fit for purpose to their customers.

If anyone has managed to to go over Agoda's head, I would love to hear how you did it.

When making threats about taking things further, it's always best to have some idea of exactly what your next steps would be!

Your first port of call is obviously Agoda themselves, and in particular the contract you have with them - you'd need to ascertain the extent to which they're on the hook legally versus the model where they're introducing you to another party with whom to form the contract.  You'd also need to check the legal jurisdiction of the contract to determine what your rights will be.

You may have options with your card provider - a section 75 claim is perhaps unlikely if booking via an agent, but chargeback may still be viable.

Failing that, it would be court, in the absence of any supervisory authority in an unregulated business sector....

sheramber

Bearing in mind Agoda is registered in Singapore

Westin

Jonothon said:

I heard nothing from Agoda for 2-3 days except for some silly automated E-mail once a day explaining that the hotel hasn't responded to them which is really not my concern at all. I E-mailed them directly and they're trying to offer some ridiculous Agoda cash !!!!!! which has nothing at all to do refunding the money to my original payment method.

I have replied to them and demanded the refund within 5 working days, or I'll take the matter further. I've read some other posts on this forum about Agoda being a third party and not regulated, yet there must be a way to take things further. Their policies are not a law. At most it would be a binding contract at the time of purchase; but since the room I purchased is a health and safety issue, they would have in theory broken their own contract of failing to produce a room fit for purpose to their customers.

If anyone has managed to to go over Agoda's head, I would love to hear how you did it.

Not belittling the poor experience and quality of the hotel encounter, I do think you need to show more patience in seeking a resolution.

It is your concern, as with out the hotel engaging with Agoda, confirming your experience and agreeing to the two night refund you would like, Agoda will do little more (other than a few Agoda credits as a gesture of goodwill).  It could take a little time for emails to be exchanged and the person in authority at the hotel to respond. 

Demanding the refund within 5 working days, or taking the matter further, again a short time frame. You may have pressed the nuclear button a tad too early.  Many moons ago I worked for a company in customer services and as soon as legal action was threatened or initiated the whole file was just passed to the legal team and not worked on by customer services agents again.  Bit of a dead end road to go down unless the legal action was the backed up with follow up from a solicitor or legal claims firm. Threats have consequences. 

Will you follow through on your plan after 5-days and pay for a solicitor to issue proceedings to this Singapore based business? 

sheramber said:

Bearing in mind Agoda is registered in Singapore

…plus the likely cost of the 2 x nights at a 3* hotel in Keelung vs. Legal costs for recovery.



It sounds like you have a very valid complaint. I think you should however of taken out the perhaps unrealistic timeframes and threats from your correspondence and allowed Agoda to take the matter up with the lodging establishment.  You may have now put yourself in a bit of a corner.  I hope however Agoda do investigate and give you what you want as resolution.

Tempting as it may be I would also hold off putting any reviews on social media, or sites like Trip Advisor.  By all means a factual account once Agoda has had time to hopefully settle.  A negative and damming review now might mean the hotelier just closes the matter now without the resolution you desire.