My mother is set to attend a convention in Tagbilaran, Bohol in April so she asked me to book rooms for her and her friends right away as Bohol is a popular destination for domestic and foreign travelers around this time.
So I went to booking.com right away as it is my go-to booking website since it's proven itself reliable for years- no fees, and no fine print B.S. The only problem with it is that it doesn't feature as many hotels as, say, agoda.com.
So I went onto Agoda since my mom wanted me to book a room at Metrocentre Hotel, a hotel I didn't find on booking.com, because of the location. I booked 3 double rooms for her and her friends. It clearly stated that i could "book now and pay nothing until April 15, 2014". So I did, and lo and behold, a few minutes after booking, my mom received a text message from Standard Chartered saying the amount of P19,874.69 ($429) was billed to her account.
Naturally, this infuriated me and my mom, not because she never intended to pay, but because of Agoda's blatant dishonesty. Also, my mom was not even sure if her friends could actually go with her. We booked the rooms, thinking we wouldn't be charged if we were to cancel the booking.
She immediately called Standard Chartered to cancel the transaction. It turns out it's not that easy to do it over the phone. My mom ended up cancelling her credit card altogether. I also cancelled the hotel booking, after making sure that my mom would not be charged a dime.
From now on I will just stick with booking.com. i have never had a problem with them, and I always manage to find great deals on their website.
Question- What does "book now and pay nothing until April 15, 2014" mean to you, Agoda people?
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ReplyDeleteI thought I did. Sige i share ko.
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