Hi, i recently booked 2 rooms X 3 night for my family trip to Phuket with agoda.com. The total amount i was billed is USD512.49 around RM1773.20 (X3.45). But when I recieved the statement for my credit card, I was charged USD554.64 around RM1913.51. So there is an extra charges of RM140+ which is about 8% different. I understand the currency excharge going up and down everyday, but I think RM140+ is a bit too much, so I email them regarding this issue, and here is their reply:


Thank you for your email.

Regarding to your inquiry, we charged in local amount, Please be aware that many banks charge fees for processing exchange conversions. These charges are typical in the industry and are often built into the exchange rate. We only select partner banks who agree to maintain competitive levels for these fees. For charges that are converted to your local currency by us before being processed by your Credit Card Company or local bank we use the mid-rate applicable on the date of the transaction. As most of the world's major currencies are valued against the U.S. Dollar, the mid-rate is a true indication of the current exchange rate.

If you would like us to recharge in USD then we will process full refund for the previous local amount accordingly. Would you kindly advise your acceptance by return. Thank you.

Should you need further assistance, please feel free to contact us at credit@agoda.com

Best Regards,

Titima Panjach
Credit Specialist

So is this a comment practice? I am not sure, since this is the first time i book oversea hotel through online. And they are offering me a "recharge in USD" which i don't fully understand how different would that be. So i really need some opinion here. RM140 aren't really breaking the bank, i just don't like being "con", if thats the case here. Anyone?

Thanks.

BTW, even with the extra RM140, they are still a lot cheaper than any other website i can find. The same hotel from Air Asia GoHoliday would be RM2400, and if i booked directly from the hotel it would be slitly cheaper than GoHoliday.

This post has been edited by tong1774: Jan 2 2009, 11:57 AM

My credit card statement din't show the USD, only in RM. I did the conversion myself by X3.45. So are you saying that it is actually quite reasonable?

Just check back their side, the same hotel now is even cheaper, which is weird seeing it is actually closer to the check in date.

The charge is last month. So if its 3.75, then the amount is about right. But 3.45 is the rate when i book the rooms.

Hmm weird, the online currency calculator give me 3.45+, guest its wrong then. My bad.

The transaction date listed on my statement is 13/12. Checked bank negara closest is RM3.5495.

This post has been edited by tong1774: Jan 1 2009, 10:42 PM

Ok then. I guest this is a comment practice if CC was charged at foreign currency. Thanks guys!

Actually my credit is MBF, well own by AmBank though... Ok i will change my title , but what should i change to? Any suggestion?

BTW they offer me a refund and recharge again. Not sure if the recharge will base on the room rate now or the new one which is 20% cheaper. If recharge at the old room rate than the different may be only RM30 to RM40 i think (Lazy to count), not worth the trouble of possible double charge. But if recharge at the new room rate, then the different can be RM200 to RM300 (again lazy to count).

I just worry they will be problem with the refund, that cause a double charge. Even though it may be solve at last, but the trouble i will go through is not worth for that RM30. Of course as i said, they recharge me with the new room rate. Email them this question, now wait for their reply. I last checked sawadee.com, its still slightly higher than agoda.com.

I found something very strange here. I booked my room at Sugar Palm Kata, and there is a new sister hotel in Karon about the same star rating. But the price is so much different between the 2 in agoda.com, compare to other side.


Sugar Palm Kata

http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/phuket/....html]agoda.com

http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/676319-booking.html]sawadee.com


agoda.com is 1,631 baht and sawadee.com is 2600 baht. So agoda is cheaper by 1031 baht.



Sugar palm Karon

http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/phuket/...ron_resort.html

http://www.sawadee.com/hotel/676374-booking.html

agoda.com is 4,998 baht and sawadee.com is 2350 baht. So agoda.com is more expensive by 2648 baht.


And this is directly from the hotel itself:

http://www.sugarpalmphuket.com/rate.html



So i think there is something wrong with the rate at agoda.com, the last time i checked with agoda.com the one in Karon is actually slightly cheaper then the one in Kata. And all the rate rate above is per day. Weird...

So the situation is like this:

1) If i ask them to recharge, every USD1.00 will be RM0.20+- cheaper. So USD500 will be RM100+- cheaper, but during the duration of 2 to 3 weeks, my card will be double charge.

2) If i cancel my booking, i need to pay USD15 as penalty, so 2 rooms is USD30, thats about RM100+-. But the new room rate will save me about RM300+-. So at the end i pay RM200+- less. But during this period of time i will be double charge also. So is RM200 worth all the trouble? It depends on each individual, for me i think i will just live with that. All i want is their clarification. Thants all. Hope this is a good guide line for those who want to book hotel online.

agoda.com is still one of the cheapest, but their respond can take 1 to 2 days. But so far they had been quite helpful in terms of my enquiries and requests, at least they always give me solutions. And my first vouchers from them bug me a bit as they only stated 3 adults in one of the room, but didn't state any extra bed and breakfast. I checked with the hotel and they said any extra bed will be charge, but problem is agoda.com already charge me for that. So i email them about this issue and they sent me a new vouncher, still no extra bed,, but this time they stated "The room is for 3 adults including breakfast". So i guest extra bed means no breakfast included. Blah...

This post has been edited by tong1774: Jan 2 2009, 02:16 PM

agoda.com is even cheaper than the hotel itself by 30%. Don't ask me why. But the hotel charge me for RM300 per night, but agoda.com give me RM200. I guest they have some kind of deal...

here is the rate from the hotel website:

http://www.sugarpalmphuket.com/rate.html

The rate on their website has gone up, but yet agoda.com rate has gone down. LOL

This post has been edited by tong1774: Jan 2 2009, 01:14 PM

I wonder how can they get such a low price, even cheaper than the hotel itself. Hmm...

I have a friend working as an agent, and she told me that even they cannot get such a low rate. Thats why she advise me to book with agoda.com. And the thing that piss me off is that, i consult a few travel agents regarding booking hotel in phuket during CNY period, all of them tell me that the rate are not updated yet, and i will have to wait. I just want to settle it ASAP so i book it myself.

If i book with the hotel directly i can do that. But booking with agent like agoda.com and sawadee.com require a full payment before hand. Well we cannot get best of both world don't we? LOL

But dealing directly with the hotel is the safest way to avoid any further problem, as dealing with third party may involve some mis-communication. Especailly in country in Thailand where majority cannot speak english. I have a few experiences in Thailand that problem cannot be solve due to communication.

If cancel before the deadline (Depends on hotel), they will charge you USD15, if after the deadline they will charge you minimum one night stay. They are ok, just that their respond can be some what slow. And some of its rate are weird, check my previous post then you know what i mean.

Ya, i agree with tishaban. Better to do some research before decide how you wan to book your hotel.

Today just check agoda.com again, same hotel now cost RM500+ a night!!!! http://www.agoda.com/asia/thailand/phuket/...alm_resort.html

Well since this is the last room that they have so i can understand, but just few days before this the room rate drop to RM165+, so their room rate actually going up and down like a roller coster. LOL...