28/09/2018 UPDATE:
Thanks to mojo86 we found out that Agoda will definitely charge extra for all "Book Now, Pay Later" bookings regardless of forex movement. It is stated clearly in their "Terms of Use"


Screenshot of Terms of Use



Not sure how many are aware and already using this "feature" of Agoda - Book Now, Pay Later.
I'm describing my recent experience which involves booking hotels in Japan and Thailand via Agoda.
Made my booking around Aug/Sept last year, picked the "Book Now, Pay Later" option, understood that it will be charged according to the latest exchange rate during date of payment.

In both cases, the payment charged via "Book Now, Pay Later" ended up 5-10% more expensive than the price quoted during time of booking even though MYR has been recovering recently. What I'm seeing is, Agoda is taking advantage of this to overcharge customers who book for hotels in different currency. Hence the problem lies in the currency exchange rate being applied to your payment. So far no issues with local/domestic hotels.

When I first encountered this, the time period between my travel date and booking date is about 2 weeks, but I was charged an additional 7%. How is it possible that the currency can fluctuate so much in 2 weeks. Made a complain to customer service and was refunded the difference immediately.
Then the same thing happened again, I was overcharged again. This time booking period was made few months earlier, and we also know that MYR has been recovering in recent weeks but I was charged an additional 6% - complain in progress If you read my later post, my first complain was ignored, which I followed up with a second long email. The team has decided to refund the price difference "as a gesture of goodwill".

All I'm saying is, if you're sure you're gonna book that hotel, you're better off paying it immediately at time of booking. Regardless of your currency strengthening or weakening, you'll always end up paying at least 5-10% more than what was quoted during time of booking.

If you end up in the same situation with me, don't hesitate to raise a complain to their CS. They can be helpful at times depending on who is handling your complains. Worse come to worst, if your booking has free cancellation, please go ahead and cancel it then re-book (assuming rooms are still available). Just don't fall for such currency exchange rate scams.

Apparently, I'm not alone in this case, see 8th and 9th comment in the thread - https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/ShowTopic-g2...ersekutuan.html

Additional info from other users - https://www.mybeautycravings.com/paying-mor...goda-pay-later/



To add on to my PSA: If you're using cashback for Agoda, somehow your hotel daily rates will be higher. Guess who's paying for your cashback?

This post has been edited by evilhomura89: Sep 28 2018, 10:07 PM

So I believed the "scammer" is the hotel and not Agoda then?

The "scammer" here is Agoda
Agoda is the one collecting and processing all the payment that is done through their website

For some reason, Agoda is "willing" to refund the difference is because they have know clearly that they're scamming their customers?



This post has been edited by evilhomura89: Feb 23 2018, 03:07 PM

Dang. I experienced this with Booking.com as well. No wonder it feels like the rate kept going up.

Now, what if I pay cash to the establishment in their currency when I check-in and not via CC? Then the rate will stay the same as quoted right?

Eg. For my hotel in Japan, the rate in yen I saw was 10,000yen per night and this is stated on Booking.com's site when I proceed to the check-out section. I chose the option of "Pay later" to pay when I check-in. So even if the MYR rate goes up it makes no difference because I'm paying 10,000yen cash to the Hotel. Then no kena scammed due to the rate difference right?

I think airBnB is better, the rate is locked with whatever you pay on that day.

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Feb 23 2018, 03:15 PM

You are wrong.
You paid the amount you booked, regardless of price changes.

Unless you mean currency exchange rate changes.

Well that is not scam because you still paying the same amount, just that exchange rate changed.
Eg. your booking was $100 you still pay $100 except that when your booking time the conversion rate was lower or higher at that time but u will be charged according to current rate.

Furthermore that "feature" is more useful for travellers that might change schedule last minute so they have option to cancel booking without being charged.

yeah, i'm referring to the shady currency exchange rate being applied
chances are you'll always have to pay more even if our own currency is stronger against the currency quoted in the booking

i suppose nothing comes free in this world, you're indirectly paying for the "convenience" given to have the option to cancel without being charged

Does Agoda show you anytime during the process what currency exchange rate was used?

If you "Pay Later" and pay cash during check in, then you won't be subjected to the exchange rate given by Agoda's "most updated, independent partners"

Thank you for your alertness!

Yes exactly. And usually it's the fluctuation of the exchange rate. I rarely take notice but usually find that I'm paying more than my booking rate.

Prefer to resort to cash to avoid CC higher exchange rate.

im not sure what currency exchange is Agoda following, but im sure its not dodgy.
If it is, it doesnt matter you pay now or later.

Not specifically, but they will give you an estimate of what you'll be paying in both your local currency and the payment currency

Example:


In this case, booking was done last year in September. If I were to pay on that day during booking, all I have to pay is MYR 1274.30 since that's the quoted rate from their end for THB 9961.48. However, during the pay date, I was charged RM1360+ (about 6-7% higher).
Even if there's no change in currency exchange rate, it is absurd to pay an additional 6-7% for no reason.

I see. That's really sneaky then. Sept rate was around 7.98thb to 1.00myr, in mid Jan our currency strengthened to around 8.03thb to 1.00myr, so if anything you should have been charged less myr, not more.

Dodgy or not, it is almost certain that we'll be paying 5-10% extra for any "Book Now, Pay Later" bookings (even if there's no rate fluctuation or when your own currency is strengthening).
Hence, you'll always be better off paying it first if you don't need the flexibility of changing your mind later

Quick update: either way, my recent email interaction has been ignored by their team (marked as resolved) - no proper explanantion has been given, definitely no transparency here. Probably I've caught them pulling off such a "scam" and got my "first and only" refund in the price difference for my booking last year. I've attached my emails to them as a reference for those who are interested.

Are u charged under MYR or THB ?
If THB there might be incurring some fees charged by your credit card bank.

And iinm once u booked, the price doesnt change ie. if book 100THB you will be charged 100THB and not related to currency fluctuation.
If at the booking time 100THB = RM10 but on payment day 100THB = RM12 then ofcourse you will see your charges as higher due to currency rate.

Can you confirm the price you paid is the same as the price when you booked?




Could you show the price on the booking confirmation and also your credit card statement (just the agoda payment, and censor sensitive info)

This post has been edited by WaCKy-Angel: Feb 27 2018, 10:15 AM

Charged in MYR, currency exchange is being done at Agoda's end, giving them the power to apply any "exchange rate" that is favourable for them.
If not they wouldn't refund the price difference since the price they quoted in THB is still the same.

As a matter of fact, I would rather they charge the transaction in THB and let my bank handle the currency conversion.

Meanwhile, my second email (a really long email since the previous personnel decide to ignore me - case marked as resolved) for my second case has gotten their attention and they've decided to refund the price difference "as a gesture of goodwill".

This post has been edited by evilhomura89: Feb 27 2018, 12:41 PM

Dear TS.

Could you please share me the long email? As I also seeing this ridiculous exchange rate going to charge for my booking. So I would like to know how I should do complain for this.

If you are not really want to disclose this in public forum. Could you please sent me by email and remove all "privacy" and sent to me?

Please help.

shw_883@hotmail.com


Thank You.

As a starter, there's a few things that you'll need to include in your email
(1) Tell them which date you made a booking for which hotel, include the total estimated charges in both local converted currency and foreign currency

(2) Tell them you went with book now pay later option and tell them when was the date your card is being charged and how much

(3) Do your research on the exchange rate and see what's the trend like. If MYR has strengthened when compared to the date of booking and yet you're still being charged extra, by all means go ahead and argue for it. If not then just drop the case


ADDITIONAL INFO TO BE INCLUDED ONLY IF RELEVANT
My case was a little different, the 1st person who attended to me refused to deal with my complain by throwing me their typical T&C and closed the case.

The statement given by the 1st person who refuse to deal with my complains:
We understand that based on your findings of the conversion rates, you should not have been charged more after the conversion. We would like to reiterate that exchange rates vary based on payment gateways and also differ from bank to bank. Agoda’s rates come from our most updated, independent partners.

To support this, if you were to refer to our Agoda Terms Of Use, it indicates under section D that: "In case of “Book Now, Pay Later” (see Section 5), you will see an estimate of the converted amount, which will only be charged at the exchange rate of the future payment date, meaning it could be different from the estimate. Your bank may impose additional fees on the transaction, over which Agoda Companies have no control. Please note that exchange rates fluctuate daily.
After that email, they closed my case
I had to open another ticket, complained about their previous team then rebut their statement which I will summarize in point 4-6.

(4) Tell them you know how "Book Now Pay Later" is supposed to work unless Agoda is trying something fishy behind the scene.


(5) Let them know that you know your currency exchange movement and you understand that a properly updated rate should apply on the date of payment, no matter it's heading up or down. Agoda is claiming their rate is being provided by their partners so you have every right to know how are the rates being calculated especially when you're paying more even though your own currency has strengthened.

UP TILL TODAY, MY QUESTIONS REGARDING THEIR CURRENCY EXCHANGE PRACTICES REMAINED UNANSWERED

(6) Agoda claimed that there could be some additional charges imposed by the bank - which is pure BS since this payment is being charged in MYR. Even if you're using some of the bank's credit facilities, any additional charges shouldn't appear together with whatever is being charged to your card for Agoda.


(7) Last but not least, tell them you're disappointed with them in pulling such a scam


This post has been edited by evilhomura89: Apr 5 2018, 06:07 PM

Hi all sorry hijack owner thread... I have question about agoda. My question last 2. 00a.m ago got mag from cimb i have booking an hotel total was rm312.25... How iam gonna get my money back i never book an hotel... This agoda scam or bank?? Cimb officer will call me later but how this problem can be solve eh maybe out there many people been cheated like this

someone stole your CIMB CC details to book a hotel on agoda, call the bank to cancel your card asap & lodge case as stolen CC

if you don't have a CIMB CC, then it's a common scam, just ignore whoever called you. You can try to lodge police report, but most likely they won't even layan you.

Done report police... Then go cimb kl make fill in form dispute to agoda... They cimb will help me tq bro... Btw yeap police sigh loled...

Please note that this is not a scam.... they are charging you based on the latest currency exchange rate on the payment / charging date..

some of you might wonder why the price you saw was RM500 for example but during the charging date (later date) you were being charge for RM520 for example, this is because of the currency fluctuation which caused the diffrent in price.. in fact, the book now pay later feature provice convenience and flexibility especially for those who might thinking of change / cancel the trip later without any charges

Another reason why there is slight different on the charging price is the price that you saw during the initial transaction date was being locked / convereted into MRY, so if you choose to "pay now", you will be charge based on the exact MYR price that you saw. However, if you choose for "book now pay later", the price being locked by the agoda system will be in USD currency, thus, on the later payment date, for example, 6 months later, the charging price will be subject to the USD currency + 1-2% admin fees charged by your VISA/MASTER/AMEX card and it will be like overseas transaction.

Hope it helps

This post has been edited by ckyow1: Sep 15 2018, 11:44 AM

In the event of your home currency strengthening against USD, would you be paying lesser than what you've seen during the "pay now" period?
For example, today exchange rate is 1USD for 4.2MYR, booking is made at 100USD. Few months down the road, exchange rate becomes 1USD to 3.9MYR, would I be paying approximately 390MYR++ (including etc charges) or 420MYR++?

Mind you, the 1-2% admin charges doesn't apply to the "Book Now, Pay Later" feature since conversion of currency is done from Agoda's end and not your bank's end. Your transaction will be done in MYR hence your bank/visa/mastercard/amex will not charge the admin fee. Worse part is you wouldn't know what extorbitant rate is Agoda applying to your booking. I would rather have my bank do the conversion and pay in USD instead. If this is not scam then I don't know what this is.

No doubt this is a convenient feature for people who decides to cancel/change their booking later, but if you're going to charge extra for the convenience just state it clearly instead of trying to blame the price difference towards exchange rate fluctuation.

This post has been edited by evilhomura89: Sep 15 2018, 05:13 PM

It is difficult to argue with people who doesnt accept the fact. The 1-2% admin fee is indeep applied for "book now pay later" booking. If you happen to be a frequent traveller or have any of your friends who working ar Agoda, you should have know for any overseas "book now pay later" booking, you booking will be secure under overseas currency, for example, USD / THD or etc instead of MYR. The local bank will then convert the overseas currency back to MYR during the transaction date / time. Please note that any of the overseas credit card transaction will be subject to additional 1-2% admin fees which charge by visa/master/amex card.

I am sorry to say that, perhaps, you should have learn more about how the overseas transaction works before making any complaint. Furthermore, if you feel Agoda "book now pay later" is not a good option / choice, maybe you can look fot other company / hotel booking website.

It seems to me that you do not understand my statement - the 1-2% visa/master/amex admin charges doesn't apply to the "Book Now, Pay Later" feature becauseconversion of currency is done from Agoda's end and not your bank's end.

In agoda's case (or rather the few experience that I have with Agoda), the card is being charged in MYR immediately instead of USD. No conversion is being done at the bank's end.

How do I know about this? Check the online card statement, if it is a proper overseas transaction, the foreign currency will appear exactly like how it should with its original currency value in USD and the converted value/charged value in MYR.
If it is a MYR transaction, it will appear only in MYR like your normal local transaction. But this could be different for different bank, so I'm not sure how would it be like for you.

Meanwhile, I'm not sure if you have used paypal before, same principal applies but paypal gives you the option to use their USD-MYR conversion rate (ie, card will be charged in MYR) or let the transaction go through as USD transaction and your local bank will do the conversion. And the latter will always be cheaper.
https://thepointsguy.com/2017/05/save-money...g-for-invoices/
Hence, I'm always more than happy to let my bank do the conversion (which will include the admin fees and whatsoever) provided Agoda let the transaction go through as USD transaction.

What i'm trying to do here to get everyone to be aware about the hidden additional cost (cost that are not relevant to currency exchange or admin fees) being charged by Agoda for the convenience/flexibility. So if you need the flexibility, by all means go ahead, no one's gonna stop you.

More post related to this issue - https://www.mybeautycravings.com/paying-mor...goda-pay-later/

For the people who says that it's not a scam, I was looking through Agoda's Terms Of Use, this is what they say about their exchange rate:



Now this is the good part:



Am I misunderstanding something here? Or is Agoda saying they outright charge an extra 5% for pay later?

This post has been edited by mojo86: Sep 27 2018, 01:29 AM

I can't find the quoted section in their Terms Of Use.
Do you have any screenshot?

Hi evilhomura, you can do a search (Ctrl + F) of "Agoda exchange rates" at that link

This post has been edited by mojo86: Sep 27 2018, 10:32 PM

I've tried but what I found is not exactly relevant, not sure if they have a different term of use when viewed from different countries or devices
See attached screenshot from my phone, only found 2 exact match for the keyword

Oh..you are right. For some reason opening it on the phone is a different version. Here's a screenshot of the desktop version:

Thanks for the screenshot.
I suspect Agoda is having different version of Terms of Use being feed to different users (based on device/geolocation/stored cookies etc) - I was not able to see it on my desktop initially. Then I used the incognito mode and the clause appeared

Decided to save a copy of it on PDF
 Agoda_Terms_of_Use.pdf ( 225.82k ) Number of downloads: 51



Either way, who are we to judge whether it's scam or not but at least we can safely assume that users will be paying more for the book now, pay later feature based on the +5% clause
Chances are, 99% of the people who booked via Agoda wouldn't be bothered to go through the Terms of Use hence will be caught unaware of the additional hidden cost

Agoda keep arguing that "Book Now Pay Later" follows the currency exchange rate fluctuation on payment date...

The rate on 31 Oct was around 4.18, they charged me 4.3933 and claims that this is agoda's rate....but switching between 2 currencies (USD and MYR) on a random room from their website on the same day was around 4.17-4.18 too....

this is obviously a scam for using "Book Now and Pay Later"....

This post has been edited by zWinceZz: Nov 5 2018, 12:14 PM

Akin to delivery to you now and then collect money after 30 / 60 days aka credit. Of course la ppl will want to charge you more.

If Agoda stated that it will be extra charge for "Book now and pay later", i will have to accept the payment if i still agree on it.
But they never mention in the first place, they only mention the rate will be vary depending on currency fluctuation during payment date.

This post has been edited by zWinceZz: Nov 5 2018, 12:41 PM

Already kena a few times book now,pay later as the rate is often higher compared to when I initially booked
Once I got refunded the difference and another time I got refund in the form of agoda cash
The CS tell me that the rate is charged in USD and that causes the difference and they suggested for Book now,pay now to avoid currency fluctuations

If I am reading this right - all these only applies to those who choose to pay in converted own currency instead of the currency where the hotel is located?

Example:
So if i book a hotel in japan and choose to pay in JPY (and letting my credit card to charge me for the exchange rate - does not matter what rate), does this thread still applies? Reason is because Agoda now no longer do currency exchange on behalf for me.



This post has been edited by twotwopig: Dec 20 2018, 12:55 PM

I'm not sure if there's a new system in place

However, my last experience with Agoda is there was never an option for you to choose whether to pay in your own currency or let the bank do the currency exchange like how Paypal always do it. They will show the final amount in foreign currency but when the payment day comes, everything is charged in MYR (currency conversion done by Agoda)

I'll be interested to know if the BOLDED part above is true.

I did remember for my last booking I choose Book Now Pay Later but as per this thread, I was charged extra. I disputed the amount because I am sure I choose to pay in the destination currency - just because I've got a credit card with no fees and of course, not subjected to Agoda's rate.

They refunded me anyway.

I think there is no option to pick what currency to pay but the trick is to change the currency at the top of the website to destination currency then at payment page you will see the destination currency that you are paying with instead of home currency.

This is what I usually do when I choose Book Now Pay Later.

If I am paying now, I just didn't bother to change the currency and it defaults to my home currency.

Hope this helps.

This post has been edited by twotwopig: Dec 21 2018, 05:11 AM

Hi all. I did a hotel booking a few days ago thru Agoda. Then, today I realised the price is more cheaper than few days back. Is it recommended to just cancel my previous booking and make a new booking? (it is free cancellation, btw). Thank you.

Yes you should
But double check that you're getting back the same room types (eg, twin bed or sharing bed, breakfast included, garden view or sea view etc)

hi..is it possible to cancel with out being charged? normally there will be a cancellation fees right?

You can choose currency for Book now, pay later. You just need to choose the currency of the hotel at the search hotel page BEFORE clicking the Book button.

Hi. Got a question. There's this ryokan I'm interested in and everywhere I searched (bBooking.com, this trusty Japanese site I use quite often...never used Agoda before) the total comes up to about JPY72,600/pax excluding the onsen tax of JPY450/pax. It's only on Agoda via TripAdvisor on my mobile that I found a similar package for about JPY54,300 including the onsen tax. When converted to local currency, that's about MYR2085 today. If I were to lock down the price in JPY now, does it matter even if I get charged more in conversion when it's time to pay, when everywhere else charges almost JPY20,000 more anyway? If this is the case, should I just throw caution to the wind and go with Agoda? Thanks in advance.

Whoops. Seems I quoted only the base price. The total price at Agoda including all service charges and taxes is JPY66,216, because it has a discount of JPY6,834 from the standard charge of JPY76,200, which is the price all other sites I've looked at are charging. And they're throwing in the JPY450/pax onsen tax as well while other sites exclude it. Whether or not they charge a bit more later in MYR compared to today, if it's ultimately quite a bit cheaper than others in JPY, then it stands to reason that I should go with Agoda, right? Or is there something I'm missing?

Sorry for the lengthy question but this place I'm considering isn't cheap and I want to cover all my bases before taking the plunge, since I've never used Agoda before.

Go with the pay now option OR pay later at property during check in option
- Pay now means you'll pay whatever Agoda quoted you today
- Pay later means you'll pay the property during check-in with JPY (in your case, it'll be 66,216 yen)

Wow! Thanks for the quick response. However, I can't go with the Pay Now option because I can't guarantee there won't be changes later (I won't be traveling until November), and there isn't a Pay at Property option for the deal and the room I picked. Due to the big discount, they've only got the Pay Later Through Agoda option. Which is why I figured that even if they were to charge me at a higher exchange rate later, it'd still be cheaper than booking elsewhere and paying at the hotel.

Since cancellation is free until I'm about due to travel, I went ahead and took the plunge. Do you think that's wise? I also checked the property's Japanese page just to be sure and found that they're actually selling the same option at an early bird price that's lower than other booking sites and not at all available as an option if you searched through their English website. It's still slightly over a couple of thousand yen higher than Agoda, though, and not inclusive of bathing tax. So I went with Agoda.

Also, I picked JPY as price display and JPY again for billing purposes. Does this mean the conversion rate will be according to my credit card's issuing bank and not Agoda's? Because that's my intent.

Actually, seeing as Agoda jacks up the price if you choose to pay through then later even if you set the display price to MYR on the grounds of adjusted conversion rate (if my understanding of older posts in this thread is correct), what's to stop them from jacking it up even if you picked the property's currency as the display price? Like, if I agreed to pay JPY10k, the final price won't be jacked up to JPY12k or anything like that, will it? Can they even do that? Because while the first is plausible, the second just seems highly illegal. They can't do that, right? Whatever's stated on my credit card bill, that would be the bank's MYR conversion to whatever I agreed to in JPY, right? Does anyone have any idea?

Display price is one thing, transaction being completed in different currency is another.

This whole thread started when I noticed my bookings were not charged in foreign currency and Agoda was doing the conversion from their end, and not from the bank's end (in the credit card bill, the Agoda transaction went through as MYR even though the hotel was a foreign hotel). So when Agoda is doing the conversion, the rates were higher and outright ridiculous in some cases when MYR was fluctuating madly back then.

The loophole here lies in the final transaction's currency. I'm not sure how does Agoda works nowadays as some member mentioned recently that there's an option for you to complete your transaction completely in foreign currency which is acceptable (eg, Japan Hotel, charge in JPY, final transaction goes through in JPY with no conversion from Agoda's end, your credit card bank will handle the currency conversion hence your credit card bill will show the transaction in JPY + conversion details).

As long as your billing option is still JPY, if they quote you 10k JPY, you just have to make sure your credit card bill appear as 10k JPY (let the bank/Visa/MasterCard do the conversion during the payment date).

This is the same as using PayPal when purchasing online using foreign currency. Except PayPal gives you the option to choose how you want to be billed.
(i) Let PayPal handle the conversion and PayPal will bill you in your local currency
(ii) Let the bank/MasterCard/Visa handle the conversion PayPal will bill you in the specified currency -> always the cheaper option


This post has been edited by evilhomura89: Jun 9 2019, 11:16 AM

I see. I picked JPY as the display price and then, in the page where they ask you to input your credit card info, there's a drop down menu where I got to pick between JPY and MYR， I picked JPY. I'm hoping that will work because I'm seriously wary of Agoda after all that's been said here but the place I want to stay at is too expensive for me not to consider cheaper alternatives to stay there.

So the price offered at Agoda is JPY66,216, inclusive of everything but I will be charged via Agoda if I don't cancel about a week before the dates I booked.

And the price offered at the hotel's JP website is JPY69,300 and most likely not inclusive of bathing tax (which is another JPY1,350 total for us to be added on), which I can of course choose to pay at the hotel.

The difference is not a small one as the latter would come up to more than JPY4,000 more. In all your experience of traveling and using Agoda, which would you pick?

If that's the case, go ahead and book with Agoda since it's cheaper
And glad to know they finally have the option to pick the billing currency for pay later option

this topic only applicable for those who travel overseas? Local travel not a problem right?

@evilhomura89 Guess I'm all in then. Thanks so much for all your kind guidance! Nice avatar, btw!

yeah, since it relates to the exchange rate

a blogger posted her experience on this topic, have a read https://www.mybeautycravings.com/paying-mor...goda-pay-later/

evilhomura89 If pay at hotel/property, we pay directly to the hotel or still go through agoda? Which one better? Any cons of paying at property?

You're paying directly to the hotel...in whichever payment method preferred by the hotel (either cash or card)
Agoda probably charges the hotel separately for their commission

My personal opinion is there's no cons to it

Hi @evilhomura89 , its been a long time since there is post on this thread I've been a victim for book now , pay later do you think there is chance for requesting for a refund now ? as I tried to email them with the method you share in this thread but I've talked to 2 person both same rejecting my refund request =(

evilhomura89