Well, I have just booked a hotel in Malaysia through internet booking with a so called famous travel agency in Singapore. As there is a date change for the booking, I have called the agent 3 days before the original confirmed date and no body answer the phone call so i email to informed the agent in-charge at the same time. There is no response at all from the agent and at the end, the hotel has charged me for the full payment for the total rooms booked (2 rooms for 2 nights) which costs me RM4100++ with the status ''guest not shown.'' Which means that I never step into that particular hotel! When I called up the agent again, they will just answer they did not receive the email to inform even though i attached the same mail sent to them, and replied when they read the mail, the hotel already charged to my credit card and there is nothing they can do for us. So in this case, who should take the responsibility? Could anyone tell me that this is consistent internet booking process?? What can I do?

Welcome yr advise and will appreciate it.

Sorry for your problems and welcome to TF. I hope you are able to resolve this problem.

Welcome to FT,
frivjen
I believe the good folks on our Singapore Forum may be helpful in this case. Please follow your thread over there.
Good luck..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Thanks Obscure2k for your kind advice but could you please kindly show me where should I point this out again?

Many thanks!

Frivjen




Welcome to FT,
frivjen
I believe the good folks on our Singapore Forum may be helpful in this case. Please follow your thread over there.
Good luck..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

There's no reason to point this out again. Your question is now up on the Singapore Forum and those who log onto this forum will see your questions and points and, hopefully, provide you with informed replies.
This thread was now out of TravelBuzz.Look at the top at the page and you will see you are now in Singapore.
Obscure2k

Again thanks for the info., Obscure2K!

:)

You could try this route...

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_do/shopping/shopping_tips.html

Scroll to the bottom and there's a section on dealing with "errant retailers"...

Thanks Swiss Tony, the link might be the most powerful..will try on it.

cheers

You could try this route...

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_do/shopping/shopping_tips.html

Scroll to the bottom and there's a section on dealing with "errant retailers"...

There are a few unanswered questions here.

1. When you emailed the agency, you said you also talked to someone.. who is that someone? Did you talk to that person or received an email? If you emailed, then you have the reply with the person's name on it.

2. What exactly is an internet booking? Which hotel? RM 4100 for 2 nights for 2 rooms is excessively high even in my travels.

3. Is the booking a prepaid rate?

4. If it is not a prepaid rate, then you can try to reason with the hotel manager / GM directly. You did not no show but rather changed your booking date. That way the hotel can see that you had all the intentions of showing up but the travel agency in question just did not make the change for you. In such circumstances, the hotel might charge you a smaller penalty rather than the full amount. Most hotels will only charge you for one night's penalty - not the full amount ie 2 nights' worth.

5. But if it is a prepaid rate, then you have no recourse but to take matters up directly with the owner/manager of the the TA concerned. It is the responsibility of the agency to take phone calls.. unless of course you called on a weekend (remember last Sat was a public holiday). Emailing is fine. But it is not fail proof and it's always he says she says etc.

6. When in doubt, always call the hotel in question and tell them. Even though they might say to contact agency, tell them of your intentions.
It sounds as though they just made the booking for you. So you might have a better recourse to contact the hotel directly.

Which travel agency did you book with I would like to ask?

I've worked as a TA in Singapore before.. and trust me, I do know what you're talking about. So you're not alone in this. PM me if you have any questions.

Dear Guy Betsy,

Thanks for your concern, please kindly find my reply as below marked red.

There are a few unanswered questions here.

1. When you emailed the agency, you said you also talked to someone.. who is that someone? Did you talk to that person or received an email? If you emailed, then you have the reply with the person's name on it.

Since nobody answer the phone call on the 19/10, i decided to sent an email to the agency. The booking date is 22/10 and actually the agent should have sufficient time to do amendments.

2. What exactly is an internet booking? Which hotel? RM 4100 for 2 nights for 2 rooms is excessively high even in my travels.
Tanjung Rhu Resort RM1000++ x 2 rooms x 2 nights stay.

3. Is the booking a prepaid rate?
Credit card details withheld by the hotel and hotel will officially deduct the amount upon check out on the 24/10

4. If it is not a prepaid rate, then you can try to reason with the hotel manager / GM directly. You did not no show but rather changed your booking date. That way the hotel can see that you had all the intentions of showing up but the travel agency in question just did not make the change for you. In such circumstances, the hotel might charge you a smaller penalty rather than the full amount. Most hotels will only charge you for one night's penalty - not the full amount ie 2 nights' worth.
Refer to the agent, they said that is hotel's policy to charge full amount (2nights) and hotel also answered the same. Any idea?

5. But if it is a prepaid rate, then you have no recourse but to take matters up directly with the owner/manager of the the TA concerned. It is the responsibility of the agency to take phone calls.. unless of course you called on a weekend (remember last Sat was a public holiday). Emailing is fine. But it is not fail proof and it's always he says she says etc.
Where to file in this issue if agent pushed away the responsibilities?

6. When in doubt, always call the hotel in question and tell them. Even though they might say to contact agency, tell them of your intentions.
It sounds as though they just made the booking for you. So you might have a better recourse to contact the hotel directly.

Which travel agency did you book with I would like to ask?
It's Asia T***** but for time being, I think I shouldn't reveal the travel agency as this is reputation concern. I would like to know the final decision that they made.

I've worked as a TA in Singapore before.. and trust me, I do know what you're talking about. So you're not alone in this. PM me if you have any questions.

Many thanks and really appreciate your advice.

...

[COLOR=DarkOrange]Many thanks and really appreciate your advice.

So what decision has the TA made?

So what decision has the TA made?
Thanks for your concern.

They said the hotel manager went on long vacation and unable to solve the problem. They wrote an email to the Manager and hope the charges can be waived. That's all they can do right now the agent said.

That reply sounds bad............... :td:

Thanks for your concern.

They said the hotel manager went on long vacation and unable to solve the problem. They wrote an email to the Manager and hope the charges can be waived. That's all they can do right now the agent said.

So the entire hotel comes to a stand still when the manager goes away? No Assistant Manager, No Duty Manager? Sounds like they are trying to brush off the problem and hope that you'll go away. This is not acceptable.

I would do a search and write a detailed letter to the GM of the hotel. Call the hotel, ask them what is the name of the GM. DO NOT ask to speak to the GM now at any time.. as you will get into tyoo much detail without him knowing about anything. Best if you put it down on paper.

Then, write a detailed letter to the GM. Don't hype too much on the fault of the travel agent.. but rather that the communication between the TA and the hotel was unclear and that you were caught in the middle and effectively was penalised by errors on both parts. But tell him that you did stay at the hotel in the end... or if you didn't say that after such an incident, you will be moving your future businesses to the Four Seasons!

Send the letter by Registered Mail - or better yet, COURIER it to the hotel, and give them your phone number where the GM may contact you.

And do tell him that it is ridiculous for the response that the "manager has gone away for a long holiday and can't resolve the problem.." It's Hari Raya, I know.. but the hotel is still operating.

Good luck...

So the entire hotel comes to a stand still when the manager goes away? No Assistant Manager, No Duty Manager? Sounds like they are trying to brush off the problem and hope that you'll go away. This is not acceptable.

I would do a search and write a detailed letter to the GM of the hotel. Call the hotel, ask them what is the name of the GM. DO NOT ask to speak to the GM now at any time.. as you will get into tyoo much detail without him knowing about anything. Best if you put it down on paper.

Then, write a detailed letter to the GM. Don't hype too much on the fault of the travel agent.. but rather that the communication between the TA and the hotel was unclear and that you were caught in the middle and effectively was penalised by errors on both parts. But tell him that you did stay at the hotel in the end... or if you didn't say that after such an incident, you will be moving your future businesses to the Four Seasons!

Send the letter by Registered Mail - or better yet, COURIER it to the hotel, and give them your phone number where the GM may contact you.

And do tell him that it is ridiculous for the response that the "manager has gone away for a long holiday and can't resolve the problem.." It's Hari Raya, I know.. but the hotel is still operating.

Good luck...


The TA wrote an email to the hotel admited their fault for not changing the date for the guest and the Manager replied that the are unable to waive or discount for the NOSHOW and it's due to Hari Raya and Deepavali Celebrations, they do not want to bear the lost. Even I have called the hotel''s Manager and he said that since this is internet booking through the agent, I have to liaise with the TA. TA also seems to refuse to do anything besides asking me to liaise directly with the hotel.

Please advise further.

Thanks..

It seems that the next step would be to gather all the evidence (your emails to the TA, TA's email admitting that they did not change the date, etc) and dispute the charge with the credit card company. If there was a cancellation policy which you complied with, then there should not have been a charge. Hope it all works out.