Online Reservation Dispute

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Online hotel reservation sites Agoda and Booking.com have not conformed to the trade watchdog's recommendation for over a year to revise their refund policies. As consumer complaints continue, the Fair Trade Commission has this time issued a corrective order. If the sites fail to comply again, charges will be pressed with the prosecution.

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While searching for a hotel overseas this summer through the reservation site Agoda, this person pressed the reservation button just to check the amount of the entire bill including taxes that will be charged. But suddenly a 1.6 million won payment went through. The payment was processed using previously saved credit card information. The consumer demanded a refund immediately saying it was a mistake but was denied. Agoda said the particular travel product she booked was non-refundable.

[Soundbite] (Victim) : "I asked for a refund, noting the reserved date was not in the near future, but the hotel refused and Agoda just cited its non-refundable policy."

The Fair Trade Commission had recommended four online hotel reservation sites one year ago to fix their refund policies. But Agoda and Booking.com have not taken action, saying they apply the same rules worldwide and Korea can't be an exception. These two sites also report particularly few cases of successful refunds processed through the Korea Consumer Agency. The trade watchdog has this time around issued a corrective order.

[Soundbite] Bae Hyeon-jeong(Fair Trade Commission) : "Korea has domestic laws on corporate clauses and provisions and so this can't be ignored which is why we issued the latest corrective order."

If the two firms fail to respond yet again, the commission will take legal action and press charges.