Agoda

Illegal and unregistered hotels

In April 2017, the Tourism Minister of Thailand called for travel agencies, most notably Agoda, to delete illegal and unregistered hotels from the platforms.[18][19][20]

In June 2018, Agoda cooperated with the Taipei City Government's request to remove illegal and unregistered Taipei hotels from its listings.[21]

Unfair competition allegations in Turkey

In September 2018, Agoda was one of 20 online travel agencies that faced legal action from the Turkish Travel Agencies Association due to alleged unfair competition.[22] In January 2026, regulators in Turkey filed a lawsuit seeking to ban Agoda as well as many other travel agencies including Airbnb and Expedia.[23]

Misleading discount claims in UK

In October 2017, Agoda was one of six major online travel agencies that was subject to a probe by the Competition and Markets Authority in the United Kingdom. The probe was related to "concerns about hidden charges, pressure selling tactics, misleading discount claims and the order in which results appear on the site pages." The companies agreed to stop engaging in such misleading tactics.[24][25][26]

Delayed refund to customer after booking a non-existent hotel

In December 2017, Agoda initially refused to give a refund to a customer that booked a non-existent hotel. The refund was paid after a fraud complaint was filed with the Thai government.[27]

Issues with booking systems

In 2019, in Asia, Agoda still listed several hotels that had already terminated their listings with Agoda.[28]

In Japan, in the summer of 2025, regulatory authorities, including the Japan Tourism Agency, criticized the company after customers cited booking hotels that were not available and reservations cancelled by the Agoda system, while hotel suppliers had problems with confirming reservations, discrepancies in reservation details, and rooms being sold at significantly higher prices than those set by the hotels.[29][30][31][32] The company took steps to mitigate the issues; however, hotels continued to have issues with incorrect reservations in August 2025.[33] According to an independent survey of 500 users conducted by Nikkei and published in August 2025, about 20% of Agoda users have experienced some sort of trouble, such as "the hotel they thought they had booked was not actually reserved", "their reservation was canceled without consent", or "the airline ticket did not match the conditions at the time of purchase". Furthermore, about half of those who consulted Agoda about such issues were simply told to handle the matter themselves.[34]

NDA clauses in severance packages

In September 2025, Agoda laid off approximately 50 Singapore employees with severance benefits and, in violation of local laws, included clauses in severance agreements prohibiting contact with government agencies or trade unions, with penalties of revoked severance benefits if breached. Following strong condemnation from the Ministry of Manpower and National Trades Union Congress, Agoda apologized, acknowledging the clauses were "inappropriate".[35][36][37] These actions were rebuked by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Singapore Industrial and Services Employees' Union (SISEU).[38] After meetings with unions and regulators, the company apologized and provided further clarification to affected individuals.[39][40][41][42]