2 backpackers say they needed to sleep outdoors an airport in Vietnam after their lodge reserving was canceled on the final minute, and so they documented the ordeal on TikTok
- Two backpackers say they had been stranded in Vietnam after their lodge reserving was canceled by Agoda.
- Robbie Leigh posted photographs on TikTok that confirmed him and a good friend sleeping outdoors an airport.
- Agoda apologized however mentioned it could not discover options to deal with Leigh for the night time.
A backpacker says he was stranded in Vietnam after a third-party web site canceled his lodge reserving, and he documented the expertise on TikTok.
Robbie Leigh, who goes by the username @robbiejleigh on TikTok, posted a collection of photographs claiming that he was pressured to sleep outdoors the airport after Agoda canceled his keep at a lodge in Hue, a province in central Vietnam.
The TikTok, posted on Monday, has garnered over 430,000 views as of the time of writing.
One of many photographs confirmed Leigh with one other backpacker, whom he tagged @elliot.mathieson, posing outdoors a lodge referred to as the OYO 882 Fortunate Lodge. Leigh didn’t specify which dates he was booked to remain on the lodge.
Leigh mentioned the pair arrived at Fortunate Lodge at 8:30 p.m.and located that Agoda had canceled their reserving. He mentioned the lodge supervisor kicked them out of the lodge two hours later.
In an e-mail to Agoda, as proven in his TikTok, Leigh requested the Singapore-based journey company to relocate them to a brand new lodge. “Please name me. I’m begging,” he wrote. Within the TikTok, Leigh mentioned he and his good friend tried their luck at three different hostels, however they had been all totally booked.
At 12:40 a.m., Leigh despatched Agoda one other e-mail. “We’re about to be on the road with nowhere to go. This metropolis is harmful please assist me!!!!!!” Leigh wrote, per his TikTok.
Leigh and his good friend headed to the airport an hour later, eight hours earlier than their flight to Hanoi. However the pair was in for a shock — the airport was closed, forcing them to attend on the metallic seats outdoors the constructing.
At 2:26 a.m., Agoda responded to Leigh’s emails, writing, “We now have tried our greatest to seek for options however sadly there are not any lodging obtainable within the space matching your authentic reserving dates.”
“As soon as once more, we apologize for any inconvenience to your journey plans,” Agoda wrote, per the screenshot. The screenshot didn’t present if Leigh had been compensated for the ordeal.
Screenshot/TikTok
A collection of photographs confirmed that after receiving Agoda’s e-mail, Leigh and his good friend bought prepared for the night time, brushing their enamel outdoors the airport.
OYO Lodges instructed Insider it plans to work with Agoda to refund Leigh.
“Agoda and OYO’s reserving programs did not talk to one another correctly. Agoda’s system accepted the bookings whereas the lodge was already totally booked,” an OYO spokesperson mentioned.
The spokesperson mentioned that the lodge supervisor “supplied the visitor to remain at his dwelling as a final resort,” after he helped Leigh search for one other lodge.
“We’re actually pained to know that the visitor ended up spending the night time outdoors,” the spokesperson added.
TikTok customers flooded Leigh’s put up, sympathizing with their expertise.
“How did you guys survive outdoors it is so sizzling,” one consumer requested, referring to Hue’s tropical climate, the place temperatures can attain as much as 100 levels Fahrenheit.
“Oh no I am so sorry for these unhealthy experiences,” one other consumer wrote. “If I used to be the lodge supervisor, I’d have allow you to in,” she continued.
It is not the primary time vacationers have been left stranded after reserving on a third-party web site. In December 2018, dozens of vacationers had been left with out lodge rooms after the now-defunct reserving web site HotelQuickly canceled their reservations. The corporate shuttered that very same month and didn’t refund its clients.
Leigh and Agoda didn’t instantly reply to Insider’s requests for remark.