agoda has faced criticism from customers and regulators alike. one such incident involved a customer who booked through the website had items stolen from the room due to poor security. they gave her a goodwill refund, but did not remove the hotel or allow her to post a review criticizing the hotel for the security issue due to it relating to a legal issue. a security consultant discussed how this policy reduces the number of negative reviews and that negative reviews are sometimes diluted. agoda faced criticism for an incident where a customer accidentally booked a hotel and refused to give a refund. the hotel ultimately turned out to not exist, the incident gained traction on social media, and agoda changed its mind and paid a refund following a fraud complaint filed with the thai government. in 2015, agoda's taiwanese operations were fined for breaches of not legally registering as a business in taiwan and for failing to issue unified invoices. agoda was criticized for difficulties with customers removing their homes from the website. they cited customer service issues among other things.