Western Union transfer for hotel booking

S

sailacross

New Member
My girlfriend and I are supposed to reach Delhi in Mid-January for our India tour, we looked for a hotel on the internet and called them to enquire and reserve our dates. The hotel asked us to transfer money by western union or by wire transfer, to secure our booking for 4 nights. How wise it is to transfer them money by western union and has anyone done this before? Is it a standard practice or somebody is trying to fool us?

I know Delhi is a busy city and hotel may want to make sure that we show up after making the booking, but this western union thing is a bit strange to me.
 
It is not standard practice and it wont be a good idea to do that either. There are plenty of hotels in Delhi that you can book online using your credit or debit card and some portals even allow for payments once you check in so no pre payment atall.
 
Every decent hotel will take debit or credit cards or even better book using one of the online booking portals of repute. If you pay using western union then you wont have any way to resolve disputes if one arises at some point. With a debit card or credit card you atleast have your bank to protect your rights.
 
Don't ever transfer money with western union to anyone that you don't know personally. There are far too many scams out there. You may think that this hotel is legit but trust me, scammers go the distance to trick people. If a hotel doesn't except a credit or debit card, you are better off going to another hotel anyways.
 
Please do not ever transfer money to a legit company that is a red flag of a scam! I was in this group on facebook for a work at home position and this lady said her Aunt worked at Western Union and if I wired 50$ they can return it back in 300$ and I would have to pay them 100$ out of that. Needless to say I did my research actually called Western Union and they never heard of a such thing. I said all that to say when in doubt call western union!
 
I used to work as a fraud analyst for a finance company, and any time western union transfers went out of someone's bank account it was SO often a scam. People ask for Western Union transfers as it's harder to trace and once they've got the money there's not really any recourse in terms of getting it back. Definitely try and stick with card payments with Visa/MasterCard, that way if it's fraudulent you can dispute it through your bank.
 
It is wise to stay away from that hotel. As already mentioned here that there is no dearth of hotels in Delhi. You can book it through debit/credit cards on-line or off-line. If you are giving your credit/cards to the employees of a hotel, make sure that they use it in front of you. As a precaution never allow anybody to take your card away from you and this is true in any part of the world.

There is certain risks associated with western union money transfer or wired transfer. But inn case of debit or credit cards you can fight back as you got the proof with you.
 
Admin said:
It is not standard practice and it wont be a good idea to do that either. There are plenty of hotels in Delhi that you can book online using your credit or debit card and some portals even allow for payments once you check in so no pre payment atall.
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I agree with you. We normally book our hotels via online in the booking.com. Although they require a deposit thru credit card, as per our experience it is safe enough since we had done it several times already. With Western Union, it is just like sending cash and you may not have enough proof. It happened to us in a domestic vacation where we deposited money through a remittance system and when we landed in the hotel, there was no room reserved for us.
 
I also have to say that it's definitely not standard practice to ask for money to be sent by western union and any hotel that doesn't or won't accept credit card or online reservations, I'd be tempted to stay well clear of.

Just a quick internet search will bring up hundreds of hotels, and the majority of them will be 100% legitimate, but just to be on the safe side I'd always use one of the well known holiday companies when travelling abroad, not only is it more convenient, you'll also be insured just in case anything did go wrong.
 
I would advise against using Western Union for transfers, particularly transfers of large amounts across borders. Firstly, the amount they charge to do the transfer is prohibitive and you'll end up paying much more in fee's than you would be the actual booking if you made the transfer another way. Also Western Union as a terrible reputation for scams. It's the go to agency to scammers worldwide and I wouldn't transfer with them unless my life depended on it. Ask if they have any other means by which to make the payment. If they are a reputable hotel they should have a number of ways for you to pay for your stay. If they say there is no other way, that should set off alarm bells and you should cancel.
 
Alexandoy said:
I agree with you. We normally book our hotels via online in the booking.com. Although they require a deposit thru credit card, as per our experience it is safe enough since we had done it several times already. With Western Union, it is just like sending cash and you may not have enough proof. It happened to us in a domestic vacation where we deposited money through a remittance system and when we landed in the hotel, there was no room reserved for us.
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Booking.com are great and very reputable, I've used them many times in different countries. They even price match so if you book something through them but find a cheaper price later they will refund the difference if you send them the details.
 
amelia88 said:
Booking.com are great and very reputable, I've used them many times in different countries. They even price match so if you book something through them but find a cheaper price later they will refund the difference if you send them the details.
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Oh, that is really wonderful. Do they actually return the money if we find a cheaper deal? If they do so, this is a very good customer friendly initiative I must say. Though I never used that site for booking purpose, I will try to use it now onwards.

By the way, have you ever received your money back in such cases? If we find a cheaper rate, what we have to do to claim our money back there? Hope there are no hidden terms and conditions behind this offer.
 
Booking {dot} com is a reliable site for cheap deals.I booked up a room in hotel in Classic Inn,Magdeburg and surprisingly the rates were cheaper than what was offered on other local sites.
In India too there is one,but its not in the elite level as of Booking {dot} com.
Makmytrip [dot] com is renowned for deals and cashback offers.Travelling/Staying in India will be a rewarding experience through this (Suggestion on a personal stance. )
 
travelguide said:
Oh, that is really wonderful. Do they actually return the money if we find a cheaper deal? If they do so, this is a very good customer friendly initiative I must say. Though I never used that site for booking purpose, I will try to use it now onwards.

By the way, have you ever received your money back in such cases? If we find a cheaper rate, what we have to do to claim our money back there? Hope there are no hidden terms and conditions behind this offer.
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Yes just recently on a trip I took to Japan I got refunded! The price difference between Booking.com and Hotels.com was only around $20 US dollars or so, and I contacted their customer service with a link to the cheaper deal. They organized the refund for me! From memory there were some terms and conditions (things like how close to the date you're meant to stay you can claim the refund) but they were pretty good. So just email customer service on the Booking.com website and they will be able to fix it for you!

It's always better having money in our own pocket than a big company having it!!
 
I think a lot of internet based companies do some sort of price match deal where they'll give you the money back. Lastminute.com is another site I have used a few times that also might be worth looking at.

It's definitely worth shopping around anyway.
 
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