Hotel Charged my girlfriend for 2 extra rooms!!

[jumpingjackdan]

Hi,

My girlfriend was staying with a group of people in a hotel. She did not book the reservation. At the end of the stay she paid £70 on her card for her room. When she got her statement they had charged her another £140 for two rooms that were not used. When she called them to query it they said its because she was the only one in the group that paid with a card and she need to sort it out amongst the group.

To me, this sounds like they are taking the utter piss. What if 10 people had not turned up, she pays £700 to cover the hotel because she doesn't pay with cash?

Anyone know the best course of action, they are not getting away with this!!!

Edited by jumpingjackdan on Thursday 26th November 22:44

[Pothole]

CHARGEBACK WITH CARD ISSUER

[Mave]

Did she get a receipt on check out? If she did and it's for £70 rather than £210 I'd be telling the hotel that I would be talking to the credit card company about cancelling the payment.

[JustinP1]

Pothole said:

CHARGEBACK WITH CARD ISSUER

Report as un unauthorised transaction.

[jumpingjackdan]

She paid on her debit. She paid the £70 on the friday and they took more money out on the Monday. Thanks chaps. I will sort this out - taking the mickey!!

[Collectingbrass]

What was the cancellation policy for the rooms?

Post a fair summary of events on Trip Advisor, and then see what happens...

[R8Steve]

Collectingbrass said:

What was the cancellation policy for the rooms?

It shouldn't matter, she didn't book them so isn't liable for anything apart from the room she stayed in.

[anothernameitist]

Get onto Customer Services especially if its a chain and get it sorted, should get some good will too, sounds better than compo!

[Mave]

jumpingjackdan said:

She paid on her debit. She paid the £70 on the friday and they took more money out on the Monday. Thanks chaps. I will sort this out - taking the mickey!!

That's fraud or theft isn't it? Using someones debit card details to make a transaction without their agreement?

[GCH]

I had this with some clients/colleagues at a very high end property overseas.
We were in a rush leaving, so they didn't actually check out at the desk, they just left. I however, had checked out properly.
A couple of days later I had all their rooms and incidentals appear on my card, despite their rooms being pre-paid for prior to check in

I called Amex, they suspended it immediately, and I provided them with my receipts from check out and stated that at no time had I linked or authorised their rooms to be charged to my card.
Amex asked the hotel to provide proof, which of course they couldn't.

The hotel then charged it again a week later. I don't know what amex said or did then, but no more charges since and amex assured me that there will not be.

Get onto the card company. Not sure if it makes a difference the fact that a debit instead of credit was used in this case, but also check how much was pre authorized (as most hotels do for a certain amount to cover incidentals).

[Hooli]

GCH said:

Not sure if it makes a difference the fact that a debit instead of credit was used in this case.

I have a feeling that if your account is in your overdraft when you pay by debt card it gets the same protection as credit card payments.

[R8Steve]

Hooli said:

GCH said:

Not sure if it makes a difference the fact that a debit instead of credit was used in this case.

I have a feeling that if your account is in your overdraft when you pay by debt card it gets the same protection as credit card payments.

On a debit card you can do a chargeback on the payment that was made. On a credit card it is covered by section 75 of the consumer credit act.

Being in overdraft on a debit card won't enable the terms of section 75 as it's still a debit card (which is a voluntary arrangement with banks, not a legal arrangement as per section 75).

You should be able to do a chargeback for the transaction without issue though...although the bank will probably try to push you to get a refund from the hotel.