Hotel charged debit card without authorisation

DebsDD

I am hoping someone can help me, I hope this questions is in the right place.

I stayed at a hotel from Wednesday to Sunday last week for work. When I checked in I was asked to swipe my card so I could put any extras to my room which I agree is quite standard practice. I asked if there would be a charge and was told no. I duly stayed for 4 days and cleared my bill at the end of that time with cash.

On checking my bank statement on Monday it transpires that the hotel deducted £200 from my account on the day I checked in - last Wednesday. A colleague was charged £50, was told she would be and was refunded when she checked out. I didn't even know about it until I got home. Can they do this? is it legal? I have still not been refunded the £200 which as you can imagine is leaving me in a rather tight spot and I have £28 before I go over my overdraft with DDs due tomorrow.

Any advive appreciated. I am writing to the hotel's head office to complain but wondered if anyone knew about the legal angle particularly.

thanks

Debs

dacouch

If they send the money back to your card it often takes between 5 to 10 days so there is a good chance it won't be back in your account on time.

It might be worth speaking to your bank and explaining the situation, they may be able to do a charge back.

In my experience, hotels generally photocopy the card so they have the details if they need them. The only reason you swipe a card through the card machine is to debit money.

DebsDD

Thanks but don't they have to tell you they are debiting money up front? I have never been in this position before. Although of course maybe I haven't been keeping such a close eye on my account before!

apt

Hotels do quite often swipe cards for security reasons. But they should not take a substantial amount without informing you. Complain to the hotel company. If a hotel or car hire company demands a card it's better to use a credit card rather than a debit card. It's less inconvenient and you've got more consumer rights.

dacouch

They should not take money without your authority but I assume you must have entered your pin number (If you did not they would have put it as if you had paid over the telephone which does not need your pin).

I assume they never gave you your copy of the credit card receipt

delwynshd

what hotel was it??????

whatusername

delwynsholidaydeals wrote: »

what hotel was it??????

Yeah name and shame them, im pretty sure they won't want bad press especially here on a site viewed by many many people looking for info.

APV1

I am the General manager of a hotel in Telford and would like to put my take on the matter.
On arrival, your card would have been "Pre-Authorised". This means money is set aside by your card issuer and allocated to the hotel. This should be enough to cover all accommodation costs, taxes and a little for extras (depending on the hotel, this last bit can vary - we put on about £25 per night, to cover meals, drinks, films, etc).
On departure, the hotel would use this pre-auth to settle your bill. If they had pre-authed £200 and your bill came to £150, the remaining £50 would be released. It is then your card issuer's policy that dictates how long this will take to return to your available funds and can be up to 10 working days.
This should have been explained clearly to you at check-in, as otherwise these problems arise. It should also be in print on or near the Reception desk.
If you have agreed to the amount and put in your PIN, there is very little you can do on this occassion.
However, in the future, you might want to consider paying for the accommodation on arrival in full and ask to be put on a "Cash Only" basis - for any extras, you have to pay at the time of service, rather than running a "tab" - your room bill - and paying on departure. That way, you will always know exactly where you are.
This policy is common-place in the industry and has been brought about by dishonest people leaving hotels and not paying - a real example of "once bitten, twice shy". I am certainly not suggesting that you are dishonest - quite the opposite - but thought you might like to know why hotels do this.
If you need more help, just ask!

DebsDD

Thanks a lot, I realise why hotels do it but thought they had to tell you in advance. I didn't put my pin number in. My company had probably over 100 rooms at the hotel and these were all pre-paid weeks ago. When we cancelled a room several weeks ago we were told we couldn't have a refund on the room.

If I had been told money would be deducted from my card I would have used cash only, in fact we only put 1 bottle of wine on the room bill in the end.

Luckily I have now had the money refunded to my account which co-incided with the DDs going out so wasn't charged anything. Will use a credit card in future as suggested or not use a card at all.

thanks for all the advice given.

Debs

APV1

My pleasure!
I always worry, when hearing these horror stories, that all hoteliers will be tarred with the same brush. Some of us actually do believe in customer service and guest satisfaction (even if it seems very impersonal sometimes and all about the "bottom line").
Incidentally - Yes! They should have told you, you should have put your PIN into the PIN pad and they should have explained about the delay in releasing of funds.
Good luck for the future and I'm glad you didn't get caught out by bank charges to boot!

moonrakerz

APV1 wrote: »

This should have been explained clearly to you at check-in, as otherwise these problems arise. It should also be in print on or near the Reception desk.

I used to travel a lot before I retired and I have to say that I NEVER had this explained to me (I knew anyway, but that isn't the point) and only on a couple of occasions did I see a notice about this - not very prominently displayed either.
Some hotels can add a couple of hundred to cover incidentals - I'm afraid many are not as upfront and honest as yours appears to be !