Stayed at hotel, mix up with card, now being harassed by debt collector

annoyedwithHSBC

Hi,

I am looking for some advice, not too sure this is in the right forum.

I booked to stay in a Hotel/Hostel in Plymouth called Welcome Rest, this booking was made at the end of April on LateRooms.com and we were staying there at the end of May. I booked this on my debit card and Laterooms informed us that no money would be taken and that the debit card was just used to secure the room.

The weekend went fine and they told us we could either leave cash in the room after we leave to pay for it (which I felt was slightly dubious in an unmanned hostel) or we could pay by debit card at a later date, i chose the latter option. It wasn't until the 18th July 2011 when they contacted me saying they had attempted to take payment and it had failed:

Dear Evan Morgan
I am trying to take a payment of your card for the amount of time you stayed at welcome
rest unfortunatly the card has been declined and was wondering if you could get in
contact with us either by email or telephone 01579 389 137.

Many Thanks
Emily Hamilton

Welcome Rest
0800 043 9675
07980 532526

I looked in my account and there seemed to be enough room for it to be taken but nevertheless I moved some money around to make sure and emailed them back 2 days later on the 20th July 2011:

Hi,

I assumed this had already been taken, should work now.

Let me know if any further problems,

Thanks

Evan

Later that day I received a reply:

Dear Evan Morgan,

I will take the payment of your card later on today.

Many Thanks ]
Emily Hamilton

Welcome Rest
0800 043 9675
07980 532526

I heard nothing back after this and simply forgot about the matter, I thought that payment must have been transferred fine and that the problem was sorted.

Then on November 16th 2011 I received a letter from 'Absolute Debt Recovery' stating that they had been instructed by Welcome Rest to contact me and that I must pay them £125.78 (The original bill was £86).

I dug into the issue last night and found that the original card details that I submitted to LateRooms.com were incorrect (it was my previous card number and my new card start/expire date) - clearly LateRooms ask for a debit card but then do not actually check whether it is valid?

I feel that it is a genuine mistake on my part caused by a poorly designed system and isn't solely (or even mostly) my fault. Further to this I feel it should be Welcome Rest's responsibility to check my card number with me before processing the transaction (or at least double checking once it has failed). I can't really see how I could have prevented these mistakes therefore do not think I should be liable for the £39.78 'interest and charges'.

I have spent last night/today emailing Welcome Rest (with no response so far) and confirming with Absolute Debt Recovery that I will deal with the issue directly with Welcome Rest and get back to them in due course(also no response).

I hope you can offer me some advice on the matter and whether you feel it is in fact solely my fault and also whether you think I should be liable for these charges.

I would also be interested to hear of anyone I could contact for some official advice. I have tried the financial ombudsman (not really their area) and consumer direct but have not yet heard anything back, I will try ringing tomorrow.

Thanks

Evan

Techhead_2

My personal opinion is that considering they had already chased you, you should have checked the payment went through. I also think its your responsibility to give correct card details, regardless of how unusual the payment scheme is (as you agreed to it).

I would contact them directly , apologise for the mix up and offer to pay the original charge.

bod1467

I agree with your last paragraph. However I believe Laterooms/the hostel also bear some responsibility as they did not inform OP the reason WHY it failed when they could easily have done so. (This is to support the OP in dealing only with the hostel. Sending the debt to a DRC was unreasonable IMHO).

System

bod1467 wrote: »

I agree with your last paragraph. However I believe Laterooms/the hostel also bear some responsibility as they did not inform OP the reason WHY it failed when they could easily have done so. (This is to support the OP in dealing only with the hostel. Sending the debt to a DRC was unreasonable IMHO).

would they know why the payment was declined ? i work in retail and all the PDQ says is "declined" its up to the card holder to find out why.

alistair.long

This can happen.

What you need to do is send a cheque recorded delivery for the original sum, and send it special/recorded delivery.

Also write a letter informing them that you have attempted to settle the bill however you were not notified prior to the debt collector.

This should be reasonable and should sort it out.

I donot believe you should have to pay the extra at this moment unless the company has chased you a lot more and they did not receive payment

vax2002

They are owed, the bill, and not a penny more, you have no contract with this debt firm, do not be fooled in to making one.
Send a cheque by recorded delivery to the hotel for the first bill and any letters from this debt company, do not open, write return to sender NO CONTRACT upon them.

annoyedwithHSBC

CHRISSYG wrote: »

would they know why the payment was declined ? i work in retail and all the PDQ says is "declined" its up to the card holder to find out why.

Thats one of the main problems, they clearly put it through a second time, it failed again and then they just didn't bother contacting me after that.

annoyedwithHSBC

Thanks guys. I will give this a go. FWIW I sent them a pretty nice email to the hostel firm yesterday obviously offering to pay for the room and got no response at all. Should I inform the debt company of what I am doing at all or just steer clear of contacting them (I have already told them I will be dealing directly with the hostel firm).??

Thanks

Evan

halibut2209

Are you sure you gave them the right email address

annoyedwithHSBC

annoyedwithHSBC wrote: »

Thanks guys. I will give this a go. FWIW I sent them a pretty nice email to the hostel firm yesterday obviously offering to pay for the room and got no response at all. Should I inform the debt company of what I am doing at all or just steer clear of contacting them (I have already told them I will be dealing directly with the hostel firm).??

Thanks

Evan

And another question I need answering if anyone knows...What do I do about this deadline of 22/11/11 with the debt company? Just ignore it? contact them?

Cheers

Evan

fluffnutter

annoyedwithHSBC wrote: »

And another question I need answering if anyone knows...What do I do about this deadline of 22/11/11 with the debt company? Just ignore it? contact them?

Cheers

Evan

Tell the debt collection agency that you're dealing directly with the company and they're to cease contacting you. If they continue, report them. But don't just ignore them, tell them you're taking it up with the hotel.