accidentally refunded twice...

haribogray

hello!

this is my first post on the forum ... i have a question!

in august i booked to stay at a hotel in london that is part of a big chain - we were treated awfully and were not happy with our stay at all, so we complained and eventually got them to agree to give us a 35% refund (the hotel was adamant that was the most they could refund) so we agreed on that figure as we thought it was better to get something back than nothing ...
anyway i got the cheque through the post yesterday and have paid it into my bank

the only thing is, my partner, who paid for the room on his card has just checked his balance and they have refunded 35% of the payment back onto his card too!

they told us they didn't keep any card details on file so if we wanted a refund we'd have to email our card details to them; we weren't happy doing this so i asked for a cheque instead.

so we have been refunded by them twice, obviously it's an accident on their part, but we don't know where we stand if they ask for it back?

any advice?

thanks!

fluffnutter

If they ask for it back, you must give it to them. Within the next six months, they can take the payment without telling you, so you may find yourself suddenly missing some money! After six months (and up to six years) they should alert you first.

It might just be easier to tell them they've refunded you twice - you never know; they might just say keep it

InsideInsurance

You know that the money is not intended for you and therefore to refuse to give it back would be theft and in theory could lead to a criminal record (though exceptionally unlikely that either the company would pass it to the police or that the police would bother to do anything).

More likely if you refused to give it back they would either issue county court proceedings against you, pass it to a debt collection agency or possibly just write it off.

If it went to court you would be forced to pay it back, plus interest, plus court costs but your financial ability to repay would be taken into consideration (ie you may be given a repayment plan if you cannot afford to pay it in full in 28 days).

Best thing to do, keep it, earn interest on it, pay it back straight away if they ask you to.

fluffnutter

Nirvana9 wrote: »

Is there anything in writing stating you and them agreed on a 35% refund? If not, surely you can just say a 70% refund was agreed....

You could. But it would be a porky pie.

vuvuzela

fluffnutter wrote: »

You could. But it would be a porky pie.

Not really a porkie pie, more attempted fraud. And they have up to 6 years as said above, to reclaim the money you now owe them

mattyprice4004

I'd cancel the card they refunded to and request a new one from the bank, just so they can't claim it straight back.

It's their money, yes, but they could choose to do it at a bad time and put you in the red with your bank.

Firefox1975

haribogray wrote: »

hello!


in august i booked to stay at a hotel in london that is part of a big chain - we were treated awfully and were not happy with our stay at all, so we complained and eventually got them to agree to give us a 35% refund (the hotel was adamant that was the most they could refund) so we agreed on that figure as we thought it was better to get something back than nothing ...
anyway i got the cheque through the post yesterday and have paid it into my bank

the only thing is, my partner, who paid for the room on his card has just checked his balance and they have refunded 35% of the payment back onto his card too!


so we have been refunded by them twice, obviously it's an accident on their part, but we don't know where we stand if they ask for it back?

any advice?

thanks!

your partner has "only just checked his card" since august? come on , pull the other one! or have they refunded his card recently too?

more like, you knew the card has been refunded and now you have received a "bonus" cheque and are unsure where you stand with it.

working in a hotel I would say it is very unusual to refund via a cheque? you must have complained to Head Office?

Depending how big a refund it is I think they will find this when they knock through this Months accounts, if teh GM of the hotel is switched on they might realise the double refund and charge it back. (if we are only talking about £100 then forget it, that really is peanuts and they will not care )

haribogray

Firefox1975 wrote: »

your partner has "only just checked his card" since august? come on , pull the other one! or have they refunded his card recently too?

more like, you knew the card has been refunded and now you have received a "bonus" cheque and are unsure where you stand with it.

working in a hotel I would say it is very unusual to refund via a cheque? you must have complained to Head Office?

Depending how big a refund it is I think they will find this when they knock through this Months accounts, if teh GM of the hotel is switched on they might realise the double refund and charge it back. (if we are only talking about £100 then forget it, that really is peanuts and they will not care )

i am being genuine in what i wrote, thank you! we have been complaining to the hotel since august, they only agreed to the refund the other week and yes we had the cheque yesterday and the money refunded onto the card today! it's been refunded onto his american express card which he rarely uses.

the refund is for £93 so in total we've had £186 returned to us

thank you for your responses so far everyone

@InsideInsurance if they requested to take the money back i would not refuse!
i am just reluctant to contact them to tell them they have made a mistake as they have been so rude and generally unhelpful in the time i have had to deal with them (during our stay and trying to get a refund)

Quentin

haribogray wrote: »

i am just reluctant to contact them to tell them they have made a mistake as they have been so rude and generally unhelpful in the time i have had to deal with them (during our stay and trying to get a refund)

You don't have to contact them.

Just see if they come back to you, otherwise you have ended up with a bonus, thanks to their poor admin!

haribogray

Nirvana9 wrote: »

Is there anything in writing stating you and them agreed on a 35% refund? If not, surely you can just say a 70% refund was agreed....

we have been corresponding via email so yes i do have record of agreeing 35% - although in no email does it say hpw much we paid or what 35% equates to, but i guess they'd just use the orignal booking as proof

shaun_from_Africa

Firefox1975 wrote: »

your partner has "only just checked his card" since august? come on , pull the other one! or have they refunded his card recently too?

Quite plausible.
All of my credit cards and my bank accounts are online only and I often go a few months without checking any of them.