Holiday Inn - £150 taken from Debit Card

cmacca

I am not sure if this is right or wrong so could do with some help please

Holiday Inn Nottingham, have just taken £150 off my husbands Debit card with out even mentioning it to him, the room and all his meals had already been paid for by his company but apparently they hold this amount until you check out to pay for extras !! Quote from website says: "We would like to inform you that either a Credit or Debit card will be required on check- in, which will be authorised for extras during your stay. This is a compulsory requirement, and no guests will be permitted to check- in without a valid Credit or Debit card" We will apparently get the money back but not for days, this was not explained at all on check in ! The money is in Temporary processing but stays there for a while before they release it back, it has caused us to go overdrawn

You expect to give your card to them for ID and hold the details or take a few pounds to check validity and if you do use an extras they will charge on check out, but to take £150 up front without saying is this something they can do ?

eslick

are you sure they have taken the funds, normally they just put a hold on your account sometimes for a penny if they have to take some, seen this with credit cards but no experience of debit ones. Easier to use the credit card as you wouldnt normally notice it.

tillieflop

I work in a large hotel and we take pre-authorisations on a card on check-in to open a line of credit however guests are given the choiece to "pay as they go along" as well.

I suggest that your husband ensures that any payment they take on checking out is a completion transaction, which will release the rest of the money. For example if he spent £50 the remaining £100 releases.
If he hasn't anything to settle then I would advise that he asks them to cancel the pre-authorisation. In the hotel I work this is done as a matter of course, but talking to some guests not all hotels do this as a matter of course.

It will take a few days to release.

System

a lot of hotels do this. However £150 seems high, especially if all meals and room have already been paid for. They usually hold the room tariff and then an extra £50. Its to ensure they get paid for the room and services. Just a few quid would be useless if you ran off without paying and there wasn't enough on the card to cover the whole cost.

if he needs the £150 tell him to speak to the manager as they will probably waive it for a pre paid room and meals

hcb42

I also work in a large hotel - conveniently in same location but not same one!

are you sure it has caused you to go overdrawn? It is only a pre auth, it isnt actual money taken so should never leave your account

Has his company actually prepaid or just guaranteed the payment (i.e. bill back?) if the latter and they have authorised payments on letter head or some other means and he is a regular, then he could technically check in with no credit card and be a cash guest. It means, for example he wont have access to pay on demand movies, be able to charge to room, or make phone calls, that's all.

cmacca

hcb42 wrote: »

I also work in a large hotel - conveniently in same location but not same one!

are you sure it has caused you to go overdrawn? It is only a pre auth, it isnt actual money taken so should never leave your account

Has his company actually prepaid or just guaranteed the payment (i.e. bill back?) if the latter and they have authorised payments on letter head or some other means and he is a regular, then he could technically check in with no credit card and be a cash guest. It means, for example he wont have access to pay on demand movies, be able to charge to room, or make phone calls, that's all.

Thanks for you reply, yes it has caused us to go overdrawn and also we can not spend on the account until we get that money back, (too near to pay day I am afraid to have a spare £150 in the account) it may be a pre auth but it shows on available balance as a negative. The company he works for is a big corporate who use the hotel a lot, still think it is a bit off they didnt tell him.

agrinnall

The answer (for the future) is to get his employer to provide him with a corporate card so that it's not his own card that has the pre-auth put on it.

wealdroam

cmacca wrote: »

Thanks for you reply, yes it has caused us to go overdrawn and also we can not spend on the account until we get that money back, (too near to pay day I am afraid to have a spare £150 in the account) it may be a pre auth but it shows on available balance as a negative. The company he works for is a big corporate who use the hotel a lot, still think it is a bit off they didnt tell him.

Yes, the available balance may well be negative, but it is my understanding that it is only when the current balance goes negative that you become overdrawn.

(your bank may use different words)

Mark_Hewitt

However the OP wouldn't be able to take money out of their account if they amount they wanted to withdraw was greater than their overdraft limit minus £150