Hotel charged for Fire alarm triggering

loztiggy

Hello, just wondering if anyone can be of assistance?

I recently booked a hotel for a friend of mine who required an overnight hotel after finding herself stuck, but had no money. I booked a cheap room through booking.com using my debit card, and the payment for the room was taken.

My friend got checked in and at some point during the night set one of the fire alarms off (she has episodes of sleepwalking apparently).

I received an email the following day advising I had been charged £150 by the hotel, £50 for the alarm being triggered and £100 to replace the glass panel on the alarm.

Booking.com have advised the hotel should have only taken the payment from my card and not used it for securities etc, as I havent consented to any charges (the booking.com site doesnt mention any terms or conditions for the hotel, therefore I shouldnt have my card charged).

Has anyone any advice for this situation? Im aware my friend is at fault for setting the alarm off but is it really fair that I foot the bill to the tune of £150 when I wasnt even aware I could be charged for anything other than the room?

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

I'd be extracting it from your friend.

vikingaero

I think the hotel is right. The person paying/booking the room is responsible for the behaviour of their guests.

daveyjp

Is that £100 for a break glass unit replacement glass? They cost pennies. Looks like a charge which bears no resemblance to the costs or losses, nice work if you can get it.

dzug1

daveyjp wrote: »

Is that £100 for a break glass unit replacement glass? They cost pennies. Looks like a charge which bears no resemblance to the costs or losses, nice work if you can get it.

Have you ever had the need of a fire or burglar alarm maintenace company?

The cost of the part may be trivial, but getting someone to fix it is most certainly not.

loztiggy

£150 total. £50 for the triggering, £100 to replace the glass. It would be simple to ask my friend however given I had to pay for the room in the first place as she was in dire straits thats a fruitless avenue for me. I didnt consent at any point to anything other than I would be charged for the room regardless of if she stayed or not, I dont understand how I can then be liable for further charges- regardless of the circumstances.

I would understand it if I had presented myself in the hotel and observed any terms and conditions, but aside from the booking being non refundable I wasnt. Can we please keep this to consumer advice and not judgemental replies regarding the behaviour of my friend.

loztiggy

And can I also point out I didnt stay at the hotel, I didnt even set foot in the hotel, I booked the room for a friend who was stranded 300 miles from home, via booking.com

peachyprice

Have you asked your friend if the incident actually occurred? It seems strange that she could sleepwalk out of her room and just happen to stumble into a fire alarm and manage to break the glass, sounds a bit far fetched to me.

daveyjp

Changing a break glass unit glass is a job for the caretaker.

At the moment you have a charge for £50 and a charge for £100. If either is for engineer visit, reset and retest that may be reasonable, but the question is then whats the other charge for?

I'd contest the charges and pay on receipt of evidence of the costs incurred as they can only be reimbursed for their actual costs, not simply make up a figure and expect you to pay. They are creeping in to hotels such as the 'fine' for cleaning a non smoking room if they believe you ahve smoked in the room.

Put in a dispute with your credit card company.

rustyboy21

Wouldn't the problem be that in your friend booking in to the hotel, that they sign up for the hotel and agree to any penalties that may occur ( damage to room,flooding room etc)?

Your friend did not have any money on them, the only recourse they will have is to invoice you and take payment.

It will be similar to someone smoking in a NS room. They charge things like £150 for a deep clean. A deep clean may consist of a quick spray around with fabreze, but there you go. They most likely have set charges for all eventualities, this being one of them.

You accept that your friend was at fault, someone has to pay. The fire service may have been sent out on alarm activation. Someone has to pay for that as they do charge now for false alarms. The system would have had to be reset and checked. You are not taking into account of the distress and inconvenience caused to other paying customers getting woken up in the night. How do you know that the hotel didn't have to pay compensation to other residents for the upset?

It seems fair enough to me.

shegirl

Seems perfectly fair,the post above me explains why.

When you book a hotel and/or check in there will be terms that state there will be charges in the event of damage and such things. As you're card is the one that booked it will be the one that's charged.

I'd have thought that was pretty standard.