Premier inn

mcgills38

Hi folks, just a bit of advice needed

Basically stayed at the Dublin premier inn Friday - Monday, on the Monday we checked out at 5am with the receptionist.

I paid for the four day booking on the Friday by visa debit card in the chip & pin machine for €196.

Today they randomly took another £57 out of my bank, when I called them to ask why they have said that I left a bag in my room, and as such they thought I was still there, even though I handed the swipe card for the room in at 5am in the morning.

The bag was a laptop/cabin bag which the wheel had fallen off on the journey over so I bought a new one in Dublin, and put the old broken one next to the bin.

I was slightly puzzled over a few things though... I never left my card details with them, I only used the chip and pin, so does this mean they captured my bank details via this? Secondly I was never emailed an invoice for this extra night they charged because I left the bag in the room.

They have refunded me which I am quite happy with, and I don't want any further compo from them, I'm just curious to see if them capturing my details like that is all above board.

MamaMoo_2

mcgills38 wrote: »

Hi folks, just a bit of advice needed

Basically stayed at the Dublin premier inn Friday - Monday, on the Monday we checked out at 5am with the receptionist.

I paid for the four day booking on the Friday by visa debit card in the chip & pin machine for €196.

Today they randomly took another £57 out of my bank, when I called them to ask why they have said that I left a bag in my room, and as such they thought I was still there, even though I handed the swipe card for the room in at 5am in the morning.

The bag was a laptop/cabin bag which the wheel had fallen off on the journey over so I bought a new one in Dublin, and put the old broken one next to the bin.

I was slightly puzzled over a few things though... I never left my card details with them, I only used the chip and pin, so does this mean they captured my bank details via this? Secondly I was never emailed an invoice for this extra night they charged because I left the bag in the room.

They have refunded me which I am quite happy with, and I don't want any further compo from them, I'm just curious to see if them capturing my details like that is all above board.

Not sure if all chip & pin machines work the same, but I know that some I've worked with print out two copies of the receipt, one for the customer, with the card number as **** **** **** 1234 and a store copy that had the full card number on. I know that every so often if a price had been charged wrong (ie charged £1.00 instead of £100) the manager would run through the extra charge using the details on the store copy.

Jinks

In stores I've worked in the card details have to be registered onto the system for the purposes of refunds (since refunds have to be made back onto the same card, they couldn't do it without the card details). They don't need your bank details to charge or refund to a credit or debit card.

I think it is a little dodgy that they automatically charged the card without notifying you or seeking your permission, because usually prior authorisation needs to be granted for companies to be able to request money is charged to your card. But it may be that there is something in their terms and conditions which you accepted by using their services that enables them to do this. Imagine if a customer actually did stay longer than they were supposed to then did a runner, for example.

Glad you got your refund - it was definitely their mistake since you handed in your key, but I'm sure you won't be hearing from them again.

mcgills38

@jinks @mamamoo - thanks for your help folks! Not very happy how they done it but the fact they've refunded me I can't really ask for much more!

dalesrider

mcgills38 wrote: »

I'm just curious to see if them capturing my details like that is all above board.

Of course it is.... It will be in the T/C that they retain your card details in case they need to charge you further due to damage etc.

As another point EVERY retailer you use your card at keeps the full card details on their systems for auditing purposes.