Money Moral Dilemma: Should I 'fess up about my hotel payment?

Voyager2002

Card details would certainly have been given at the time of booking, probably also on check-in at the hotel. So the payment will almost certainly be taken at some point in the next couple of months.

Is it worth contacting the company to point out the mistake? If there is a simple way to send an email I would probably do so, if only to avoid the payment being taken just after I have spent the money on something else. However, I would not be willing to spend hours waiting for the phone to be answered, particularly if it is a premium-rate number.

elizabethhull

I would always rather contact the hotel and explain, instead of the possibility of a sudden request for payment hanging over me for months.
I think that's my conscience talking - sounds like a lot of people don't have one. Let's hope these people never go into business for themselves and find customers with the same lack of morals.

Having said that, hubby & I once booked 2 nights in a small chain hotel in Birmingham, where they didn't charge for me or the evening meal Don't know if they thought I was a lady of the night !! My husband tried to explain at the checkout, the clerk really didn't want to know, retreated to a back room to consult a higher up and came back to say the bill was correct. Faced with that assertion my husband decided not to argue any more.
We had TRIED to pay correctly. We treated ourselves to a REALLY nice meal on the way home !

I don't know why these sort of moral 'dilemmas' are anything to do with money-saving. Cheating, stealing or deception are hardly legitimate money-saving strategies.

Bedi25

If you just call up and pay it then no lessons are going to be learned. Basic professional service is fading fast in the UK and people run companies like morons. The larger the company, the worse this can be, in my experience. We've lost the ability to communicate properly and when different departments should be talking to each other to make sure the customer gets a smooth experience it often simply does not happen. It's the same here. If the website doesn't take initial payment, then reception staff at the hotel should be properly trained to ensure that they must take payment before customers depart. I mean, how hard can it be?

Businesses learn lessons the hard way and losing money is probably one of the best. Hotels make a killing out of every booking they take anyway - and that's before you add on extra like drinks and food so I wouldn't lose any sleep over it whatsoever.

happyinflorida

I'd double check to make sure you haven't already paid - did you use a credit card, or other means of payment possibly?

Also ask the hotel to find out how your bill was paid - maybe a friend/relative/or the company you work for have paid it in advance?

Make sure first and if it hasn't been paid, then pay it.

joehoover

Double check, I've had numerous occasions where it was reservation only and you pay at the hotel but money was taken straight away anyway - had to complain as the shoe is on the other foot then as there is always a discount for immediate payment/no cancellation rates so I've ended up losing out and spending weeks to get my money back if at all. So where is the moral and legal obligation on part of the hotel/booking sites then?

Eric_Disley

gettingtheresometime wrote: »

Bits this sort of reply I really really don't understand.

Why does it make it morally correct to not pay a 'global' chain for a service that you've received as opposed to a small hotEl.

I'm never going to be seen as "morally correct" by everyone. I don't claim to be, or particularly care.

The reason I'd consider this is that the global chain probably wouldn't miss it whereas the small hotel probably would. I know others will say "if everyone did that ..." etc. But they don't.

Torry_Quine

It's sad that this is even considered a dilemma. It wouldn't occur to me not to contact them and pay.

scumsthorne

anotheruser wrote: »

Just like these same people are such model citizens and hand in £10 they find on the floor of a busy town centre

Actually this is covered under the theft act.

Primrose

I cringe when I read threads where people seem almost proud to confess they would cheat the system and wonder what sort of people they are. Individuals who are likely to cheat on their partners, employees who would fiddle their expenses given half a chance or steal from their employers? Not the sort of people most of us would be proud to call our friends, that's for sure !

JuliusCaesar

If it was a small family hotel I'd offer to pay up without being asked. If it was a large chain I'd wait for them to notice the mistake, and only pay if asked.