Hotel taking less than total amount without permission?

mbzon

This is on behalf of a friend but was wondering if someone could give some info on this.

My friend (who is in Turkey) booked a hotel (in Greece), and after several minutes cancelled it. As the booking was non-refundable the hotel tried to take the full amount however the friend luckily didn't have enough money in his credit card. The hotel then decided to just try taking smaller amounts to get what ever they could from the card.

Is this legal what they did? To take a lower amount than what was authorized?

eskbanker

No idea what Greek consumer law is but if I was your friend I'd be more concerned that I'd entered into a binding commitment without having the funds to pay for it, and that I'd therefore still owe the hotel the remaining cost of the booking....

bigadaj

mbzon wrote: »

This is on behalf of a friend but was wondering if someone could give some info on this.

My friend (who is in Turkey) booked a hotel (in Greece), and after several minutes cancelled it. As the booking was non-refundable the hotel tried to take the full amount however the friend luckily didn't have enough money in his credit card. The hotel then decided to just try taking smaller amounts to get what ever they could from the card.

Is this legal what they did? To take a lower amount than what was authorized?

It's certainly not legal to purchase something without the means to pay for it, more simply it's theft.

ShaneUK

bigadaj wrote: »

It's certainly not legal to purchase something without the means to pay for it, more simply it's theft.

Not necessarily. Hotels can be payable on arrival, and in that instance funds would not need to be immediately available.

However, in answer to the original question, I would say that yes, the hotel are quite within the rights to try and obtain the money for this booking, given that the OP has pointed out that this was a non-cancellable booking.

mbzon

ShaneUK wrote: »

Not necessarily. Hotels can be payable on arrival, and in that instance funds would not need to be immediately available.

However, in answer to the original question, I would say that yes, the hotel are quite within the rights to try and obtain the money for this booking, given that the OP has pointed out that this was a non-cancellable booking.

Thanks, I would have thought that by placing the booking it only gave the hotel the right to remove the exact amount, not more or less but guess I was wrong.

I don't know the full details of the booking to talk about who owes who what, but considering that the booking was a mistake and cancelled minutes ago, law aside I think the hotel are pretty mean to try and take the full amount.

CM66

mbzon wrote: »

Thanks, I would have thought that by placing the booking it only gave the hotel the right to remove the exact amount, not more or less but guess I was wrong.

I don't know the full details of the booking to talk about who owes who what, but considering that the booking was a mistake and cancelled minutes ago, law aside I think the hotel are pretty mean to try and take the full amount.

Unfortunately the hotel are well within their rights to try and take the money, they knew they booked a non-refundable rate and cancelled it anyway!

bigadaj

ShaneUK wrote: »

Not necessarily. Hotels can be payable on arrival, and in that instance funds would not need to be immediately available.

However, in answer to the original question, I would say that yes, the hotel are quite within the rights to try and obtain the money for this booking, given that the OP has pointed out that this was a non-cancellable booking.

They can be, but that depends on the contract formed.


This appears to be a prepay non refundable rate, so not being able to pay or avoiding payment is a breach of that contract.

System

bigadaj wrote: »

They can be, but that depends on the contract formed.This appears to be a prepay non refundable rate, so not being able to pay or avoiding payment is a breach of that contract.

The contract may only be formed at the point of booking/paying upfront. Therefore when the payment was declined, the contract was never actually in place.

In any case, the card authorisation was for X amount and there was no agreement to charge Y. Taking another amount is likely against card scheme rules.

ThePants999

Heng_Leng wrote: »

The contract may only be formed at the point of booking/paying upfront. Therefore when the payment was declined, the contract was never actually in place.

Are you saying that a contract can only be formed by money exchanging hands? Holy hell, someone had better tell every business that offers credit terms, including my employer!

Back to reality: if you make an agreement that includes later payment and doesn't include cancellation rights (noting that cancellation rights may be statutory), it's binding upon you immediately, not when you later make the payment. If your payment method doesn't work when the times comes to pay, not only is it fine for the supplier to take whatever they can, they're also still able to chase you for the rest!

Heng_Leng wrote: »

In any case, the card authorisation was for X amount and there was no agreement to charge Y. Taking another amount is likely against card scheme rules.

Pretty sure you're wrong on this too. It's totally standard, for example, for a hotel to pre-authorise an amount like £100 on your card to cover in-room spending, but only actually charge the amount you actually spend.

bigadaj

Heng_Leng wrote: »

The contract may only be formed at the point of booking/paying upfront. Therefore when the payment was declined, the contract was never actually in place.

What like a cheque bouncing?

Contracts require a consideration but this is implicit on forming the contract, which is why you see the clause 'inconsideration of £1 which is confirmed to have been paid'.

System

bigadaj wrote: »

What like a cheque bouncing?

Contracts require a consideration but this is implicit on forming the contract, which is why you see the clause 'inconsideration of £1 which is confirmed to have been paid'.

It would depend on the contract, which we don't have.
Contracts don't require consideration, they can be gratuitous.