Hotel pre-authorisation legalities?

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  • hasaposse
    hasaposse Posts: 38 Forumite
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    Hah yeah keep it out of the way of customers.

    No it's an actual VISA rule, you can find it mentioned on P341 of the PDF you'll find by Googling a link for "15-April-2015-Visa-Rules-Public.pdf" on the VISA website.
  • peachyprice
    peachyprice Posts: 22,346 Forumite
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    TBH, I'm struggling think of any plausible charges a hotel would make against your card (other than damage or cleaning post departure) that you didn't know of at the time of receiving the service. If you use a service they charge it to your room, the time to ask the amount your card will be charged is when you receive the service and sign the slip of paper with the amount, if you haven't used a service you can dispute it when you check out.

    What services do you believe a hotel could charge you for that you wouldn't have been aware of using at the time?
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  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344 Forumite
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    hasaposse wrote: »

    Also there are definitely laws covering this sort of thing...


    Tell us which laws you think they are then.



    Personally I think the law that's likely to apply is contract law, both in the contract between you and your card issuer, and the contract between you and the hotel. And both of those in effect come back to the T&Cs that you agree to.
  • hasaposse
    hasaposse Posts: 38 Forumite
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    peachyprice wrote: »
    TBH, I'm struggling think of any plausible charges a hotel would make against your card ... What services do you believe a hotel could charge you for that you wouldn't have been aware of using at the time?
    That wasn't my question. I'm asking whether the hotel has to get permission to use the pre-authorised amount when you check out, or whether the pre-authorisation simply lets them charge whatever they like up to that amount.

    I feel like I've repeated this quite a few times now.
  • hasaposse
    hasaposse Posts: 38 Forumite
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    agrinnall wrote: »
    Tell us which laws you think they are then.
    The Consumer Rights Act 2015 and The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Contract law isn't relevant to my question.
  • BoGoF
    BoGoF Posts: 7,099 Forumite
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    Obviously a legal expert as well......
  • JReacher1
    JReacher1 Posts: 4,652 Forumite
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    Once you have agreed to the preauthorisation then the hotel can take that money without seeking permission.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,323 Forumite
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    JReacher1 wrote: »
    Once you have agreed to the preauthorisation then the hotel can take that money without seeking permission.
    Yes, but you can then dispute it if it was incorrect. Hence why merchant services advise hotels to get a signature on the final bill, so all charges are agreed before departure.

    Some don't, of course, but that makes them liable to chargebacks. Many retailers ignore VISA/Mastercard advice, and even rules - particularly DCC, which is routinely ignored and even has its own chargeback code.
  • JReacher1
    JReacher1 Posts: 4,652 Forumite
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    zagfles wrote: »
    Yes, but you can then dispute it if it was incorrect. Hence why merchant services advise hotels to get a signature on the final bill, so all charges are agreed before departure.

    Some don't, of course, but that makes them liable to chargebacks. Many retailers ignore VISA/Mastercard advice, and even rules - particularly DCC, which is routinely ignored and even has its own chargeback code.

    The majority of these charges will be applied post checkout as it is only then the hotel will realise that the customer has caused damage to the room.
  • zagfles
    zagfles Posts: 20,323 Forumite
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    JReacher1 wrote: »
    The majority of these charges will be applied post checkout as it is only then the hotel will realise that the customer has caused damage to the room.
    They can't charge the card for damage to the room. Read the Barclays guide posted above and the VISA rules.
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