Hotel pre-authorisation legalities?

foxtrotoscar_2

zagfles wrote: »

They can't charge the card for damage to the room. Read the Barclays guide posted above and the VISA rules.

They can, and they do:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5847125/charged-for-pre-existing-damage-in-hotel-room-us-holiday

zagfles

hasaposse wrote: »

It's clear that you don't really understand the question, and I'm also not just looking for assumptions or opinions.

As I said in my original post, I'm trying to find out whether the pre-authorisation gives them permission to take as much of that money as they like when you check out, for whatever they see fit, without any further authorisation from the customer.

From the replies and reading other links etc it seems like the pre-authorisation will allow them to charge whatever they see fit when you check out, but that card issuers and banks pretty much require a signature to avoid any charge backs, and that the hotel obviously still has to comply with consumer law. It doesn't mean they'll adhere to those laws at the time, but without a signature it's a lot easier to reclaim bogus charges from your CC company.

So not what you said. Hence me finding it "hard to grasp".

That's pretty much it. As an example - this is what happened to a friend of mine:

Booked a hotel in Ireland, gave credit card details.

Checked into hotel. They took a swipe for "incidentals". Pre-authorised £50 or so on top of the room rate.

They offered an "early/fast check out" where she could just drop her keys and they just charged the card, so final bill wasn't agreed.

Hotel charged the room rate in GBP, despite her contracted rate being EUR. So they applied DCC without her consent.

The total was within the pre-authorised amount.

She phoned her bank. Spoke to a totally clueless call centre employee who didn't even seem to understand what DCC is, and suggested as the amount was within the pre-authorised amount there was nothing they could do.

Which I told her was absolute rubbish - DCC can only be applied with consent. (Banks do seem to employ some idiots in their front line call centres - either that or they're targetted at fobbing people off - never believe what they tell you, they're guessing half the time, get it in writing, far less likely to put bulls**t or guesswork in writing).

So she sent a complaint over internet bank and the bank apologised and refunded the extra within a few days.

Does that help?

zagfles

foxtrotoscar wrote: »

They can, and they do:-

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5847125/charged-for-pre-existing-damage-in-hotel-room-us-holiday

"Can" as in it is physically possible to. Like I "can" steal the towels, doesn't mean I'm allowed to. Merchants do break the rules sometimes. Like with DCC, as mentioned all the time on the travel board. I'll wager the OP in that thread gets their chargeback upheld.

pmduk

It boils down to, if a hotel charges you too much, you either do a chargeback or sue them. End of. Problem solved.

hasaposse

zagfles wrote: »

That's pretty much it. As an example - this is what happened to a friend of mine: ... Does that help?

Thanks, yeah sort of, I mean it's nice to have a real world example. I definitely agree they put idiots in call centres as the first line of defence! From what I've been reading (links in this thread, Google etc), it sounds like the pre-authorisation allows them to take up to 115% of that amount if it's a VISA card, and 100% if it's a MC, without any further authorisation when you check out. Consumer rights laws etc do still apply obviously, but the staff in the hotel may not be familiar with them or may just ignore them and charge you for things they're not allowed to, so the best option is not to sign anything if there are any disputed charges and take it up with the CC company afterwards.

peachyprice

Ok, lets try another approach.

It's obvious from the way you keep repeating the question that you haven't liked any of the answers you've had so far, so what answer do you want to hear?

JReacher1

zagfles wrote: »

They can't charge the card for damage to the room. Read the Barclays guide posted above and the VISA rules.

My apologies you are mistaken as they can charge under certain circumstances e.g. cleaning costs if someone has been smoking in the room causing damage.

As long as these potential charges are detailed in the hotels Terms and conditions and are not an unfair term e.g an excessive charge, then they can charge the card

meer53

As I said in my original post, I'm trying to find out whether the pre-authorisation gives them permission to take as much of that money as they like when you check out, for whatever they see fit, without any further authorisation from the customer.

FGS !!! Yes, pre authorisation allows them to take as much of that money as they like, for whatever they see fit. Without contacting you again.

Now do you understand ?

zagfles

JReacher1 wrote: »

My apologies you are mistaken as they can charge under certain circumstances e.g. cleaning costs if someone has been smoking in the room causing damage.

As long as these potential charges are detailed in the hotels Terms and conditions and are not an unfair term e.g an excessive charge, then they can charge the card

I was talking about damage not cleaning. The Barclaycard guide I posted earlier is clear enough

https://www.barclaycard.co.uk/business/files/Lodging_or_Accommodation.pdf

p.15 "Please note: You may not process charges for damage to the room."

Let's see if the OP of the thread linked gets their money back. Hopefully they'll update us.

hasaposse

zagfles wrote: »

Let's see if the OP of the thread linked gets their money back. Hopefully they'll update us.

Thanks, I've not actually had any weird charges as of yet. It's just that I stay in hotels very regularly, and always have a pre-authorisation which is obviously normal, but never really looked into the legalities of it.

The reason I was posting was because the hotel I've booked next month had a couple of charges listed in their T&Cs that didn't state how much they were, so it got me thinking and my curiosity got the best of me, then I was surprised that I couldn't really find any clear information online.