Hotel charged me twice

diamond_dave

Hi All, stayed at a pub recently and paid the bill of £140.00 on an MBNA credit card. I have just noticed that I have been charged £170.00 for the same accommodation, but 2 weeks after we left!
The accommodation was DIRE, with no breakfast, no heating,etc. and that was why the charge was reduced by £30.00.
Question: what is my next step.-have contacted the owner by email requesting a refund -but doubt that I will get a response. How is it possible that a second charge can be made when I wasn't present. The booking was made via Booking.com. and my account was debited by the place itself on both occasions.
Any advice would be appreciated.

[Deleted User]

If they don't respond, raise a charge back via MBNA.

diamond_dave

Thanks.How long should I wait before I request the chargeback?

[Deleted User]

I'd give the hotel a few days, but follow it up with a call.

Email is a slow way of resolving these things.

makeni555

Hi Did you book with an Online Travel Agency - like booking.com or expedia/hotels.com - did they also charge your card or was just the hotel twice that did it?

diamond_dave

Made the booking via Booking.com but BOTH payments appear to have been taken by the pub in question as per the cc statement.

makeni555

Its easier if its on the account as the hotel name twice - (A payment to booking.com looks like 'Booking.com Amsterdam' once and then a 6 to 7 digit number and then some letters as reference (for anyone looking in the future and they're quite rare at the moment, doesn't have the hotel name in.))

You're best bet is to take it up with the hotel first. Don't involve Booking.com at this stage as that will only get the hotels back up and then they might be even less helpful. (Booking.com is generally held in very low regard by a lot of hotels and very difficult to deal with)

Was the confirmation from Booking.com showing it at £140 or £170? Its good you've complained to the hotel first as a chargeback isn't generally accepted unless you give the hotel a chance first.

Check there was no damage fee's / smoking fees assessed by the hotel as that can be the reason why the second charge has appeared later.

diamond_dave

Thanks for all the replies. Went to London area for a serious problem with my DD health and found this place on BDC .The initial charge was to be £170 but the place was SO bad that we agreed a price of £140.
I won't go in to details, but no heating, windows blowing a gale,no breakfast, sent across the road to a greasy spoon with a "voucher" for breakfast, only to be told by the GS owner that he could not accept them! Rather than get anyone into trouble, paid the bill for food and went back to complain in pub.
The guy was amicable and apologetic and we agreed the discount.
I should have put a review on Tripadvisor but just wanted out as we just wanted to get home an lick our wound, so to speak. a word of advice: DON'T TRUST TRIPADVISOR.

makeni555

It sounds like a simple accounting error. As you paid £140 at the hotel but then presumable the booking wasnt updated on the hotels system to £140 and instead it has showed as £170 unpaid in the booking.com extranet and they've collected the full amount again thinking you'd not paid at all first time round.

Very likely at a smaller business when things are still done on paper.

Dont put a review on trip advisor (or booking.com/google). That is the last thing you want to do no matter how wronged you feel. Believe it or not even if you dont use your real name they can work out quite easily who you are then wont want to help at all (based on any details in the review you leave). And also dont threaten to leave a bad review either.

You've already sent the email I would follow up in a few hours with a phone call. But did you send the email using the Booking.com messaging service? If so I wouldn't bother and instead send an email to the hotel email address something like reception@hotelinlondon.co,uk ? Still phone as well to "Just check they're got the email you sent in"

At worse worse case scenario Booking.com have been known to refund an over charge but you're looking at around 3 months to sort it out with them. If all else fails.

FYI Booking.com charges 15% commission in the UK (which means most places increase their rates by 15% to cover it and will do you a discount if you book direct) doesn't help now I know but I hope it helps explain why I am recommending not to involve Booking.com too much yet as most hotels resent them.

diamond_dave

Thanks, makeni555, if as you say booking .com has taken the payment of £170 - why does my cc statement list the payment under the name of the establishment on both occasions? As mentioned here before, would it not say something to the effect of Booking .com Amsterdam with a reference number or something similar? I could see that they might have invoiced me in error for the difference in price(£30) but how are they able to use my cc without me present and not using my PIN?

makeni555

I know that you did not pay to Booking.com at all. But in rare events such as these Booking.com have been known to pay back a guest when they have been charged twice by the hotel. This is arranged through Booking.com customer service but it is a long and drawn out procedure. They will do this even if you did nt pay them directly at all. It involves sending original bank statements in and letters from your bank etc...

Your second payment is processed as a MOTO or (mail order telephone order) transaction. This means using your 16 digit card number (15 for amex, 19 for maestro intl), expiry, 3 digit CVV or 4 digit CID (amex) and then the address numbers and post code numbers (optional).

When you booked through Booking.com you put your card details into the website including your CVV/CID which is where they'll have got it from to be able to charge you for the second time.

It is this second payment which is the one you'd be able to charge back as you verified the first payment at the hotel using the your PIN number on the card reader.

Let me know how you get on and I'll try be of more help.