Travelodge - Double charging on International Card

astreix

An acquaintance who is here to study from abroad checked into Travelodge today for 14 days. She booked the saver rate (cheaper prepaid rate with no cancellation option) with a Visa Debit card. Money was debited from her account when booking - however the hotel at point of checkin said that travelodge policy was that for payment with international cards they only reserve the amount.  The booking confirmation says paid but the receptionist insisted that booking was not prepaid.

To avoid spending night on the streets she ended up paying again at check in. For a student this is a lot of money, so understandably she is in panic mode right now worried that she has ended up paying twice.  Seems pretty odd policy from Travelodge that they treat international visa card differently - I travel (or used to pre lockdown) very frequently and never experienced a different treatment for cards not from native country.

Has anyone experienced something similar before? How to go about getting a refund in case amount is double charged?  Travelodge seem to only have premium number line to call and no email for customer services where one can get in touch - doesn't seem like they want customers to bother them.

pramsay13

It seems silly to panic before finding out if you've actually been charged twice.
If so contact Travelodge and complain. 
If you can't get through to them contact the card provider and explain there was a double payment.

Sandtree

astreix said:

Has anyone experienced something similar before? How to go about getting a refund in case amount is double charged?  Travelodge seem to only have premium number line to call and no email for customer services where one can get in touch - doesn't seem like they want customers to bother them.

Exactly the same? No, but finance laws vary significantly between countries and so its not unreasonable that a different policy may be required.

Why doesnt she contact her bank who'll be able to confirm if two collection requests have come through or if its one authorisation only and one full transaction? Seems much more sensible than stressing about it or getting the same story from the merchant. 

After doing that you can check saynoto0870.com as they have several geographic and freephone numbers instead of the 0844 and 0871 (which are not a premium rate anyway)