Fake charges added to our hotel bill

Debbie9009

I’ve had this happen where someone charged drinks to my room number, don’t let it worry you, the hotel won’t even remember it.

TELLIT01

I very nearly ended up being the one giving a wrong room number.  We'd just arrived in the western USA, checked in, dumped our bags and then went down for a drink and something to eat.  When we ordered we were asked for our room number, that wasn't checked and it was only as I went to sign on the way out that I realised I'd given my house number!  In my defence,  we were totally knack, worn out, from travelling.  It can happen that easily, although I suspect it's far more common for it to be done deliberately.

Crater

Weirdly, the room number was not so different from our house number, but a lot bigger  ... :-)  That is just how they were numbered on that floor.

clearancer

I'm surprised everyone is saying "you sorted it, forget it and move on". I stated at a hotel recently and was charged £29 for dinner. I'd not eaten dinner there. I asked to see the bill I'd signed but nothing could be found and the charge was removed. Who got a free dinner?

The charge was removed, no apology offered, no explanation given. The hotel was the Hilton, Dartford Crossing. 

comeandgo

clearancer said:

I'm surprised everyone is saying "you sorted it, forget it and move on". I stated at a hotel recently and was charged £29 for dinner. I'd not eaten dinner there. I asked to see the bill I'd signed but nothing could be found and the charge was removed. Who got a free dinner?

The charge was removed, no apology offered, no explanation given. The hotel was the Hilton, Dartford Crossing. 

Nobody should have got a free dinner.  The room it was omitted from should have brought it the hotel’s attention that it was missing.

p00hsticks

comeandgo said:

clearancer said:

I'm surprised everyone is saying "you sorted it, forget it and move on". I stated at a hotel recently and was charged £29 for dinner. I'd not eaten dinner there. I asked to see the bill I'd signed but nothing could be found and the charge was removed. Who got a free dinner?

The charge was removed, no apology offered, no explanation given. The hotel was the Hilton, Dartford Crossing. 

Nobody should have got a free dinner.  The room it was omitted from should have brought it the hotel’s attention that it was missing.

That's assuming that it was a mistake and not deliberate.

you and I may be honest, but I'm sure there are those who notice that some hotels are a bit lax in confirming that a person eating dinner / buying drinks is actually staying in the room they claim to be and take advantage of the opportunity for a free meal.

With generic card keys the norm now it must be much more difficult for staff to politely check peoples identities than in the old days where the person would invariably be in possession of a physical key with a big tag with the room number on it.

Crater

Interesting view @p00hsticks - the hotel in question issued only physical keys, and only one per room - but they encourage you to leave them at reception.

comeandgo

p00h you are right regarding the large room keys getting to be a thing of the past.  The last hotel we stayed had electronic room cards and issued guests who wished to charge to their room a paper slip which we signed and had to show when charging something.  If the hotels don’t have a robust system then they are truly at the mercy of guests.

zagubov

When a bunch of us had to stay in a major chain hotel during a work trip, we had to pay upfront a £20 deposit for the min-bar.
Then it transpired that not a single one of us had a min-bar in our room.

piesagittariusstick

Looks like the room number error might've been a case of how their system/network "names" the rooms, meaning the bill was probably never intended for you. Perhaps it was delivered along with the meal to the correct room, and the person staying there signed it without paying for the meal at the time. Then, the guys at the reception charged you instead of them due to the error/confusion with the room number...