#HotelCharges #Dispute #RestaurantFraud #LegalAdvice #CustomerExperience
Have you ever experienced a situation where a restaurant inside a hotel mistakenly charges your room for a meal you never had? 🍽️ This can be frustrating and leave you feeling helpless, especially when the restaurant doubles down on claiming it’s a legitimate charge. But fear not, as there are practical solutions to address this issue and potentially get your money back.
Understanding the Problem:
So, imagine checking out of your hotel and noticing a $200 charge on your room for a restaurant meal you never ordered or consumed. 😠 After speaking with the front desk manager, you discover that the receipt has your last name but an incorrect first name, suggesting a mix-up with room numbers. Despite confirming with security footage that you never stepped foot in the restaurant, the third-party restaurant refuses to refund the charge, claiming they followed proper procedures.
Practical Solutions:
1. **Dispute with Your Card Company**: While the front desk manager suggested this route, it may feel unsettling to you. However, disputing the charge with your credit card company is a reasonable step to potentially get a refund.
2. **Request Security Footage**: You can ask the hotel to provide you with the security footage showing that you and your guest never entered the restaurant. This visual evidence can support your case and help in resolving the issue.
3. **Consult a Lawyer**: If the restaurant continues to deny the refund and you believe you have a valid case, consulting a lawyer can provide you with legal advice on how to proceed. They can help navigate the situation and advocate for your rights.
4. **Document Everything**: Keep detailed records of all communication with the hotel and restaurant, including emails, receipts, and any other relevant information. This documentation can strengthen your case if you decide to pursue legal action.
Final Thoughts:
Dealing with unexpected charges while staying at a hotel can be unsettling, but it’s essential to take proactive steps to address the issue. By following the practical solutions mentioned above and seeking appropriate guidance, you can work towards resolving the situation and potentially recovering your funds.
Remember, you deserve to have a positive customer experience, and taking action to rectify wrongful charges is crucial in upholding your rights as a consumer. Stay informed, assertive, and persistent in seeking a fair resolution to the issue at hand. Good luck! 🛎️
> The front desk manager is recommending I dispute it with my card company, but this just doesn’t feel right!
Why not? Why do you want to hire a lawyer and demand tapes when your credit card agreement has a system in place to protect you from fraudulent use?
Take the simple, correct option to dispute with your credit card. Let them playhard ball. This is good news.
How would someone who gave a random room number also know your last name?
Yes, you can ask for a copy of the tapes, but the manager has no obligation to give them to you without a subpoena.
I’m surprised that no one has told you to file a police report. I would file the report and ask the detective to please get the tape from the hotel manager. Once they have it you can let the credit card company know that the detective has a copy of the tape demonstrating that it wasn’t you. Odds of actually catching the guy are pretty low, but it’ll almost certainly help you with the credit card dispute.
No need to sue, if it was on a credit card, dispute with your CC company. It’s simple and with the proof you have, should be a slam dunk for the chargeback.
Must’ve been in NYC lol. There’s a viral post about doing just this to eat for free.
Unfortunately, all you can do is dispute the charge with your credit provider. Thankfully the hotel manager is honest and will help make all this nonsense go away very quickly.
Moving forward, have a unique signature. Dispute with credit card.
Hurry up and dispute with you cc. You don’t have a long time to do so and it sounds like you’ve already burned a month.
Dispute with your credit card. Post a review online with the restaurant and hotel (hotel more for a heads up to be wary on this type of thing and to double check their final bill.)
One thing not mentioned (or I missed it) is that the hotel policy could be to refuse service to anyone who has pursued a chargeback since you will need to be doing a chargeback against the hotel. It’s unfortunate but that route could result in not being able to stay at the hotel or hotel chain again.
It’s the hotels fault for sharing your information with a third party aka the restaurant. It was a breach of privacy, it was attempted fraud.
You gave the hotel the information for a room they allowed your information to be accessed by the restaurant (last name, three letters of first name) access to your credit card details that you did not agree to. Tell them they have X number of hours to reimburse your account or you will be taking it up with the states privacy and data regulator and not only will you get your funds back but you will also be requesting a large fine to be applied to encourage the hotel to update their privacy Act.
Was this a corporate travel or leisure?
This has happened to me a couple of times when traveling for work.
Our travel agency was *very* interested in learning about this interaction.
I always submit my expense reports with the fraudulent charge on it for reimbursement, with an explanation that I have been given guidance by our travel agency. I also keep my management chain appraised.
Without fail I am reimbursed 100% of the charges I incur and my company always gets things taken care of with the hotels where this has happened. The fear of losing corporate business is real as that’s how hotels make most of their money.
Dispute the chwrge
Dude if you have an Amex card or whatever other big card they’ll just cancel the payment for you. Then the hotel will have to fight them. If you have an upstanding history with very few disputes you’re coming out on top in the dispute.
Obvious time to call your CC company and dispute the charge. They’ll write it off or deal with it themselves, not your problem
This is a weird hill to die on. Just call your credit card company and dispute the charge. Send them the copies of the forged signature on the receipt if need be, but either way call them. They literally handle thing like this all the time. It’s like 99% that they’re going to get you your money back no questions asked.
in addition to the dispute complain to the hotel chain, whatever company manages and the brand (Hilton, whatever) you’ll probably get a free night or a bunch or loyalty points for the trouble.
Why are you so hesitant to do a chargeback? This is exactly what it’s for, and your credit card company should take care of this no problem. A chargeback isn’t saying “this charge actually never existed”, it’s saying “I did not authorize or make this purchase”, which is exactly true in your case.
Don’t waste your time on a lawyer or any nonsense like that, just file a dispute.
Lawyer here, I’m interested in this as a novel proposition.
If they “signed it to your room” but you saw the folio before you left and then paid with your credit card, was the card used fraudulently? The charge on the room may have been fraudulent, but the card was validly used by you when you settled up the Folio. Wouldn’t the time to dispute it be right there at the front desk.
I suppose you could dispute just the portion of the charge related to the restaurant, but I’m just interested in whether the charge was fraudulent on the card (which he accepted on settling up). It actually does seem like a somewhat novel case. I’d say practically it’ll be grand and the card company will do the chargeback, but it does seem interesting enough, or am I just overthinking it?
This does not require a lawyer. This is what credit card chargebacks are for. You just make a claim with your card and send them the info on how you have tried to resolve it so far and it’ll be settled within a month. It’s not a big deal.
Also find the GM of the hotel and raise to that person. This needs to be escalated to management to deal with the restaurant because this could come back to bite them if it’s happening on the regular.
FYI-
This is sound advice from another site, but it ties together all things others have commented on:
You contact the hotel chain’s customer service telephone number and complain about the matter. They should be willing to resolve the matter quickly between you and the property’s management. If they don’t, then escalate the matter up the chain of authority with the company until it is resolved.
Additionally, flatly state that you want to file a criminal complaint with the local police department. Even if it’s only a misdemeanor, you still want a police report in case the hotel does something “funny” and attempts to charge your credit card for the unpaid bill. Don’t allow the officer with whom you speak to “buffalo you” and attempt to prevent your filing a police report. Get a copy of the report and keep it handy in case your customer service complaints are not addressed.
Finally, have the hotel provide you with a video of you in the bar, running up the charges. They would almost certainly have such a video and they shouldn’t have any problems letting you view if they are indeed claiming that you created a bill that you claim that you did not. If you are not on the video and you don’t know the person or people who did indeed create the charges, then they have no right to charge you.
Frankly, this would be a poor hill for the property to “die upon.” Either you made the charges or you didn’t. They would have to be willing to take a hit from their own customer service department, have a police report filed on their property and then risk having a customer give them bad reviews online for what is likely a relatively small amount. None of the above is good for a manager seeking to be promoted or even retaining his or her job
Just dispute it with your credit card and move on.
Disputing it with your card company *is* the next legal step. You tell the cc company it was fraud and the card company has to prove it was you making the purchase. You can easily do it online. Include the name and contact phone # of the hotel manager for the cc company to talk to. It’s should be very simple.
Isn’t everyone missing something here? Catch the thief and throw them in jail! They have the security tapes. Throw them in jail. It’s theft. How many other people they done this to? Catch the thief and throw them in jail!!!! Damn! What’s wrong with people nowadays.
What’s not to feel right about? Your type of case is exactly why credit card companies have the option to dispute. Stop being so sensitive.
Go through the credit card for your money. Then you can leave bad reviews, blast them on social media, file a complaint with the hotel and the restaurant and with the BBB.
Court isn’t the place to shame them for this.
What you can do legally is dispute the chargewith your credit card company. They will refund your money and deal with the problem.
Just dispute with cc company.
HOWEVER you need to be smart about it.
This is a card-present transaction, between you and the hotel. When you paid for the hotel, you were there and signed or entered a pin or something…
In a card-present transaction, the credit card company will side with the merchant unless you can prove that the charge is not legitimate. If the hotel doesn’t say “yeah, this should be on us” (and face it, they have 200 reasons not to do so), then your chargeback may be declined.
That means you should make sure you get a statement in writing from the hotel that yes, the charge is not legit. File a police report about the fraud. Ideally jointly with the hotel. Submit both to the cc company. And do it following the procedures of the cc company, including within the time limits.