Overcharged on credit card by Hotel

kevinmcc

Hey,

I stayed at a Marriott Hotel in Prague last month. When I made the reservation through their website it was quoted in Euro only and I got an email from them giving the summary of the charges, saying that the total for the stay would be €752. However I noticed on my credit card bill I was charged €55 more than this. When I looked at the invoice what they had done was converted the euro rate to czech currency at the hotel exchange rate, being much lower than the bank rate. There was no option to be quoted in Czech currency, they only quote in euros. The hotel seems unwilling to help me, they have told me this is what they do and that next year it will be easier as they will have czech currency also displayed on the Marriott website. Surely this isn't legal what they have done, and are continuing to do?:mad:

ejmaztec

You should contact Marriott head office and take it up with them. If they are unaware of what their Prague people are up to, they might be a bit pis*ed off, this kind of carry on being bad for business.

https://www.marriott.com/suggest/suggest.mi


On one of my previous posts, coincidentally also a Czech trip, I was quoted in Euro, only to be charged the Euro equivalent rate for a particular day. This was with Argus car-hire, who completely ignored me, despite the fact that the same problem happened two years in a row. This just means that I'll be using another agent next time - Argus can whistle!

I think some of these organisations know that most people won't bother trying to get their money back, due to the time, cost, languages and distances involved, so they get away with it.

Oracle

It seems to me you have a very strong case for a refund of the charge from Marriott, either through Marriott, or your credit card provider. If you have an email stating the total charge will be €752, and you were charged more, then that's very clear and unambiguous.

There's two ways to go about this:
1) As ejmaztec said above contact Marriott to outline the situation and your dissatisfaction. This should result in them refunding you the overcharge. If you're not successful, and are still dissatisfied consider....
2) Getting in touch with your credit card issuer. They'll usually have a special department that handles disputes and chargebacks with retailers. Explain the situation to them, forward the emails and any supporting documents you have. The overcharge will be charged back to the retailer (in this case the hotel) and will appear as a credit on your next statement.

It's disappointing to be overcharged in this way, especially by a hotel company with a good reputation, like Marriott. During check-out there's usually an invoice you need to sign that states the charge that will be applied to your card. Maybe this wasn't done in your case, but it's something I 'm careful of when I check-out of any hotel. Also something else I watch for are extras that I may not have actually used but are on my bill, such as mini-bar, movies, meals, phone charges, etc... Anyway good luck with it, I'm confident you'll be successful in getting your refund.

Sangre

Don't bother getting in touch with the credit card company, they're nothing going to help you here.
Try Marriott head office.

kevinmcc

Many thanks for the replies guys. I had contacted my credit card company who asked me to fax in the copies and they would try and sort it out but since then the General Manager rang me to say they would refund the money. He said they will quote the prices in Czezh currency on their site as of from next year. He said Czech law prohibits them from being able to charge a Credit Card in Euro. I'm baffled as to how it takes to next year to put this on their website.

cgarvey

All the rate rules have

Additional Information
Rates quoted in Eur. Charges are payable in local currency
at applicable hotel exchange rate at check-out

, so i'm guessing your out of luck