Hotel Hell

Dr. Lollington

Hey,

Last weekend I stayed in a hotel and upon leaving, paid my bill in full.
At the time of booking, I was asked for my credit card details to secure the booking which is fair enough.

I got paid today and realised that my account had way less money in it then I was expecting. I rang my bank who said that the Hotel had taken the money from my account again. It's almost 300 euro btw.

I rang the Hotel and they said that this is the pre-authorisation money and that the bank are 'holding' it but they'll ask the bank to release it for me. Wtf?

I now have no money for the weekend. I don't understand this at all. I've stayed in hotels millions of times and have never heard the likes of this.

I paid my bill in full, using the same card so I don't understand this at all.

I can't see anywhere on their website where it mentions 'holding' money. Maybe if I hadn't paid or something but i did.

Has this happened to anyone else? Is there anything I can do? It's payday and I was really relying on that money

donvito99

http://www.comedy.co.uk/images/library/comedies/300/c/come_fly_with_me_judith_and_peter.jpg

Generic Dreadhead

Had this kind of thing happen to me before alright, awful pain alright

Oryx

There was a post in Consumer Issues about the same thing a few days ago. The pre authorisation puts a hold on the amount on the card, though the money is not actually taken. Making the payment should have cleared this hold, but doesnt always. It will dissappear from your account, but I dont know how long that takes.

Dr. Lollington

I stay there last Friday and Saturday night and paid my bill in full on Sunday.
It's been a week.

I can't believe this and the hotel are completely unapologetic. They just said, there's nothing we can do, it's been released from our credit card machine so.....

WTF

How can they get away with this?

The Backwards Man

Was it a debit card, not a credit card?

I normally pay for hotels with a credit card so the hold will have no effect on my funds.

NewCorkLad

It has nothing to do with the hotel, so they cant do anything to help you. It happpened to me a few yearrs ago aswell very annoying.

Dr. Lollington

It was a debit card but the girl on reception said at the time of booking that it was merely was security and I wouldn't be charged unless I was a no show.

It says this on their website:

Guarantee Policy :
All reservations require guarantee credit card at time of booking. Specific rate plan may require authorization or payment. Will be charged for no show

Plates

Dr. Lollington wrote: »

I rang my bank who said that the Hotel had taken the money from my account again.

There's a big difference between them putting a "hold" on the funds and actually debiting them from your account. Did the bank say they had actually debited the funs or just placed a temporary hold? If it was just a hold then the bank should be able to tell you when the hold will come off. If they debited it from your account then it's a different story (and poor practise by the hotel)

HiGlo

I'm not 100% sure, but......
Hotels take a Pre-Auth on a credit card when checking in (unless you pay on arrival). Ideally, the payment should be taken from the card on the same machine that the pre-auth is done on (so it gets cancelled out). I'm guessing it prob wasn't in this case so the Pre-Auth has still been held.

It's extremely unusual that they haven't noticed or rectified this 1 week later, but the paperwork to release the pre-auth does take a day or two, so if they're only acting on this now after your phone call then it'll be early next week before the money is released.
(what happens is, at the end of the day a "batch" is done which communicates the transactions for the day to the bank. The bank will pick this up next working day and process it and could take maybe, possibly one more day to get to your account.)

I'm guessing an incompetent staff member in their accounts dept never noticed the pre-auth hanging round at the end of the day. And nothing was done about it after that. Unfortunately, there's prob not much you can do about it. You're not going to get your €300 before c.o.b. today....

P. Breathnach

Oryx wrote: »

There was a post in Consumer Issues about the same thing a few days ago....

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057321050

Seamus1964

I paid for TV set in online shop (Amazon Germany) and 3 days after seller cancelled my order - said they could not deliver.
Amazon assured me that money was not taken from my account.
However - money has been "booked" and then released - waiting myself here when funds will be come available in my bank account.
Up to 7 working days, they say.
Ridiculous - Yes!
Annoying - Yes!
That's the way the cookie crumbles - There is absolutely nothing you can do but wait..and wait a bit more..

ffocused

Dr. Lollington wrote: »

It was a debit card but the girl on reception said at the time of booking that it was merely was security and I wouldn't be charged unless I was a no show.

It says this on their website:

Guarantee Policy :
All reservations require guarantee credit card at time of booking. Specific rate plan may require authorization or payment. Will be charged for no show

You cannot perform a pre auth on a debit card. Your bank told you that you were charged twice so that's what happened.

mikemac1

Burn the hotel & bank down. Maybe only one of these are at fault but at least you'll be sure

Beano

mikemac1 wrote: »

Burn the hotel & bank down. Maybe only one of these are at fault but at least you'll be sure

an approach that is both fair and reasonable.

vicwatson

Threaten to name and shame unless they take your complaint seriously, sounds like they don't give a flying fiddlers feck

Triceratops Ballet

If you have taken a pre auth and put the same card into the machine it will automatically come up and say "pre auth details found, proceed with payment?" if you click yes it will deduct the pre auth amount if you say no you ring the sale through again. A pre auth won't hold forever though, they are usually cleared automatically after a fixed period (3-5 days) if iirc. I don't know if its the same on all machines but the hotel I worked in used the verifone vx model and that's how it worked.

It sounds to me like they didn't pre auth at all, and just charged you the first time, and neglected to note that on the booking system, so the person checking you out(!) didn't know and just charged you again. If you call them before cob and get them the refund it, it should go back fairly quick IF they batch their credit card machine straight away.

It's different if it's a debit card because you can't pre auth
Maybe you should clarify that with the hotel

Wompa1

Seems standard in a few places. Rental cars and Hotels mostly. I'm still waiting on the hold to come off my card for a rental car that I returned 2 days ago

HiGlo

dottie_lottie wrote: »

If you have taken a pre auth and put the same card into the machine it will automatically come up and say "pre auth details found, proceed with payment?" if you click yes it will deduct the pre auth amount if you say no you ring the sale through again. A pre auth won't hold forever though, they are usually cleared automatically after a fixed period (3-5 days) if iirc. I don't know if its the same on all machines but the hotel I worked in used the verifone vx model and that's how it worked.

It sounds to me like they didn't pre auth at all, and just charged you the first time, and neglected to note that on the booking system, so the person checking you out(!) didn't know and just charged you again. If you call them before cob and get them the refund it, it should go back fairly quick IF they batch their credit card machine straight away.

Yeah, this is my thinking.
I didn't realise it was a debit card when I posted (was distracted mid post). As said, you can't pre-auth a debit card so you were charged twice. You should prob get back onto the hotel to clarify and request refund, cause if they think it's just a pre-auth to be released they won't action anything.

Dr. Lollington

Thanks to everyone for replying, as always you've been very helpful.

I spoke to the Hotel again but to a different guy this time round. He said that I'd been charged twice. He then put me on hold for about five minutes somebody else comes on and tells me that my money is in 'limbo' but that I should 'relax' as it will come back eventually.

They didn't give a flying f*ck. I was passed around from person to person and put on hold numerous times. I was told different stories from the machine bing finicky to perhaps I spent the money on food or beverages? Christ, I know I'm Irish and like a drink but I think I'd remember spending almost 300 euro on booze ffs!!

Anyway, after much frustration, I called my bank again who told me that I had in fact been charged twice but that the money would be back in my account by C.O.B today.

I just hope that it is. I'll be very wary handing over my card details to anywhere in future even if it's just to hold a room. I'll also never stay in that Hotel again. It's left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Thanks all, fingers crossed I get my money back!!

Caprica6

If your card was a debit card that you used for the pre auth then it's different it depends on the bank they can hold this money from 3 to 6 weeks depending on your bank type and I think branch.

This I think is new so the hotel you stayed at might not have known about this.

I hope you get it back. In future you should tell them if you're using a debit to pre auth. I don't know if it's something they should notice anyway and i think they are supposed to warn you that it will be an actual charge if you use debit but always best to make sure

TGBlinds Awnings Shutters

The pre authorisation should have been taken upon booking or checking in, that money is then "held" in your account and you have no access to it. On departure from the hotel the receptionist should have process your pre authorisation through to a payment, thus taking the "Held" money as payment. Therefore releasing the "Held" money and not taking anymore from your account. Obviously this has not been done. Normally the pre authorisation falls away after 3-5 working days. The hotel can contact the bank on your behalf requesting they release the pre authorisation ... Ideally speak to the Deputy Hotel Manager or Hotel Manager as they will ensure this is dealt with within a timely manner. Good Luck!

Beano

can we stop referring to pre-auths? debit cards dont do pre-auths.

Caprica6

Debit cards do pre auth but the money can be held up to 6 weeks

Caprica6

Authorization hold (also card authorization, preauthorization, or preauth) is the practice within the banking industry of authorizing electronic transactions done with a debit card or credit card and holding this balance as unavailable either until the merchant clears the transaction (also called settlement), or the hold "falls off." In the case of debit cards, authorization holds can fall off the account (thus rendering the balance available again) anywhere from 1–5 days after the transaction date depending on the bank's policy; in the case of credit cards, holds may last as long as 30 days, depending on the issuing bank.

Caprica6

The extension period is now just different to a credit card.

But they still both do the same job, the only thing is if, a hotel or rental company are aware of this they are supposed to advise the customer they can not take the debit card due to the inconvenience of this, and ask for a Credit card or cash upfront instead.