Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Expect to be "Over charged" when you use a Visa backed check/debit card at a Holiday Inn. Scottsburg IN
The Holiday Inn Express motel in Scottsburg, IN over charged us $37.35. The bill said one thing, my bank statement said another. When I called after the shock of seeing the overcharge, I was informed that it was policy because we used a Visa debit credit card instead of a regular credit card we will get charged some fee in case we steal towels or deface property, and it will be 3 to 5 business days to get the money back into our acct. Had we been aware of this, we would have used another card. No disclaimers nor disclosures were made at check in.
What really frosts me is that we have been Priority Club members for years, (it says that right on the bill) they have our information and we are a frequent customers. The only reason we used the check card was that it was the first one my husband pulled out of his wallet and we didn't think twice about it. If the young lady had told us that this was the policy, we would have used a different card. No problem. But since she didn't even ask us about the card, we didn't know that we would be getting over charged for our night stay.
I have left a message for the Gen. Manager to call me in the morning. If she does not call me, I will be calling her for sure. Then I will be putting a call into the corporate office. Not that it will do any good, but isn't there something we can do when this happens? They took more money out of the account than we authorized. As far as I am concerned, that is stealing. It is fraud!
What can we do about this?
Becky
Scottsboro, Alabama
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Shawn
Washington,Washington,
U.S.A.
Credit VS Debit
#3UPDATE Employee
Sat, March 07, 2009
I also would like to add to, this happens to all card users, wheather debit or credit. Just with credit card holders, the amount falls off within 24 hours of check out as apposed to debit card holders it can take up to 7 buisness days before the exta charge falls off, depending on the bank that you use. In the end, it's the bank that makes the final decision on when to release that hold, and not the hotel.
This does not only happen at the Holiday Inns, but I also worked for the Quality Inn and it holds the same practices. I do belive every hotel brand does the same thing, just the amounts are different.
Usually, what is put on hold is the full amount of your stay, plus a certain percentage of your stay. Our hotel it's 10%.
Please don't be mad at hotels for doing this. After all, the hotels have to make sure that they are not stuck with phone charges, room service charges etc., after the guest has left the building. That's the whole purpose of the addtional hold.
So I urge all consumers with debit cards, if your money is tight, please do not use it to check into hotels. Pay with credit, or cash. Just with cash payers, usually they make sure any extra charges won't go through without a addtional cash deposit.
With all of the other things that the hotel has to tell you at check in, you probably would not want to sit at the front desk for another 15 minutes for the front desk clerk to tell you what happens to debit and credit cards.
Macman2625
Anytown,Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
Incidental Charges
#3UPDATE Employee
Mon, August 25, 2008
I would just like to say that I work at a Holiday Inn Express and i get this kind of complaint all the time. Every hotel does it. It's common practice. But I'd like to clear up some things:
1. It's only an extra approval, not a charge. When you check in, we authorize the card used (ANY card, not just Visa) for the room, tax, and an extra $50 (amount may vary by hotel) to make sure the cardholder can pay for the room, plus any charges that may come up (phone, internet, room service, and yes, even theft, because it does happen). This is just an AUTHORIZATION and a hold is put on the money, but we don't actually have it. The hold stays on until you check out, when any unused balance has the hold removed (we notify your bank/card company electronically of this at the moment we check you out).
2. We don't charge you until you check out as a convince. You can choose to change to a different credit card, or pay cash any time during the stay. We place a bill under your door (if you have any pending charges, this doesn't apply for advance purchase, Travelocity etc or company direct bill). You aren't even required to show your face when you leave, you can just walk out and not even worry about checking out again as a convince. When housekeeping sees that you are gone, they notify the desk and we charge you.
3. When you actually are charged, the hold is released on our end. We post charges, and overnight, we get paid. It is now up to your bank to release the authorization hold at their discretion. Sometimes it takes 24-48 hours, I have seen it take 5 days other times. Usually if you call your bank and explain the situation, they will release it right away. They give an extra 24-48 hours to give us time to file our charges, otherwise we run the risk of not ebing able to get anything since the hold is released.
To recap: we do not have money that is authorized. it is just held in limbo until the charges go through, as insurance. Unfortunately, it doesn't matter how many times you stay or what rewards program level you are, everyone must authorize at check-in or we cannot give you a room. This is standard hotel policy in the industry.
The hold was for an odd number, $37 and change. This is likely because you had charges on your account that the extra hold covered, which is exactly how it's supposed to work.
Also, I'd like to point out that this is only ever a problem for Debit Card users, since it lowers your available balance. Your actual balance stays the same until we charge you, but if you run low, it might be a problem. This is why you should always use a true credit card at check-in, not a debit card (remember, you can pay with the debit card at checkout if you want to).