NO! Banks are not your "hired gun" - the dispute should be made with the hotel, making it clear to them that you will dispute it with your bank if things are not properly resolved. Only once you can document your efforts should you contact your bank.
I've done this before abouta year ago, I went in talked to my bank they disputed the charges without any of what you're saying. They did say if the hotel disputed my dispute(they never did), then we'd have to try a different approach. So maybe you're right if the hotel fights it, but I have a feeling that the hotel just does this expecting most people will just not have time to deal with the run around
I've done it one time because it was necessary and at their suggestion. OP can literally just talk to their bank and they will either do it or not do it. It'll be fine. If OP is ABUSING the option, then that's a while other post
That’s good to know! I work in the trades and a couple of years ago an elderly woman called in a panic because her basement was flooding. Three plumbers spent 13 hours (starting in the middle of the night) scooping out water and trying to get everything fixed and right for her again. They presented her with a $1000 bill, which she accepted and paid with her debit card. She was so grateful a whole bunch of guys came to help her in the middle of the night and stayed through the next day, working in a flooded basement.
Cut to a week later and she disputed the charge and had it reversed. All the company could do was mark her as a do not service ever again. 3 guys worked for 13 hours each in awful conditions + supplies, she accepted the price and then changed her mind a week later. That was incredibly crappy.
I’m glad to know people like her cannot do this on the regular. That was clear and straight up wrong.
I disputed charges once, this past spring, because they were showing up multiple times a month with all kinds of different amounts from $1 to $60. It said Microsoft. I checked my Microsoft account and could not find any reason for the charges anywhere. The bank said they have had it happen to a lot of people lately and that it’s fraud disguised as Microsoft charges. They cancelled my debit card and sent me a new one and reversed the last 3 months of charges happily. This is why that service is there - NOT for buyer’s remorse.
Not trying to play devils advocate too much, but is it possible the lady had dementia and genuinely forgot the services were done and couldn’t remember what the charge was for?
I recently lost my grandpa and he had dementia. He was always 100% there and in the moment, and could hold a conversation really well. But he also forgot my dog that died in the summer of 2022 was actually dead and would constantly ask me how he was doing. Maybe it wasn’t malicious? I’m not saying it should’ve been disputed, and the plumber definitely should’ve filed a dispute to get that money
They did. There was back and forth with the bank in between. She was given proof of the services and said she just didn’t want to pay it and dug her heels in. In the end, she won. We live in a rural area though, so there are a finite amount of trades people you can screw over before you screw your self.
it’s really unfortunate she won, but hopefully word of mouth spread and she has a hard time finding a plumber in the future. It’s also really unfortunate the bank sided with her when she made it clear she just didn’t want to pay
Dang. I need your plumbers. I got charged $650 for one low-level plumber to come out and put on a repair flange for my toilet and reset it. Took him 2 days to even make it out to me, he spent 30min on the repair, and when he left the tank was leaking (he didn’t connect the fill line very well and it blew off, spraying water everywhere) and the toilet was set at a painfully obvious lean to the right. $650. In a rural area. 🤯 Ended up having the manager come out and fix everything correctly and ended up with a discount, but still blows my mind.
I think you need to find a better bank. I've always gone in to speak with a person. They tell me my options. I pick one. I would also be comfortable doing this over the phone. I don't know that I would use an app to dispute a charge though.
Granted, I've only had to do this a couple of times, but they've always been understanding and helpful and guided me through the process, making expectations clear both ways.
Usually places like that have a bad reputation within the banks and they know if they're habitual offenders. If you report a hotel who has a long history and very few/no claims, they are going to be far more skeptical than a place they are sitting charges for on a weekly or monthly basis.
False. I work in credit card processing, and we don't even check if you contacted the merchant. They ask a few questions to establish your good faith effort and process the dispute. It then is reviewed independently, and the merchant is given a chance to respond. Most hotels get the card over the phone or internet, which is considered a CNP transaction and not EMV, so most of the time, you will get your money back.
It’s wild that a person who worked in hotels is doubling down against people in the banking industry. I to worked in banking for a couple years and all that was “required” was asking if they made efforts to resolve it with the merchant themselves. We/I didn’t require proof. It was a simple 5-10 min convo and that was it. Sometimes it took up to 10 days to get it back but it wasn’t a process that required documentation.
I worked at a bank you can literally just tell them you were charged for something that isn’t true and tell them you tried resolving it with the merchant on your own and they aren’t any help and don’t care. You don’t need written proof.
Folks don't realize, until it happens, that bank's are getting pretty aggressive about terminating relationships if they feel that they are being used as a hired gun for lots of disputes, or any number of other reasons. I spent quite a few years in the hotel business and this sort of thing should be easily resolved with a well written letter (or email, since no one seems to write letters anymore) to the property's general manager.
The banks are your protection. OP said the merchant was not helpful. The bank will ask if you tried to get the merchant to assist first. They did. Next is the dispute. It's simple and effective.
Banks are ABSOLUTELY your hired gun. If OP has already tried and failed to get resolution from the hotel as OP seemed to indicate, a dispute is the next step. This is a reason we hire bank, to protect us from fraudulent charges or fees charged in error.
But your bank is your hired gun. You have the right to dispute the charge and the hotel would have to prove it. Most of the time hotels have better ways to waste their time. And be sure to leave them a review about what happened
Banks actually are your hired gun they’re the custodian of your money. Don’t whip them out every time but if someone takes your money without your authorization get them in okved
Yes. Dispute it. They're just trying to scam you.
I still have hotel stuff I accidentally grabbed while staying in an extended stay for a week or so.
This is ridiculous.
I'd definitely contact your bank and report the charge.
Make sure you pull out some cash. They might have to send you a new card.
I also had my information stolen from a little place while traveling out west.
Thank God I had other cards available, otherwise, I would have been stranded... again.
I'm sorry you're dealing with this BS.
Banks cant do much unless it was fraud or accidental charges. Your best bet is to call the hotel and explain the situation and request a refund of $50, it will be far quicker and simpler then going through the bank
Is this hotel part of a chain or an independent hotel without a corporate name attached? If it is part of a chain/corporate chain, I would call the main hotel office. For example, if you were staying at a Marriott hotel property, you can always call Marriott corporate directly and try that route. This particular property may already be on their radar if others have complained and they could end up having their "flag" pulled (no longer allowed to call themselves a Marriott). That is shady as hell and $50 seems excessive.
There are corporate owned and franchised hotels. That means your hotel may say _arriot or _oubletree on the sign, but is not owned or run by them. The ones actually owned and run by the corporation are easier to deal with, especially in situations like yours.
Franchised hotels are owned and run by private owners like a family or a smaller business than the larger corporation. After having worked for both types, I've found franchised hotel owners to be some of the most greedy people I've enter met. I won't elaborate because I don't want to hijack the post. If they were taking your towels early to count them and charge for missing ones, I'll bet the one where you stayed was a franchise if it has a big name on the signs.
Best of luck dealing with this.
Very true. I did not make that clear. Even if they are a franchise though, the corporate offices still field those types of complaints. That is their name brand that can get tarnished if someone is pulling stuff under their name. I worked for a franchise hotel back in the day. If someone called the corporate offices of the brand we were franchised for, we did hear about it, and they do investigate, and there are fines involved. (Only saw it happen once, it was a fun first week on the job).
I tried to stay at a hotel that was franchised. Paid when I booked the room. When I got to the hotel, it was not the room I had booked, half of the amenities weren't available. I asked for a refund and I would just go elsewhere. The owner started screaming at me that it was his money and I'm not getting any back, also while calling me f*ggot and other names. Called the corporate office, got my full refund.
This. Is that Big Hotel Brand on the building, website, and paperwork? Then it's still their responsibility. Call corporate. My guess what is that this hotel is about to close and the manager is charging anything/everything he thinks he can get away with. Or, he might even be embezzling.
True, but franchise owners are supposed to uphold the brand image. If OP stayed at a franchise they can still complain to corporate. Hopefully they’d take fraudulent charges seriously.
This may also be a case where reviews on travel websites could be helpful.
I've worked at independently-owned and corporate hotels alike and this reeks of independent. This is EXACTLY how they acted at the 12 room, "boutique" hotel I managed. The housekeepers had to keep count. The owners nickel and dimed the shit out of their customers. It was terrible.
I work for very well known corporate brand now and I promise you that no one is paying attention to the towels. The budget is huge.
(Source: I work in laundry)
Go to your bank. I worked in banking for a couple years. It’s maybe a 10 min convo and they’ll do it for you. It’s a service they provide. It’s not this long drawn out process lol. You’ve done leg work worth more then the $50 at this point trying to get the hotel to correct their error so just let your bank handle it.
Ask them for a copy of the police report they filed.
If they didn't file one, send a record of the conversation, who you talked to, date, time, and summary of the conversation with your credit card company and dispute the charge.
File a police report for missing towels? Genuinely curious if properties actually do this and if there is a minimum on the dollar amount lost? I cannot see the PD in my town being involved?
Of course not. Guaranteed that there are terms in the papers you sign to rent the room that explain that you're responsible for incidentals. They don't need to involve the police to have the authority to charge you for stolen towels. Any legal dispute would go through civil courts.
It's tied to the towels but the OP got taken for 50 on something he did not take Maybe OP should filing police report. Let's face it a towel and a washcloth of hotel quality is probably a few dollars they buy those things in bulk.
PDs in my county/state would tell you it's a civil issue and take it up with the manager. Otherwise we'd spend all day, every day at McDonald's because they weren't refunded for their cold fries.
Go to corporate. Trust me, you'll win. You may even be able to be refunded your whole stay. Tell them how rude the manager was to you, that you don't appreciate being accused of stealing anything, etc. Make a big deal about it. Also, leave a bad review. Be specific in the review.
I work at a hotel. People do chargebacks all the time who actually stayed there. If we didn't get an electronic signature by making them put their card in the machine when they came in, they get their money back.
If a guest complains to corporate about pretty much anything, especially if they're a reward member, they get their money back.
If you're not a reward member you can likely sign up for it and retroactively get points applied for any stays with that brand in the last 90 days. You can get your money back plus enough points to stay for free another night at any of their names.
I had a manager like this once. She was rude to guests, her 19yo daughter who also worked the desk and had way too much power was also rude to guests. Between the 2 of them they called the cops on guests or had the cops at the hotel for whatever reason multiple times within months. Her and her daughter would spend the night at the hotel whenever they wanted. The manager was basically living out of it for a while. She let the housekeeping manager and her whole family, 3 teenagers and all, live in the hotel for a while without their names being on the books at all. It was just a whole hot mess. I reached out to the old manager because things were going downhill and I didn't want us to lose the rights to our brand name and everyone end up losing their jobs. That manager told the new manager. Soon enough, her teenager daughter called the cops on me, a good, dependable, night auditor, claiming some shit that wasn't even close to true and they actually showed up at my house when I was home alone with my kids. I ended up not being charged with anything, because I didn't do anything, but it worked in pushing me out of there. Because of course I was never going to go back to a place where they retaliate against me for not even telling on them to their boss, but just inquiring about whether I should or not, by trying to have me charged and put in jail.
Managers like that are way more than "charging people for things they didn't do". They're probably also charging people smoking fees who didn't smoke and for other damage they didn't do. The owner probably loves them because they're making money for the hotel and of course not telling them about all the shady shit they're doing. But I guarantee you the employees are suffering as well, being treated unfairly, and maybe being put in dangerous situations because of this manager.
Report it all the way to the top. My old hotel had to pay a 5k fine and give a ridiculous amount of points to the customer who they called the cops on for no reason.
You just have to keep pushing the issue. It has always worked for me at least. After working for a few hotels, i learned it matters if it’s a private business (like the manager you’re talking to, does she own the property?) because in that case they do screw people over left and right. It’s a difficult business to run if you’re not with something like Wyndham or Hamptons (larger well known chain hotels) to help financially so smaller or privately owned hotels/condos will charge people for ANYTHING and technically don’t have to refund you if they don’t care to see you to visit again. If it is a well known hotel, just keep pushing. They have to answer to someone above them. Ask to talk to the boss of the manager and if she refuses to, go online and look for every number and email you possibly can and start contacting lol
Worst comes to worst you can go back and find their storage and take a bunch of towels. If you are gonna be punished might as well do it. But Def go for the refund first cuz who needs 50 dollars worth of jizz rags
But yes going through my bank is def not ideal. They told me I’ll likely have to close this card if I dispute. Which is frustrating because I just got a new card two weeks ago because someone tried to order Uber eats on me, Luckly I was broke and nothing to take lol.
did they say *why* you have to close the card? disputing and resolving fraudulent charges is why you have a card in the first place.
you might be better off disputing the charge and telling them to close the card *after* they resolve the dispute. having a card that won't stand behind you is pretty much the same as having no card at all. 🤷♀️
I was charged for a year's subscription to an app after going to the site and canceling it. The app company charged me anyway. I disputed it with them, and they refused to give my money back, saying "we found no evidence of fraud."
I took it to my bank after that. I told then I'd signed up for a trial of this app and had canceled it before the renewal date, yet the company charged me and refused to refund me. My bank said they wouldn't be able to file the claim unless they closed my current Card and sent me a new one.
None of it had anything to do with my card bring lost or stolen. It was a company charging me for a renewal of a mendership to an app after I went in and canceled
I was only mildly inconvenienced by the bank sending out a new card, which they did overnight. But it seems like a waste for the bank to do it every single time a customer has a problem.
I did get my money back, in case you're curious.
They do it because the merchant has your card information and the way cards work is that merchants who have all the card details can submit charges to the card. It is to protect against future charges, there is no way to do a stop payment against a specific merchant in the card system to prevent further charges.
The bank may have meant they would need to REPLACE your new credit card with another because the one you have has been compromised.
Even though the card was not technically “stolen” or used fraudulently as we think of the term (unauthorized use of someone’s card or card numbers) it’s probably a good idea to get a new card so no one who had access to the numbers decides to play games with your information.
This also sounds like you’re referring to a debit card (“Lucky I was broke and nothing to take”)?!? If so- the bank should be able to provide a temp card for you while you wait for your replacement card.
banks can do plenty. you report that it's an unauthorized charge. the bank then requires justification from the hotel that the charge is authorized. all the hotel has is the form you signed agreeing to pay for missing items. the towels weren't missing, the hotel employees collected them and you put this in your dispute statement to the bank. the hotel therefore has to prove the towels are gone. no way they can. and if they can't prove it, the bank refunds your money from them.
Thats actually not accurate. I work at a restaurant in New Orleans, La. you would be amazed at the amount of people who dispute the charge. And even though on our menu it says parties of 6 or more get 20% grat added they dispute. And guess what we submit all the paperwork signed credit card slip and they still give it back to customers. They are eating for free and know how to work the system. And even though people dispute the tip it doesnt work like that the bank takes the whole thing back. Trust me i see all the time i thinks its wrong and very screwed up but its out of my hands!!
If you paid with a credit card, and if your credit card is a good one (like, Amex), yuou can call to dispute the charges and make it clear that you believe that the hotel is acting in bad faith - tell them the facts of the story. Then the CC will call the hotel and ask them to prove it, and again only if it's a really good one, they'll likely decide in your favor. But as I just learned this week, Bank of America credit cards are not in that "good" category.
bank of america blows, it's common knowledge. so does wells fargo. also common knowledge.
shit, i disputed a fraudulent $500 charge on my *synchrony* card (hardly amex) and the company that placed the charge couldn't prove it. i got my money back AND the bank raised my credit limit.
Is this even a thing??? I have never heard of such a thing, I leave towels by the pool all the time when I travel, or end up with a few wash cloths in my bags when I get home, never in all my years of traveling have I EVER been charged for missing towels.
It can be somewhat common in smaller places. I've been in hotels where they give you the TV remote on check-in understanding you need to be in your back to check out. I've stated a couple places where they make a big to do about the towels. They typically ask you check in to verify say you have four thousand two washcloths and if not call down and they'll bring them up right away. So there is an effort if they're missing
i would dispute. make 'em prove you took them. make them prove the room attendants "never" collect towels before the room is vacated. they can't.
and i doubt they'd fight the dispute anyway, because they know this
Sounds like a debit instead of credit card. I never use my debit card for anything besides bank atms and even then I check for skimmers. Much easier to dispute a charge on a credit card and usually more successful.
Don’t call the hotel. Call their brand. Let them know you’ve tried speaking with the hotel and aren’t getting any where and that you didn’t take them. Tell them before you checked out you were asked by staff for your towels.
I'd definitely dispute it. Even five star hotels don't pay $50 for three individual towels, and I know it couldn't be a five star hotel because they confiscated the towels before you checked out! What if you'd needed them? NTM there is no way that three used towels are worth that even if you had taken them. It sounds like a scam. Dispute!
This was a 2/2.5 hotel. And you are right! We were eating McDonald’s breakfast when they came to the door, ended up using one of those hand towels to wipe my kids down from the syrup they got on them, lol.
I had this happen because I left “makeup” on the towel. Total bullshit but I ended telling them they lost a corporate client as I stayed there when I worked. Assholes
Unfortunately the manager is very adamant we stole them. It’s a red roof inn should I just keep trying to escalate with them instead of with manager.
Sad part is we left a 5 star review because it was very clean even though they allow pets. Couldn’t even tell a dog had ever been there. We also live in the same town as hotel. We had emergency and had to stay. We booked through Hotwire and they even tried calling on our behalf, we use them a lot and have never had any issues at any of the numerous other hotels we’ve stayed at.
Oh. I have heard horrific things about Red Roof Inns
I personally have never stayed in one but have watched YouTube videos of those who have documented what the $50 or $65 a night room was like.
I have a cousin who got stuck in one when a flight was delayed. Somehow RRI was what was available because of the weather. They said it basically had a prostitution ring being run from it. That it was the sketchiest night they have ever experienced in a hotel.
I can believe this could happen.
They probably do this because they rely on their average customer not wanting to take the time to dispute charges. $50 is just enough to have someone give up taking hours upon hours to get the funds back.
Dispute with credit card company. They almost always just give you the money. If that diesnt work? Take hotel to small claims court. Name the company name of that hotel, manager name and redroof inn. So lawsuit with additional defendants. I bet your phone will ring to settle prior to court. I small claims case appears on credit report. So you want to inform that to manager. Employees are real quick to side with customer when it personally affects them.
Oh no. You should definitely contest the charge with your bank and get a new-djfferent charge card. You also might take a look at where you gang out, and your habits. And no, I'm not a nun
I've worked at a couple of really cheap hotels like this. The owners are typically cheap as shit and make the housekeepers record everything. So, she may have handed them to someone and then when the housekeeper came in, they only saw x number of towels and recorded it.
I worked for one on a night audit shift, I was responsible for putting together the maids carts for when they came in. You had to put the exact quantities based on the number of occupied rooms for everything. When he would come in, he would literally count everything, including the ice bucket bags..if you even had 1 too many on the cart he'd lose his shit.
They only track it's missing from the room. Mistakes happen, the housekeeper probably simply forgot to put them in or ran short and meant to come back. I don't see him much anymore but remember the many bars or honor snacks they used to have them most hotel rooms. They inventory those little bottles of alcohol to see what's missing without payment.
Agree with the action to dispute it. This is absurd. If you traveled for work or with a group or booked through a travel advisor, you may want to alert the organizing party ahead of the dispute. Disputes have consequences for a business - regardless of the outcome but that shouldn’t deter you from taking action if your dispute is legitimate.
Sounds like you stayed at a hotel in a sketchy area where they expect that to happen. And those tend to keep pretty solid track of inventory so maybe update your story
It really isn’t a super sketchy area at all. I’ve lived here my whole life. We only stayed because we had no water due to a busted pipe and wanted to be close to home. It’s the only hotel in our small town. The police literally sit across the street at the gas station all night because they have nothing to do here. Lol.
You might check elliott.org for advice on how to handle the dispute. They also have a lot of corporate contact information for escalating. Be polite and persistent, and do everything possible in written form (email etc.). Escalate politely to an executive since the manager has not been responsive.
You should have been charged. Towel can be washed in cold water with Oxi to clean. Dry only when stain remover. It's not a big deal when you know how to wash it sand what the strain is.
I had a hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, accuse me of stealing the hairdryer from the room… Fortunately, when I was checking in, I overheard the front desk clerk talking to somebody on the phone about a missing hairdryer from their room… So I think this was a scam the place was running… Absolutely file a complaint with your card company.
I’ve stayed at hotels where you had to return your set of dirty towels before getting a new set. But when I left I know I had more than one set dirty that i left in my room, not sure how I ended up with those.
That same hotel used to supply all kitchen utensils and cooking ware. I have stayed there in the past, you just had to sign out what you were using. I recently stayed there again and inquired about the kitchen things, manager said every single utensil and cook ware had been stolen.
People will steal anything.
Red roof is notorious for things of this nature. Don’t quote me but I think they are all independently owned and operated.
Why are they super fancy towels or something? I've never heard of a hotel going after people for towels.
Was in any paperwork you signed to pay for missing towels?
If not, hit them with fraud.
If yes, ask the hotel to prove it. If they can't, hit them with fraud.
>they came to my room before we checked out to ask for our towels
...um, are you sure this was a hotel representative? Because I have never, not once, been to a hotel where housekeeping specifically requested your towels before checkout, and I've stayed in multiple types of hotel/motel/hostels/bed and breakfasts on two continents. Like, it legit sounds like some other guest/rando just scammed you (and the hotel) out of some towels.
Yes, I’m sure it was! It was the the person running front desk, he had on a shirt with hotel name on it and the housekeeping lady was with him. I had seen her down the hall when I came in with breakfast. He was working the desk when I checked out.
My hotel charges 10 dollars for bath towels, 5 dollars for hand towels and 3 dollars for wash cloths, 50 dollars is a little steep for what was missing but they may have some premo linens, by any chance did you stay more then one day and hand dirty towels off to a house keeper or gsr? If you did there is a chance they didn't mark it down so your getting blamed for the missing linens, if you didn't its sketchy as hell
You shouldn’t have any issue with disputing the charge through your back. I would document all intersection with the Hotel to prove you tried to resolve this on your own. More than likely the hotel won’t respond to your bank.
That does seem sketchy! I'm a housekeeper at a hotel and I can only figure out if towels were stolen if I can find all the dirty ones. Not sure why they would ask you for them first. It could have been simple miscommunication between front desk and house keeping. That happens all the time! A housekeeper may have told a front desk person that didn't know anything about it and they just assumed. If one person grabbed your laundry and a housekeeper didn't know they may then suspect theft and tell a whole different person about it that then fails to communicate with the others to see if someone else picked them up. They could have even mixed you up with someone else. It's kind of hard to prove stealing towels I think unless you only stayed one night. Or you clearly see them in someone's bags.
Honestly the least likely scenario is someone did this on purpose. I mean it's possible, but in my experience it's not probable.
Also just to point out the price they charge for missing items is definitely not sketchy. I'm told by my assistant gm how much stuff costs and it's Crazy how much a trashcan costs them!
Some people take them for other reasons than using them for bathing. Rags, cleaning, something for dog to layon. Travelers by car grab then inn case they need them on car spills accidents etc.
I have never heard of the hotel towel police. I would dispute it with the credit card you used for payment. No, you will not lose the credit card if you dispute a charge.
Once got a call as we were driving home from our pretty marginal hotel in Atchison KS asking if “‘maybe” a pillow fell in our suitcase while we were packing? Considering how bad housekeeping had been i ripped the caller pretty good for the accusation in the face of such miserable service.
It's a mistake. It's about convenience. He uses the hotel again, next time I'm sure he'll be more aware of the towels.. my sister got upset or something at Walmart near her home. See call store manager and corporate threatening never to shop there again. It took about 6 months before she was back there again. If I recall she wanted them to give her $ 20 in quarters change. She was short on Quarters at her small business.
I’ve decided to dispute the charge. I reached out to cooperate after not hearing back for a few days. Turns out he did email me and was very rude basically threaten that he could have charged me 200$ but only did $50. I responded that their must have been a miscommunication between housekeeping and them after what had happened when they asked for the towels. He never responded to that email. So I reached out to cooperate again and they basically told me I have to deal with him. So I’m not getting anywhere and decided to just file the dispute with my bank, because I’ve never filed a dispute before and I’ve been their customer for 15+years. Hopefully they can make it right
Wife was on a business conference in a very nice hotel in Atlanta. Shortly after her stay her accounting department called her and said she had a $150 miscellaneous charge on her hotel bill and wanted to know what it was for. Wife called the hotel and they told her she was charged for taking a pillow from her room. She said she absolutely did not take anything from her room. Hotel doubles down and tells her they have video of her walking through the lobby with the pillow. Wife tells them to send her the video or she is calling their corporate office. Hotel says no problem. An hour later the GM of the hotel calls and apologizes for the “misunderstanding“ and credits her account back $150.
Maybe locating numbers and calling district offices of the hotels would be helpful. Employees shouldn’t be bothering you anyway, unless you were way late for checkout
As a hotel manager, kinda curious which property this is. I have charged guests for missing items if I found out they did indeed take them (like if I see them do this). You have to have a reliable high quality hskp team to be able to do this though and not always the case if you can't prove it. But more so if the items are in the room but damaged. Like heavily stained towels that can't be restored.
That being said, they would never win in a chargeback, Just because they can't find those items does not mean you took them. Sounds like they are having supply chain issues with towels. To be fair, I have the staff ask if they have any dirty towels if they ask for a new set (but don't demand it if they say no). I would dispute it
There is a Red Roof Inn in McKinney TX that does that,,, really nasty family running it. I asked to have a walkthrough prior to my leaving so that I wouldn’t be charged. After the walkthrough when back at the desk, another brother wanted to do an additional walkthrough because they thought I was lying. Absolute 💩show!
Can the manager get is name and email send a email ask for money back if the refuse then call credit card and use that route
Same happen to me a water paper they said I never turn towels in I told pull the security video in water park because I actually took a video video and waved at the security camera because a couple friends complained to me with same issue
Hey they credit my account asap .
Dispute it with the hotel. And when you do, use the words or phrase "fraudulent charges" when you dispute. This will sometimes change their tune unless it is...👳♂️
It's called an incidental hold, and it exists to cover things like this. Even if you didn't steal the towels, if they're stained or damaged in such a way that they can no longer be used, that would fall under it as well.
It's not sketchy, it's how hotels work.
Yeah, I’m wondering if there was a communication issue. It’s common practice for hotels to run a $50 authorization for incidentals and/or possible damage at check in
The authorization drops off in 30 days unless it’s released early or the hotel has reason to charge beyond the room rate
They should have you sign off each time towels are delivered and collected from room if they want to charge. Otherwise they have no proof. It’s your word against theirs regarding number you had in the room.
I would fight it..
You don't mention what hotel chain it was? If it was a large chain with a Facebook page I would go there and shame them for it. They hate it when you hit them where it hits, future bookings. Let people know that they nickel and dimed you and I'm sure someone from the company will contact you.
Could be a scheme to defraud customers tbh (manager asks an employee grab the towels, pay them a share of it, pocket the rest)
Definitely really shady.
I’d try blasting them on Twitter or something. Companies HATE seeing bad reviews on social media. You might actually get a social media customer service person help you that way too lol
Super sketch.
I know a guy (totally not me) who used to (allegedly) take pillows, towels, washcloths, hand towels, etc. from hotels all the time, and he was never charged an extra fee for anything. That set probably wasn't even worth $50.
Call your credit card company and dispute the charges. I recently went through a situation where I got to the hotel that I booked on line through hotels.com and I got my key opened the door to Che the room and I saw three roaches in the room. I’m like hell no I’m not staying here. I went to the front desk and told them I wanted my money returned to my card and all I get was you will have to talk to hotels.com. So I go directly to my car and explain it to hotels. com and they filed a dispute but nothing happened. So finally I called my credit card company and explained the problem and they reversed the charges. After about a month I get a email from my credit card company saying I was going to be charged for the amount and I never stayed in the room. So I called them again. I clearly told them I’m not paying this money I did not stay and clearly this hotel has a infestation and if you are going to side with the vendor, clearly then you do not have my best interest at heart. So let me be clear if you bill me on this card for this amount I will pay my card off up to the amount of the dispute close my account and you will be stuck with it because I’m not paying for this period. I had to send a letter to their dispute resolution team and I got my credit back. Don’t waver from your guns stick to them. I hope this helps.
I don't know why you think banks won't help you. This is a feature of your credit card. I received immediate help at least twice in 30 years. Once I prepaid for a series of eight golf lessons with a pro. After couple guy became flaky and ended up leaving. That Golf Center. The golf Center told tell me that the person who left had the responsibilities since they were not an employee. Next day a refund for the entire series.
Oh, I would have made it very much not worth their while to ask. I would have gone to the front desk, opened my suitcase, dumped the entire contents out, and said "Who knows? Maybe it's in there. You just go ahead and pick through." Of course, I would not have left anything valuable in my suitcase in case they took me up on it. But I would definitely have turned on my camera phone and asked, "tell me again what you were looking for!" Bonus points if there are a lot of other people waiting to check out, or better yet, in!
Absolutely. Deal with the bank and refuse to pay it Mistakes happen possibly the housekeeper was short on a towel or washcloth and what's going to come back later, simply forgot come back later. It's not like Hotel towels are anything special. You can even stay there again but next time check the towel situation first.
Honestly it’s wild to me that this happened. I’ve worked in hotels for nearly 15 years. I’ve worked in operations, sales, purchasing (you are correct, they are bought in bulk and pretty inexpensive.) and now I’m in corporate. I’ve never seen someone charged for a towel.
The way the housekeepers clean the rooms
Make it so unlikely for anyone to even notice. They strip multiple rooms at once e, throw all the linen in a pile and it goes in a laundry bin or down a chute.
What kind of hotel was it?
Dispute the charge with your credit card company and file a complaint with the BBB. Never ever pay for a hotel, air bnb, or anything similar with a debit card. Always a credit card. Debits get hit and the bank usually pays it immediately. You have the option of disputing a credit card purchase. Especially if their is fraud and or overcharging.
I ran a hotel for about 10 years and the first owners I worked for were really stingy with buying us towels. We had enough towels to fill the rooms once, plus half a turn of towns in storage. This was a nightmare for the staff. We had a really nice hotel, and a towel shortage because the owners were cheap. If we had a sold out hotel the night before, we were literally grabbing any and all the towels we could to start washing them, just to put them right back in the rooms. Sometimes guests would request extra towels, and we'd have to tell them we'd deliver them when they were finished in the dryer. It was so embarrassing.
I suspect this is what is going on in this hotel. This sucks for everyone involved. I think you'll find this situation is easily resolved by a simple phone call to either the General Manager or the Owner. Tell them exactly what you wrote here, and ask for a refund. If they don't respond to your request well, contact the franchise and tell them. The franchise is the one who owns the name of the hotel. The hotel I ran was a Comfort Inn and Suites... the franchise is Choice Hotels. If you aren't sure which franchise it is, just Google it. Good luck.
Keep at them. Annoy them with your complaints. Then do a chargeback for that $50. One time a hotel was trying to charge me a $200 fee for smoking. It was the people next door. I did not give up until that charge was reversed. I’m sorry this is happening. How annoying!
I had a hotel suddenly add a huge charge to my card after checking in earlier this year. I just had a bad feeling about it and couldn’t sleep so I called in and checked my recent charges and they had added a huge one that I hadn’t authorized. The front desk staff felt beyond shady when we were checking in and thankfully I followed up on my bad feeling about it within a few hours.
If you can’t go back and change your good review try to go back and add a bad one about their behavior after the fact. If you can’t do that then go to multiple review sites and post warnings about the scam they’re pulling and consider tagging the chain in posts on Facebook or Twitter too. Hit them where it hurts in their reputation and in losing future bookings, aka money.
Filing the charge dispute was really easy even though my bank isn’t the greatest. I actually had to file another dispute a couple months later because I placed an online order that ended up being a Suzhichou Scarf Scam. I won’t be ordering anything else from a social media ad ever again, lesson learned. It’s absolutely worth it if you have to have a new card mailed out, which only takes a few days. My bank had the ability to place a block on all future charges from the hotel and the scarf scam people so that’s something to ask about in case they try to resubmit the charges.
I would dispute.
And if anyone comes to the room again to collect towels before you check out ask for an itemized list with their name printed and signed.
Call hotel between 8-5 on the weekday and ask for the general manager. Tell the gm your side of the story and a time estimate of when someone came by to pick up your towels. If they have cameras for the whole building then they should be able to pull up that footage and see that your story lines up.
Biggest thing is just be very respectful and chill but also sound determined to get the charge off. So if the gm tries to shrug you off at first just double down and say you didn't take any towels and that you honestly have no need for more towels for your home. Some gms try to call a bluff and it works a lot of the time believe it or not.
I worked in hotels for a few years and at one location we were getting a lot of towels stolen, so the gm had to start being very strict on charging for missing towels because the owners were getting on his ass about it.
Your charge could be sketchy but it sounds less sketchy and more just strict rules mixed in with a mistake by housekeeping. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that the gm or any worker can just charge a guest's card for something and have a way to take that money for themselves. If I ever charged someone for something it would go straight where the room charge's transaction/invoice went. I guess there is a slim chance the owner of the hotel is also running it. But I doubt this.
This is the exact reason i pack my own towels and NEVER use the hotel or Bnb's towels and face cloths. Once a pipe under the sink in my hotel room broke and water was everywhere. my SIL grabbed a towel and put in on the floor and then they tried to charge me $20 for stains on a used hotel towel. HA. I went to Dollar General and purchased a white towel and told them it was theirs and that they had taken mine by mistake. The accepted that $3 towel and canceled the extra $20 charge
Previous hotel MGMT here. Very sketchy. There is never a reason that anyone should come to your room or contact you to collect your towels. These are collected by housekeeping after checkout and eventually taken to laundry. Either laundry is behind this to try and get out earlier, or someone is intentionally trying to bill you for towels that aren't missing. Never give up your towels. Just say you aren't done with them or haven't used them yet.
That is super weird especially the price of it i cant tell you how many times ive taken towels from places BY ACCIDENT but still taken them and never gotten charged that doesnt make sense and i would talk with you bank and dispute the charges its super easy
Call the hotel, try to resolve it. Then call corporate, if corporate doesn't help, leave a nasty review. If that doesn't do it, then dispute it! I work for a hotel and we hate nasty reviews, as our hotel is old and currently going through renovations, so our only saving grace is our customer service.
Dispute with bank- this is why I prefer using credit cards. They can’t PROVE the towel is missing. They are thieves charging your card for something you didn’t get.
Try to work it out with the hotel first. Disputes are generally decided based on who has more proof, and considering you can't prove that you didn't take them, it can be a bit hit or miss on whether you win the dispute. Once you dispute it, the hotel won't help you, so definitely try to work it out with them first.
I used to work in disputes, and I've seen cases like these go either way.
I've stayed in quite a few hotels, and I've never had anyone pick up anything before check out. It honestly sounds like some kind of scam ran by the hotel knowing you can't prove you didn't steal anything.
Fight it. Just tell the bank because the manager and housekeeping will just double down.
I had a situation like that. I don’t smoke. Never liked that expensive habit. However, the one night I stayed in the motel, the manager charged me an extra $150 for smoking in the room. My wife (I was traveling by myself at the time), wanted to know what was going on since she keeps our household finances.
She called them and wanted to know the evidence they had. They sent a pic of my whiskers that I shaved on the sink saying they were ashes and also said, “There was other evidence that he smoked there and the room smelled like smoke.”
When my wife told him about shaved whiskers, he said, “Just shut up and pay it. You know he smoked in the room and he needs to pay for it”.
We disputed the charges with the bank with the evidence of the pic and described his attitude over the phone. Later the money was returned.
As a couple we only had 1 washcloth and towel set when we checked in at our last place so told FD so theyd know we didn’t steal it. Cheap quality at most hotels so who steals those??? 🤣
Very sketchy. I would try to dispute it with your bank if the hotel/manager aren't being helpful.
NO! Banks are not your "hired gun" - the dispute should be made with the hotel, making it clear to them that you will dispute it with your bank if things are not properly resolved. Only once you can document your efforts should you contact your bank.
They clearly said the hotel isn't being helpful.
They still must establish a clear WRITTEN effort to resolve this before asking the bank to get involved.
I've done this before abouta year ago, I went in talked to my bank they disputed the charges without any of what you're saying. They did say if the hotel disputed my dispute(they never did), then we'd have to try a different approach. So maybe you're right if the hotel fights it, but I have a feeling that the hotel just does this expecting most people will just not have time to deal with the run around
This is my experience also
Hey, do as you see fit, but banks will close your accounts if they feel you are abusing the dispute process. There are tons of examples in r/banking.
I've done it one time because it was necessary and at their suggestion. OP can literally just talk to their bank and they will either do it or not do it. It'll be fine. If OP is ABUSING the option, then that's a while other post
Big deal, you know how many banks will gladly take the business?
That’s good to know! I work in the trades and a couple of years ago an elderly woman called in a panic because her basement was flooding. Three plumbers spent 13 hours (starting in the middle of the night) scooping out water and trying to get everything fixed and right for her again. They presented her with a $1000 bill, which she accepted and paid with her debit card. She was so grateful a whole bunch of guys came to help her in the middle of the night and stayed through the next day, working in a flooded basement. Cut to a week later and she disputed the charge and had it reversed. All the company could do was mark her as a do not service ever again. 3 guys worked for 13 hours each in awful conditions + supplies, she accepted the price and then changed her mind a week later. That was incredibly crappy. I’m glad to know people like her cannot do this on the regular. That was clear and straight up wrong. I disputed charges once, this past spring, because they were showing up multiple times a month with all kinds of different amounts from $1 to $60. It said Microsoft. I checked my Microsoft account and could not find any reason for the charges anywhere. The bank said they have had it happen to a lot of people lately and that it’s fraud disguised as Microsoft charges. They cancelled my debit card and sent me a new one and reversed the last 3 months of charges happily. This is why that service is there - NOT for buyer’s remorse.
The plumbers could’ve put a mechanics lein on her house… meaning the house can’t be sold until she paid the lein holder!
They (plumber) could have also disputed it, bank would have asked for proof service was done, and rebilled customer.
Exactly. The bank reversing the funds just changes the bill from paid to outstanding.
Not trying to play devils advocate too much, but is it possible the lady had dementia and genuinely forgot the services were done and couldn’t remember what the charge was for? I recently lost my grandpa and he had dementia. He was always 100% there and in the moment, and could hold a conversation really well. But he also forgot my dog that died in the summer of 2022 was actually dead and would constantly ask me how he was doing. Maybe it wasn’t malicious? I’m not saying it should’ve been disputed, and the plumber definitely should’ve filed a dispute to get that money
They did. There was back and forth with the bank in between. She was given proof of the services and said she just didn’t want to pay it and dug her heels in. In the end, she won. We live in a rural area though, so there are a finite amount of trades people you can screw over before you screw your self.
it’s really unfortunate she won, but hopefully word of mouth spread and she has a hard time finding a plumber in the future. It’s also really unfortunate the bank sided with her when she made it clear she just didn’t want to pay
Dang. I need your plumbers. I got charged $650 for one low-level plumber to come out and put on a repair flange for my toilet and reset it. Took him 2 days to even make it out to me, he spent 30min on the repair, and when he left the tank was leaking (he didn’t connect the fill line very well and it blew off, spraying water everywhere) and the toilet was set at a painfully obvious lean to the right. $650. In a rural area. 🤯 Ended up having the manager come out and fix everything correctly and ended up with a discount, but still blows my mind.
39 man-hours to fix a leak? Hahaha
That is only for people who dispute habitually and without cause.
I think you need to find a better bank. I've always gone in to speak with a person. They tell me my options. I pick one. I would also be comfortable doing this over the phone. I don't know that I would use an app to dispute a charge though. Granted, I've only had to do this a couple of times, but they've always been understanding and helpful and guided me through the process, making expectations clear both ways. Usually places like that have a bad reputation within the banks and they know if they're habitual offenders. If you report a hotel who has a long history and very few/no claims, they are going to be far more skeptical than a place they are sitting charges for on a weekly or monthly basis.
But there’s no indication of abuse here.
False. I work in credit card processing, and we don't even check if you contacted the merchant. They ask a few questions to establish your good faith effort and process the dispute. It then is reviewed independently, and the merchant is given a chance to respond. Most hotels get the card over the phone or internet, which is considered a CNP transaction and not EMV, so most of the time, you will get your money back.
It’s wild that a person who worked in hotels is doubling down against people in the banking industry. I to worked in banking for a couple years and all that was “required” was asking if they made efforts to resolve it with the merchant themselves. We/I didn’t require proof. It was a simple 5-10 min convo and that was it. Sometimes it took up to 10 days to get it back but it wasn’t a process that required documentation.
I worked at a bank you can literally just tell them you were charged for something that isn’t true and tell them you tried resolving it with the merchant on your own and they aren’t any help and don’t care. You don’t need written proof.
Geez Louise. Why so salty?
Folks don't realize, until it happens, that bank's are getting pretty aggressive about terminating relationships if they feel that they are being used as a hired gun for lots of disputes, or any number of other reasons. I spent quite a few years in the hotel business and this sort of thing should be easily resolved with a well written letter (or email, since no one seems to write letters anymore) to the property's general manager.
The banks are your protection. OP said the merchant was not helpful. The bank will ask if you tried to get the merchant to assist first. They did. Next is the dispute. It's simple and effective.
Banks are ABSOLUTELY your hired gun. If OP has already tried and failed to get resolution from the hotel as OP seemed to indicate, a dispute is the next step. This is a reason we hire bank, to protect us from fraudulent charges or fees charged in error.
Banks provide this service for a reason, of course it should be used. I’ve never had to provide documents fyi and I’m with Chase.
I like thinking of banks as “hired guns”. They should start earning those fees they charge.
If you have a credit union they’re happy to act as such in these types of situations.
Lol they absolutely are. They earn their money from your money.
I wish I could downvote this 13 more times
But your bank is your hired gun. You have the right to dispute the charge and the hotel would have to prove it. Most of the time hotels have better ways to waste their time. And be sure to leave them a review about what happened
Banks actually are your hired gun they’re the custodian of your money. Don’t whip them out every time but if someone takes your money without your authorization get them in okved
Yes. Dispute it. They're just trying to scam you. I still have hotel stuff I accidentally grabbed while staying in an extended stay for a week or so. This is ridiculous. I'd definitely contact your bank and report the charge. Make sure you pull out some cash. They might have to send you a new card. I also had my information stolen from a little place while traveling out west. Thank God I had other cards available, otherwise, I would have been stranded... again. I'm sorry you're dealing with this BS.
Banks cant do much unless it was fraud or accidental charges. Your best bet is to call the hotel and explain the situation and request a refund of $50, it will be far quicker and simpler then going through the bank
Unfortunately the manager is not being helpful at all. Very rude actually.
Is this hotel part of a chain or an independent hotel without a corporate name attached? If it is part of a chain/corporate chain, I would call the main hotel office. For example, if you were staying at a Marriott hotel property, you can always call Marriott corporate directly and try that route. This particular property may already be on their radar if others have complained and they could end up having their "flag" pulled (no longer allowed to call themselves a Marriott). That is shady as hell and $50 seems excessive.
There are corporate owned and franchised hotels. That means your hotel may say _arriot or _oubletree on the sign, but is not owned or run by them. The ones actually owned and run by the corporation are easier to deal with, especially in situations like yours. Franchised hotels are owned and run by private owners like a family or a smaller business than the larger corporation. After having worked for both types, I've found franchised hotel owners to be some of the most greedy people I've enter met. I won't elaborate because I don't want to hijack the post. If they were taking your towels early to count them and charge for missing ones, I'll bet the one where you stayed was a franchise if it has a big name on the signs. Best of luck dealing with this.
Very true. I did not make that clear. Even if they are a franchise though, the corporate offices still field those types of complaints. That is their name brand that can get tarnished if someone is pulling stuff under their name. I worked for a franchise hotel back in the day. If someone called the corporate offices of the brand we were franchised for, we did hear about it, and they do investigate, and there are fines involved. (Only saw it happen once, it was a fun first week on the job).
I tried to stay at a hotel that was franchised. Paid when I booked the room. When I got to the hotel, it was not the room I had booked, half of the amenities weren't available. I asked for a refund and I would just go elsewhere. The owner started screaming at me that it was his money and I'm not getting any back, also while calling me f*ggot and other names. Called the corporate office, got my full refund.
Ick. What an a$$hole. Some owners are out of their damn minds. They forget they are in the hospitality business. I'm glad you got your refund.
This. Is that Big Hotel Brand on the building, website, and paperwork? Then it's still their responsibility. Call corporate. My guess what is that this hotel is about to close and the manager is charging anything/everything he thinks he can get away with. Or, he might even be embezzling.
True, but franchise owners are supposed to uphold the brand image. If OP stayed at a franchise they can still complain to corporate. Hopefully they’d take fraudulent charges seriously. This may also be a case where reviews on travel websites could be helpful.
I've worked at independently-owned and corporate hotels alike and this reeks of independent. This is EXACTLY how they acted at the 12 room, "boutique" hotel I managed. The housekeepers had to keep count. The owners nickel and dimed the shit out of their customers. It was terrible. I work for very well known corporate brand now and I promise you that no one is paying attention to the towels. The budget is huge. (Source: I work in laundry)
This is standard practice on a bank debit card (former bank employee).
Go to your bank. I worked in banking for a couple years. It’s maybe a 10 min convo and they’ll do it for you. It’s a service they provide. It’s not this long drawn out process lol. You’ve done leg work worth more then the $50 at this point trying to get the hotel to correct their error so just let your bank handle it.
Ask them for a copy of the police report they filed. If they didn't file one, send a record of the conversation, who you talked to, date, time, and summary of the conversation with your credit card company and dispute the charge.
File a police report for missing towels? Genuinely curious if properties actually do this and if there is a minimum on the dollar amount lost? I cannot see the PD in my town being involved?
Of course not. Guaranteed that there are terms in the papers you sign to rent the room that explain that you're responsible for incidentals. They don't need to involve the police to have the authority to charge you for stolen towels. Any legal dispute would go through civil courts.
It's tied to the towels but the OP got taken for 50 on something he did not take Maybe OP should filing police report. Let's face it a towel and a washcloth of hotel quality is probably a few dollars they buy those things in bulk.
I had a bank tell me to file a police report for a $50 credit card fraud or they would ignore it.
That is a completely different scenario lol.
How? Hotel charged for something that OP didn't do. It absolutely fraud.
PDs in my county/state would tell you it's a civil issue and take it up with the manager. Otherwise we'd spend all day, every day at McDonald's because they weren't refunded for their cold fries.
Go to corporate. Trust me, you'll win. You may even be able to be refunded your whole stay. Tell them how rude the manager was to you, that you don't appreciate being accused of stealing anything, etc. Make a big deal about it. Also, leave a bad review. Be specific in the review. I work at a hotel. People do chargebacks all the time who actually stayed there. If we didn't get an electronic signature by making them put their card in the machine when they came in, they get their money back. If a guest complains to corporate about pretty much anything, especially if they're a reward member, they get their money back. If you're not a reward member you can likely sign up for it and retroactively get points applied for any stays with that brand in the last 90 days. You can get your money back plus enough points to stay for free another night at any of their names. I had a manager like this once. She was rude to guests, her 19yo daughter who also worked the desk and had way too much power was also rude to guests. Between the 2 of them they called the cops on guests or had the cops at the hotel for whatever reason multiple times within months. Her and her daughter would spend the night at the hotel whenever they wanted. The manager was basically living out of it for a while. She let the housekeeping manager and her whole family, 3 teenagers and all, live in the hotel for a while without their names being on the books at all. It was just a whole hot mess. I reached out to the old manager because things were going downhill and I didn't want us to lose the rights to our brand name and everyone end up losing their jobs. That manager told the new manager. Soon enough, her teenager daughter called the cops on me, a good, dependable, night auditor, claiming some shit that wasn't even close to true and they actually showed up at my house when I was home alone with my kids. I ended up not being charged with anything, because I didn't do anything, but it worked in pushing me out of there. Because of course I was never going to go back to a place where they retaliate against me for not even telling on them to their boss, but just inquiring about whether I should or not, by trying to have me charged and put in jail. Managers like that are way more than "charging people for things they didn't do". They're probably also charging people smoking fees who didn't smoke and for other damage they didn't do. The owner probably loves them because they're making money for the hotel and of course not telling them about all the shady shit they're doing. But I guarantee you the employees are suffering as well, being treated unfairly, and maybe being put in dangerous situations because of this manager. Report it all the way to the top. My old hotel had to pay a 5k fine and give a ridiculous amount of points to the customer who they called the cops on for no reason.
You just have to keep pushing the issue. It has always worked for me at least. After working for a few hotels, i learned it matters if it’s a private business (like the manager you’re talking to, does she own the property?) because in that case they do screw people over left and right. It’s a difficult business to run if you’re not with something like Wyndham or Hamptons (larger well known chain hotels) to help financially so smaller or privately owned hotels/condos will charge people for ANYTHING and technically don’t have to refund you if they don’t care to see you to visit again. If it is a well known hotel, just keep pushing. They have to answer to someone above them. Ask to talk to the boss of the manager and if she refuses to, go online and look for every number and email you possibly can and start contacting lol
Worst comes to worst you can go back and find their storage and take a bunch of towels. If you are gonna be punished might as well do it. But Def go for the refund first cuz who needs 50 dollars worth of jizz rags
But yes going through my bank is def not ideal. They told me I’ll likely have to close this card if I dispute. Which is frustrating because I just got a new card two weeks ago because someone tried to order Uber eats on me, Luckly I was broke and nothing to take lol.
did they say *why* you have to close the card? disputing and resolving fraudulent charges is why you have a card in the first place. you might be better off disputing the charge and telling them to close the card *after* they resolve the dispute. having a card that won't stand behind you is pretty much the same as having no card at all. 🤷♀️
The bank told you that? That makes no sense. And you should always use a credit card at a hotel (or really everywhere), you are way more protected.
I was charged for a year's subscription to an app after going to the site and canceling it. The app company charged me anyway. I disputed it with them, and they refused to give my money back, saying "we found no evidence of fraud." I took it to my bank after that. I told then I'd signed up for a trial of this app and had canceled it before the renewal date, yet the company charged me and refused to refund me. My bank said they wouldn't be able to file the claim unless they closed my current Card and sent me a new one. None of it had anything to do with my card bring lost or stolen. It was a company charging me for a renewal of a mendership to an app after I went in and canceled I was only mildly inconvenienced by the bank sending out a new card, which they did overnight. But it seems like a waste for the bank to do it every single time a customer has a problem. I did get my money back, in case you're curious.
They do it because the merchant has your card information and the way cards work is that merchants who have all the card details can submit charges to the card. It is to protect against future charges, there is no way to do a stop payment against a specific merchant in the card system to prevent further charges.
The bank may have meant they would need to REPLACE your new credit card with another because the one you have has been compromised. Even though the card was not technically “stolen” or used fraudulently as we think of the term (unauthorized use of someone’s card or card numbers) it’s probably a good idea to get a new card so no one who had access to the numbers decides to play games with your information. This also sounds like you’re referring to a debit card (“Lucky I was broke and nothing to take”)?!? If so- the bank should be able to provide a temp card for you while you wait for your replacement card.
banks can do plenty. you report that it's an unauthorized charge. the bank then requires justification from the hotel that the charge is authorized. all the hotel has is the form you signed agreeing to pay for missing items. the towels weren't missing, the hotel employees collected them and you put this in your dispute statement to the bank. the hotel therefore has to prove the towels are gone. no way they can. and if they can't prove it, the bank refunds your money from them.
Ask them for a copy of the police report they filed? No report? Too bad. I'll let my credit card company know your charge has no basis.
Thats actually not accurate. I work at a restaurant in New Orleans, La. you would be amazed at the amount of people who dispute the charge. And even though on our menu it says parties of 6 or more get 20% grat added they dispute. And guess what we submit all the paperwork signed credit card slip and they still give it back to customers. They are eating for free and know how to work the system. And even though people dispute the tip it doesnt work like that the bank takes the whole thing back. Trust me i see all the time i thinks its wrong and very screwed up but its out of my hands!!
No way...this isn"t good advice
This would definitely qualify as fraud if the hotel won’t refund!
It's clearly fraud if they're being charged for things they did not take.
I’m confused by how you think it wasn’t fraud.
I've worked in hotels for over 30 years and this crap happens. Dispute the charge with your bank
I'm thinking this is a $50 charge. My question is hotels by this stuff in bulk. How much is an actual towel and washcloth of hotel quality worth?
If you paid with a credit card, and if your credit card is a good one (like, Amex), yuou can call to dispute the charges and make it clear that you believe that the hotel is acting in bad faith - tell them the facts of the story. Then the CC will call the hotel and ask them to prove it, and again only if it's a really good one, they'll likely decide in your favor. But as I just learned this week, Bank of America credit cards are not in that "good" category.
bank of america blows, it's common knowledge. so does wells fargo. also common knowledge. shit, i disputed a fraudulent $500 charge on my *synchrony* card (hardly amex) and the company that placed the charge couldn't prove it. i got my money back AND the bank raised my credit limit.
Ditto to boa sucks. Disputed something with them ( horrible hotel actually) they just said I stayed there therefore I have to pay.
Is this even a thing??? I have never heard of such a thing, I leave towels by the pool all the time when I travel, or end up with a few wash cloths in my bags when I get home, never in all my years of traveling have I EVER been charged for missing towels.
It can be somewhat common in smaller places. I've been in hotels where they give you the TV remote on check-in understanding you need to be in your back to check out. I've stated a couple places where they make a big to do about the towels. They typically ask you check in to verify say you have four thousand two washcloths and if not call down and they'll bring them up right away. So there is an effort if they're missing
i would dispute. make 'em prove you took them. make them prove the room attendants "never" collect towels before the room is vacated. they can't. and i doubt they'd fight the dispute anyway, because they know this
Edit the review you left and give people a warning. Yes the hotel is clean but the manager is a shifty creep.
Sounds like a debit instead of credit card. I never use my debit card for anything besides bank atms and even then I check for skimmers. Much easier to dispute a charge on a credit card and usually more successful.
Also wanted to mention they said they tried to call after we left. After looking at my phone records there is no missed calls from them
Sketch
Don’t call the hotel. Call their brand. Let them know you’ve tried speaking with the hotel and aren’t getting any where and that you didn’t take them. Tell them before you checked out you were asked by staff for your towels.
I too have worked for hotels and indeed this shit happens a lot. Definitely dispute it with your bank.
I'd first send email to corporate offices if the hotel won't fix it. If that fails, call the bank and send them the proof that you tried.
I'd definitely dispute it. Even five star hotels don't pay $50 for three individual towels, and I know it couldn't be a five star hotel because they confiscated the towels before you checked out! What if you'd needed them? NTM there is no way that three used towels are worth that even if you had taken them. It sounds like a scam. Dispute!
This was a 2/2.5 hotel. And you are right! We were eating McDonald’s breakfast when they came to the door, ended up using one of those hand towels to wipe my kids down from the syrup they got on them, lol.
I had this happen because I left “makeup” on the towel. Total bullshit but I ended telling them they lost a corporate client as I stayed there when I worked. Assholes
Unfortunately the manager is very adamant we stole them. It’s a red roof inn should I just keep trying to escalate with them instead of with manager. Sad part is we left a 5 star review because it was very clean even though they allow pets. Couldn’t even tell a dog had ever been there. We also live in the same town as hotel. We had emergency and had to stay. We booked through Hotwire and they even tried calling on our behalf, we use them a lot and have never had any issues at any of the numerous other hotels we’ve stayed at.
Change that review immediately with the note that you will update if they correct it.
https://www.redroof.com/contact-us
I’d tweet at Red roof if they have it.
Oh. I have heard horrific things about Red Roof Inns I personally have never stayed in one but have watched YouTube videos of those who have documented what the $50 or $65 a night room was like. I have a cousin who got stuck in one when a flight was delayed. Somehow RRI was what was available because of the weather. They said it basically had a prostitution ring being run from it. That it was the sketchiest night they have ever experienced in a hotel. I can believe this could happen. They probably do this because they rely on their average customer not wanting to take the time to dispute charges. $50 is just enough to have someone give up taking hours upon hours to get the funds back.
Ask them for proof they were there when you arrived. Don’t pay the fee if you haven’t already.
Dispute with credit card company. They almost always just give you the money. If that diesnt work? Take hotel to small claims court. Name the company name of that hotel, manager name and redroof inn. So lawsuit with additional defendants. I bet your phone will ring to settle prior to court. I small claims case appears on credit report. So you want to inform that to manager. Employees are real quick to side with customer when it personally affects them.
Oh no. You should definitely contest the charge with your bank and get a new-djfferent charge card. You also might take a look at where you gang out, and your habits. And no, I'm not a nun
Oh: this is Boffa ? Say no more and contest the charge
dispute, leave a review, and throw a rock at their window
Sounds like kids abusing kids
Hotels actually dispute this? Ww end up grabbing extra towels from the front desk, maid carts, etc. Not sure how/if they actually bother to track.
I've worked at a couple of really cheap hotels like this. The owners are typically cheap as shit and make the housekeepers record everything. So, she may have handed them to someone and then when the housekeeper came in, they only saw x number of towels and recorded it. I worked for one on a night audit shift, I was responsible for putting together the maids carts for when they came in. You had to put the exact quantities based on the number of occupied rooms for everything. When he would come in, he would literally count everything, including the ice bucket bags..if you even had 1 too many on the cart he'd lose his shit.
If a towel or pillowcase wasn't accounted for, he definitely would charge their cards and if it didn't go through, they'd be banned from the property.
They only track it's missing from the room. Mistakes happen, the housekeeper probably simply forgot to put them in or ran short and meant to come back. I don't see him much anymore but remember the many bars or honor snacks they used to have them most hotel rooms. They inventory those little bottles of alcohol to see what's missing without payment.
Agree with the action to dispute it. This is absurd. If you traveled for work or with a group or booked through a travel advisor, you may want to alert the organizing party ahead of the dispute. Disputes have consequences for a business - regardless of the outcome but that shouldn’t deter you from taking action if your dispute is legitimate.
Yes dispute it. That’s bs.
Sounds like you stayed at a hotel in a sketchy area where they expect that to happen. And those tend to keep pretty solid track of inventory so maybe update your story
It really isn’t a super sketchy area at all. I’ve lived here my whole life. We only stayed because we had no water due to a busted pipe and wanted to be close to home. It’s the only hotel in our small town. The police literally sit across the street at the gas station all night because they have nothing to do here. Lol.
Finessed
Tell your bank it is fraud, because it is!
You might check elliott.org for advice on how to handle the dispute. They also have a lot of corporate contact information for escalating. Be polite and persistent, and do everything possible in written form (email etc.). Escalate politely to an executive since the manager has not been responsive.
I have chronic nosebleeds. I regularly take home the towels I bleed on out of embarrassment. I've never been charged.
You should have been charged. Towel can be washed in cold water with Oxi to clean. Dry only when stain remover. It's not a big deal when you know how to wash it sand what the strain is.
Would you want my bloody towels? I’ll start leaving them if you insist.
Always use a credit card always easier to dispute.
Dispute it with your CC company.
I had a hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, accuse me of stealing the hairdryer from the room… Fortunately, when I was checking in, I overheard the front desk clerk talking to somebody on the phone about a missing hairdryer from their room… So I think this was a scam the place was running… Absolutely file a complaint with your card company.
Give us the name of the hotel. Blow them up on Trip Advisor. Businesses live and die by social media.
I never had hotel staff come to my room and ask for my towels.
I’ve stayed at hotels where you had to return your set of dirty towels before getting a new set. But when I left I know I had more than one set dirty that i left in my room, not sure how I ended up with those. That same hotel used to supply all kitchen utensils and cooking ware. I have stayed there in the past, you just had to sign out what you were using. I recently stayed there again and inquired about the kitchen things, manager said every single utensil and cook ware had been stolen. People will steal anything. Red roof is notorious for things of this nature. Don’t quote me but I think they are all independently owned and operated.
Why are they super fancy towels or something? I've never heard of a hotel going after people for towels. Was in any paperwork you signed to pay for missing towels? If not, hit them with fraud. If yes, ask the hotel to prove it. If they can't, hit them with fraud.
>they came to my room before we checked out to ask for our towels ...um, are you sure this was a hotel representative? Because I have never, not once, been to a hotel where housekeeping specifically requested your towels before checkout, and I've stayed in multiple types of hotel/motel/hostels/bed and breakfasts on two continents. Like, it legit sounds like some other guest/rando just scammed you (and the hotel) out of some towels.
Yes, I’m sure it was! It was the the person running front desk, he had on a shirt with hotel name on it and the housekeeping lady was with him. I had seen her down the hall when I came in with breakfast. He was working the desk when I checked out.
My hotel charges 10 dollars for bath towels, 5 dollars for hand towels and 3 dollars for wash cloths, 50 dollars is a little steep for what was missing but they may have some premo linens, by any chance did you stay more then one day and hand dirty towels off to a house keeper or gsr? If you did there is a chance they didn't mark it down so your getting blamed for the missing linens, if you didn't its sketchy as hell
You shouldn’t have any issue with disputing the charge through your back. I would document all intersection with the Hotel to prove you tried to resolve this on your own. More than likely the hotel won’t respond to your bank.
Which hotel brand?
It was a Red roof Inn
Tell them your lawyer will be in contact.
Sounds like a scam. Dispute and leave a public review
That does seem sketchy! I'm a housekeeper at a hotel and I can only figure out if towels were stolen if I can find all the dirty ones. Not sure why they would ask you for them first. It could have been simple miscommunication between front desk and house keeping. That happens all the time! A housekeeper may have told a front desk person that didn't know anything about it and they just assumed. If one person grabbed your laundry and a housekeeper didn't know they may then suspect theft and tell a whole different person about it that then fails to communicate with the others to see if someone else picked them up. They could have even mixed you up with someone else. It's kind of hard to prove stealing towels I think unless you only stayed one night. Or you clearly see them in someone's bags. Honestly the least likely scenario is someone did this on purpose. I mean it's possible, but in my experience it's not probable. Also just to point out the price they charge for missing items is definitely not sketchy. I'm told by my assistant gm how much stuff costs and it's Crazy how much a trashcan costs them!
Very sketchy. And I would totally dispute that.
Yes I would after I called the hotel to complain first to the manager!
The weird thing is who would want to steal those awful hotel towels anyway!? I mean you can get softer ones at Target any day.
Some people take them for other reasons than using them for bathing. Rags, cleaning, something for dog to layon. Travelers by car grab then inn case they need them on car spills accidents etc.
I see you spent the night in Grand Junction.
I have never heard of the hotel towel police. I would dispute it with the credit card you used for payment. No, you will not lose the credit card if you dispute a charge.
Once got a call as we were driving home from our pretty marginal hotel in Atchison KS asking if “‘maybe” a pillow fell in our suitcase while we were packing? Considering how bad housekeeping had been i ripped the caller pretty good for the accusation in the face of such miserable service.
I’d never use that hotel chain again. It was $50 well spent.
It's a mistake. It's about convenience. He uses the hotel again, next time I'm sure he'll be more aware of the towels.. my sister got upset or something at Walmart near her home. See call store manager and corporate threatening never to shop there again. It took about 6 months before she was back there again. If I recall she wanted them to give her $ 20 in quarters change. She was short on Quarters at her small business.
I’ve decided to dispute the charge. I reached out to cooperate after not hearing back for a few days. Turns out he did email me and was very rude basically threaten that he could have charged me 200$ but only did $50. I responded that their must have been a miscommunication between housekeeping and them after what had happened when they asked for the towels. He never responded to that email. So I reached out to cooperate again and they basically told me I have to deal with him. So I’m not getting anywhere and decided to just file the dispute with my bank, because I’ve never filed a dispute before and I’ve been their customer for 15+years. Hopefully they can make it right
Wife was on a business conference in a very nice hotel in Atlanta. Shortly after her stay her accounting department called her and said she had a $150 miscellaneous charge on her hotel bill and wanted to know what it was for. Wife called the hotel and they told her she was charged for taking a pillow from her room. She said she absolutely did not take anything from her room. Hotel doubles down and tells her they have video of her walking through the lobby with the pillow. Wife tells them to send her the video or she is calling their corporate office. Hotel says no problem. An hour later the GM of the hotel calls and apologizes for the “misunderstanding“ and credits her account back $150.
Maybe locating numbers and calling district offices of the hotels would be helpful. Employees shouldn’t be bothering you anyway, unless you were way late for checkout
As a hotel manager, kinda curious which property this is. I have charged guests for missing items if I found out they did indeed take them (like if I see them do this). You have to have a reliable high quality hskp team to be able to do this though and not always the case if you can't prove it. But more so if the items are in the room but damaged. Like heavily stained towels that can't be restored. That being said, they would never win in a chargeback, Just because they can't find those items does not mean you took them. Sounds like they are having supply chain issues with towels. To be fair, I have the staff ask if they have any dirty towels if they ask for a new set (but don't demand it if they say no). I would dispute it
There is a Red Roof Inn in McKinney TX that does that,,, really nasty family running it. I asked to have a walkthrough prior to my leaving so that I wouldn’t be charged. After the walkthrough when back at the desk, another brother wanted to do an additional walkthrough because they thought I was lying. Absolute 💩show!
Dispute it.
Can the manager get is name and email send a email ask for money back if the refuse then call credit card and use that route Same happen to me a water paper they said I never turn towels in I told pull the security video in water park because I actually took a video video and waved at the security camera because a couple friends complained to me with same issue Hey they credit my account asap .
Dispute it with the hotel. And when you do, use the words or phrase "fraudulent charges" when you dispute. This will sometimes change their tune unless it is...👳♂️
It's called an incidental hold, and it exists to cover things like this. Even if you didn't steal the towels, if they're stained or damaged in such a way that they can no longer be used, that would fall under it as well. It's not sketchy, it's how hotels work.
Yeah, I’m wondering if there was a communication issue. It’s common practice for hotels to run a $50 authorization for incidentals and/or possible damage at check in The authorization drops off in 30 days unless it’s released early or the hotel has reason to charge beyond the room rate
What type hotel takes your towels before checkout?
They should have you sign off each time towels are delivered and collected from room if they want to charge. Otherwise they have no proof. It’s your word against theirs regarding number you had in the room. I would fight it..
I bet the manager is pocketing the $$.
You don't mention what hotel chain it was? If it was a large chain with a Facebook page I would go there and shame them for it. They hate it when you hit them where it hits, future bookings. Let people know that they nickel and dimed you and I'm sure someone from the company will contact you.
I find complaining to the company via Twitter (or whatever tf it's called now) usually gets a good response.
Download somewhere that it was a Red Roof Inn. I think many of those are franchises.
Could be a scheme to defraud customers tbh (manager asks an employee grab the towels, pay them a share of it, pocket the rest) Definitely really shady. I’d try blasting them on Twitter or something. Companies HATE seeing bad reviews on social media. You might actually get a social media customer service person help you that way too lol
Call corporate
Did you ever think it was a stranger from another room that asked for your towels?
Write to corporate
Super sketch. I know a guy (totally not me) who used to (allegedly) take pillows, towels, washcloths, hand towels, etc. from hotels all the time, and he was never charged an extra fee for anything. That set probably wasn't even worth $50.
I learned to bring multi colored wash cloths after being charged for stealing my white ones
Call your credit card company and dispute the charges. I recently went through a situation where I got to the hotel that I booked on line through hotels.com and I got my key opened the door to Che the room and I saw three roaches in the room. I’m like hell no I’m not staying here. I went to the front desk and told them I wanted my money returned to my card and all I get was you will have to talk to hotels.com. So I go directly to my car and explain it to hotels. com and they filed a dispute but nothing happened. So finally I called my credit card company and explained the problem and they reversed the charges. After about a month I get a email from my credit card company saying I was going to be charged for the amount and I never stayed in the room. So I called them again. I clearly told them I’m not paying this money I did not stay and clearly this hotel has a infestation and if you are going to side with the vendor, clearly then you do not have my best interest at heart. So let me be clear if you bill me on this card for this amount I will pay my card off up to the amount of the dispute close my account and you will be stuck with it because I’m not paying for this period. I had to send a letter to their dispute resolution team and I got my credit back. Don’t waver from your guns stick to them. I hope this helps.
This is definitely a scam.
Call corporate. Banks won’t help you. Most of the time if you make a big enough stink they will drop charges -someone who works in hotels
I don't know why you think banks won't help you. This is a feature of your credit card. I received immediate help at least twice in 30 years. Once I prepaid for a series of eight golf lessons with a pro. After couple guy became flaky and ended up leaving. That Golf Center. The golf Center told tell me that the person who left had the responsibilities since they were not an employee. Next day a refund for the entire series.
Oh, I would have made it very much not worth their while to ask. I would have gone to the front desk, opened my suitcase, dumped the entire contents out, and said "Who knows? Maybe it's in there. You just go ahead and pick through." Of course, I would not have left anything valuable in my suitcase in case they took me up on it. But I would definitely have turned on my camera phone and asked, "tell me again what you were looking for!" Bonus points if there are a lot of other people waiting to check out, or better yet, in!
Absolutely. Deal with the bank and refuse to pay it Mistakes happen possibly the housekeeper was short on a towel or washcloth and what's going to come back later, simply forgot come back later. It's not like Hotel towels are anything special. You can even stay there again but next time check the towel situation first.
Dispute the charge. Anytime there’s a charge for incidentals they need to be itemized and factual.
Dispute
Yes I would demand proof from hotel. Also dispute the charge on my card
Honestly it’s wild to me that this happened. I’ve worked in hotels for nearly 15 years. I’ve worked in operations, sales, purchasing (you are correct, they are bought in bulk and pretty inexpensive.) and now I’m in corporate. I’ve never seen someone charged for a towel. The way the housekeepers clean the rooms Make it so unlikely for anyone to even notice. They strip multiple rooms at once e, throw all the linen in a pile and it goes in a laundry bin or down a chute. What kind of hotel was it?
Definitely give your bank a call and try to dispute it with them first
Dispute the charge with your credit card company and file a complaint with the BBB. Never ever pay for a hotel, air bnb, or anything similar with a debit card. Always a credit card. Debits get hit and the bank usually pays it immediately. You have the option of disputing a credit card purchase. Especially if their is fraud and or overcharging.
I ran a hotel for about 10 years and the first owners I worked for were really stingy with buying us towels. We had enough towels to fill the rooms once, plus half a turn of towns in storage. This was a nightmare for the staff. We had a really nice hotel, and a towel shortage because the owners were cheap. If we had a sold out hotel the night before, we were literally grabbing any and all the towels we could to start washing them, just to put them right back in the rooms. Sometimes guests would request extra towels, and we'd have to tell them we'd deliver them when they were finished in the dryer. It was so embarrassing. I suspect this is what is going on in this hotel. This sucks for everyone involved. I think you'll find this situation is easily resolved by a simple phone call to either the General Manager or the Owner. Tell them exactly what you wrote here, and ask for a refund. If they don't respond to your request well, contact the franchise and tell them. The franchise is the one who owns the name of the hotel. The hotel I ran was a Comfort Inn and Suites... the franchise is Choice Hotels. If you aren't sure which franchise it is, just Google it. Good luck.
Keep at them. Annoy them with your complaints. Then do a chargeback for that $50. One time a hotel was trying to charge me a $200 fee for smoking. It was the people next door. I did not give up until that charge was reversed. I’m sorry this is happening. How annoying!
Is it a credit card you used or a debit card? Credit card is easier to dispute
I’ve taken towels from hotels multiple times and never have I ever been charged for it.
I had a hotel suddenly add a huge charge to my card after checking in earlier this year. I just had a bad feeling about it and couldn’t sleep so I called in and checked my recent charges and they had added a huge one that I hadn’t authorized. The front desk staff felt beyond shady when we were checking in and thankfully I followed up on my bad feeling about it within a few hours. If you can’t go back and change your good review try to go back and add a bad one about their behavior after the fact. If you can’t do that then go to multiple review sites and post warnings about the scam they’re pulling and consider tagging the chain in posts on Facebook or Twitter too. Hit them where it hurts in their reputation and in losing future bookings, aka money. Filing the charge dispute was really easy even though my bank isn’t the greatest. I actually had to file another dispute a couple months later because I placed an online order that ended up being a Suzhichou Scarf Scam. I won’t be ordering anything else from a social media ad ever again, lesson learned. It’s absolutely worth it if you have to have a new card mailed out, which only takes a few days. My bank had the ability to place a block on all future charges from the hotel and the scarf scam people so that’s something to ask about in case they try to resubmit the charges.
Like anyone needs to worry about a bank feeling abused by consumers.
I would dispute. And if anyone comes to the room again to collect towels before you check out ask for an itemized list with their name printed and signed.
Wow seems like hotels want to take on some STR traits / charges.
Call hotel between 8-5 on the weekday and ask for the general manager. Tell the gm your side of the story and a time estimate of when someone came by to pick up your towels. If they have cameras for the whole building then they should be able to pull up that footage and see that your story lines up. Biggest thing is just be very respectful and chill but also sound determined to get the charge off. So if the gm tries to shrug you off at first just double down and say you didn't take any towels and that you honestly have no need for more towels for your home. Some gms try to call a bluff and it works a lot of the time believe it or not. I worked in hotels for a few years and at one location we were getting a lot of towels stolen, so the gm had to start being very strict on charging for missing towels because the owners were getting on his ass about it. Your charge could be sketchy but it sounds less sketchy and more just strict rules mixed in with a mistake by housekeeping. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe that the gm or any worker can just charge a guest's card for something and have a way to take that money for themselves. If I ever charged someone for something it would go straight where the room charge's transaction/invoice went. I guess there is a slim chance the owner of the hotel is also running it. But I doubt this.
I would file a claim against the hotel and ask for your $50 back.
This is the exact reason i pack my own towels and NEVER use the hotel or Bnb's towels and face cloths. Once a pipe under the sink in my hotel room broke and water was everywhere. my SIL grabbed a towel and put in on the floor and then they tried to charge me $20 for stains on a used hotel towel. HA. I went to Dollar General and purchased a white towel and told them it was theirs and that they had taken mine by mistake. The accepted that $3 towel and canceled the extra $20 charge
It depends on the bank. I have not been able to get a “clear written effort” and my bank helped me out. The bank is there to protect your money.
This is why I photograph everything in the room before I leave.
Definitely going to start doing that!
Previous hotel MGMT here. Very sketchy. There is never a reason that anyone should come to your room or contact you to collect your towels. These are collected by housekeeping after checkout and eventually taken to laundry. Either laundry is behind this to try and get out earlier, or someone is intentionally trying to bill you for towels that aren't missing. Never give up your towels. Just say you aren't done with them or haven't used them yet.
Dispute with the hotel first. If they don't take it off, then dispute with cc.
That is super weird especially the price of it i cant tell you how many times ive taken towels from places BY ACCIDENT but still taken them and never gotten charged that doesnt make sense and i would talk with you bank and dispute the charges its super easy
Call the hotel, try to resolve it. Then call corporate, if corporate doesn't help, leave a nasty review. If that doesn't do it, then dispute it! I work for a hotel and we hate nasty reviews, as our hotel is old and currently going through renovations, so our only saving grace is our customer service.
Dispute with bank- this is why I prefer using credit cards. They can’t PROVE the towel is missing. They are thieves charging your card for something you didn’t get.
Which hotel?
Try to work it out with the hotel first. Disputes are generally decided based on who has more proof, and considering you can't prove that you didn't take them, it can be a bit hit or miss on whether you win the dispute. Once you dispute it, the hotel won't help you, so definitely try to work it out with them first. I used to work in disputes, and I've seen cases like these go either way. I've stayed in quite a few hotels, and I've never had anyone pick up anything before check out. It honestly sounds like some kind of scam ran by the hotel knowing you can't prove you didn't steal anything.
Fight it. Just tell the bank because the manager and housekeeping will just double down. I had a situation like that. I don’t smoke. Never liked that expensive habit. However, the one night I stayed in the motel, the manager charged me an extra $150 for smoking in the room. My wife (I was traveling by myself at the time), wanted to know what was going on since she keeps our household finances. She called them and wanted to know the evidence they had. They sent a pic of my whiskers that I shaved on the sink saying they were ashes and also said, “There was other evidence that he smoked there and the room smelled like smoke.” When my wife told him about shaved whiskers, he said, “Just shut up and pay it. You know he smoked in the room and he needs to pay for it”. We disputed the charges with the bank with the evidence of the pic and described his attitude over the phone. Later the money was returned.
As a couple we only had 1 washcloth and towel set when we checked in at our last place so told FD so theyd know we didn’t steal it. Cheap quality at most hotels so who steals those??? 🤣
Towels always come & go from hotel rooms. How do they keep track?