Surely this is illegal and if not it is immoral

[MWHCVT]

Apparently it does leave your account according to my friend google and they are legally obliged to refund it when all is well.....but then again I am only a poor punter who is p***ed off because of the lack of clarity............I am ok because I can still survive even with the money being held but i am sure there are loads of people who this would be a struggle..........NOT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE

Ah I read it on the Internet so it must be true right?

Well my knowledge on this doesn't come from the Internet it comes from past employment with one of the nations largest financial institutions working specifically in the credit card department

 

[viv1969]

Ah I read it on the Internet so it must be true right?

Well my knowledge on this doesn't come from the Internet it comes from past employment with one of the nations largest financial institutions working specifically in the credit card department

So there!

 

[mid_gen]

Like I say, would you like to hang around at check out while they potentially wade through 100s/1000s transactions?

It's not really defensible....you are being held liable for twice the value of the transaction for several days. Not everyone has the liquidity to deal with that and these places are rarely upfront about the process.

 

[neil_g]

It's not really defensible....you are being held liable for twice the value of the transaction for several days. Not everyone has the liquidity to deal with that and these places are rarely upfront about the process.

like i say, only trying to apply logic to the situation based on experience of the systems involved.

 

[mattyg]

Yep as said earlier. I would ask in future when they do the pre auth. and if they say they will swipe again and itll take 7 days before the pther falls off the system i would just drop off keys and leave

 

[neil_g]

dont stay in hotels much, other than the pre-paid budget-inn/lodge places occasionally for work, but do any/many let you stay without some form of security? be it deposit/swipe or even passport retained (more foreign stays for that one).

 

[Dave *]

It's not a bother to me if they alert me to the policy......because I would have just threw the Kerry card into the reception and went about my way instead of standing in a queue to check out and then have them hold my cash in return......

Next time just say "sorry, I haven't got the card handy, please just complete the transaction you've already swiped and authorised".

 

[viv1969]

Next time just say "sorry, I haven't got the card handy, please just complete the transaction you've already swiped and authorised".

Nice. Very nice.

 

[neil_g]

assuming the front of house has access to the admin side of the card transaction platform.

if it bothers people that much then use a credit card and pay it off post stay/dont worry about the auth hold.

just walking out as someone suggested earlier would probably land you in bother too. there isnt anything stopping the card being cancelled and the payment completion failing so could be seen as an attempt at non-payment (same happens if the card expires before the transaction is completed).

 

[2blue4u]

It's not really defensible....you are being held liable for twice the value of the transaction for several days. Not everyone has the liquidity to deal with that and these places are rarely upfront about the process.

You are probably being pre-auth'd for far more than the basic cost of the hotel stay. This is what happens, always has done. It's called living in the modern world. If you don't like it then don't stay in hotels, or hire cars etc.

 

[Garry Edwards]

I had something similar and even worse in France when I hired a car. It was only when I went to a cash machine that I found out that they had charged the entire replacement cost of the car to my card, that was 11,000 Euros...
I got the money back eventually, but meanwhile had to arrange and pay for a temporary overdraft. I was NOT happy

 

[Blank_Canvas]

I had something similar and even worse in France when I hired a car. It was only when I went to a cash machine that I found out that they had charged the entire replacement cost of the car to my card, that was 11,000 Euros...
I got the money back eventually, but meanwhile had to arrange and pay for a temporary overdraft. I was NOT happy

Same thing happened to me hired a car in France. Agreement was in French. In addition they charged me mega bucks for a tiny chip that I disputed. I'll will never rent a car from Hertz again - not abroad anyway !

 

[LASTOLITE]

i never use a debit card for this type of thing, thats what the security of a credit card is for

This ALL the way! in fact I never use anything else now CC gives a very large layer of protection and legal cover too and you always have the ability to put a payment into dispute and a whole new scenario unfolds.....

 

[Peter69]

When they do this to me, I just leave. They have card details and can claim.
For information section 75 consumer credit act applies to debit cards linked to overdrawn accounts too. ( although Lloyds may need you to take them to the court steps).

 

[shapeshifter]

Scenario......I was in London at the weekend in a lovely hotel......swiped the debit card as requested and was informed that they would only debit the amount on checkout.... so no dramas there......until the next morning.......went to check out and the girl asked me to swipe my card again and I told her that I already done so......her reply was that this was that the first swipe covered the hotel in case I left without paying.....and the second was the actual payment.......WTF....I told her just to use it but she said she couldn't as it wasn't hotel policy...so I re swipe the card and then check my balance on my phone to be told that the original amount was "on hold"....so raised this with the receptionist and asked her to unhold it......her answer... "certainly sir! we will release it within 7 working days......".....I rang my bank to complain and they say that this is standard procedure with hotels and other leisure industries.......be forewarned people

Correct procedure. Stolen towels,bedding,mirrors,furniture,blocked toilets/sinks/baths showers damage of all sorts from p*** heads trying to open bottles on edge of tables/dressing table ect. That helps cover the cost after the offenders have left.Hotels suffer from that sort of thing ALL the time.

 

[dejongj]

I guess it only makes sense if you stay in hotels a lot. I thought this was common knowledge.

However if you paid with the same card you checked in I would have hoped their system was good enough to recognise that and complete the pre-auth transaction. Alternative if they just used a pdq machine then they should have used the function to complete a pre-auth and type in the code from when they did one to complete that transaction.

If you change cards, well yes then you are snookered.