Cancelled a hotel secured with Debit Card

NeptunesMoon

my friend asked me if they could use my debit card to secure a hotel reservation made online. they were given very short notice of a trip they had to make in europe and quickly booked a hotel, it turned out they couldnt go in the end so had to cancel and on reading the cancellation policy it said if you cancel two days before you wont get charged. they made the booking in the early hours of tuesday morning (around 01:00) for a hotel for thursday evening and cancelled later in the day on tuesday thinking that it would still be two days before since it would have been more than 48 hours before they would arrive, it wasnt and there was something about being charged for one night. my debit card was only used to secure the booking, it's a VISA debit and it actually doesnt have enough on it to pay the one night.:o

anyone know what the situation is if the booking company try charge? she sent an email to the hotel explaining the situation but it was an online booking company the reservation was made through. what about for me? i had no problem giving the number to secure the booking online but didnt want to get involved in this especially if there can be a fine on my account or maybe it could even effect my credit rating???:mad::mad:

i remember another friend who worked in an irish hotel on reception said that even if the customer cancels the hotel isnt allowed charge the card but im not sure if this applies with orders online and through a general hotel booking website???

mari2222

I cannot answer, but your situation is a lesson for us all

dudara

They have your number, and the T&Cs were agreed to, so therefore then can charge your card, as long as it's within the limits of the T&Cs.

What do the T&Cs say specifically?

If they say something like check-in time is 15.00 onwards and cancellation 48 hrs in advance, then you would have had to cancel by 15.00 on the Tuesday.

NeptunesMoon

im not sure what they say specifically but I just checked the website there and the room says 2 days cancellation notice will have no charge and then below it says the hotel check in is from 15:00. i think they cancelled around 17:00 though

so what happens if they are going to try and charge the card but it's a debit card and hasn't enough in the account i wonder? can they keep trying indefinitely and if they can never make the charge, what could happen, could i get a bad credit rating, court etc?:mad:

jor el

With a debit card on your current account, what often happens is the bank will allow the account to become overdrawn. If you have no overdraft, then you'll likely get charged a fee for this. If it doesn't, then the charge will be rejected. I don't think there are any fees for that.

Lesson learned; never give your card details to anyone, especially when you don't know the details about what they're doing or what you could be charged.

Get the money for the 1 night from your friend and put it in your account. It looks like they're going to have to pay that anyway, and it will come from your account at some stage.

NeptunesMoon

cheers my friend is asking me not to load money into my account incase they try and charge it and if its rejected, hopes they will give up. i dont feel too comfortable doing this. i only use the account for the debit card so dont have it topped up often anyway but id like to know next time i need to buy something myself i wont have a problem and id also like to know i wont have any future credit problems or anything else against my name over the sake of a 100 quid or so, which my friend should pay..

whats likely to happen if i dont load my account, dont use it for a few weeks, dont use the account or have money going into the account in general and they try charge and fail i wonder?

BrianD

You may have also to pay a fee to the booking engine. Quite often they'll take their fee out first and may have already charged you. This can be anything from a few Euro upwards.

The most you will be liable for is the first night. Your friend made a booking and a contract that will be charged to your card. You need to ask him/her to pay you the money or make allowance in case you are. It's possible that the hotel might be amenable to your cancellation request.

NeptunesMoon

cheers, as far as I can see from the site she booked through, there was no reservation charge. i cant be sure though but as far as i know the card just "secures" the booking and then they pay at the hotel, maybe the booking company then request a fee from the hotel without involving the customer?

So all that's likely to happen is the card being retried and retried and maybe they will give up, or maybe keep trying and get it.

Is there a possibility of fines, court summons, bad credit rating?

Mr. Presentable

On Tuesday you made a reservation for Thursday with a 48hr cancellation limit. By the book you were already within the 48hrs so there's no refund. However, in the spirit of the thing you could get your friend to call the hotel and plead for a refund. In any event your friend owes you the money.

Lesson. If an adult cannot pay for their own purchases online, they are a risk to whoever loans them a card. I learned this very thing myself through bitter experience.

NeptunesMoon

cheers for that, so you dont think theirs a possibility of fines, court summons, bad credit rating?

jor el

Hotels cannot effect credit rating.

You do however run the very real risk of having your card over-drawn, or having the the charge applied to your card the next time it has enough money on it. You stand to lose out here, so you need to get the money from your friend so that the bill can be paid.

Skipping out on it is not an option. Hoping that they they simply give up would be foolish of you. She agreed to terms and conditions of the booking, broke those, and now must pay for it. If she refuses to pay you, then you are the one that stands to lose out. She's not much of a friend if she expects you to carry the can on this one.

28064212

As far as I can see, the hotel's 48-hour policy is irrelevant. The booking was made with the online company, not the hotel. You gave your payment details to them, your contract is with the booking company. Contact them and find out what their cancellation policy is

It would be a mistake to assume/hope that this will just "go away", that's rarely the case

NeptunesMoon

cheers.

will see what the story is, she has no problem paying me if im charged but shes is hoping that if my balance is below the amount and they try charge that it wont be taken and be forgotten about and thatll be that. jor el, not familiar with phrase skipping out on it, what do you mean?

could probably ask her to get in touch with booking site too and hope for the best

NeptunesMoon

another question, is there any system in place that may mark my card as fraudulent or anything like that if a charge cant be processed could it be marked as dodgy in some way and i wouldn't be able to use in future purchases

jor el

NeptunesMoon wrote: »

jor el, not familiar with phrase skipping out on it, what do you mean?

Skipping out on the payment, which is what you're asking about. The payment is due, so you have to pay it, unless the hotel waives it.

NeptunesMoon

cheers, hopefully that wont be the case and they might consider waiving it if they havent already.. theres no indication of a charge to my account yet.

i was told by a friend working in reception in a hotel for a few years that hotels dont have the authority to charge a card for cancellations etc. maybe thats only if its made over the phone or something and no t+c agreed to like there would be online...

Cabaal

I see the outcome of this as simple, if you get charged your friend must fit the bill.

It is their error and certainly not the hotels as it appears they've made everything pretty clear.

Your friend may not be happy about this but why should you suffer and incur any charges?

NeptunesMoon

yeah my friend has made it clear she will pay if im charged but is just hoping they wont attempt, or if they do attempt, it wont go through and they wont try again and that'll be that.. guess we can only wait and see...

maxer68

Just ring / email the hotel and ask - then you'll have a definitive answer.

No-one here can give the answer.

They can charge you, they can continue to try until the expiry of the card if they want. If you have a valid reason for cancelling, they'll probably be fine with it. Hotels are usually run by humans and you can plead with them.

No they won't take you to court , no they won't send a fine. Next time tell your friend to get a prepaid card in any one of hundreds of newsagents and do the booking herself.

NeptunesMoon

cheers for that, will urge my friend to give them a buzz!

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

NeptunesMoon wrote: »

another question, is there any system in place that may mark my card as fraudulent or anything like that if a charge cant be processed could it be marked as dodgy in some way and i wouldn't be able to use in future purchases

There is. Your card could be flagged as being high risk. (History of chargebacks / disputed payments etc) Online purchases in particular could end up having problems.

NeptunesMoon

That's not good to hear at all. Hopefully that won't be the case but thanks for letting me know!