Unauthorised Payment or is it?

Fulltimer

Hi guys,

Went to liverpool and stayed in a hotel for 3 nights. The 3rd night my room mate lost the key to the room. Now the hotel is supposed to have two keys for every room and they do, except for ours(The couple that was in the room before took it home by accident).

They broke the door down at 8am without us asking them to do it and then proceeded to tell us we owed them damages for said door. 60 pounds to be exact. We did not pay then as we said it was not our fault that they failed to have a spare key and we did not ask for the door to be smashed in.

Flashforward 3 weeks later and 76 euros has been taken from my bank account from said hotel.

Where do I stand and what can I do?

Wanderer78

Fulltimer wrote:

Where do I stand and what can I do?

Is it possible to charge back?

Fulltimer

Do you mean ring the bank and cancel the payment?

Wanderer78

Fulltimer wrote:

Do you mean ring the bank and cancel the payment?

Yup

Fulltimer

That's the plan when the line opens at 8 but does this leave me liable to anything down the line?

Wanderer78

Fulltimer wrote:

That's the plan when the line opens at 8 but does this leave me liable to anything down the line?

Couldn't tell you to be honest. Others may have better options and advice so just wait a while for responses. Best of luck with it

dev100

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Fulltimer wrote:

Went to liverpool and stayed in a hotel for 3 nights. The 3rd night my room mate lost the key to the room. Now the hotel is supposed to have two keys for every room and they do, except for ours(The couple that was in the room before took it home by accident).

Fulltimer wrote:

They broke the door down at 8am without us asking them to do it and then proceeded to tell us we owed them damages for said door. 60 pounds to be exact. We did not pay then as we said it was not our fault that they failed to have a spare key and we did not ask for the door to be smashed in.

They generally have it written down somewhere there's a charge for a lost key. Was it a swipe card if so that wouldn't cost 70 Euro ? Basically sting your mate up for it , his fault really next time let him use his credit card

VincePP

Fulltimer wrote: »

The 3rd night my room mate lost the key to the room. Now the hotel is supposed to have two keys for every room and they do, except for ours(The couple that was in the room before took it home by accident).

Two sides

Theirs -
1 - Your mate lost their key. Your mate is responsible for any charges for replacement (about £2.50 - £3)


Yours -
1. - Surely housekeeping had a key?

2. - Health and safety issue could arise if a hotel did not have easy access to a room.

3. - They knew the previous couple had left with the key. You didn't.

4. - Its a regular occurance that keys go missing or are left in restaurants / bars, and as the hotel is in the business they would know this.


Overall about 90% in your favour.

Inform them that you will be making a health and safety complaint to Liverpool Council in relation to no spare key not being available and thus putting you in a potential dangerous situation if there was an emergency.


http://liverpool.gov.uk/business/health-and-safety/

All valid complaints about health and safety must be investigated by law (Uk and Ireland) - and some health and safety officers are very strict and a pain in the ass (personal experience)

L1011

dev100 wrote: »

They generally have it written down somewhere there's a charge for a lost key. Was it a swipe card if so that wouldn't cost 70 Euro ? Basically sting your mate up for it , his fault really next time let him use his credit card

Considering the mention of keys, and the idea that they didn't have a spare, I'd be pretty certain it wasn't a swipe card as hotels can remake these instantly. And they cost about 30c in bulk, maybe 60c if you get them printed up nice.

A hotel that only has two keys, in total, for each room sounds like a fleapit.

JimsAlterEgo

is there something we are not being told here? why did they break down the door?

Speedwell

How would Housekeeping get in if the desk had only two keys for each room and the guest kept one? Doesn't Housekeeping usually have some sort of pass key?

ED E

I would hazard a guess that this is a samller/older hotel(B&B?) if it still uses keys. They should still have a master key though. Sounds rather amateur.

Write them up on TripAdvisor, you'd be surprised at the effect that can have.

VincePP

ED E wrote: »

I would hazard a guess that this is a samller/older hotel(B&B?) if it still uses keys. They should still have a master key though. Sounds rather amateur.

Write them up on TripAdvisor, you'd be surprised at the effect that can have.

even better - say that your stay was pleasant but that an excessive charge for something that happens many times in the hotel business would put a very sour taste in the mouth and you would query whether health and safety procedures were being followed by no spare key being available.

However you will hold off writing your trip advisor review for 7 days and if a refund of the excessive charge is made, you willleave a review without mentioning the key issue.

If they don't leave a 2 star or 3 star review - most people ignore one star reviews as they are usually ott whingers.

Fulltimer

Sorry guys have been flat out the past few days there.

Anyway update on the situation is I contacted booking.com about it as it was booked through them. They have asked for necessary screenshots of the transaction and all other things.

There is nothing I've left out in that original post I'm not looking to get away with anything here I'd pay something if it was my fault.

Now I have to wait on what booking.com say but I am taking on board the health and safety complaint comment too.

Thanks for the help guys.

Also, on a sidenote Bank of Ireland are absolutely ridiculous when it comes to this kind of thing.

''Hello there has been an unauthorised transaction on my account''

''Oh well......wait and see if it goes away and if it doesnt raise a dispute''

''Cant you just cancel it?''

''O...eh....noooo...''

VincePP

Fulltimer wrote: »

Also, on a sidenote Bank of Ireland are absolutely ridiculous when it comes to this kind of thing.

''Hello there has been an unauthorised transaction on my account''

''Oh well......wait and see if it goes away and if it doesnt raise a dispute''

''Cant you just cancel it?''

''O...eh....noooo...''

No they can't as it was not unauthorised. Terms and conditions will cover the hotel for this and if people can just ring up a credit card company and cancel charges you would very quickly find that no-one would accept credit cards.

If it was a case that you were not in the hotel and did not make the booking and your card was used without permission - then that is unauthorised use.

And even if it was unauthorised, it has to be proven. The charging company would have 7 days from date of letter to show they were entitled to make the charge. So with a charge like this it is always better to negotiate with the charging party rather than try and bully the charge away - in most cases terms and conditions will cover them and the credit card company will side with the charging party (Bank of Ireland are purely an agent for visa/mastercard and must adhere by visa/mastercard rules)

Fulltimer

Update:

So booking.com has emailed me back and since the hotel say a different version of events they can't help me any further.

I have since emailed them asking for proof or evidence of their version of events and then emailed the hotel saying I will be making a complaint to the health and safety officer. I feel as if I have no way of getting my money back now.

Any ideas?

Tipperary Fairy

What are the hotels version of events?

Fulltimer

They said that we lost the key and that they mentioned getting the police involved so we left. Which makes no sense as to why they would threaten us with the police and let us leave without payment. To top it all off it was myself who said I would gladly involve the police at the time as they would see the sense!!

Tipperary Fairy

So they knocked the door down because they didn't have another key, were you trying to get into the room? It's just a weird thing for the owners to do for no reason.

Fulltimer

Well yeah our stuff was in the room, Honestly 8:30am the porter started with a hammer and chisel on the lock.

Tipperary Fairy

They're the ones that took down the door and they're charging you for it? Crazy. If there's no chance of getting your money back I'd just write that trip advisor review. Nothing else you can do.

Fulltimer

I fear that is my only option now. Would a transaction dispute with visa do anything?