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How hotels help themselves to your money

edition.cnn.com — If you think your hotel is done with you when you check out, think again. It might just be getting started.

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Fireglo 93 days ago, made popular 92 days ago

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Who Dugg It?

kingjafee, on 08/17/2008, -5/+20Well it looks like everyone is getting in on the ***** the average America as much as possible with no Vaseline theme of the year.
- drunkenoaf, on 08/18/2008, -1/+4Hey, it's not just Americans that get ***** over by hotels too. These multinational chains ***** over customers all over the world!
  
  And damn these hotels for not having a vaseline theme! Petroleum jelly-based themed hotels rock!
- thegrantman, on 08/18/2008, -0/+6They'd just charge you for the Vaseline anyway.
- MrFurious2k, on 08/18/2008, -0/+6*Beep* You have been charged for Vaseline.
- Tomchei, on 08/18/2008, -0/+3That's why you just don't leave, you 'check out' and sign what's on the bill.
borez, on 08/17/2008, -1/+15 When I check into a hotel ask I always make them lock the mini bar and make sure it's done, then I find the nearest store and stock up on water, snacks and alcohol. It saves me a fortune in that " Been to a bar and now I've got nothing to drink and I'm starving but there's nowhere open to eat. Never mind, there's a mini bar in my room" situation.
ScrabbleFan, on 08/17/2008, -5/+4greedy jerks!
danj321, on 08/17/2008, -1/+14I swear I didn't buy that nudie movie! I Swear!
- Fireglo, on 08/17/2008, -0/+7nudie movie?
- filefly, on 08/18/2008, -4/+32NS: Wait, what's this $110?
  Clerk: Oh, those are your in-room movies.
  NS: I didn't watch any movies.
  Clerk: Let's see... "Afro Whores".
  NS: "Afro Whores"?
  Clerk: It says you watched it... 11 times.
  NS: No, I didn't watch that!
  Clerk: 2:00 "Afro Whores", 3:30 "Afro Whores", 5:00 "Afro Whores"... It says in the morning you watched "The Grinch" for ten minutes, then switched back over to "Afro Whores".
  - sysop073, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1OK....how many times did you watch it?
quomen, on 08/18/2008, -3/+1Wasn't there something like this about casinos on the front page too?
passedoutghost, on 08/18/2008, -2/+8Always ask for a copy of the bill before you pay and pay in cash if possible. That's usually my way of dealing with ***** like this. It seems that Australian hotels haven't started doing this yet. I've always had a pretty good experience with all the hotels I've been to.
- Jayphen, on 08/19/2008, -0/+1A Sydney hotel actually did this to me recently - I was charged for a single item (a packet of peanuts or something) from the minibar, which I never touched. I felt petty asking them to reverse the charge (which they did, to their credit), but perhaps that was intentional.
AckbarAdmiral, on 08/18/2008, -1/+41I take the shampoo bottles every time.

Take that, evil hotels!
amdahlj, on 08/18/2008, -3/+1 ...must have been Joe Pesci.
- amdahlj, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1And no one gets the Carlin reference...
cloudberries, on 08/18/2008, -2/+5I can forsee a hilarious circumstance in which I would stagger in drunk at 2 a.m., crash into the touch-sensitive minibar, sending snacks flying all over the place, fall asleep on the floor and incur hundreds of dollars of charges for "disturbing the M&Ms"
theandy1, on 08/18/2008, -0/+15This happened to me last time i was in Vegas. I got charged $25 for room service I never even ordered. I did get a refund though.
radiantstorm, on 08/18/2008, -2/+12Honor is officially dead in corporate America.
darkmagician777, on 08/18/2008, -1/+6I'm not shocked every company is systematically over charging in hopes you don't notice. You can always file a formal complaint with your credit card and fight the charge if the hotel does not want to accommodate!
Voide, on 08/18/2008, -1/+5Sort of related, but instead of the hotel charging for condiments, both my sister and parents had their credit card number stolen at separate hotels in June due to employees. One was due to negligence while the other was apparently flat out fraud.

Its good to hear that even on the corporate end of things, you can still sleep easy knowing your money is in good hands when you go on vacation.
- alexforcefive, on 08/18/2008, -0/+3Same happened to my brother in thailand. The staff waited until everyone was out on a daytrip, then ransacked the place.
AEastep, on 08/18/2008, -1/+40I have worked the front desk at a Sheraton for 2 1/2 years and 4/5 times a charge is disputed at checkout, whether it be a movie or whatever, we honor the dispute and adjust the charge because we want the guest to return. I can't relate too much with this story because we refuse to have mini-bars in the rooms due to constant disputes (obviously, read the story).

However, I'll tell you this, whenever you check-in or go to the front desk to complain about an issue such as A/C not working or housekeeping not servicing your room, do NOT let the front desk agent deceive you, they can honestly do ANYTHING to accommodate you! But to defend my fellow front desk workers...please don't be too hard on them, often it is not their fault and they end up hearing the complaint from a bitchy guest. they are regular people just like you and me.
- Cdrizzle, on 08/18/2008, -0/+12Just a different point of view before all you disgruntled hotel stayers go off at the person behind the desk; I work the front desk of a hotel too and from each experience i have had it is definately NOT TRUE that the front desk can do "anything" to accomodate you. my experience is that the front desk is the table in the ping pong match between the cheap general manager/owner and the customer. Of course i have worked in small scale business class hotels, so perhaps their ownership is cheaper and the customers experience isn't as precious to them. I would also say this, i personally have never done a transaction that i believe to be dubious however my generally manager/owner does do transactions that i believe to be dubious often.
  
  People should be aware when staying in a hotel that they are often independently owned via a license from the chain, that is the norm, not the exception. Some of the owners are of questionable ethics and have made a lot of money by screwing people over. I suggest that if you get screwed over, skip the middleman and go straight to the corporate headquarters. They will take your complaint seriously, they are unwilling to lose your business and loyalty, the independent owner could often care less because guess what- someone else will come through the door any minute. Enough complaints to the chain, and the local Courtard by Marriot will become The Roadside Retreat no tell motel.
  
  Oh and leave the poor folks alone at the front desk unless their name tag is the same as the "manager on duty" sign, or they are acting deliberatly as an impediment to speak with that person.
  
  Sorry brevity isn't one of my qualities.
- curseoflou, on 08/18/2008, -6/+1hotel scum.
- ripple123, on 08/18/2008, -9/+1so what if its not your fault. in a corporation its never one persons fault. im still gonna yell in your goddamn face anyway. you represent the company. and if you dont like bearing the brunt of the consequences of your companys actions, find another job.
  - drummerjed, on 08/18/2008, -0/+6ripple123 your probly the same jack ass who checks in talking on his cell phone who snaps his fingers and cuts in line.
grneye53, on 08/18/2008, -9/+2hotels doing to you what you've done in their rooms years,that's♠ why keys look like credit cards, it's easier to slide down the crack of your ass ! Hotel spokesperson says we just want them to enjoy the full experience.
jellygraph, on 08/18/2008, -7/+1scummmmmmm
phauna, on 08/18/2008, -1/+6I hate that there is a perfectly good fridge in hotel rooms which is packed with things I don't want to the extent that I can't get my own stuff in there. I just take it all out and put it on the counter.
- AEastep, on 08/18/2008, -0/+11Wow, be very careful doing that. Many new hotels and hotels in Vegas have refrigerators that have sensors when something is taken out of place in the fridge. The moment it is lifted from its original spot a trigger goes off and it goes straight to your bill. They automatically charge you because they assume it is contaminated and it can't be reused. Thats probably why so many people are mischarged.
VerticalEvent, on 08/18/2008, -0/+4My girlfriend almost got caught with a charge she didn't do.

The hotel was trying to tell her she used the internet connection in her room, when, in reality, she was down in the lobby every morning using free internet (I was accessing the lobby internet from my room, as we were part of a team and had separate rooms).

She got the charges dropped, but we still didn't understand why she got charged.
- TimDigg, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1I work for a company that uses ipass. Every company should use it, basically, I can log into the hotel wifi/lan collection and the payment is billed directly to my company....
  
  pretty sweet!
mataranka, on 08/18/2008, -2/+7i remember booking a hotel for my mum, incidentally antoher Marriott, in London. She bought a few drinks in the supermarket, went back to her hotel and re-arranged the mini bar so she could put her drinks in, not realising there was sensors, she got a bit of a shock when she checked out and had a £60 mini-bar bill for 1 night. the front desk was trying to make her pay, probably thinking an old lady will just pay it, luckily i was outside in the car so i went to help, and after asking them if they thought my mum was a drunk and the offence that i would take at such an accusation, they backed down and took the items off the bill, but if i wan't there she would have probably paid it as she wouldn't want to cause a scene.
smacksaw, on 08/18/2008, -1/+3I used to travel TONS for my job, and I kept this CC with a $200 limit that I left full and gave that to the hotels, so even if they tried to screw me, it would be declined.

Always make sure to get your receipt. Check out and get your invoice. Make sure it says "closed" or "paid" or something or ask them to write it on the bill.
gccsilver, on 08/18/2008, -0/+20This sort of crap really pisses me off, because everyone is reading these stories and thinks every hotel in the world is doing this. I am a hotel manager and we don't do anything like that at all. We rely heavily on repeat guests (which most hotels do) and we would never do anything that could cost us revenue down the road. A few bucks now for potentially hundreds or thousands of dollars over the years? But these shady hotels give us a bad reputation. It's very frustrating to have people come to my hotel and instantly be hostile because they think we are going to charge them for bogus stuff. While these types of hotels are suffering, my hotel is having the best year we have ever had. Revenue compared to last year (which was also a good year too) is up about 30%. Treat your guests well and they will come back.
- andreo, on 08/18/2008, -0/+3It's a shame that all hotel managers don't think that way.
  The only time I had a problem was with a Marriott hotel in Tennessee. Me and an friend was going to phone a dinner order ahead (which was a local call and thus free). The friend started to call the number. But 3 digits in realized that it was wrong. Hung up tried again and again 3 - 4 digits in hung up (yeah, she was an idiot). Finally she makes the call.
  When I checked out there's a charge for 2 long distance calls on the bill. I ask the clerk to explain what long distance numbers I called. Which he couldn't. He shows me the 2 calls which only have (yep you guessed it) 3 digits and 4 digits.
  It seems that the system they use will record any number you push. If you hang up it counts it as a call. And since it didn't equate to the 7 digits of a local call it just assumed that it was a long distance call.
  
  I had to argue for almost 5 minutes that these were not actual phone calls.
  Also the simple answer for me is that Marriott doesn't deserve my business. So when I book a hotel room Marriott is not even up for discussion as a place to stay.
  - gccsilver, on 08/19/2008, -0/+2Phone charges at all hotels just plain old suck. The phone systems are very outdated, tied into the PMS, and expensive as all ***** to replace or even update. Local calls are of course free, but our system doesn't recognize our entire area code as local. It's sort of a mystery what is local and what isn't. So if people have local phone charges on their account we take them off at checkout even if they don't ask. We are getting a complete overhaul of all hardware in early 2009, so for now this is just an easy fix.
    
    We also have a lot of foreigners stay at the hotel because we have some fairly large accounts with corporations that do business all over the world. Lots of them will come in asking how to make long distance phone calls from the room. Unfortunately, we would have to charge them for those types of calls, so rather than have them rack up hundreds of dollars in phone charges we advise them to go to one of the local grocery stores and simply buy an international phone card for like 20 bucks that's good for a couple hundred minutes. I don't manage a five start hotel, but it is pretty nice; we just have some outdated hardware. But we want our guests to be happy and will definitely go out of our way to make sure they don't get reamed with this sort of stuff.
    
    So many businesses, not just hotels need serious lessons on what customer service actually is. It's not my fault if they're bitter and hate their job/life. Change it, it's that simple. I happen to love my job and making my guests happy makes me happy. When you come to my hotel, you know instantly that we're going to treat you right.
Kelmon, on 08/18/2008, -2/+6This situation has never happened to me. In fact, I've had a hotel give me money. When I first started traveling on business and didn't have a credit card I had to provide the hotels with a cash deposit, which was fine because the company provided the money in advance. The idea, of course, was that I'd provide a deposit sufficient to cover the expected bill plus additionals, like going nuts in the minibar, and they'd return what remained after the final bill was calculated. However, on one occasion the Holiday Inn at Brussels Airport returned far more than was expected. I couldn't believe it as the woman kept counting out the money and handed it over. In the end I profited by about EUR 300.00 and had a wonderful time in the airport Duty Free.
- dae3dae3, on 08/18/2008, -1/+3And then she was fired and lost her home because you have no personal ethics.
  - Paulish, on 08/19/2008, -0/+1We can't blame it ALL on him. She still made a mistake. I just don't see taking such an advantage of others mistakes as ethical. In a good world people rely upon the strengths in others, not the weaknesses.
- Paulish, on 08/18/2008, -0/+3I think the ethical thing to do would have been give the money back. I find it hard to sympathize with people who rage against corporations that try to cheat them out of money, but don't hold themselves to the same standard of ethics. e.g. People who refill their drinks without paying at food places (Unless the place explicitly allows it).
  - Kelmon, on 08/19/2008, -0/+1Ethically, yes, that would have been the right thing to do and today I probably would. However, in those days I was in financial trouble and wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I admit to being weak and I guess you don't know how you'd react yourself until you are in the same position.
- ThisCommentSux, on 08/18/2008, -0/+3So you're saying that you are just as bad as the hotels that rip people off and take money that is not rightly yours?
  
  Do the rest of us a favor, don't get into hotel management.
  - Kelmon, on 08/19/2008, -0/+1Not really. What the hotels are doing in this article is clearly theft whereas in my situation they voluntarily gave me money. It's ethically incorrect, for sure, but not illegal.
    
    No, I have no intention of getting into hotel management.
kurtskrap, on 08/18/2008, -0/+9FTA: Just a year ago, about one in 200 bills at full-service hotels were revised after checkout, according to Bjorn Hanson, an associate professor at New York University. Today, as hotels struggle with slipping occupancy levels and flat-lining growth, properties are wasting no opportunity to add late charges. As a result, the number of re-billings has doubled.

Does that mean 2 in 200? Still not happening all that much then, is it?
- mousky, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1Yup, sounds like it went from "about one" (which in my book means less than one) to 'about two'. A whopping 100 per cent increase. That's huge enough in the world of media distorted statistics to justify a story.
  
  This is a story about your odds of being re-billed increasing by half a percentage point. So instead of being correctly charged 99.5 per cent of the time, your odds are now 99.0 per cent of the time.
- zoom1928, on 08/18/2008, -1/+1As someone that spent more than half of last year out of town for work, the ratio is more like 1 in 4. It sucks having to go through piles of receipts for work only to also have to double-check them against your credit card bill because the crooked hotels sneak charges onto your bill a few days after you check-out. I spend about ten hours a month going through bills and calling to dispute charges. I don't know why this isn't considered credit card fraud.
r0t8, on 08/18/2008, -1/+4More of the usual sensationalism from CNN.
zippy757, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1"The latest hotel accounting systems let you see your room charges in real time, often from your TV screen. There's no reason the bill that's slipped under the door on the morning of your checkout shouldn't include all of your charges, with the possible exception of your breakfast check. "It should be your final bill," says Robert Mandelbaum, a hotel expert with PKF Consulting."

What if you use the minibar on the way out the door as you check out ? ... So much for this expert ....
DeFex, on 08/18/2008, -3/+2flying is unpleasant . staying in hotels you will get ripped off. Staycation FTW.
MrFurious2k, on 08/18/2008, -1/+2I once made the mistake of thinking that the mini-fridge was for your items as well as the "convenience snacks." When I attempted to check out, I was accused of taking about $50 worth of drinks when in fact I had only moved them (not even out of the fridge) in order to make room.

Since then I've noticed that a lot of hotels mark their mini-fridges with a warning and a notice that another mini-fridge can be rented for your items.
BDOUG, on 08/18/2008, -1/+6I get so tired of this nickel-and-dime crap. It's not just hotels. Everywhere you go people want to offer all these BS "services" and "extras" at inflated prices. My stupid insurance company bombards me with non-insurance junk mail. Wouldn't surprise me to see a State Farm ice cream truck driving down the street one of these days.
dangerouslydead, on 08/18/2008, -0/+3Honestly, I have not come across any such problem either in US or India (where I do travel). I faced one such issue in Hong Kong though but they apologized when I pointed it out and had the charge removed. I am inclined to believe that it was an honest mistake than a deliberate try to rip me off.
rowlodge, on 08/18/2008, -2/+2my cheap hotel was haunted, we heard noises like dragging furniture around all night, then they said we used their phone for long distance calls when all i used was a cell phone. (this was in Albuquerque New Mexico by the way)
Cleanshot, on 08/18/2008, -1/+1I work in hotels and the property i work at specifically doesn't do this crap. When a guest gets charged extra and they think they were over charged it usually ends up being because the guest stayed over past check out. We are lenient on guest and are willing to work with them if they are running a little late but what pisses us off is the fact that we told them at check-in when check out was and yet they still can't phone or come down by that time. Also if you smoke in the room its a fine so when people think they can do it and get away with it they end up getting caught by the house keepers.
- rowlodge, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1well we don't smoke, so that makes no difference, and left in plenty of time and they still charged us for the long distance when we only used our cell phone and by the way this was supposedly a 5 star hotel, bull!
morningmatters, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1Hmm, for the last two years I have stayed enough at Marriott and Hilton chains to earn Platinum and Diamond status at the same time. Since I have to reimburse the cost I have been looking at my bills closely and have not noticed any errors on my bills. The only problem I have ever had was in Singapore, where the hotel restaurant charged me for breakfast although it was supposed to be free as a part of my room package.

Not that I don't think hotel chains in the US don't have problems (bedbugs anyone?) or don't rip people off for things like food in the snack bar, but most US hotels handle bills well.
- TimDigg, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1At the marriott, platinum status gets your free food at the conceirge lounge...not the hotel restaurant...
  
  Are you sure you went to the right place?
  - morningmatters, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1In Singapore I stayed at the Pan Pacific hotel. While Marriots/JW/Renaissance have conceirge lounges, out side of the city I usually stay at Courtyards/Garden Inns. In Courtyards, Platinum will get you one free item from their gift shop for the whole stay or 500 points. I usually buy their breakfast buffets when I stay there. The only exception was the Princeton Courtyard in NJ, it actually gave me free breakfast coupons.
    
    The Hilton conceirge lounges in the US sucks. I usually grab drinks but never eat anything there.
riptor666, on 08/18/2008, -0/+2It's not like we ever ***** the hotels over. Ooh what a nice robe.
tower31, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1I recently stayed at the Luxor in Las Vegas. My room was paid in full by my employer so I was shocked when I was told that I had to pay two bucks a day to use the phone. I politely declined stating that is why I own a cell phone. The lady said she did not care and that I had the fee regardless of if I use it or not. I asked he why they did not include this in the fee for the room. She did not answer........
TimDigg, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1A client of ours is in Redmond, WA. We always stay at the Redmond Marriott, best freakin' hotel ever....

Highly recommended if you're ever in Redmond
itsthatgirlZ, on 08/18/2008, -0/+0I once worked the front desk at a hotel where they had these little fees that they would snuck onto every bill (in the hopes of guests not noticing them). When guest complained, I would offer to take it off, but management actually took me aside and told me that I was not to let them know the fee was optional, and that I couldn't remove the charge until the guest got angry. Also, the fees couldn't be waived at check-in if the guest knew they wouldn't be using the feature, so of course if the guest wanted to do an express checkout they were screwed. On the other hand, I've worked at a number of other hotels that do nothing of the sort.
toetagger, on 08/18/2008, -0/+1It's the norm for businesses to rip us off. It's expected.
ps3udov3ctor, on 08/19/2008, -0/+2I don't like staying in hotels. Guys masturbate in the bed that you'll use later, get it on the bed spread, which often is not cleaned regularly, and then they grab the TV remote or phone and leave semen all over them too.
- gccsilver, on 08/19/2008, -0/+1Yeah, hotels aren't for you. You have to pretty much choose to be ignorant about all that stuff to be able to handle staying in hotels. Doesn't matter if it's a five star or a dump, you black light those rooms or start to move the furniture around and you will be disgusted like none other.
  
  We get some people that come to my hotel and they complain that this or that is behind the bed, behind the dresser, under the bed, etc etc. I really just want to say to these people, "look lady, why would you move that or look under there if you don't want to know what's really there?" No hotel regularly moves furniture or beds when they clean the rooms. You're lucky if that gets done once every six months. Most places probably haven't done it since they last installed new carpet.
chinacensored, on 08/20/2008, -0/+1The statistics are blown a bit out of proportion. It's still only a small percentage that this happens to. People should just watch their credit card bills carefully and read the hotel receipt before signing. Anytime I check out, I have to wait for the staff to check the room for damages and the mini-bar.
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How hotels help themselves to your money

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