VA1379

I have always thought that some hotels will charge you if you want the minibar emptied to be used as your own refrigerator.

hhoope01

I've always hated staying at hotels that have mini-bars. I normally don't take the refrig "key" so as not to have any access. I even remember once or twice even making a bet with the check-in person that I would still get charged for something (without my having access.) My hope was that it would prompt them to keep an eye on my account and not put something on there.

BTW, for most Marriotts will bring up a refrig for no charge if you ask. So any place that wants to charge for using their mini-bar refrig, just ask for them to bring up another one.

tcook052

Who won those bets? Did you still wind up with charges on your bill at check-out even though your never got a mini-bar key? I'm guessing you did but I'm curious as to your answer.

hhoope01

I can remember a number of times still getting mini-bar charges on my room even when I refused the key. I think I only bet a front desk person 2 or 3 times, but one of those times I know I still found a charge. I did make sure the person knew that. (BTW, I didn't really bet anything of value, just bragging rights. I just wanted them to know that I really didn't want to see an unwarranted mini-bar charge on my bill.)

tcook052

I thought so and the answer seems to prove the point that these charges are appearing for a reason, not some altogether innocent error. At least that's the way it looks to me...

NDDomer86

To follow up, the property did adjust off the room and tax and the minibar charge, but could not explain why it ever appeared to begin with (riiight ). Perhaps this is a new form of a no show penalty

hhoope01

A number of years ago, I remember seeing a news article on grocery store price errors. It seemed that the news agency found that most grocery stores were 5 times more likely to have an error in their favor rather than in customer's favor. At first glance it would seem that the grocery store chain was willfully trying to cheat their customers. It seems that after looking at the grocery store processes, the news agency figured out that the grocery store chains were much quicker at "addressing" an error when they had undercharged the item. They were much slower at addressing if the error was in their favor, but they would "finally" address it.

So while the grocery store chain didn't "purposefully" try to cheat their clients they had setup a system that was very much in their favor. I have always thought that hotel mini-bars were always treated kind of that way. They aren't "willfully" trying to cheat their customers, but they are aren't in a hurry to fix an error that is in their favor either.

SkiAdcock

Many years ago I had a minibar charge when I hadn't used anything at Marriott Orlando World Center. It came as a charge a few days later after I had checked out. I called the hotel, they said they'd take care of it, they didn't. I disputed it w/ Amex, they did the temporary credit, investigated & then came back & said Marriott said I did. I replied I didn't & asked Amex to ask Marriott to provide proof. This went back/forth, with Marriott not supplying proof & sticking to their guns, and me insisting (truthfully) that I hadn't and saying I wouldn't accept the charge unless proof was provided. Amex eventually threw in the towel & said they'd honor the credit, probably cuz it was costing them more to do the back/forth. So I didn't get the charge, but felt that Amex got screwed by Marriott on that one - or, if they hadn't thrown in the towel, then I would have been.

Cheers.

qazw1

I always find a need to check my credit card statement against the hotel bill presented at checkout. Sometimes they add room charges after I check out, and the amount will not equal to the statement given to me at checkout.

User Name

I've found some minibars particularly noisy and, when that has happened, I've unplugged their power cord from the wall. The firs time I did this I was slightly nervous in case it triggered any charges (i.e. otherwise couldn't somebody just unplug them to remove stuff?) Anyway there were never any problems on check-out.

I would never go as far as purposely buying different size beverage bottles etc. through fear of maid confusion - if I haven't used the minibar then I'm not paying. A quick scan of the bill once it's under the door followed by a quick call to FD if needed. A minor pain - but I find it rarely happens (even when my minibar's plugged in!)

bdschobel

In thousands of hotel stays over nearly 30 years, I've had a handful of post-checkout minibar charges appear on my credit-card statements. I fought every one of them and won every time, but I never had to fight this hard! Wow!

Bruce

SkiAdcock

Like you I've only had a handful of post-checkout minibar charges appear & they're usually easily fixed. That one stuck in my mind because it went on for - I kid you not - 3 months before Amex threw in the towel, even though Marriott was at fault.

Cheers.

tcook052

It really isn't going that far to note the mini-bar stocks only cans of soda so I bring back larger 500ml bottles, which are usually a better value anyway. Also as Sharon has noted there are some occasions where simply saying I didn't use the mini-bar and am not paying isn't always enough so any small thing I can do to avoid these false charge I generally try to do it. Despite this however I have still had these charges appear on my bill and had to dispute them either at check out or during my stay if I noticed them on the room folio accessed through the TV.

I guess while we're all different in our approaches (I've never unplugged a mini-bar fridge for example) the recurring theme seems to be that these charges have happened to us all at one time or another. Call me a skeptic but I still can't accept it's entirely some innocent oversight that sees these amounts appear on room bills.

treznor

My favorite is the Marriott Marble Arch that has charged me for the exact same item (Cointreau) 3 out of the last 10 times. Not only did I not get any Cointreau out of the mini-bar, I haven't seen a single mini-bar in the Marriott Marble Arch that actually has Cointreau stocked.

How is charging for an item that isn't even stocked in your mini-bars anything other than throwing everything against a wall to see what sticks?

A place that knows its processes are broken in its favor (i.e. a hotel that knows its mini-bar system charges for items not removed or a grocery store chain that fixes errors in its error much slower than other errors) is very much willfully trying to cheat their customers. I can't think of anything else to call that.

lucycan

I have seen an increasing use of fraudulent mini bar charges at Marriotts lately.

Case in point: This week I stayed 1 night at the JW Orlando Grande Lakes. They asked if I wanted the mini-bar key. I replied "no, and could you PLEASE note on my account that I refused the key". She said ok.

I check out and get a copy of my bill. Today (3 days later) I go to do my expense report and see that they charged my AMEX $8 more.

I call the hotel. They say that it was a bottle of water that I drank. I was like "I didnt even have a minibar key!". She says "oh yes I see that note on your account, however we have already moved your account out of history so you need to call marriott business services." I can tell you exactly what MBS will say. "We can't remove a charge, the hotel will have to". They just point the finger at each other. Oh by the way, MBS is closed all weekend.

So does this happen to others as well?