JJJJust

Has anyone ever gone through the experience of an (idiotic) (incompetent) hotel clerk assistant front desk manager attempt to secure funds for incidentals AND the room as actual charges to be posted instead of an authorization hold?

My favorite is my leaving a VM for the GM of the hotel asking for a call back... then sending an e-mail to the Front Desk Manager asking for a call back... only to get /an e-mail/ hours later from the (idiotic) (incompetent) person who f-ed up in the first place? I'm glad they think they can take their sweet time. And this is an email which she wrote "When a guest use a Debit Card the authorizing amount is drawn from ones checking account and it is then up to the issuing Bank to return the unused amount per their policies.".

Well, last I checked a hold didn't physically remove the money from one's account. Not to mention my bank doesn't even count authorization holds against my available balance.

Yet another good reason to use credit cards... shame I don't have one.

(/rant)

I would recommend you all avoid the Marriott West Palm Beach in future... or at least don't let this manager check you in.

gte157q

i would recommend everyone use a credit card for hotels... those check card hold policies/procedures are often problematic and result in numerous calls to the bank, incompetent clerk or not

JJJJust

I agree.

But, I haven't really experienced much trouble (until now) since BofA doesn't apply holds against the available balance.

It's kind of interesting and makes using the card like a credit card (until something this happens).

SkiAdcock

To the OP - do you think you could restate your problem w/o all the idiotic comments re: staff? The rhetoric doesn't add anything to your post.

If I understood your post correctly, you used a debit (whether Visa debit or just debit is unclear, but sounds like debit only?) when you checked in.

Whether a reg credit card or debit or Visa debit, yes hotels do put a 'hold' against the card for hotel PLUS incidental per night. That can add up if it's a multi-night stay! And true whether credit card or debit or Visa debit (now to be known as CC/DC/VDC).

If it's CC, then it 'holds' that amount against the cc (usually for a few days to a week), reducing the available credit available until the 'pending' clears or is actually charged (actual charge normally at check-out). Standard cc practice.

If it's DC/VDC, then the hold is against the amount in the checking account. It will usually show as 'pending', but does put a hold on that amount/limits that amount for access to funds. Like the cc it will be on the checking account for a few days to a week, usually to be replaced at check-out w/ actual. Standard DC/DVC practice.

I've never heard of a bank not putting authorization holds against a balance, whether it be a hotel, rental car, grocery story, Burger King, restaurant, so I'm a bit surprised by the OP saying his bank doesn't ever put a 'authorization hold' on his account. And BofA does, btw.

FWIW - my 'guess' is the amount wasn't physically removed from the person's account, but simply was 'held' on the pending, which then 'appears' to have pulled the amount from the account when indeed the funds were still in the checking account, just not available until the hold cleared (or was eventually charged).

I use my United Visa debit all the time, in addition to a regular Mastercard. They both basically work the same way on holds, authorization, charges, etc. I've even used a regular debit card (granted rarely) for hotel & it's pretty much the same.

I think the only time I ever was charged 'immediately' for a stay was earlier this year when I had my cc's stolen in the middle of a trip, and I had the hotel put the entire charge against the Visa debit up front & used remaining cash for other expenses. I had them put it through as an actual charge because I didn't want to do the hold on room plus expenses on the checking account. BTW - even on that, it still showed as a 'pending' & then a few days later cleared like any other charge/debit.

FWIW - I was at a car rental agency earlier this year (can't remember which one) & there was a sign at the check-in desk saying if you used a debit card (not Visa debit, but regular debit) they would put an additional $500 'hold' on your account. To clear later of course but you would get nicked w/ it up front. There's a reason to have a cc..

BTW - for those saying using a CC will solve this problem, not really. If you're tight on available credit for a CC, same situation exists.

Whether using CC of DC/VDC, folk just need to know in advance what the hotel will 'hold' per night & figure that into their available credit/balance.



Cheers.

cedric

I cannot explain why you have never encountered this in the past. How would you expect funds to be held against a debit card without the funds actually being taken out of your account? On a credit card, your available balance is reduced by the amount of a hold - on a debit card, the only way to do so is to remove the funds from your account. Otherwise, you could spend them elsewhere, and they would not be available to process the check out transaction with.

At the hotel where I work (not a Marriott), the following disclaimer is listed on our registration card at check in. I imagine Marriott would use similar text:

GregWTravels

If I understand the OP correctly, the problem wasn't that a hold (aka authorization) was put on his account, but rather that the "hold" was incorrectly put in as a debit, which means that the money would be debited twice - once at check-in and again at check-out.

I had this happen to me at a hotel in Birmingham - not a Marriott though. It was just after I moved to the UK and before I was able to get a credit card.

The hotel took my debit card to put a hold on it. They had done this before, and it required me to punch in my PIN (chip and pin debit cards here). In this instance, though, the clerk put the hold on incorrectly, and instead it went through as a debit.

The next day when I checked out, I again put in my PIN and the night amount was debited from my account for a second time. Therefore, I was charged twice for the same stay.

It was not an easy process to fix. My bank said they wouldn't reverse any of the charges, as I had entered my PIN for both and therefore were valid charges. The hotel was more accommodating once I got to speak to the right person. They admitted the mistake and credited back my debit card for the extra night charge. It did take a good month to clear up. Luckily I wasn't in need of the cash.

Greg

socrates

In the US credit card/debit card transactions are processed exactly the same way - some retailers ARE setup to not only process credit card/debit card transactions but also ATM transactions (where a PIN is required) though these are typically not hotel/car rental companies

I personally dont bank at BOA and have no knowledge that the OP is incorrect that they do not withhold authorizations/holds from the available balance but if this is correct they are certainly opening theirselves up to large losses as customers would be able to spend the money multiple times before any one of the transactions cleared

JJJJust

Please allow me to clarify.

From my Online Banking: https://docs.google.com/uc?export=do...JhOGY1NTVkZDcz

(unfortunately it requires rotation and I can't rotate it.)

I understand that hotel will put an authorization hold against my funds. I understand it's often for more than the cost of the room and tax.

Bank of America doesn't charge holds against my Available Balance. Bank of America's online banking says (https://onlineeast1.bankofamerica.co...tionPopUp.html)

And you can see the two authorization holds that were on my account still and notice how they are under "Amounts not included in available balance". And yes, I can still spend the money that was authorized by the hold. So, it stays in my account until the transaction is settled.

And when I say they never put authorization holds, I don't mean regular transactions where the amount is final, I mean for most travel "holds" where they intend to settle later. They do remove the money from my available balance immediately for common everyday purchases. When I go to restaurants and businesses set up to accept tips, the initial amount goes through normally and is removed from my available balance but still says "Amount may change. Waiting for final amount from merchant.

If you trace farther down/sideways on that document to where my balance goes negative, you will see the two cleared /charges/ from the Marriott. What should have been a hold for room and incidentals was put through as an actual charge. Thus, there was $260 for the room and $75 dollars for incidentals removed from my account. The charges appeared as authorized amounts and I was expecting one to drop off and the other to clear for the actual amount spent as it normally does. But they didn't, they posted for the full amounts.

Since the screenshot yesterday, they've refunded the $75, reversed one night of the room (as I had used an EEO certificate in the first place which I had to re-present at checkout). BUT, another $5.38 debit has been removed from my account from that same hotel, one hold has dropped off, and there is yet another authorization still pending (the big $200+ one).

NDDomer86

I admittedly have not read through the entire thread, but I did want to back the OP in that since recently (as in the past year), while Bank of America does list the authorization hold, they do not deduct it from your available balance. For example, if you have $5,000 available balance and the hotel places a $500 authorization hold on your card, your available balance is still $5,000. However, you must initially have enough money in your account to cover the authorization, as if the hotel is trying to authorize $500 and you only have $450 in your account, it still will not go through.

Prior to earlier this year, BAC would count authorization holds against your available balance, which I think is still the norm in the banking industry.

To answer socrates in regards to setting themselves up for huge losses. The change in the way these authorizations are handled has also meant they have changed the way they process transactions. It used to be that if your account was going into overdraft, BAC would make the decision whether or not to process and pay any pending transactions that would send your account further into overdraft. This would mean that some merchants from which you had already received a good or service would not get paid in the end. However, with the change in the way they process authorizations now, and the risk of consumers spending the money multiple times over as socrates pointed out, BAC will process and approve all pending transactions, even if it sends the account into severe overdraft (even into the thousands of dollars).

socrates

It's certainly a very interesting way of handling things.....since it's only applied to the travel industry their risks are certainly less than if it was applied to all

ral1

I once had an experience at a London Marriott where the associate said the authorization request was not functioning and that they would actually have to charge my U.S. credit card 800 pounds (for eight nights) for incidentals, but would then refund any unused amount at the end of the stay. This was on a fully prepaid stay. Since it was 1:30 AM, and I was very tired, I stated that I never had a charge processed instead of an authorization in the past. The next day, I figured that if I didn't have any other charges for the eight nights, I would still have paid an extra 3% on the 800 pounds for the international credit card charges, not to mention the exchange rate difference. I requested to speak to the Front Desk Manager to discuss this situation. It took quite a lot of discussion and time to remedy this situation to both of our satisfactions. The lesson I learned was to never allow a charge to be placed on my credit card in place of an authorization. If the authorization request system is not functioning, insist on it to be cleared when the system is properly functioning.

cyberdad

I normally use either a corporate Amex or a personal MC debit. No significant problems with either, although a few sticky moments with each. Actually the worst experience was with a a car rental company using a Visa CC. Forget the $500 debit card authorization....they slapped a $500 authorization on a $62 rental. Suffice to say that particular company has been an "ex" vendor for he past ten years, while I've spent thousands with their competition.

My experience is that....while not without an occasional unfortunate incident here and there....Marriott in general has been very fair and reasonable in how they've handled authorizations.

I had an experience at Marriott Grosvenor Square in London about 5-6 years ago that was the opposite of what a previous poster reported. It was a 7 night stay and they wanted to authorize more than my $1,500 daily limit. Rather than authorize ANY amount (or charge any amount), they TRUSTED me (presumably as a plat and a repeat customer) until I could contact my bank the following day, explain the situation, and arrange for the requested funds to be put on the authorization hold.

I think it pays to shop around if you're going to be using a debit card for authorizations. Subsequent to my experience at GS, I've contacted my bank before traveling, explain what I need them to do, and have had no problems since then. (Typically, what they'll do is raise my daily limit to $2,500 in charges or authorizations to cover just such circumstances).

Also this bank (Harris in Chicago) has been very good about 1.) removing authorizations after three business days. And 2) while authorizations do count against available balances, for me they've honored any checks that come in, honored POS charges, and have waived overdraft/overlimit fees in those rare occasions when I've gotten caught in a bind. The waiver is more correctly a "delay".....they notify me of it, but don't charge me as long as it's covered when the authorization comes off (or if I opt to add funds to the account before then).

Despite all of this positive stuff, I'm still amazed how banks and merchants can get money OUT of your account in a split second....but how it usually takes anywhere from a day or two...up to "a couple of billing cycles"...to put your funds back IN!

CJKatl

Sharon - Normally I would agree with you on not insulting the staff. However, a couple months ago I had the "pleasure" or dealing with the management at this very hotel and can understand the OP's frustration. The management was the worst of the worst.

When I checked in, very late, there were no foam pillows in my room, only feather. There was a crib, for some reason, but no foam pillows. It took an hour to get this corrected, and it was 1:00 am by the time I was able to get in the room. Having called the hotel twice to be sure this was done, I was irked.

When the manager called me, the first thing he said, in his NY accent, was, "How do I know that the feather pillows hadn't been taken out of the room and that you're making this up?" ...!!!!! Unbelievable. Everyone working at the hotel that night knew of the problem and was working to correct it. Not to mention the crib was obviously there, too. Nonetheless, the manager actually accused me of making this up. When I questioned him, he said he had no reason to believe I made it up, but he wanted to make sure.

I also had a billing issue that proved very difficult for them to correct. My favorite comment, after having asked them three times to correct it, was that they didn't correct bills when a customer calls from the room. The customer has to come down to the counter. Again, ...!!!!!

The adjectives used by the OP are spot on. Avoiding this hotel at all costs is a good idea for those who don't like to deal with rude people, those who expect hotel managers to act professionally, and those who like a hassle-free stay. People who enjoy conflict, have time to spare having hotel mistakes corrected and like dealing with jerks are encouraged to visit this property.

OP, if you are dealing with the manager with the NY accent, give up. He's rude and won't lift a finger to help you. Call Gaithersburg. They are aware of him and will immediately make sure you get what you need. IME, they've dealt with enough issues from that hotel to know what you are going through and will respond quickly.