toooldtostayoutlate

Looking.for some.helpful suggestions here. A few days after a stay I noticed a charge on my credit card that should not have been there. I was told xyz damage was done to a chair in the room. I never looked at the chair, I never used the chair and I definitely never looked under the lip of the chair where you where apparently the damage was done. Hotel is completely intractable, saying had to.be me because rooms were renovated 10 months ago, how that proves it wasnt 1 guest before me is beyond me. Best western submitted a ticket but now is stuck because hotel says it was me though they have zero proof, of course, because it wasnt me. I honestly dont even know how to prevent this in the future because I could take all the pictures I wanted and videos and timestamp it and they would just trot out a chair or desk.or lamp or whatever from a different room and take a picture of it and say I did that to the furniture the billionth of a second after my video ended. I'm waiting now for AMEX. BBB and attorney general have been useless. I just dont get the whole due process here, a hotel can just charge my credit card whatever they feel like because they have it on a file and make up whatever cost they feel like to "replace" the item (which they never do, they just keep billing sucker and after sucker guest) and there is just no recourse that a consumer has. I have thousands and thousands of nights in hotels and never came across this b.s. but now I think I'm going to have to a front desk clerk walk me.up every time at check in and document every minuscule issue and then have someone else do the same at checkout. Much like the rental cam companies do, of.course it's completely asinine that I should have to do this but I cant see any other way to prove that something that wasnt my doing wasnt.me. In the meantime any helpful suggestions with this occurrence would be greatly appreciated.

jebr

Filing a dispute with American Express is a good move - they'll take a look and if it's unreasonable AmEx usually sides with the customer. If you don't have it already, I'd also ask for a copy of your registration card - that'll prove what you signed and may state what is considered a valid reason for keeping part or all of the deposit.

What kind of damage are they claiming was done to the chair? I've never even thought of worrying about little dings and scratches in the room - all of that would fall under normal wear and tear in my view. I've always viewed the deposit as there to cover theft (e.g. stealing towels or bedding from the room,) blatant disregard for hotel policies (e.g. smoking in a non-smoking room,) or extreme damage to the room (e.g. ripping out a drawer and obliterating it - something that's obviously intentional or extremely reckless.) If someone's running a hotel, they need to understand that wear and tear is expected - and 10 months is enough for a chair to show that if they went cheap (which, if they're charging a customer for what sounds like minor damage to a chair, they probably did.)

I don't think you'll find many hotels that will walk up to the room and document every little ding with you - there's simply not enough staff to do that, and the vast majority of hotels don't care because they're reasonable and understand wear and tear happens in hotel rooms. I'd wait for American Express to rule and determine what happened.

toooldtostayoutlate

The damage was to underneath the part of the chair where you sit on. There is a lip of a chair and underneath that there there is a crossbar and someone (probably some toddler) had stuck some little stickers on it. When I asked the hotel for pictures they said they didnt have to show me anything however after the attorney general's office got involved the hotel sent them the picture that is the only.way I even know what they are talking about. Now is that the chair from my room, i have no idea. Do they just use that same chair over and over again to bilk customers again and again for damages I have no idea? What I do know is that this has absolutely nothing to do with me, I never did such a thing, i never saw such a thing and never even used the chair and now I had the money debited from me. I would ask for my registration card but I already know they will tell me to screw off.just like they have for any other reasonable thing I have asked them for. I asked.for.pictures for the damage and they told me to screw off. I asked for pictures for how the room, including the chair looked right before I checked into the room and they told me to screw off. So I'm sure if I ask for anything else they will just to go jump in the lake. They have zero to gain by interacting with me so why should they bother, they already have my money.

jebr

Your biggest saving grace at this point is using an AmEx card - they're known for being quite customer-friendly and generally favoring the customer over the merchant during a dispute if the evidence is at all questionable (which is sounds like in this case.) Let the dispute with AmEx play out, and if they ask for any information from you be sure to provide it promptly. If for some reason they don't rule in your favor call back (to AmEx) and see if they'll re-review it.

What hotel is trying to do this? Honestly, it sounds like an owner is trying to squeeze every last dollar out of a property without caring about the customer - sticker removal on a chair usually takes a little bit of Goo-Gone (or similar) and a few minutes of maintenance's time. It's difficult to prove who did it (particularly if housekeeping isn't perfectly diligent) and the reasonable cost of the damage would be, imo, $25 or less - barely worth someone's time to process much less deal with the customer complaints over it, especially if you charge the wrong person over it. If they're charging more than that, I think they're full of it, and hopefully AmEx thinks so as well.

toooldtostayoutlate

The hotel is the Best Western Springfield VA. Honestly, this would have gone a lot better if they had called me up and asked me.if I knew anything about any damah6or something unusual about the chair or something like that. And I would have very honestly said I have absolutely no idea what you are referring to because I never looked at the chair because I never used the chair. Instead they just unilaterally charged my credit card and when I asked them why they accused me kr ruining the chair without hearing my side at all and when I asked for some proof or anything they told me to screw off and that they could do whatever I want because they had my credit card info for deposit so they can unilaterally charge me for any danger caused in the room and make up any amount... no discussion, no due process.... which really makes the whole thing just seem like thievery to me.
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toooldtostayoutlate

Well I lost the dispute with Amex. Hotel sent some pictures and that seemed to satisfy Amex. Damage could have been by anyone 6 months ago but Amex seems to think it's conclusive proof that I'm the one and I'm liable.

MSPeconomist

What kind of AmEx card? And what terms on your hotel reservation. Did the hotel really charge you a deposit or was it a prepaid reservation? Most hotels will do a credit card authorization at check in to cover any additional charges (such as room service, phone tolls, etc.) and/or damages.

BTW, I've stayed in a couple hotels overseas that did check the room before finishing my checkout. I noticed this in particular at one hotel in Istanbul and also a local hotel in a smaller city in mainland China. It might have been done in Greece too.

SanDiego1K

How very strange. I am so sorry. How much were you charged? And this is purely for stickers on the bottom of the chair that no one can see? Were the pictures shared with you?

toooldtostayoutlate

It was a Blu for Business Amex. I have the Platinum and Business Platinum along with several other amexes. It was not a prepaid rate. I paid at check in and check out the balance was good and I left. A few days later there was a separate charge for $30 and the hotel wouldn't tell me anything except for damage to room. I had to involve the State Attorney General office to get any real information and the picture was sent to them and they sent the picture to me. I have no idea who did that to the chair but it wasn't me. I have no idea if that was even the chair from my room of if that is a chair they keep.in their storeroom and just keep taking a photo of and use first such occasions. I have zero idea how to prevent this from happening over and over to me again at different hotels. In the meantime I've not stayed at another best western as they clearly didn't have my back at all and did nothing here so I'm sticking with Marriott and Hilton and Hyatt but I'm still concerned of the same issue coming up.