Charged for Safe???
 

Ok I know this is not a huge issue but it really bugs me. I checked into a Comfort Inn last night in YYC, as I am sitting here in the airport I am reviewing my bill and there is a charge

"Safe w/ltd Warranty $2.00"

I call the hotel but GM was not in yet but the guy at the front desk says yes we charge if you use the safe "not great english so I only think that's what he said". I got no where with him. By the way I did not even know there was a safe in the room!

Ok I checked in last night and they said sign here, here & here, I don't have my glasses on but I sign thinking it is the damage and no smoking policy but I am wondering now if I also may have signed for a safe although nothing was explained. I know, I know shame on me but come on we all do it :D

I have emailed the gm but just wondering if anyone else has run across this. My employer will pick up the costs this is about "principle", I mean are they going to be allowed to charge us $1.00 if we use the bath towel next? The cost for this should be included in the cost of the room IMHO.

Let me know your comments maybe I am just making a big deal outta nothing...thanks

Yes, I've seen this many times over the years. Not always disclosed up front but always taken off when I complain. This is merely a bait-and-switch scheme so they can bump revenue and not show it in the room rate. Very popular with the low-end properties, but also being done in higher-end properties with things like a "resort fee" or the latest I saw was a "hotel service fee" and the only explanation was: every one else does it.

You might have trouble getting it reversed after leaving, but do pursue it. Maybe some time they will learn it's costing them more to reverse the charge than what they are making.

Thanks for the information and support. I have dealt with resort fee's before but the information was always up front, can't say I have ever had to pay for a safe before expecially when I did not want one.

I still don't understand why this was not in the price of the room is a safe :mad:

When I checked out i was not asked to review the bill they just printed it out and airport shuttle was waiting you know the story but still shame on me for now reviewing then.

Still no call or email from the GM , maybe it is his day off :rolleyes:

Staying at a Sleep Inn tonight with in-room safes. First two times we stayed there I made sure to mention that the safe was unused so the charge would be removed. Last time they removed the charge without my asking. Will see what happens tomorrow.

As I understand from speaking with a few property owners, often, the safes were provided free of charge to the property by a third party who splits the "Safe Fee" with the property. Let's the property offer an
"ammenity" without any upfront capital. As others have noted, FD staff are generally quick to remove these but usually only on request.

I think you are right if I had mentioned at check out the charge probably would have been removed, not sure if my being a gold member member would mean anything.
I have sent the GM a 3rd email this morning asking for an explanation, I think this may be on of those hotels who thinks that "we the customer should be grateful" they let us stay there.
I also put in an on-line complaint with Choice Hotels this morning. What really gets me is how deceitful the business practice of this particular hotel was, I am willing to persue my $2.00 in small claims court, I think they need to made an example of.

Now I know things could have been so much worse than a $2 hotel charge but us road warriors have look out for each other :)

End of the story
 

Just received an email from the GM with me new folio attached, they reversed the safe charge....go figure.....

I was charged a "resort fee" at a Quality Inn in Anaheim recently. I pointed out to the front desk clerk that the fee was not identified on my confirmation. He said that Choice hotels made them charge it. Really. It was a standard hotel, not a "resort". It was just $6 or something so it was not worth the hassle. Except, little do they know that they won the battle but I won the war. I am taking my business to another "resort" the next time we are in town.

Try going to Puerto Rico... They charge a "hotel use fee" that is a percentage of the room rate and equal to or greater than the occupancy tax! I'm waiting for them to put a CC reader in the elevators or shower! :)

There is a "resort" fee charged if the hotel is within a certain distance of Disneyland, I've been told. It's not the hotel that's a "resort", but your proximity to the Disneyland "resort".

Stay a bit further from Disneyland next time and you won't get charged it.

(And it's not like being within a mile of some Disneyland wall means that you can walk to Disneyland, anyway. It's just a moneymaking gimmick to have hotels within this range charge "resort" fees, since sometimes hotels futher away provide just as easy access via buses which you are only charged for if you use them.)

We really need to fight these add on hotel money makers, these add $$ on hotel bills are getting just like the airlines, before you know it extras and taxes will be as expensive as the room charge it self.

Also wanted to say if you don't say anything to the hotel they will think they are getting away with the charge, by simply not going back to the hotel and taking your business else where does nothing as the hotel does not know.

Please fellow road warriors speak up and voice your opinion to these hotels and when you are sitting at the airport and have a minute email the hotel GM, there usually is some kind of email address on your hotel folio.

i was charged with housekeeping fee of $5 dollars recently. twice.. :(

That wasn't in the desolate areas of NV was it? I got that one and raised HH, especially since it wasn't on the bill at checkout! May have been their way of getting a tip, but lost the tip and lost future business.

i am going to write to CP about this; but just wait till my points post properly first before complaining. i think this is bad practice to charge for housekeeping.
if they have the fee, list it upfront so that i can plan accordingly.

this is worst that spirit airline.

it was in Orlando.

This one's just weird. I could see $250, if they'd warned of it up front if so-and-so happened, and it happened. But $5?! Weird. And another irony is that I've lately stayed in several Quality Inns and Rodeways where no such fee for egregious (prior) mishaps has ever been spent on the room I was first assigned.

I just got charged this $2 fee at the GEM CHELSEA (NYC).

Ghetto ghetto shady practice.

... and did you pay it? Every time I've complained about the charge it was taken off.

I thought this was long gone (although Choice has become my LAST CHOICE for hotels). Was the fee disclosed during the booking process? Was there anything in the confirmation email? This is the Choice version of resort fees, a way to lowball their room rates yet grab more money.

You might get more traction if you'd post your experience on TripAdvisor. You might even catch the attention of the property management/owners.

Never saw a thing about it. Didn't get my bill until checkout via email after the fact. I have no intention of paying it. If they don't refund me I will review them with 1 star on every site imaginable.

Absurd. Outrageous really, it's like they took a guest paying $650 and stole an extra $6 out of my pocket just because.

Soured my thoughts on the entire stay. I now hate the property. I can't imagine this is a good way to get repeat business.

This is the perfect kind of thing for some sheister to use for a class action. Maybe I should do it myself. Pocket millions in legal fees and make them stop charging the fee and send all of the victims a silly coupon.

They will refund your money. Many Choice properties play this ridiculous game.

They did take off the charge, and I wrote a cranky review on TripAdvisor, and after that, they emailed me again to give me a nice discount off my entire stay. I was pretty happy getting the windfall and I (voluntarily) deleted the negative review. So, the local property was very nice about it, but I still find this chainwide practice to be ludicrous.

It's too bad you took down the review. I think it's important for people knowing what they do and that they have reversed the charge when challenged. Having this out there may help them decide to stop the nasty policy altogether.

I agree, I would have preferred to revise the review instead. Unfortunately TripAdvisor only let's you delete, there is no edit function. And they also don't let you leave another new review immediately after deleting. Kind of a clunky site.

Comfort Inn in Woburn, Mass. recently charged me $1.05 per night for a "Safe w/ltd Warranty". For that $1.05 they've now lost a customer for life. :confused:

Did you challenge it at check-out? Do they know they lost another customer due to the fee? You gotta do more than just complain on FT. Go to TripAdvisor and post a review.

Let me ask the obvious question here. Is there a way for the hotel to even know that you have used the safe? Every room safe I have ever seen is definitely not connected to a network (unless it is wireless).

In fact, a high percentage of these safes are not even bolted down to anything and you could just pick them up and walk away (this is one of my pet peeves).

Just leave the hotel and challenge the charge with your cc company. A charge back will increase the cost to the hotel.

To bad you can't charge Choice's top executives with fraud like they do to their customers.

Comfort Inn has been charging for in room safe for ages. First time I noted this was maybe 8-10 years back in Virginia Beach and disputed the charge. I think they claim they have you initial the charge upon check in. Looks like things have not changed since.

i got same charge . i just called them , i also didnt even know there was a safe in room . we stayed just overnight to sleep in our travels. lol

I see this secretive safecharge added to a bill occasionally. But, it's not just at Choice Hotels. I have gotten in the habit of either inquiring about it at check-in, and or looking closely at the bill before I leave. Generally, I state that I did not use the safe and I was not aware there was going to be a charge. I have not had any problem getting it removed from my bill.

I don't think I have seen a safe charge in a year - and I always look.

Never heard of a safe charge fee, and it's extra interesting you mentioned front desk said it was if the safe was used. Though some hotels have controls to monitor the minibar, I've never seen one that was connected to the in-room safe to detect remotely if it's been opened or not.. Sounds like a definite bait and switch.

ewok22, Thanks for the heads up. I have not yet experienced that scam, but I will look out for it.

Safe charge
 

I have experienced this usually when the inkeeper lives on site and especially Roadway Inn and Econolodge. They usually do not disclose it until you see it as a charge on the
invoice. They usually back it out if you complain at check out

If it is not disclosed at the time of booking, then it must be credited. If refused, file a partial chargeback for the amount, noting that the property does not disclose the fee at the time of booking (and provide your booking confirmation as evidence).