Flying Lawyer

Most cobranded credit cards (in particular AB and LH) have a business version with the old benefits in place

WorldLux

The usage of cheques is still VERY common in France. The first time I saw someone using a cheque, was in France. But then the France always tried to stick out with such oddities (Just think of the Minitel...).

Only recently I had to order a checkbook to pay a bill of 5€. Paying cash or by card was refused.

I don't see how cheques are better than bank transfers. Those can be delayed as well and those can transfer as much money as you own.

Flying Lawyer

Delays? I make a bank transfer and the money is gone. I send a cheque by mail and the money is gone as soon as the cheque arrived, taken to the bank and arrived at the bank. Receiver has the impression he got payment the moment the cheque arrived.

WorldLux

Yes.

1) Certain banks are horribly slow. When I do SEPA transfers between two accounts of different banks, it sometimes takes 5 working days for the money to be credited.

2) You can fix (in contrast to cheques) completion dates, which makes it a rather practical tool (e.g. paying rent on the first day of every month can be pretty much automated).

The transfer has the added bonus, that I know when the money is gone. With cheques that's not so evident. I had to write someone a cheque a month ago and it hasn't been cashed since. It may happen tomorrow. It may happen in two months. I would've preferred a transfer.

Flying Lawyer

Again. Asa you authorise the transfer the money is gone (and the bank has fun). If you write a cheque, the other party believes having received the money and it is still in your account. And money in my account is still the best option... :

dtremit

This is nonsense. OP clearly states he had a receipt from Expedia which -- incorrectly but clearly -- stated that payment had been collected.

LondonElite

OP should know that in Europe (basically anywhere outside NA chain hotels) it is customary to check out at the desk and settle the bill (even on prepayment - which this wasn't as it turns out). It allows for settlement/query on items like bar, mini-bar, parking, and so on. I would never leave a hotel without interacting with someone to ensure that the account was closed. The only exception is in the US where some hotels annoyingly slip the bill under your door and want you to leave without any interaction so that pressure on FD is reduced.

Reds2011

The email from Expedia actually states that payment will be collected by the hotel.

Meaning that OP has to pay the hotel directly.

Mike Thaler

Dozens of posts on this silly topic. The hotel wants money. Guest wants to pay. He already got the service. What would the hotel do if he simply didn't pay? Have him put on interpol's most wanted list.
I would have 1. Offered my CC no. or 2. sent them a check or 3. Go online with my bank and have them mail a check (no charge) -- altho maybe that can't be done to out of country locations. Tell the bank they have a choice - IF they want payment.
Wiring money in the U.S. is a hassle and expensive unless you are a business set up to do this on a regular basis.

LondonElite

Welcome to FT!

None of your suggestions really work, since the hotel won't take a CC, and OP does not live in Germany, so this business of sending cheques doesn't apply. The US conventions are also immaterial here. If you sent a European business a US cheque to settle a bill, they'd have no idea what to do with it, and even if they did get some of their money, it would be a great deal less after all the fess involved.

OP simply missed his opportunity to settle the way everyone else does.

offerendum

It's one example. Beside eldery people insurances often still regulate damages by cheque.

highstream

Very informative thread about money transfers from the U.S. (and German habits). Wish I had known last year about these transfer alternatives to using my bank.

It sounds like the OP, invisible, made a mistake based on a misunderstanding of how reservation sites work and a failure to double check at the hotel. For that, he/she needs to take a deep breath and graciously pay in the (cheapest) manner which inconveniences the hotel the least. We all make mistakes - and sometimes have to pay for them.

mikeschemm

Kudos to OP for making such an effort to pay. I would have just told the hotel to work it out with Expedia, or find a solution that did not cost me an arm and a leg. Condomnation to the U.S. for such backward banking. The rest of the world does international wire transfers easily at low cost. Even our U.S. ATM's are incredibly backward. I spend much of my time in a third wold country, where I have a bank account. I can do SO much more at an ATM in the 3rd world country than I can in the U.S., and they are easier to find. The rest of the world is understandably confused when we find it so hard to make an international payment.

flyerCO

How do you think Internet transactions get paid. You enter your card number.

MC/Visa have policies in place that generally require a merchant that accepts their cards to not discriminate when the cards isn't present. In fact as long as the policy is followed MC/VISA guarantee payment to the merchant.

As long as the hotel takes these catds, it shouldn't have refused to take it by phone. It may however have a policy in place where Expedia charges the card and then wires the money. In that case it nay only be possible to do at time of checkout.

As for US relying on cheques, that simply isnt the case. In the US instead of wire transfer we use debit cards to pay. These can be issued by MC/VISA or by the ATM processing companies. (PLUS, PULSE, INTERLINK, etc...) The card is swiped just like a credit card, but the money instead is sent from your checking account. No credit is extended. This is a lot easier than doing manual wire transfers and cheaper. While the US still has checks, most companies now simply convert the check to an electronic transaction (wire transfer). No customer permission is needed to do so. Basically if it's not cash, it's a wire transfer. The almost the only time a paper check is still processed as a paper check, is when it's a person to person payment.

MojaveFlyer

A few months ago I stayed at a small hotel in Heidelberg. They did not want to see my CC when I checked in, though I gave one to make the reservation. Like the OP, I would have assumed that the hotel could charge the card if I had to leave at a time when the front desk was not open. That is certainly the case in the US; though I recognize that German customs may be different, I, like the OP, would have assumed such. (A recent stay in Tokyo required payment of the whole charge up front, and a refund to the card when I decided to leave a day early).

Anyway, that hotel in Heidelberg, which was quite pleasant actually, had no issue with charging my CC for postage when they kindly sent me an article I had left in my room. They just said "We'll use the same card".