credit card charged twice....
 

i was getting a little remodeling work done in my house about 6 weeks ago & my wife is extremely allergic to the paint/varnish smell so we decided to move out of the house for a couple of days to let the smell die down....a new hilton property had just opened up near my house & were offering great introductory rates so we decided to take this opportunity to check it out....

we stayed there for 2 days without any issues & checked out on the 1st of june....my credit card was charged the correct amount during checkout....

on the 17th of june i received an alert for another charge on my card from this same property....at that point i was traveling overseas so was forced to make an international call to the property to inquire what this charge was regarding....they told me that a manager would get back to me the same day but i received no response for a couple of days....

i came back home on the 20th of june & called the property again....this time i managed to speak with someone in sales & they said someone would get back to me later that day....again 2 days went by & i heard from nobody....i called again on the 22nd of june & finally managed to speak with a manager who asked me to forward my credit card statement to her so that she could sort out the issue....i did so the same day....i informed them that my statement due date is the 15th of july so i would like this to be sorted out before that date....

i called back to inquire on the 1st of july & was told that the refund will hit my account in 5 days....it is now the 12th & still nothing....i sent them an email last week for which i received a response letting me know that they would check with the bank & get back to me soon....i have not managed to get hold of this particular manager during my last couple of calls to the hotel....

the amount is not that big, its only about $300 but what's bugging me is the principle of the matter....they should not have charged my card the second time 16 days later & they should not take a month to refund the money to me, specially since its their mistake....

i have been dealing directly with the hotel so far & have not yet escalated the matter to either hilton corporate or my bank but i am now tempted to do so....any advice is appreciated....

You don't have to deal with the hotel at all. Just report it to your credit card issuer as an unauthorized charge. They'll deal with the merchant.

the only problem with that is the bank will cancel my card & send me a new one....that will result in me having to change my automatic payment details with about a dozen different vendors & will be an absolute pain in the a$$....i'll eventually do it if i don't have a choice but would rather the hotel take care of it....

I wouldn't have been so patient. I think you should escalate it to Hilton Corporate and to your bank.

A) Is this a credit card or debit card? If it's a debit card are you sure it's a second charge and not just the initial auth (which didn't disappear for some reason) plus the actual charge?

B) Disputing a charge as invalid (duplicate, in this case) doesn't require re-issue of a card. Disputing a charge as fraudulent (I didn't make this) might. Don't dispute it as fraudulent - dispute it as a duplicate. Should be easy for the bank to see if the amounts match. If not, they'll investigate.

That's my suggestion too. Dispute it as a duplicate charge. I've had a few of those and have never had the bank cancel the card and issue a new one.

as mentioned before, it is a credit card....the amount has been clearly charged twice, once on the 1st & then again on the 17th....the hotel has admitted that the card has been charged twice....its just the laid back casual attitude of the property that is causing me concern....

i have spoken to my bank about this....if i report it as a double charge then that means the merchant has my card details & as far as the bank is concerned they can use it again....they will therefore cancel the card & issue a new one....my card number will remain the same but the expiry date & cvv code will change....it is the policy of the bank....

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Citibank?

I stopped using my AAdvantage MasterCard as my primary card the 3rd or 4th time they pulled something like this on me. You may want to consider a similar course of action.

yup....

i have been using their services for longer than i can remember & this is the first time i've run into this sort of a problem....their card is most beneficial for me in terms of miles earned & other benefits as well....but if this sort of thing happens too often then i may have to consider a change....

Once the hotel processed the credit, it's totally out of their hands how long it takes to show up on your statement. It could be the next day, it could be up to two billing cycles. It could be whatever their merchant account, the card processor, and your bank do.

Ask the hotel to provide proof they requested the credit, it would be in their daily batch or whatever they call it. If they can prove they did in fact request it, all you can do is wait. If they did not request it yet, your only other alternative is to dispute the charge.

good idea....will ask for that tomorrow....

The few times I've disputed a charge to my cc, they have suspended the charge while they investigated. That reduced my required payment and kept it from incurring finance charges. Once resolved, if deemed valid, it was replaced on my account and as long as paid during the current cycle and no finance charges.

As to needing to replace the card because the hotel still has the card info, that strikes me as bogus since just about every merchant has your card info and they should be replacing your card after every charge! I'm thinking the agent is making things up.

Citi is not known for having good CSRs... I use to have many accounts with Citi. I kept getting collection calls and when I called back was told to ignore the call. Finally went to a supervisor and found out they plugged my phone number on an account with a similar name (not mine). Closing my accounts was the best solution.

OP confuses reporting an unauthorized charge with initiating a "chargeback" inquiry. This can be done online. When the inquiry is initiated, the card issuer (bank) will require the merchant (Hilton) to document the validity of the second charge. When Hilton either doesn't or can't, the issuer will credit you.

Chargebacks cost the merchant a lot of time and effort. They get attention because the deault is they lose if they don't come up with the paperwork.

Lastly, if by some chance a crooked employee at the new hotel has used your card for some purpose, better to have it replaced and go through the associated mess than to wakeup one morning overseas with some massive fraud on your hands.

no confusion....like i said before, i spoke with my bank & in order to initiate the 'chargeback' inquiry the bank will cancel my card & issue a new one....a process i want to avoid unless it is necessary....

no crooked employee here....the hotel has admitted that the second charge was made & are agreeing to refund it....its the lackluster response regarding the refund i am concerned about....

I'd suggest call back and get a different rep on the phone. Explain the hotel has acknowledged their error and ask if they can suspend the charge while the credit is being processed. I can't believe they replace a card every time there is a dispute filed.