IcHot

I don't think that's a good analogy. A better analogy when it comes to a points stay is that you sent a check and they decide they didn't cash it and now, 20 months later, demand that you produce the canceled check and assorted other documentation.

In that case, they should probably write it off as their mistake and blame themselves for taking nearly two years to notice it or take it up with IC for not crediting the hotel. It is unreasonable to make accusations and demand payment more than 6 months later. In the US, most personal checks expire after 6 months.

sobore

I would think the PC system is seriously flawed if they are deducting points 20 months after a stay.
I would think their management is flawed if their system is built on this concept.

LHWolf

Why don't you ask the hotel for a copy of your bill?
They are supposed to keep it for many years.

davidhii

Did that. As usual, it takes days for them to come back with an email reply.

I am happy to pay for the points which I am supposed to pay but they have forgotten to charge. However I am certainly not willing to pay when they over deduct the points and expect me to produce evidence of my stay 1 year 8 months ago.

davidhii

Wow! This is fantastic!

I got it now. In fact I got points for the first night of my stay. That's definitely not a reward claim. I must have paid for the opening speical promotion. However the second night points were deducted and was credited back again a day later. Perhaps that's where they made a mistake.

I am not sure if this is sufficient evidence for PC to say that I only claimed reward points for 1 night instead of 2 nights they deducted from me lately.

dgwright99

I have had the situation where I book with PC points, they get refunded at the time of the stay, and then taken back again months later. But never 2 years on (but they have always caught this much faster in my cases).

And, FWIW, I keep most bills for 10+ years.

holtju2

Exactly. Sometimes I just think what these people are .

davidhii

Still nothing from PC yet after almost a week. Looks like its important for all to keep our hotel bills for more than 7 years! I can't believe this.

njfan07

Take a look at the small print on your checking or credit card account. Typical restriction is that you have 6 months after statement date to contest charges.

Even government issued checks have an expiration date of a year.

For IC to go back more than 12 months is unreasonable.

MP (Miles+Points)

I am sorting out my study and garage at the moment, just can't believe how many statements I've kept for the last ten years.

But there are more important statements to keep than hotel bills.

jarusoba

If you forgot to post a stay and obtain your points, you can file a missing stay request but you have a limit on how long ago that stay occurred, I think it's one year. So the same should apply to them. If it has been more than a year that some error was made, they have a year to discover it and amend it.

davidhii

I do agree that there should be a cut off period. For example, I was charged for a hotel stay on Amex that happened almost 12 months earlier (it was a double charge). Amex immediately cancel that charge once I called them. Amex didn't even bother to ask me why and if its a double charge.

The longest cut off period has to be for tax return files. Where I come from, its limited to 7 years. Thereafter, let all hold their peace.

davidhii

If PC can claim points for stays years back, in theory PC should be able to claim for missed payments $$ years back. Thank God for credit card companies (somehow a rare tribute to them!) they put a cut off period to back-dated claims.

Flying Lawyer

The relevant period is the statutory limitation period in the relevant jurisdiction. Full stop. It might be unfriendly to come with a hotel charge after a year or so but it is certainly not unjustified. And seriously: I personally know whether or not I paid a bill or not via my creditcard (and I am certainly not the one with few charges).

IcHot

At one time I would have wholeheartedly agreed with you, put there's been a change because of the shift toward pre-paid rates and the different way they are applied. Some are charged immediately, some not until the stay. Over a couple of weeks worth of stays it can be confusing and the chances of double billing increased.

While your legal opinion is exactly right, charges out of the blue are often not correct. We recently had a situation overseas where a room was paid for with points, we checked out and were told there were no charges and then we get back home and they've charged our credit card for the room. They were apologetic and rectified the problem immediately, but it still cost us a couple of dollars in exchange rate differences. If they were to come back nearly two years later and want to rehash it, I would be angry. Angry enough that I would think that justice would involve something punitive if they were incorrect in their action.