Eskimoboy

Hi, A work colleague of my wife's here in the UK is having a bit of an issue with Residence inn LAX and asked for my help. There is much more experience and knowledge on this forum than I have, so posting here in case anyone has any suggestions! Here's what she's sent me:

"I stayed at the Residence Inn LAX on the 28th September. On check In I had to pay a $250 deposit on top of the room ($180) charge. I paid on debit card. Almost three weeks later I’ve still not had the $250 refunded. They sent me my final invoice on the 11th showing a break down of the hotel bill (which I had paid in advance of the stay). The invoice shows no mention of the $250 dollar deposit.
After they ignored my emails and Facebook messages (despite someone their end opening each message), I phoned the hotel and twice was told someone from management would call me back. The third time someone from the accounts team transferred me back to reception and I was eventually cut off. Leaving me with Ł25 international phone charges.
They’ve not verified or responded to my booking.com review and Booking.com told me I need to deal with the hotel directly. Until someone from the hotel confirms in writing by email my bank are unable to release the refund so they’re just withholding the whole amount!"


I think she's a fairly inexperienced traveller and I'm sure for some people here that being without $250 for a few weeks isn't the end of the world. However as she works for a children's charity she isn't really paid very much and is struggling to get by until payday without the money. Usually when I pay a deposit at check in (admittedly on my credit card), it goes pending and then disappears after a couple of days. Having said that I haven't travelled around the US so is it more standard that deposits are kept for three weeks?

Anyway, any advice or suggestions on a quick solution would be gratefully received. (I've already told her to get Skype to call international in future, crazy spending Ł25 on it!)

margarita girl

Contact the Lurkers.

[email protected]

nequine

Its not usual they actually take the money, usually its held against your credit card but I suppose its the fact she used her debit card rather than a credit card that has made them actually take the money this time?

This "hold" on your credit card does seem to confuse a lot of travellers, judging from a NYC group I am on in Facebook.

Often1

To be clear, the traveler did not use a credit card. She apparently used a debit card and that is the crux of the problem as holds, deposits or whatever term is used on a debit card mean that the funds are actually withdrawn from the account.

Presuming that there was no damage to the room or any other unpaid amount, the friend should simply contact her bank (presuming that this is a UK account) and have the bank become involved. If the funds are owed, the bank will deal with this in short order.

Do not waste time with the property, Marriott or anyone on the merchant vendor side.

For the benefit of others, do not ever use anything other than a credit card when paying for services to be rendered in the future. This especially includes room deposits and other forms of "hold." If this had been a credit card, it would have been a simple chargeback and a slight nuisance.

Also for the benefit of others, the days of paying anything appreciable for calls are long past. Use Skype or any of the other dozens of VOIP services available. At most, these calls cost a few cents and are largely toll-free.

Eskimoboy

Yes I was aghast when I heard she used a debit card (missing out on points if nothing else!). She has contacted her bank and they say they need to have confirmation from the hotel that they won't be collecting the deposit. Now I've read what the bank has said it does seem an issue they should sort out. Thanks for the help everyone, have passed on the suggestions!

gengar

Typically with USA payment processors, authorization reversals are impossible after 24 hours in these cases so it's something that must be addressed with the bank directly. I'm not sure if there are additional rules / considerations for debit cards, but either way there's no excuse for the bank to be withholding access to the funds for several weeks (noting that this has happened to me in the past).

AMEX is the only payment processor I'm aware of in the USA that allows unilateral authorization reversals after 24 hours for CP transactions.

Often1

This is a debit card. It is not a "hold". I am guessing that the property really did take a "deposit". A deposit would be no different than showing up with $250 in cash and handing it to the front desk at check-in. Until the cash is returned, you are out the money.

Entirely different than a CC where the "hold" simply means that your CL is reduced by $250 until released.

OP's situation involves someone with a UK bank account and UK trading and consumer laws place additional burdens on banks which are not present in the US.

In this case, if OP's friend cannot obtain the statement form the property (which it is unlikely to provide), then it is back to the bank with a note that the property has refused or failed to provide the information.

gengar

It's still a hold (if we must be pedantic, the industry standard term is "authorization hold" or "preauthorization"). On a CC typically the credit line is reduced, whereas on a debit card, typically the available withdrawal balance is reduced by the amount of the hold.

The key distinction is that it is not a deposit, as the merchant has not taken the money and has no access to the funds. It is the bank that is withholding access to the balance.

MePlatPremier

There’s no such thing as a preauthorization or a hold (i.e. a pending charge) with debit cards. Debit cards withdraw the funds directly from the account at the moment of the transaction and there are few, if any, avenues to get the charge reversed. Whereas CC holds are a two-step process: an original transaction that shows up as a pending transaction and the actual transaction completion that has to take place within 15 days from the original hold or the pending charge is reversed and the authorization code expires.

gengar

There absolutely is, and it's why banks will display both an available balance and a current balance. In fact, with most payment processors, a debit card charge that is processed with signature (as opposed to PIN) is treated the same way as a preauthorization.

Definitely not true (unless I suppose you have a really awful bank). You can easily verify this yourself by authorizing your debit card at a gas station but not actually completing the transaction (e.g., don't actually pump any gas), then check for the available balance vs current balance on the account associated with your debit card.

flyerCO

Debit cards can have holds placed against them. I have one for personal use that I use. The funds are held reducing available balance in the account. Debit card holds no longer result in money actually being pulled. They work exactly same as on credit card nowadays.

As for OP. Bank should have s policy on when they release the hold if no transaction appears. This can be as many as 21-30 days at some banks.