Wrong credit card charged @ FS Marriott, what to do?
 

I have a non-marriott AMEX card on my Marriott profile...

Back in June I checked in at the Sydney Circular Quay Marriott and gave the front desk a Marriott Visa and asked that charges be put on that card. When my automatic bill was slipped under the door, there was no CC information on it, so I assumed that the Marriott Visa was used - however the AMEX was charged. I assumed that it was my mistake after a 23 hour flight...

I had a similar experience this month, where I explicitly gave them the Marriott Visa at check-in and told the front desk that last time my AMEX on the profile was charged and that I wanted the Marriott Visa charged. On the day of check-out, the automatic bill was slipped under the door, again with no CC information. This time I walked down to the front desk to verify that the Marriott Visa is being charged. The front desk indicated that there was only the AMEX on file... expressed my displeasure and handed over and asked again that my Visa be charged as this is the second time it has happened.

I asked the front desk if I could switch the charges of my previous stay to the Marriott Visa, and she spent five minutes on the computer to finally print out the previous bill indicating that I paid with an AMEX and said "show that to Marriott Rewards". Sensing that she did not understand my request and not wanting to be late for my flight, I left.

My question: How can I get the first stay switched from AMEX to a Marriott Visa?

What's your reason for having the AMEX listed on your Marriott profile instead of the Visa?

My Marriott Visa expired before I recieved my replacement so I put my other card on the profile. As I have never had a problem with switching cards at check-in and have to present a CC anyway, I did not switch my profile for the past few months.

The original question stands - what to do when the hotel charges the wrong card?

It would seem to me that your first step should be to remove the AMEX from your MR account and add your MR Visa if that is how you are planning to pay for the stay.

That said, you'll have to contact the property in question, have them refund the stay and charge it to your Visa. A void is likely out of the question due to the time that has elapsed. I would not expect the property to be very forthcoming, especially if they have not swiped the card. If you were able to do it in person, that would smooth the path, I imagine.

To help get the property's attention, you might think about contacting AMEX and challenge the charge telling them exactly what happened. Also, contact VISA and ask if they can see the swipe of the card at checkin. If so, you then have proof the property has messed up (not that your word should be questioned). And finally contact Marriott Customer Care (not Marriott Rewards) and explain the situation and ask them to contact the property for your desired resolution.

A credit and recharge sounds real simple, but I find front desk people will tell you whatever they can to move you along. I was standing in a room with two queen beds and the FD clerk was telling me that room was a king.

Good luck getting this resolved.

Whew, sure seems like a lot of work to go through for a meager payoff.

You might just have to chalk this up to bad luck. It's a bummer, but such things can happen when dealing with humans. And computers. All we can do is try to arrange things (profile, etc) so that there is a minimum risk of complications.

Thanks for alerting us to the potential problem, though!

Call the hotel and speak to bookkeeping. Shouldn't be a problem.

I've had this happen before. I have a Mastercard on profile, which is fine for holding ressies. But at times due to Marriott promos I want to pay w/ Visa card, so give them the Visa card to be swiped & expect that to be used at checkout.

First time I discovered it was a problem was when I went to check out at an int'l property & they told me the Visa card had been declined - even though it had gone through at check-in & had plenty of credit available on it. We went 'round & 'round on it, and I called back to the US (at $1/minute!) to the credit card company whose cust service was still open thank goodness, who said they didn't even seen an attempt by Marriott to put the charge through. I put Marriott FD on the line & the credit card company told them there was plenty of credit. It wasn't until I heard the FD repeating the card # to the cc co, that I realized they were repeating the Mastercard # - and that card had been cancelled/replaced due to a security breach of the cc. Once I realized that, I gave them the Visa again. But it cost me time & $$ (cab charged me more for waiting) & was quite irritating in that I gave them the Visa at check-in & told them I specifically wanted that charged - and they auto-defaulted to the card on the ressie. It happened a couple more times, but not recently.

Good luck to the OP! Cheers.

Make sure at check in that they aren't swiping your card and attaching it to an incidental charges section. Main CC# gets hits for room n' tax and all charges roll off to the newly swiped card. To be sure everything is in order ask them print out your room profile/account... it will list which cards are on file and which one is being charged, it's on the bottom the bill.

Call the hotel and ask to speak to accounting or a manager. Don't ask a desk agent to do the reversal - often they aren't trained on how to do this. When I worked for Marriott (as an assistant manager) only 1 of my desk agents was trained on how to do a reversal of a card charge. It was easier for me to do it myself and know it was done properly. I would try the property before I'd go through Customer Care etc.