Marriott Forgot to Charge Me
 

I stay at the same Marriott weekly for business. One of the managers informed me that one of the front desk agents messed up my billing and forgot to charge my credit card for a stay over 3 months ago in early October. The manager then informed me that they were going to charge me for the hotel stay. I told the manager that my company will not reimburse me for the charges because my company has a policy that charges more than 3 months prior are unexpensable. The manager said she was "sorry that it would have to come out of my own pocket"

Am I wrong for expecting some type of sympathy? I have stayed 150 nights at this same property last year.

On a side note...just yesterday, I did not have any dollar bills for daily hotel tip so I left a $20 bill with a post-it note attached to it which said "Please take $3 and leave the change :)". Maybe this is entirely my fault for being too trusting, but is that acceptable maid service? Both the $20 and post-it note were missing.

You should ask for proof that they did not charge you on October. If indeed they did not charge you for it, they should just run it as a new charge instead of a 3+ month old one so you should be able to expense that.

Also you should talk to your company and if it was a corporate rate have your corporate travel person talk to Marriott as that is unacceptable that you end up paying for business travel.

Can it be disputed with the credit card company? There has to be a timeframe (I think) where a merchant can bill the consumer... otherwise, what if they notice a year later?

What would of happened if you weren't a frequent customer? Charge a credit card three months later without notice? That would never fly. They went well past any acceptable time period to fix their mistake (a few hours? A day or two?) and now it's theirs to live with. They are playing a very bad game here, especially with someone who stays at the hotel as much as you do. Threaten to challenge any charge with your credit and company and worst case switch hotels completely for future stays.

1. You will not be submitting a 3+ month charge for reimbursement, you will be submitting a new one. The "posting date" on your CC will show that should someone challenge you. Pretty basic accounting that you can't submit for reimbursement what hasn't been charged to you.

2. Disputing a CC charge for a legitimately owed debt is a big no-no. The property knows that. And, it's likely that the Manager could actually care less if the dispute is sustained. It's easier to explain than explaining why. And, the CC dispute isn't the end of it. Marriott will simply send the invoice of to a collection agency. That can be unpleasant and have long-term bad consequences.

3. If you ever stay at this property again, you have made yourself a doormat. Don't.

#1 please name the property
#2 I will not be staying there if I can avoid it (if I were you and as me if you answer #1)

I would take this up with both the property's GM and Marriott. Your stay history with them for the past year should be enough of a reason for them to make you happy.
If not you can always take your business elsewhere (or at least tell them you will).

As far as reimbursement - that can easily be fixed with a date adjustment on the folio.

Can't really feel sorry for the $20 "tip" - good faith would have expected the housekeeping staff to return the change but you can't really rely on that. Maybe you'll see $17 in change in the near future who knows.

Follow-Up
 

#1: First off, thank you to everyone who responded to my post. You guys (or girls) or great, and this site is a great community. I hope to be a long-standing member and contribute just like you have for me.

#2: I took a lot of the suggestions mentioned in your posts. I had a talk with the GM about the two incidents. I was informed that I could either receive a $100 credit or points for the inconvenience of this

#3: The hotel is the Tampa Marriott Airport. However, I would not discourage people from visiting this hotel due to my story. Other than these two mishaps, I could not be happier with the customer service at the property. Everyone who works there is enthusiastic and goes out of their way to make sure you have a pleasant experience (unless of course, I guess if its related to a financial matter). But to give you an example, I used to fly with a cooler of home-cooked meals each week....and I stored them in a fridge which was broken (the power shut randomly). All of my food went bad, and I let the front desk know (they just said "sorry"), but I told the GM, and he credited me a free suite in Philadelphia that weekend for my inconvenience and loss.

#4: I contacted my company and they informed me that I would be able to expense the charges, as long as the hotel provides a new invoice statement - as many of you have mentioned.

#5: Question: How many points do you think is equivalent to a $100 credit?

Marriott points are generally valued at 1 cent apiece, so 10,000 points is roughly equivalent to $100.

Bruce

I stayed at the Dallas Marriott City center in July 2013. I was never charged and did not realize it until a $467 charge showed up on my December 2013 bill.

I had no idea what it was (assumed the charge came through at time of stay and pretty much forgot about it) and filed a dispute with AMEX.

My dispute was denied and the $467 returned to the balance after a temporary credit was issued. AMEX provided all the proof from Marriott (charge slips, hotel receipt, etc.).

So we know 5 months still works.

Did you have a bill when you checked out of the hotel? If so why didn't you expense the stay with just the bill or does your company require actual proof the credit card was charged (my experience at 3 different companies is this is not necessary)?

I submit reports weekly and have always just used the hotel bill.

An expense report would be done regardless if it were me.

I wonder what would have happened if the OP had cancelled that card (after stay before charge occurred) and wasn't a frequent guest anymore. Or even if they were still a frequent guest...

Does everyone have that open an expense account that they do not know $500 has not been charged for expenses?

Apparently at least one Marriott hotel does, so it doesn't seem any more unreasonable for a customer to as well.

OP: I am a little confused. Did you get a folio during the original stay? You mention its your credit card.

If I am reading this right (and I may not be), you had a stay…received all proper paper work….yet the property ultimately did not post the charge to your CC.

The way my expenses work, I would have submitted that stay to our expense system and been reimbursed. My CC is charged and I used the reimbursement to pay the stay. SO, if I were in your shoes, I would have already been reimbursed for a stay I wasn't charged. Clearly owing the property the $$$.

Or do you just submit your CC bill to be paid? Without the hotel charge, you weren't reimbursed.