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.

Sorry…I guess my post basically asked the same questions.

You don't hgave to give notice to charge a credit card for a legitimate purpose or debt.

I have had credit card charges take months to reach me (often to do with overseas purchases).

As long as they charge the card prior to the statute of limitations in your area, they are OK.

Personally, I would have paid it.... You incurred the expense... it is not the hotel's fault that your company has a certain reimbursement policy.

I assume you have the folio... and never submitted it for reimbursement? Did you not wonder why you still had it? or no charge had hit your card?

Mistakes happen... but this is a legitimate charge.

In regards to your $20 issue... I will say it... do not leave money that you do not want to be taken!

Did you write it in Spanish? If not, that is your problem ;)

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. The poor maid might have been unable to read the note! Or she just thought it was just a thank you of some sort and didn't really read it at all.

Bruce

Really? I have submitted charges to my company over 6 months late. I'm sure you can push it through. Probably the easiest way to deal with it.

No need to apologize and glad I wasn't the only one who asked.

Curious for the answer and have never heard of anyone using anything other than the folio for expense purposes. Makes no sense to me the original poster would not have expensed the stay right after it was over.

Hi Everyone,

Here's a quick follow-up....

There was no folio created. There was no charge on my credit card. I review both of these to determine which expenses to submit - but there was neither. I know that if I contacted my Company's finance department, they would likely allow the expense to be submitted given the circumstances (though they are typically fairly stringent about the policy, especially when its for a previous fiscal year...I have been declined before for parking fees)

I did not intend to come off as a "complainer" by posting this thread. I knew the reimbursement would occur eventually - but I posted this thread more to discuss if this is a standard policy...I was more shocked about how I was approached with this matter, especially with being a frequent customer to the same property. Perhaps I am just being a complainer though after all :)

As for the hotel tip....I fully understood the risk of having the maid take the full $20, but I would have rather accepted that risk than not tipped at all (I was in a hurry for a business meeting). I just thought it was strange to have a policy where maids can take more than say, $10 from a guest who has not checked out yet.

I recall having a couple of different charges show up way late. 9 months late, from a visit to the Clinton Presidential Library, entrance fee. And a Disney location, not sure if US or International. 6 months later.

Did you notice 3 months ago that they did not bill you?

I've had this happen, but it was at a Hilton.
After talking with the GM on site, it is found when they do there financial audits.

And, I expense through Concur with automatic hotel, air and rental receipt import, so if the charge and receipt don't get imported, I don't process it.

That's the part I was wondering. If someone is doing expense reports on a regular basis, you'd think they'd notice if the hotel bill hadn't come through, especially if they have other expenses for that week. Did the OP process the other expenses w/o the hotel bill? I might have called the property to say hey I need the folio (at least) so I can submit my expense report. And of course to make sure that the points for the stay credited properly ;)

Cheers.

I put all expenses on my corp card and that links to the expense system. We are required to use the corp card for all hotel, air and rental car expenses. The expense reimbursment goes straight back to the card and not to me.

Therefore, I cannot expense a hotel item unless the expense hits the card.

An old expense is reimbursable but you may need to get approvals from seveal levels up. That is a pain so I would ask for the 10K in points.

But wouldn't you notice that it hadn't hit the card or do you just assume it did? Wouldn't you notice no points/stay listed when you checked your Marriott account & want to get them?

Cheers.

I could see what happened to the OP happening to me. I'd be more likely to notice the points not posting than the missing credit card charge. I'm not sitting with a pile of paper hotel folios; I'm pulling online folios when there is a hotel charge on my AmEx card.

Every business charge goes on my credit card. The company automatically pays the card. The charges pop up in an accounting system. We really more or less approve the charges as opposed to having to do old fashion expense reports like I did back in the day at a previous employer. The only thing receipts are needed for are hotel stays, but when one pops up in the expense system, I pull it up online. If the hotel charge didn't show in the system, I wouldn't pull it up online, so I'd never notice it was missing.

Me 3.

It's the difference between those that tally expenses through a system where you make sure expenses are reimbursed versus a system where you make sure the charges on the card are correct.

We have a system where the AmEx charges are directly imported in our company's expense system. Since we are required to use the corporate card, everthing should show up in the expense system.

There is a way to enter out of pocket expenses (such as a $20 cash maid tip) as well as expenses which haven't cleared your card yet (and then a separate code saying already reimbursed when they eventually do clear). However, ours is set up such that I cannot use the "haven't cleared your card" option for flight tickets (which includes change fees). It is not too much of a stretch to see another corporation applying that for hotel bills too, another large dollar item that might be misused or mischarged.

During corporate ethics training a few years ago, I actually asked what we were supposed to do if a charge never made it through. We were told that ethical thing to do is to let the vendor know and have it billed. So if a corporate accounting department doesn't accept a billing 3 months old, told them it is the ethical thing to do in paying it and reimbursing you.

I believe credit card network rules do not allow the hotel to charge your card months after a transaction occurred. You'll find 1171 pages of VISA rules at http://usa.visa.com/download/merchan...tober-2013.pdf . Worth a look!

Got it. Back when I worked in corporate most of the expense stuff was done the old-fashioned way. Most of the time we used our own cards & were reimbursed. One F50 I worked for switched to corp cards - the problem w/ that is that they didn't pay the bills on time (which I discovered when I went to check into a hotel & the corp card was declined :p :D). Of course at this point they might be on the automated system you describe.

Cheers.

I am confused... you never got a folio/bill for the time you were in the hotel?

Did you not ask for something at the time?

Also, I sincerely doubt that a hotel puts a limit on the dollar amount that a maid can accept from a guest. That just seems silly.

While I cannot comment on the OP's specific situation, I have learned my lesson on this one. There were a couple times where, for whatever reason, the folio wasn't slipped under the door. No big deal. The folio was always emailed a couple days later.

But then....

I got a folio via email where I was charged for a second night. The hotel thought I was still there. While they were good about reversing the charge for the second night, it was really my fault. Now, if I don't have a folio slipped under the door, I stop at the front desk to make sure they dont think I'm staying an additional night.

With that stated, I slip the folios in my bag and put them in a drawer when I get home, never to look at them again. Every couple months or so, I throw away the old ones. Having them available online is awesome, and sometimes I charge something to the room in the morning which would not be on the one slipped under the door.

I always, always make a point to tell the front desk when I am vacating the room. First of all, it avoids being charged for another night because they think I'm still there. Secondly, it allows housekeeping to clean the room immediately, making it available for early check-ins (which I appreciate, so why not return the favor?).

Bruce

Marriott Forgot to Charge Me
 

I would have probably noticed no receipt under the door on my last night. I normally just toss them in the trash and once a month or so I go through my hotel stays from my apps and put my expenses together. If it didn't pop up on the app and it was a busy month I could pass right through it. Doubtful but possible.