Booked, cancelled, got charged!
 

Have this ever happened to you?

I booked a three-day stay at a Marriott on Long Island and on the day of arrival, before cut out time 18:00, canceled it. Got a cancellation number and thought everything was fine.

Some days later I got a “Thank you for staying” email with a folio of three days with a charge of about $500. The stay also shows up under my Account Activity as well as on my credit card.

I just replied back to the email found in the efolio email with the Elite Member email on CC. So far, no replies. But is this a glitch or is this scary? Could they have checked in another person on my canceled reservation and had this person charge my card?

Call the hotel direct and ask for the accounting/billing department.

I haven't had that happen to me...yet. :eek:

I wouldn't have thought that someone would be able to use your reservation as the hotel should have asked for an imprint of the CC when that person checked-in. But even as a no-show, I would think your CC would only be charged for 1 night, not all three (and my understanding is even though you would be charged, you wouldn't get night credit for the stay.) Does the $500 match what you would have been charged for staying all three nights (i.e. a nightly rate of about $125 to $150 plus taxes/fees?) Or is the $500 closer to a single night cost?

I would suggest getting on the phone and calling the hotel directly and actually talk to the GM about this rather than just using email.

Too late for that. I sent the emails as stated above already and think that probably will solve it.

Anyhow, I don't mind them getting haunted by Marriott internals and explain to them (and me) how this could have happened, as well as I hope it will do some good so that it doesn't happened again to anyone of us.

Yes, that puzzled me to. It would have been logical with a one night penalty stay for a no show (if I didn't cancel before 6PM.) However, the efolio breaks it down with all the charges (room+tax) per day and it's quite obvious a 3 day stay. *grrr*

This HAS happened to me, but not for a CX reservation.

I was staying at a SHS and another person with the same first name and a similar (two letters transposed) last name was checked in with my res (and credit card!). The front desk spotted the error when I checked in and the look of panic on their faces told that they had screwed up big time. They never fixed it and I was billed for both stays. I ended up successfully disputing the other charge with Visa - so the hotel ended up having to pay a chargeback penalty.

Just got an email from Elite Member stating that they have forwarded my message to their Hotel Customer Service specialists for research and assistance.

Let's see what happens and how fast they are.

I have had this happen in the past. Usually, I call either the accounting department of the hotel or Marriott's customer care line to get my money back. A variation of this problem is when I am charged for a reward stay after using points to pay for the stay. This has happened twice to me, and I need to fix a recent stay where I was charged for it.

Once got charged for a stay at Marriott Minneapolis City Center when I had no reservation or stay. The explanation I got was that somehow somebody used my Marriott Rewards number to check-in, stayed at the property, then left without checking out. The property told me that since I had previously stayed at the hotel, they charged the stay to my credit card number, apparently on file or contained in my Marriott Rewards information. Their explanation leaves something to be desired. Of course, I received a credit for the charge.

Not saying this is the reason, but it may be:

While it is true that usually cancellation by 1800 on day of arrival is without charge, I have seen instances where the rate rules require cancellation 7 or even (in one case today) 21 days in advance if it is to be without charge. And the rate rules sometimes also state that if you don't cancel by the deadline, you'll be charged not just one night, but for all nights of the reservation.

Could this have happened in your case? You may want to check your printed reservation for the rate rules.

This happened to a colleague. He called the hotel and got the charges reversed.

Nope, it clearly states free cancellation before 18:00 local hotel time day of check-in.

unfortunately at times the various computer systems hiccup...I believe that is what occurred here, the hotel will be able to quickly assist in correcting this

Time flies...

... But I just got an mail from Marriott Business Services (Customer Service) which has investigated this. They say that the hotel claims that I indeed was there on that day and checked-in. :mad:

This leads me to this line in my OP: "But is this a glitch or is this scary? Could they have checked in another person on my canceled reservation and had this person charge my card?"

Seems that the hotel let somebody check-in on my canceled reservation that day, or? Later this afternoon I'm going to dispute that charge on my credit card. This is outrageous!!!

When this happened to me, as posted above, I called the hotel directly. Their first response to me was that their records showed I checked-in and stayed. I asked them to specify what records they were talking about. I asked them if they had anything with my signature. After a search, they had absolutely nothing.

If I were you, I would call the property, ask to speak to bookkeeping, and discuss with them. Ask them what records they have to support their claim that you checked-in and stayed. Since you never checked-in, they will haved absolutely nothing. In my situation, I have no doubt that somebody on the hotel's staff helped a friend to a room, at my expense. Or it could be simple (or grand) incompetence. It ended-up with the hotel providing a credit for the charge, and profuse apologies. I'm guessing you will get the same.

Finally, if Marriott business services left it as "the hotel claims that I indeed was there on that day and checked-in", without inquiring further (like to ask what records the hotel had to support its claim), shame on them.