yandosan

So, I spent a couple nights in Ixtapa. Got a good deal on Expedia, about 125 dollars for two nights at one of the big hotels called Krystal. I go to check out 5 days ago and the lady says there's a billing problem and has me talk to some guy. He says the original clerk put 8200 pesos as the bill instead of 2200. So I get a receipt that says I have 6000 pesos coming my way. Seems like a simple fix. The guy gave me his email address and phone number and seemed apologetic...

I expected the original bill that was being processed (8200 pesos) by my bank to be amended when they found the error but it went through. No refund has appeared. I emailed the hotel receptionist, the man who told me about the error but the email he gave me led to "Return to sender, address unknown" That is, my email bounced back. Expedia called him and no one picks up the phone at the number he gave. I am starting to get a bad feeling about this, even though it is a big hotel with a decent reputation. Expedia said they were willing to call and ask questions but couldn't do much more since the bill was paid at the hotel. Any advice would be appreciated.

Bogwoppit

If you have proof you were overcharged, both from Expedia and the hotel, simply do a charge back through your credit card.

PointsPanda

Agreed ^^^ Also one thing to know about Mexico is unlike the US where its super easy for people to do partial or even full creidt card refunds on the spot, usually in Mexico the credit card merchants do not allow refunds, even if your credit card does. The way this is handled is they give you cash or bank transfer as money back. It's possible (though not certain) may not have been fraud, but simply a cultural misunderstanding where they thought they were going to get your bank details or give you cash at a later time and you simply assumed it was going to be 6000 pesos back to your card.

Either way if you file a chargeback the chance of them fighting it or even knowing how to respond back is virtually zero. With the exception of Mexican airlines if you file a chargeback in Mexico you will most likely win by default.

yandosan

Just an update...I got my 6000 pesos back in October but I found out recently the bank took back the money and the documentation provided was the original 8720 peso overcharge I signed amid promises of 6000 refund and got the email address of hotel clerk Ignacio Marroquin...which turned out to be a bogus email. Now Expedia is calling the hotel but they are not picking up the phone. What a shady hotel. At this point It looks more like fraud than 'cultural misunderstanding .'

Often1

Where is your card issuer (bank) located? I would not drop it at all.

Put together a clear & concise summary (1-2 lines for each item) with each item backed up by a document, which points out that you are due the money and that the email the bank has relied on is a fraud. Simply report the facts. No conclusions.

yandosan

Thanks for the advice.I will give Expedia a couple more days and if the hotel continues to not answer the phone I will explain to Bank of America that the hotel from the start admitted fault and provide the hotel printout of the discrepancy of 6000 pesos. Interestingly that is now 400 bucks rather than Sept ( 274 bucks)so looks like the hotel might have *lost* money by trying to take advantage of me as the peso strengthens.

JDiver

MXN $6,000 appears to be USD $301.10 today.

yandosan

I just called the bank and they admitted maybe their decision did not consider all relevant documents. Part of the problem is that the $ sign is used for both dollars and pesos and they didn't get the significance of the 6000 pesos marked as $ until I ran them through the storyline. But they are reopening the claim...should be pretty straightforward given that the hotel admitted error on day one.