"blank"-signing Credit-cards when checking-in at Hotels
 

At check-in many hotels aks to presigne a blank-credit-card-"paper".

And practically always I do so (and till now I didn't have bad experiences I have to admit).

But I know that I shouldn't. (Even more as my European Credits Cards don't allow officially to cancel charges the next 30 days as the US-cards do).

And may be I should also automatically know (it is somehow embarrassing for me, I am soooo shy, to ask the hotel-employee) how much they "reserve" as approval-amount from the credit-card-company, as some credit-cards have a limit.

Any body who handles this situation better, and in a more secure way, than I do?

Rudi, if you can ask ahead of time what this
blank paper is for... maybe the hotel can clarify and avoid any "surprise" charges.

And here's another tip: Always make sure to
ask the desk person what rate you are being
charged at. When I went to a friend's wedding in Albany, NY last month... I had to
prepay and precharge on my AMEX. But I got
a surprise when I checked in and the desk
person wrote a rate LOWER than the original
one. The hotel's crediting me for the balance.

I don't like signing little pieces of paper
I don't know about. You never know what you
can get charged for. The bills under the
door in the early hours of the morning before
checkout help. CATMAN

I've had problems where I've been staying in two or more hotels on the same trip in the states.

The hotels block off credit at check in, and then charge my credit card on check out. However, the blocked off credit is not released until several days has elapsed (sometimes upto 14 days!!). This means that you can have the charge for the hotel plus the blocked off credit appearing against your card at the same time. Do this at a couple of hotels in the same week, and it is very easy to exceed your credit limit.

This may be just a quirk of UK personel credit cards which don't have the limitless lines of credit like a company card.

This whole situation can lead to embarrassing times! From what I've learned:

1. "Most" hotels charge block your anticipated charges (# of nites X rate + taxes) PLUS 25% of that total.

2. One way to eliminate your card being charged twice -- ask the desk clerk to call in the credit (it will get posted immediately -- usually!) or... call it in yourself. Our credit card companies (US ones) look at the record, see the two charges and put some sort of code into the system to put the "block" charge back into available credit.

And Tom T -- do a couple of hotels in a week and a couple of car rentals (they tend to do the same "block" procedure) and YES! it's easy to blow the credit limit!

I always refuse to sign a blank credit card form. I have never been questioned and have just said "that I prefer to sign it upon departure". I realize that the old "signature on file" trick can always be invoked, but one stands a better chance of getting the credit card company to do something if you never signed it.

I think I will, from now on, follow jaws 43.

I've never had a problem with unknown charges or the like showing up except for one time when I was staying at a Hyatt they charged me for a free room and I didn't find out until I got my credit card bill, but the hotel quickly fixed that problem.

The one problem I used to have with my AMEX green card is that when I was traveling a lot and charging a lot in different states (car trips) they would start rejecting my credit card and I would have to call customer service and let them know my card wasn't stolen, etc., and the problem would go away ... but it was still a pain.

Now that I have a Platinum personal and green corporate card I don't have that problem anymore.

First, at the time of reservation, I think hotel & car rental agencies should be required to disclose how much of a "hold" they are going to request. I was in Europe at a National/Inter-rent counter and the agent told me that unless I had room for a 4000 Guilder (about $2700 at the time) hold, I would be required to purchase the full insurance - this is illegal in the U.S. !!!

CC card companies should come up with an alternative to the blank slip, and I don't think they should allow merchants to entice the customer into signing a blank slip. Perhaps a "hold" charge that would be filled in with a specific amount to hold and then be released after the corresponding charge was made.

Another problem is when a hotel or car rental agency wishes to make a charge on a blank slip even though the customer does not agree with the charge. I guess they can...because a merchant has a right to make to recover damages by withholding a deposit; however, I believe that some merchants illegally withhold deposits. I am not sure what consumer law says about improper withholding of deposits for a hotel or car rental, but, for instance, in the State of Georgia, when a landlord improperly withholds a deposit, they must reimburse the leasee at 3 times the amount that was improperly withheld. I would think that similar damages could be recovered from a hotel or car rental agency.

I thought, that you in the US had a 30 day period (after the card has been charged) to refuse and than the hotel/car-rental-company etc had to proof "the contrary".

Unfortunately this is not the legal situation in Switzerland - but still, when I had, 2 years ago, a double charge of a Las Vegas Hotel, I phoned Diners Club Switzerland, they did immediate credit me, and 1 month later they reported, that the matter hase been settled with the hotel.

But nevertheless I decided yesterday, that I will NOT presigne without amount anymore.

Rudi ~ Not to rub it in, but I think we get even more than thirty days here in the US. I've never had a problem getting a charge rescinded from any credit card (various Master Cards and AMEX's), but I don't recall the exact timing and it's never been an issue.

Jaws43, I think I'll follow you advise too.

It's only been a few times that the hotels
made me sign a blank piece of paper. But I
questioned them so much I think that got around and they don't bother me with those
details anymore. CATMAN

Beckles & Rudi - Again, not to rub it in, but most of our credit card companies recognize that you don't know a charge has been posted to your account until you get the bill. That can be as much as almost 60 days after your visit (if there ever was one) to the vendor. After you get the bill, you generally have almost 30 days to question it. When you question it, you get an immediate "temporary" credit, and the vendor gets 60 days to justify the charge. You could have from one to six months before actually being pushed to pay. If, of course, the vendor provides a signed charge slip to support the charge, you will simply have delayed payment for a month or two. The moral, which you have apparently recognized, is "Never sign a legal document in blank." And remember that the charge slip is a legal document.