Radisson JFK: booked room with points but got also charged on CC
 

I booked an award night (points only) in Radisson JFK airport, but now I see a 70$ charge on the credit card, for that stay. I never saw any reference to money charges in the booking. Did I miss something?

Has the stay already happened?

Yes, it was on 25 Oct. I found the confirmation e-mail I had when I booked the room:

0.00 Plus 44,000 Gold Points Tax included for 1 night

Estimated Fees*: 0.00 USD
Estimated Taxes*: 0.00 USD
Estimated Total Price*: 0.00 USD
Redemption Points: 44,000 total Gold Points

I really noticed only now this sort of disclaimer after the * mark

*The subtotal above is an estimate only and does not represent the full amount for your stay. Additional charges, taxes, and fees may apply. The actual total will be provided to you at check-out upon request.

Does that means that a free night isn't really free and that they can charge you, also without telling for what amount?

Error.

Call Club Carlson to fix. If no help, dispute with credit card company.

Thanks, I will surely contact the Club Carlson

OP: Did you contact CC? What did they say?

Club Carlson replied to my e-mail telling me that they forwarded the matter to the hotel... it's been 5 days now, and nothing followed.
I will contact the hotel by myself at this point. And the Credit Card company.

Not very happy about the Club response, however.

Let them keep the $70, but get the points back. :)

Still no reply or follow up.
After this I doubt I will use any Radisson in the future. Pity, because they were convenient...

Are you sure this isn't an errant incidental charge and not something relating to the room/tax portion of an awards stay?

Although it might be more convenient, contacting Club Carlson to question the legitimacy of a charge at a hotel is not the quickest path to resolution. Unless there has been a radical change in policy from when I worked for Radisson, CC representatives do not have unfettered access to the property management systems of individual hotels.

Honestly, the easiest way to resolve a billing question is by talking directly to a person that can access the transaction. In this case, that's the hotel.

Also, I'm not sure that I'd consider 5 days to be that long. It takes time for someone at CC to read your complaint and send it to the hotel. Then, the hotel has to have time to research and respond. Remember, just because hotels are open 24/7 doesn't mean that all departments are always open. Accounting would traditionally be closed weekends. Once the hotel responds, it takes time for a CC representative to read and evaluate the response before they can contact you. If clarification is needed, it could take another day to get an answer.

Anyway, that's just the point-of-view from someone that worked for the brand.

At check out they told no charge was made on the credit card.

This is my first redemption ever, I have no experience in how it works or what to expect about it, and I had no communications that there would be also cash to pay for an award stay... moreover 70 usd tax over a stay that normally booked would have costed 150?

To me, 7 days for any kind of response it's a lot. A simple "we are looking into it" doesn't take so much time.

Occasionally, a hotel will post a charge after a guest has checked out. Things like mini-bar charges, restaurant charges, and fees for room damages all can happen after a guest leaves.

I'm fairly certain that's what happened here. People make mistakes, so it's possible that the charge was supposed to be for someone else.

I do agree that 5-7 days is not good. I only mentioned the procedure to highlight the fact that Club Carlson really can't help much. They have to wait for the hotel to respond. If it's any consolation, if a hotel doesn't respond within a certain time frame, they are penalized.

Why on earth would anybody call anyplace other than the property itself during regular business hours? As OP has found out, all Club Carlson can do is forward his question to the property. Likely, a call to the property will resolve this. If not, OP can represent that he tried to resolve it and dispute the charge with his CC issuer.

Don't make this more than it is.

I've also seen where the property bills the customer for the points stay, instead of corporate. I'd certainly do as others have suggested, and call the property on Monday.

As I said I am inexperienced in this kind of things. I booked via Carlson Club, and the first answer received here was to contact the Club, so I did it. Then I also e-mailed the property... with no response, however.

I am not native English speaker and I have problems using the phone (I can't hear clearly), so my first way of communication is e-mail.

:)