I'll consider this advice; but I'm surprised the members here don't see the absurdity of what the manager did. And I'm also wondering whether it's legal to sell someone's card future stay, unauthorized. If he wanted to sell me stay at their rate (40% higher than the rate I purchased from Roomer two week prior), wouldn't he have to offer it to me?

I'm pretty sure that the reservation was lost and not completely their fault as it was done via another party so..


They went ahead and gave another reserved room to you that probably hasn't been paid yet and, is more than the flat 500 you prepaid for.

That I assumed since they crossed out her name and placed yours.

When the bill came, since hotel has a lot of folks working in it, it was probably not explained to the person checking you out that while the reservation was under ms x name, that it really is for yours, which couldn't be found at that time and is prepaid.

Did they not refund you in a timely manner?

I don't see why there's a compliant or something illegal for what to me, as an outsider sees, misunderstanding

for clearer picture: this is Westgate property, where half of the timeshare owners do not consume their week themselves. They habitually assign their week to some other name - so the managers and accounting deal with these situations daily. To compound this aspect: I bought from a Roomer seller, whose name is unknown to me. But Roomer's email is very clear: confirmed $500.00 all fully pre-paid for 2bdr suite at this location April 5-10, and I don't need to do any verification. Hotel is expecting me.

What seems to have happened: that "half-hour later" I was awarded Ms.X's suite mistakenly; or at least check-in people believed they could handle it this way. Later in the day Ms.X showed up, they give her another suite and do not (hopefully for her) charge her. But manager (or accounting) now can't tie any receivable to my suite, and uses my card info on file to sell me next 5 days at Ms.X's rate. How I'm never told anything, despite them having my cell and despite loaning my beautiful daughter basketball against my Driver License to keep every day - is beyond my comprehension. My bank account is depleted by 240% without any suspicion - and if I didn't ask for printout when told I'm all checked out, I would never know

None of which, btw, forgives an unauthorized sale to my MasterCard. I don't understand why anyone here has any doubt about it. At the time of secretly charging my card their rack rate for the next 5 days of stay, no action of mine has caused the hotel any damage whatsoever. It seems the manager said to himself: screw him, he's not our client, he's Roomer client, just screw him

how on earth do you expect westgate to:

1) know what roomer seller is?
2) know that your receipt is real?

Anyone can go into MSWord and make a "receipt" - at the end of the day they didn't have your reservation or your deposit; thus, for all they knew there was no payment. you had a credit card on file and they charged that.

yes, they should have contacted you and said there's an issue with the reservation. that's poor customer service. how is charging you for that any different than anyone else who showed up that day and said "Hi, I'd like a room - here's my card" your real issue though is with the company you booked with - they're the ones who screwed up much more than the hotel.

totally wrong, thelark: Westgate was the one to give me the keys on their own volition. With a smile, just asking my card "for incidentals". If later in the day they discovered that they gave me wrong suite, and that I may be "unpaid for" despite the stapled confirmation - they should have:
1. Called Roomer to sort it out
2. Called me to explain their predicament
3. Give me an hour to sort it out with Roomer, or ask me to vacate

Under no circumstances should they have secretly sell to my MasterCard's number (collected "for incidentals") their rack rate for the next 5 days - especially facing the evidence that Roomer has already collected $500 from me. Are you all out of your minds?

Apparently, nothing anyone says will change your mind, but here goes.

Basically any registration card you say at any hotel in the world will have a clause stating you are responsible for the bill. This would give the hotel the authorization (even without telling you, which was bad) to charge your card for any room costs, damages, incidentals, etc.

You got your money back in not a prolonged amount of time.

You can still write in, but I wouldn't expect much.

Clearly you need to hire a consumer protection lawyer -- keep one on retainer, optimally -- because you have asked (in multiple threads) the same question over and over again: "But how can selling FUTURE stay without authorization (only by virtue of knowing my CC information) be legal?"

We are strangers on the internet. We think we know a lot, but don't necessarily. ASK A LAWYER. You are clearly not finding the answers to your question here on FT, and simply asking it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again doesn't mean you're going to get the answer that you want to hear. Maybe you will value the advice more if you have to pay an expert for it.

You likely haven't read this topic. There was no bill to be "responsible" for, when the manager charged a card 5 days into the future. The manager could've asked to vacate - and no bill.

This one is even better: opting for the above clatter to convince a member to seize asking questions on the forum. Btw, how convinced are you that there are no lawyers here? And why does one need to necessarily be a lawyer to possess proper knowledge on one isolated point? I was a party pro se in probably a dozen cases - and I only recall one loss (not a win, to be precise). Not the worst of records - by simply acting correctly and exercising common sense.

Yes, it's very strange indeed that on the forum of the consumers - we suddenly get preponderance of responses that see nothing wrong with a business manager's action of bluntly unauthorized CC charges. I was just reminded of an instance ten years ago, when I found a charge on Citi debit card for a hotel nite in Orlando, while I was home in NY. Bank put money back into my account, and their investigation showed that the card was swiped at that hotel - but card never left my wallet in NY! Bank's explanation was simple: they've made an actual plastic copy. Who would have thought...How much do actions of this hotel manager differ? Oh yes, he didn't have to make a plastic copy. He just copied the number from the file - and sold my card future stay at rack rate without authorization. Not considering for a minute the evidence in the same file that guest was already fully charged for the same future days by a travel agency known to them. Is Florida a banana republic? A hotel manager (or accountant) knowingly depletes guest's bank account by 240% prior to stay - and acts like nothing occurred. And the posts here tell me to count my blessings that hotel replenished this totally illegal charge merely two weeks hence. I be damned

I have read the topic.

The hotel charged your DEBIT card for a 5 night stay on the 1st night.

Charging debit cards upfront is pretty normal practice for hotels and most every other business I've ever seen or heard about.

With a debit card, it makes no sense to let you stay in a room for 5 nights, then when the hotel tries to charge at checkout, they find out you've blown all your money on souvenirs and other things and have no money left in your account to pay the hotel.

OP,

"There is no tort because you have been made whole."

By the way, I am not a lawyer, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.;)

^ Aaaaand, end scene. :D

Dear jabbered, your point is most prescient. Westgate manager exercised business sense to pre-sell me 5 day stay at rack rate (where 5 day stay was already pre-sold to me by OTA they have relationship with), without anyone's suspicion. That made business sense, because I might have owned an account that was not necessarily infinite! That was kinda (pleading with trepidation) my consumer point: how can a responsible US business manager covertly deplete guest's bank account by 240%? How many other commitments of that account might have been placed in jeopardy by his blatantly unscrupulous act: "for the sake of awarding guest the last remaining accommodation in the city, not be forced to sleep in the streets!"

Edit: meets with approval of Doc Savage's himself

I'm thinking the reservation went lost and they went looking and found hers and thought it was a mistake and really his. I do agree it probably wasn't already paid so they collected for it, not realizing there was anything wrong.