Hotel have taken all my spending money ...ridiculous?

[whatshardknock]

I'll currently at a hotel in London (Piccadilly circus )
I'm here for 4 nights (checked in yesterday)
I'm meeting friends who I haven't seen in years.
It's been a bit of a treat it's a lovely hotel and I've spent £1000 on the hotel (which I never do )As a treat after a shit year.
I booked on booking.com
I checked my bank the £1000 has came out and also a pending £800
I spoke to downstairs and the £800 will be refunded after I leave.
That's pretty much all my spending money.
Aibu to think booking.com should have said and also £800 deposit for a 4 night stay is mental surely.

If you can't trust yourself not to see a credit card as free money and you would spend thousands and thousands, then it is very sensible for you not to have a card.

I use a credit card all the time when I am travelling. It gives me security in financial transactions. I pay it off at the end of every month.

Some hotels do this but not many it is pretty scandalous though and not sure how its allowed and not illegal nothing else ever can do this and def should be made clearer , its very common in the us apparently and seems a few here jumped on the bandwagon esp if american owned.'
Happened to us and i had to ring my mum up to loan me some money to tide us over and took a week to go back

Pre-authorised credit card for extras, sure, but they have never actually taken an amount upfront.

But that is exactly what they have done but because the OP has a debit card rather than a credit card it has frozen that much money in her account. Had she used a credit card she most likely wouldn't have even noticed.

@Graciebobcat it isn't daylight robbery, it's totally standard practice. The idea of it is to stop robbery.

Credit cards are essential for travel, both overseas and at home. Preauthorisation is totally normal in a full service hotel to cover incidentals like mini bar, room service, telephone calls, damage. The money is ring fenced but not debited unless you have used the services when you use a credit card, with a debit card your funds become available. This is also the case with car hire, many car hire companies will insist on a credit, not debit card.

@whatshardknock

I had saved up money for my trip. I wanted to stay in a nice hotel as a treat. I had budgeted by spending money and had more than enough. The £1000 was money I had saved so I could stay in a nice hotel for a treat.

You shouldn't have to explain yourself and your hotel cost and trip expenses are perfectly reasonable for a lovely break away.

I do think that this is where credit cards are very useful, even if you use them for nothing else. You wouldn't have noticed or even known about the charge as it would have been returned and no fees incurred. Definitely consider getting one, even just for this, though I recommend everyone has one, it improves your credit score massively if used correctly. I've had one since I was 18 and never been in affordable debt with them (as in been unable to pay back what I owe in it).

All these people saying its normal doesnt make the practice right and its often the upmarket hotels that do it and its for damages like the op has been told , makes you wander who they normally put up who damages there rooms so often
I don't think it should be allowed at such high rate and you rent a whole house out you only pay one months rent as deposit
It is often not clearly explained , t & c are always hidden at the bottom in small writing and often can be pages knowing that most won't read fully
Hopefully op you still have a nice time as you secured a small overdraft and enjoy your stay , but personally i would put on review so others are aware especially as its £200 a night that is quite a lot

@fromdownwest

Without sounding harsh, but if the only money you have access to is £800, then maybe spending £1,000 on a hotel was not the best choice.

Why assume that the OP only has whatever is in her current account? Back in the day when savings rates were better and there were no interest bearing current accounts, I just kept what I needed in my current account and transferred the rest. Lots of people like to limit what they keep in their current account so they are not tempted to spend over their budget.

Agree with the comments about the snobbery in some people's replies. Of course a credit card is really helpful in these circumstances but hindsight is a wonderful thing. Hope you are having a great break now you have sorted out the temporary overdraft, Whatshardknock.

Also many have a credit card but not all of us have a £800 limit and it does freeze the money even on a credit card so you cant spend on that either

I agree that you should call your bank and see if they will give you a temporary overdraft. They probably will, as they can probably see the money there.

Don’t justify yourself. I’ve been caught like this myself once. It just makes you a bit wiser.

Go and try to enjoy yourself if you aren’t already and don’t let it spoil your trip.

I’d love to be doing the same!

OP, lots of people fall into this trap if they are not regular hotel visitors. Its entirely sensible to avoid credit cards if you are worried about spending too much.

Too late for this time but if you know this is going to happen you can usually agree an amount when you arrive along with telling them you want to pay as you go for drinks/meals etc. The other option might a charge card just for holidays (so the money won't comes off a card short term but you can't use it for credit - just defers payment by about 6 weeks and gives you some purchase protection).

Why assume that the OP only has whatever is in her current account? Back in the day when savings rates were better and there were no interest bearing current accounts, I just kept what I needed in my current account and transferred the rest.

Yes, exactly. I have about £100 in my current account at the moment as I hardly use it - my household bills are in a different account and my savings spread across several accounts, some I have reasonably easy access to, others I wouldn't be able to on my phone.

@Graciebobcat it isn't daylight robbery, it's totally standard practice. The idea of it is to stop robbery

It is robbery and a nice boon for hotels to hold hundreds of thousands of pounds of customers' money in the bank at once. Imagine a hotel chain doing that for thousands of customers and how much money they will be holding in the bank at any one time? Even at crap interest rates, if it's millions it will still earn them a fair few quid. Plus how many will not be setting aside the money in a separate account and just using it for cashflow for their business? Answer: all of them. What if the chain goes bust (highly likely at the moment)? The customers will be unsecured creditors and never see their £800 again.

Plus the fact, if they are going to take a huge chunk of money upfront, this needs to be highlighted in bold in an email at the least on booking, not hidden in small print, under consumer law, or it is not legally enforceable.

The money is not taken. They don't gain interest from it! It doesn't help cashflow! A hold is put on the customers money for if they should need to take any.
Do you not see 'pending transactions' on your bank account? That is what this is. Your balance isn't affected by it.
Likewise the business's bank account isn't increased by it.

I can't believe people don't know this!

@Graciebobcat they don't actually hold the money in the bank, it's just a hypothetical claim on the funds which most of the time doesn't result in anything actually being transferred. The hotels can't make money in interest from it because all it is is a flag to the originating bank that that money may be called on. In the event of insolvency etc the pre-authorised amount would drop off just as it does usually, it requires the hotel to actively action the transaction for it to result in money being transferred.

Even if you have stuff from the mini bar, meals etc it's not in any way linked or deducted from the pre-authorisation amount, it's a separate transaction to settle up any additional costs upon checkout. The pre-authorisation is there in case of unreported damage or removing stuff from the mini bar etc without telling them at checkout.

I would say 800 is excessive - it only needs to be 200 you need to speak to the Manager in my view. If its 200 per night they should deal with it on a nightly basis for you - just go and negotiate with someone who knows what they are doing.

In the mean time speak to the and and maybe get them to do an overdraft to help you out short term. Do you have another card you can use

Def dont explain yourself OP. You dont need to. I've had this many times before but I have to say, not anywhere near that amount. Seems very extreme. Is the mini bar holding Gold?

Most hotels can cancel the authorisation and put a blocker on anything being charged to the room. Have you managed to speak to a manager about it?

In my experience, high end hotels ARE snobbish and assume their guests are familiar with the protocols, as well as having a significant financial buffer so they will not care or even notice the authorisation. It's unfortunate but true. During our wedding, a few close friends ordered champagne bottles for £2500 (standard price for a 5* hotel) which was charged to our suite. Upon checkout they casually asked for a credit card for room charges. That was more than the entire limit for my credit card at the time and I would have been mortified. Thankfully DH had a higher limit and handed his over as if we do it all the time (lol).

Mumsnet is like a different world sometimes. Not everyone is eligible to get credit cards and many of us would be faced with a similar dilemma to @whatshardknock

It may be standard practice but that doesn’t make it right or fair for customers. I didn’t know hotels did this as I’ve only ever stayed in premier inn type places. It’s something I will be aware of if I ever get the opportunity to stay anywhere fancy. I think it’s disgusting for a hotel to take £200 a night!

[quote Graciebobcat]^@Graciebobcat it isn't daylight robbery, it's totally standard practice. The idea of it is to stop robbery^

It is robbery and a nice boon for hotels to hold hundreds of thousands of pounds of customers' money in the bank at once. Imagine a hotel chain doing that for thousands of customers and how much money they will be holding in the bank at any one time? Even at crap interest rates, if it's millions it will still earn them a fair few quid. Plus how many will not be setting aside the money in a separate account and just using it for cashflow for their business? Answer: all of them. What if the chain goes bust (highly likely at the moment)? The customers will be unsecured creditors and never see their £800 again.

Plus the fact, if they are going to take a huge chunk of money upfront, this needs to be highlighted in bold in an email at the least on booking, not hidden in small print, under consumer law, or it is not legally enforceable.[/quote]
Don't be silly.

They don't have the money. All that has happened is that the money is ring fenced until the OP checks out.
Most people will use a credit card and as such most people won't even notice that this has happened. It's only because of the OP is trying to access that money that she has realised it's happened.

It's not unreasonable to not know that this happens but to crash about claiming it's illegal and the hotels are profiting off it is plain daft.

@Graciebobcat

It's daylight robbery and they cannot legally hide such a term in their terms and conditions. Leave them a stinking review on Trip Advisor about how unclear this charge was, the absolutely shysters.

There is no need for any hotel to do this. I'm a regular business traveller as well and have never been asked for this. Pre-authorised credit card for extras, sure, but they have never actually taken an amount upfront.

These type of reviews on Trip Advisor only paint one person negatively - and that the person leaving it who didn’t read the terms and conditions properly. At some point you have to take personal responsibility for their own errors. If the company highlighted every bloody thing that someone somewhere might not have read, then it becomes ridiculous. I’m not perfect by any means, and I’m sure all the other posters pointing this out aren’t either, but at the end of the day you have to accept your error in not reading the terms and conditions.

It’s really rare not to have a credit card, and then there wouldn’t be an issue

Even if you have stuff from the mini bar, meals etc it's not in any way linked or deducted from the pre-authorisation amount, it's a separate transaction to settle up any additional costs upon checkout.

Exactly, it's kind of the opposite to when you book an online food delivery and they charge £1 to your card in advance but that £1 never goes through, they take the real amount just after the delivery.

The pre-charge is just to keep it open as it were.

Speak to concierge. Do you have a credit card you can use for pre-auth instead and they'll cancel the hold on your debit card? Or does someone you know have one they would give details over the phone for?

For £250/night they should be rubbing your shoulders while you wait aswell!

OP I wouldn't have known about this either

Hope you enjoy your trip