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.

Can you get a family member to bank transfer you £200 and transfer them it back once you get home ?

Ask to see the manager OP as you have been left in an embarrassing & difficult position. If you stay one night it equals £200 deposit. So you could in their theoretical view do £200 of damage. Then they replace the damaged item on day 2 and you break it again, and again and again? Or are you going to save your energy for a one night wrecking spree.

Ask them to empty the mini bar and you will settle any room service & extras meals at the time. It is an exceptionally high charge, so I do wonder what type of ruffians & con artists they have stay there!!

Speak to the Halifax - call the number on your card.

As a fellow Premier Inn girl I'd like to know if the hotel was worth the extra £££ over a PI.

I have several cards each with a limit of between 5 and 6 k. I do all my spending on them but pay them off the same day.

That will show on your credit card as you not using them, you should wait until the statement and then pay them off.

Glad you got something sorted, OP.

£800 is a fucking ridiculous amount to block - I used to have to travel for work and stayed in some fancy places. Almost all preauthorised and none ever did so for anything close to £800.

As someone who has a run of PI rooms booked over the coming weeks I'm delighted to read all the PI love. 40quid a night in a great location - bring it on!

I’m sorry OP but that’s standard practise when paying with a debit card. Still sucks for you though 😐

Really glad to hear you have your £600 at least and hope you have a lovely break.

You could of course always rack up another £200 within the hotel (as they've ringfenced your money anyway) to make it up to £800! It's rainy today so maybe you could have some spa treatments or something if they do that. (Depending on whether you want to "reward" this hotel with your money.)

Before I had a credit card I never had more than £100 blocked - even for long stays. Even the St Pancras hotel only takes £50 and that's pretty high end.

It's standard practice but never seen £200 a night deposit that is ridiculous and will put many customers in awkward positions. It's not one I would return to or recommend to others.

£200 a night for basically insurance is ridiculous and I'm wondering how much money they are making from this tbh.

A five star hotel in Gran Canaria wanted my card number as a guarantee incase I used the mini bar . I refused and it did not go down well .,The mini bar was emptied which basically really pissed me off ...felt as if I was treated like a criminal.I have never experienced having a deposit taken from my card anywhere.

This has happened to me twice--- an unexpected high deposit for a room. First one was a posh hotel in London and I'd never encountered it before so was blindsided. Second one was some kind of travel inn type place in London, I didnt have the money but needed the room cos I had no where else to go, I cried, and they agreed to hold my actual card hostage in lieu of taking the deposit.

When I'm booking I ask for the minibar to be removed. Stayed one place that tried charging me over £200 for minibar purchases I had not made.

And unfortunately not everyone can have a credit card and appreciate this type of thing mentioned in reviews.

I don't agree with people who suggest that this is standard practice therefore it shouldn't be mentioned in a review. As people have pointed out, it may be routine for people who use luxury hotels regularly or put all the costs onto a business account, but obviously it catches out people like OP who have saved up for a one-off treat - and then get their treat ruined. A stinking review isn't merited, but I think it does no harm to mention that in your view the hotel and the booking agency should have highlighted this at the time of booking.

Former hotel receptionist here! I worked in a naice, boutique hotel in Surrey and we didn't do this. It was a pre-authorisation for £50ish a day. My understanding, (and what I told guests if they asked), was that it was for extras and didn't actually come out of their account. Deposits on top of that seem like overkill to me. If people didn't want to pre-authorise, we took a copy of their debit card and just didn't let them sign for anything in the hotel; they had to pay cash or card at the bar etc. Maybe they've been badly burned before, but this seems far too much and I've lived around London for years, so I'm used to London prices etc.

Not everyone is eligible to get credit cards and many of us would be faced with a similar dilemma

Yes but the number of people who can afford to stay in 5 Star hotels but are unable to get a credit card is probably vanishingly small.

It does seem very high. We rent many "naice" luxury cottages both here and in other countries and often staying for 3 weeks and the most we have ever had to give as a security deposit is approx £300.

Ok, no mini bar but in theory we could strip the place and do a runner!

£800 for 4 nights in one room (presumably) seems extortionate.

Has OP said which hotel it is?

@CoffeeDay wow did your friends pay you back??

That's really shitty. It might be in t & c but I wouldn't expect this. I'd definitely complain later. It's just not reasonable. I've stayed in nice hotels in London and elsewhere and never come across this it's like 150 max in my experience.

Could any family loan you the rest so you can have a nice time as intended. London is expensive and although you'll be fine on the money you have I understand you want to spend as intended.

@slashlover

I have several cards each with a limit of between 5 and 6 k. I do all my spending on them but pay them off the same day.

That will show on your credit card as you not using them, you should wait until the statement and then pay them off.

I don’t care if it looks like I’m using them or not. I pay them the same day so I don’t run up debt.

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

No you don't. It is actually the law that onerous terms are pointed out to consumers. I see there is the usual crowd of good little doormat capitalists on MN who never question anything companies do to them, as well as a lot of people who agree that taking such a large amount is not standard practice.

Something like this is definitely worth writing about on TripAdvisor. I wasn't suggesting writing something about how awful the hotel is generally (unless it is disappointing) but definitely highlighting their disproportionate approach to customers. It will be extremely helpful to other customers and many even convince them to change the practice.

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act

www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/i-think-theres-an-unfair-term-in-my-contract-what-can-i-do

I know you have an overdraft arranged now OP (with fees?) but this is why I've always had a credit card where I either pay off the amount in full every month or try to.

Have had SIL come unstuck with this a few times with not having a credit card and then needing to book something with it and now DB (her DH) pays etc and they do it that way.

@Plussizejumpsuit

Could any family loan you the rest so you can have a nice time as intended. London is expensive and although you'll be fine on the money you have I understand you want to spend as intended.

the OP has sorted this out now via overdraft but I was thinking this too - could they not paypal or western union her some money and then she pays them back? no overdraft fee etc then

I am curious what hotel it is tbh