My predicament -- what would you do?

RedLefty · 01-06-2006, 09:31 AM

I have a little situation here in Houston that I'm trying to fix today, and am curious what you guys (and ladies) think about it:

On Friday, December 16, I was approached in a mall parking lot by a middle-aged black couple. They said they were evacuees from Hurricane Rita, and used to live in Woodville, TX. They showed me ID and it checked out. I had driven through Woodville after the storm, and knew there had been severe destruction in that small town, so their story seemed fairly solid. The couple was in need of a place to stay, as their lodging vouchers had expired. Supposedly it's easier to get aid if you're a Louisiana evacuee from Katrina, while Texas evacuees from Rita got smaller amounts of aid.

They said they were job searching in the Medical Center area, so I drove them there and went to a hotel. I explained everything to the front desk and set the couple up for two nights. There were several cheap eating places nearby, so they were in good shape to get lots of job applications over the weekend and rest in the hotel until checkout time Sunday at noon.

Fast forward to this week. I check my credit card bill, and there's the bill for ~$160 for the two nights on 12/16 and 12/17. But now there's another charge on 12/20 for an additional two nights! I never approved that, never signed for it, and the front desk knew that I was only paying for two nights.

I called the hotel yesterday and got the complete runaround, and today their manager should be in for me to talk to. I just see no way that they can make me pay for those extra nights when I wasn't even there to approve it. If the hotel felt sympathy for the couple and wanted to help out, great -- then comp the room. But leaving me with a +$300 bill at Christmas season when I have two small children of my own... that just didn't float my boat.

I'll be starting with the mostly nice-guy approach today when I talk to the manager, and I hope he doesn't require me to take a stronger approach to get it fixed.

I know this all started out as a charitable gesture, but the hotel charged me without permission, right? Would you fight it too?

OldGuy · 01-06-2006, 09:40 AM

Dispute it with the credit card company. Make the hotel prove you signed for it.

Charger · 01-06-2006, 09:59 AM

First I'd take it up with the hotel. It may have just been a mistake. If they don't fix it contact your CC and tell them you were charged for services you didn't request.

BTW, that was a great thing you did for that couple. You must be a really good guy.

Ogedei · 01-06-2006, 10:28 AM

I agree that was a super nice thing you did.

And I agree since you've already gone through the trouble of contacting the hotel, talk to the manager and see what he will do for you.

Worst case, you didn't sign for the additional two nights and take it up with the CC company.

On a more paranoid note you might want to get a new card #.

Og.

Dhocott · 01-06-2006, 11:01 AM

See what the manager says. If they won't make it right, call the cc company and I agree with getting a new card just in case.

Good job helping others in need.

TennesseeGentleman · 01-06-2006, 11:22 AM

What OG said. Most credit card companies limit liability to $50.00.

K-Court · 01-06-2006, 11:28 AM

Yes, I agree. Talk to the manager first. If you don't get satisfaction, send a dispute letter to the CC company. If there is no signature proving you authorized the charge, they will charge it back to the hotel. I'd be surprised if the $50 liability limit applies here; that usually relates to lost/stolen cards only. Here it's just an unauthorized charge to your account and there should be no problem reversing it.

Erika · 01-06-2006, 11:41 AM

Cynical and cheap as I am, I couldn't have done something so nice. I applaud you for that.

You have had good advice already, I would dispute it with the manager and then the credit card company if necessary.

That really bites though.

I just don't see this couple, since they haven't done so already, applying for a job in fast food.

RedLefty · 01-06-2006, 02:21 PM

Thanks, gang. The couple was actually going to apply for medical office / filing and other administrative types of work. I didn't explain it very well, but the point of the Medical Center was for jobs, the point of the cheap eating places was for food. [img]smile.gif[/img] The husband was a machinist, though, which kinda leaves him in the cold in an economy like Houston. But there's nothing in Woodville to go back to, either.

My wife and I had already decided to do something for a family this Christmas, we just hadn't picked the family yet. And then one approaches me instead, so that settled it.

Am calling the hotel again in just a few minutes, will report back on how it goes. You guys rock!

TennesseeGentleman · 01-06-2006, 02:31 PM

You have very big heart RedLefty, we are proud of you.

drew · 01-06-2006, 02:32 PM

I agree with all of the advice given thus far. However, I would at least bring this up to the CC company just so they are made aware. You can let them know you are taking it up with the hotel to try to get it credited, but at least start down the road with the CC company.

...and as everyone else has mentioned...that was very generous. You're a better man than me.

Drew

Bond007 · 01-06-2006, 02:33 PM

Definitely keep us informed on this issue, bro! You've gotten great advice so far. All your CC will ask is if you've tried to resolve the disputed charge with the hotel first before they take any action. As long as you can answer that question with a "YES", then they'll take it from there. I've had my CC numbers stolen before and have had unauthorized charges appear, but have NEVER been required to pay the $50 liability. Most CC's will waive that fee these days, especially if you're a good customer.

As for helping the family, you're a good man, Charlie Brown! My wife and I have been adopting a family for Christmas for years now and typically go WAY overboard when we do. We don't have kids, so we do enjoy giving a kid a Merry Christmas. I seriously hope that you don't get the wrong end of the stick on this one.

Good luck, bro!

FlyinM · 01-06-2006, 02:40 PM

I hope that you can get it resolved to your satisfaction. That was a wonderful gesture on your part.
We donated money to several Katrina relief organizations, but did not have a chance to see where the money went. You got to see the faces of those who you helped and that's awesome.

K-Court · 01-06-2006, 02:46 PM

Drew raises a good point, RL. There are time limits in which a customer can dispute a charge so it might be worthwhile getting in touch with your CC company anyway just so there's a file opened such that no time limit issue can be raised against you down the road.

And BTW, it was a really decent gesture on your part helping this couple out. Nice work, man.

Bond007 · 01-06-2006, 02:55 PM

Actually, guys, most CC's won't even open a file until you can tell them that you've made an attempt to settle your dispute with the vendor. Heck, they won't even suspend the charge while you're disputing it directly with said vendor. They will only suspend the charge once you can tell them that you've made the attempt and they get into the fray. At least, that's been my experience.

K-Court · 01-06-2006, 03:55 PM

Yeah, don't you hate all those "unauthorized" charges from the "Hot Babes of Arkansas" website, Jamie?

Kaiser · 01-06-2006, 04:16 PM

You've already gotten advice RL, but I thoroughly applaud your actions in helping them. America would be a better place if there were more people like you who cared about those less fortunate. As a fellow American, thank you.

RedLefty · 01-06-2006, 04:31 PM

Thank you, I appreciate that. Trust me, there are thousands of Houstonians doing waaaay more than I've done, and that's how we've taken in nearly of a quarter-million evacuees in this city. People have given room, food, money, calling cards, Christmas presents... you name it, and there are kind souls who have stepped up to the plate.

The hotel manager and I spoke for a while, and now he's "checking into it" and is supposed to call me back. I'll probably drop by the hotel on the way home from work, and take care of it in person.

Jen2006 · 01-06-2006, 07:15 PM

Interesting story.

Very nice of you.

Keep us updated.

Terry Monk · 01-07-2006, 08:50 AM

Wow. That's a very generous thing you did there RL.

RedLefty · 01-07-2006, 11:50 AM

Manager never called me back, and I didn't have time to drop by the hotel after work. The manager isn't working again until Monday (and they don't have a backup on staff?... yeah, right).

They've got one more chance before I just handle it with the credit card company.

castufari · 01-07-2006, 01:20 PM

Usually on weekends they'll have an assistant manager covering, esp if it is a small property.

When you signed them in, did you indicate in writing that you were paying for 2 nights only?

This isn't you via the hotel, if you told them that you were putting them up for 2 nights and they did something to push it to 4 nights w/o asking then they are equally to blame, too.

I would have sent them to the Red Cross or something. *shrug* We had a lot of supposed Katrina evacs up here, many of which were from southern Florida (go figure).

Jean-Paul · 01-08-2006, 02:02 PM

I wouldn't waste time on Mr Nice Guy... They refund the money that went above and beyond what you approved, period. If not, you report it as fraud/abuse to the credit card company, and they refund it to you and get it back from the hotel.

After my dealings with the huge influx of Katrina victims here in LR, I am a little skeptical about the couple. They may have played a role in this. Even if they were legitimately from NOLA, what happens if you obliterate a massive city full of con-artists? Well, they have to go somewhere, and now they have a new confidence game to play on the sympathies of a nation in shock.

I don't mean to sound callous. In fact, I volunteered my house (didn't get used though) and I raised money for sporting goods for kids who were living in our evacuee camps around the state, but I was able to directly see where that money went, and control what happened with it. But after Katrina, suddenly every homeless person in the city was automatically a K-victim. We also had a HUGE surge in crime here. I hope they rebuild NOLA soon so they can go back to their own stomping grounds.

RedLefty · 01-08-2006, 04:14 PM

The couple is certainly suspect. That's why RedWifey and I never, never give out money to people. If someone needs a meal or a place to stay, we'll offer to give them that. It's incredible how many turn us down, just looking for the cash so they can buy cigarettes, alcohol or harder stuff. For some reason I get approached all the time like this, so we've had to work out ground rules for how my family handles it.

Hopefully I'll be able to grab a few minutes to drive to the hotel tomorrow, but it's my anniversary so I'm not sure if there will be time.

RedLefty · 01-12-2006, 04:22 PM

UPDATE:

The hotel manager never did call me back (shocker!). I used my lunchtime yesterday to drive to the hotel (15 miles) and see them in person. Told the girl at the front desk I needed to see Naveed, she called back to him in his office and said he'd be right out. Waited 5 minutes... nothing. She finally asked me what I needed, so I told her the short story, and she said she was one of the people I'd talked to on the phone last week.

She kept hedging, so I just said that they could either deal with me, or deal with Discover Card, but I was probably nicer than the CC company. She sighed and said, "This will take a while... I need to pull the file." That's when I got upset: "What?! I called FOUR times last week, Naveed took my phone numbers and promised to investigate the issue, and you still haven't pulled the file?!? And why hasn't Naveed come out yet?"

In the meantime, RedWifey had already called the CC company AND the hotel headquarters, who were mortified at how we were treated. HQ has now faxed something over to the hotel regarding the whole thing, but I don't really care... it's in Discover's hands as far as I'm concerned.

On the whole, it's been a pretty frustating timedrain for something that I only meant as a good deed. Next time someone approaches me like this, I guess I'll just offer to take them to a shelter.

FishrCutB8 · 01-12-2006, 04:34 PM

Not for nothing, but do you see any parallels...

Bond007 · 01-12-2006, 04:38 PM

Man, bro, I'm so sorry this has turned sour on ya! I hope that it still gets worked out.

Deserve · 01-12-2006, 09:45 PM

In the end the cosmic karma or religion of your choice is on your side. It was a good thing and a selfless act. We need more people willing to do that. Do not loose that feeling. I'll say thank you even if they didn't and gave you a hard time.

von_Hayes · 01-13-2006, 01:34 PM

Take this to the local television station and tell them your story. I bet you get the results you are looking for and they will also look into the couple for you.