bobquasit: (Sam & Max shield GIF)
bobquasit ([personal profile] bobquasit) wrote2007-01-19 12:01 pm
Entry tags:

Hotel problems

I suppose most people who read this also read the Arisia community...but in case not:

I reserved our hotel room with my debit card. When I checked in, I discovered they'd put a hold on $360.55 in my checking account.

When I checked out, I paid $200 cash and put the rest of the balance on Teri's debit card, which is linked to a different account at a different bank (with, of course, different - and entirely sufficient - funds). At the time, I asked the check-out clerk how long the hold would last.

"Usually it's one business day," he said.

Four days later (this morning), the hold had not been released and my mortgage check had gone bouncy-bouncy. I'd called the hotel and left voicemail the night before, but hadn't got an answer. I called my credit union this morning, and they told me that the hold would last for TEN DAYS unless the hotel faxed them a release. I got an authorization number and finally managed to reach someone at the hotel.

So, with any luck, this is all fixed at an additional cost of only $20 to me (for the bounced check) plus some damage to my credit report.

Sigh.

[identity profile] goddessgrrrrl.livejournal.com 2007-01-19 10:30 pm (UTC)(link)
Something similar happened to me this month, too.

Gah. No fun.

[identity profile] unquietsoul5.livejournal.com 2007-01-20 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
Ouch, that's annoying. I don't use debit cards myself, and I often wondered what kind of protections there were against false charges, holds etc. Evidently from your experience the control is in their hands not yours, which makes them even riskier than credit cards in many ways.