Hotel Experience - Deposit Returned, and Then Some. . .

[drowning123]

I stayed at a hotel, for which the clerk took payment upfront, plus a deposit for incidentals. The funds were immediately taken from checking account upon check-in, as I used my debit card to check in. I know, because I got an alert on my cell phone of the amount. I checked out of the hotel yesterday morning, and lo and behold this morning, I was credited the entire payment for two nights, plus the deposit. Has anyone else ever had this experience? Does anyone think the hotel will eventually take back their payment for two nights of stay, which I have absolutely no problems paying. Any input? Thanks.

[AngelinaCat]

I have not heard of this. Was there any reason given?

[df04527]

Sounds like it could have been someone before you that may have been told they would get a refund for two nights and they did it to the wrong account? I would call them then you will know for sure.

[justbroke]

(If this is about the funds mysteriously re-appearing in your bank account, then what I write below is accurate. If this was an actual "credit" on your hotel bill... that's another story.)

I can tell you EXACTLY how this works! Having been in a Chapter 13 and using Debit cards to travel, I know pretty much how the debit card system works. I have probably charged over $200K in travel expenses in the last 3.5 years since filing.

When you check-in to the hotel, they obtain a "pre-authorization" hold to make sure you have the funds on your credit (debit) card. This hold basically allows them to charge up to the amount of the hold without any issue since the bank pre-authorized (literally "guaranteed" the amount). With debit cards, the hold can come off in as few as 3 days and as many a 5 days. With credit cards, the hold could be as many as 7 to 10 days. My PayPal debit card releases the hold in 5 days. I have had an account at one bank where they released ALL HOLDS on Friday and on Monday morning regardless of what was "authorized".

If you do not keep good records in your registry and overspend you could cause SIGNIFICANT overdrafts on your account! Don't let that happen to you.