Hotel fiasco [money related issue] - Ask Rich / Money 101

Brittany Rashel · 06-04-2009, 10:58 AM

DH and I stayed at a hotel last weekend for my SIL's wedding. Well, we had to put down our debit card for incidentals and they charged us an extra $50. I called the hotel and they explained that the $50 hold would be refunded in about 3 days, it just had to go through the bank and be okay'd. Okay, not a big deal except for the fact that we didn't have alot of money in our account because of the trip to Austin. I check my account today and the hold was refunded but not before our bank decided to slap us with over $300 in overdraft fees. We wouldn't have gone over if not for that $50 from the hotel. So I was told by the supervisor (because the customer service guy was no help whatsoever) at the bank that if I could get the hotel to fax a letter to the bank saying that the charge was mischarge and voided that they would "analyze my charges" and see what they could do. That in itself doesn't sound extremely promising. So right now I'm waiting for the guy from finance for the hotel to call me back so I can get that letter faxed immediately. In reality, what are my chances of having all the overdraft fees dropped? I can not afford to pay $315 in overdraft fees! Especially when I didn't actually spend enough money to overdraft.

Loretta · 06-04-2009, 11:00 AM

Depends on your bank. I have USAA and they'd refund them immediately. BOA, not a chance in hell.

Good luck, hun, I hope you get that money back!

His Mermaid · 06-04-2009, 11:00 AM

What bank is this?

I've had that happen to me and when my bank sees that the charge fell off they refunded the overdraft fees. They should have reviewed your account with out that fax from the hotel.

Good luck!

His Mermaid · 06-04-2009, 11:01 AM

Originally Posted by Loretta

Depends on your bank. I have USAA and they'd refund them immediately. BOA, not a chance in hell.

Good luck, hun, I hope you get that money back!

I have BofA and they have always refunded over draft fees when something like the OP posted has happened.

USCGBoxerMom · 06-04-2009, 11:01 AM

$300+ in overdraft fees....where do you bank?? That is huge.

amazinggrace · 06-04-2009, 11:02 AM

Like Loretta says, it really depends on who you bank with.

How did you get $300 in overdraft charges though? If you were only $50 or less over your balance?

clsmarathon · 06-04-2009, 11:02 AM

I would call the hotel and insist on a letter.

In reality, though, most hotels will charge an extra above on a debit card, simply because they've been screwed over so many times by people using them with insufficient funds.

imjustme · 06-04-2009, 11:03 AM

If you haven't had major overdrafts or any in the past, they will probably work with you to at the very least reduce them, if not drop them completely. I'd just be really persistent with the bank, if you guys have been in good standing up until now, that this is not something that happens often and you'd really appreciate them helping you out and taking care of it this time.

I'm wondering too what in the world bank this is!

Cara Marie · 06-04-2009, 11:05 AM

I agree that it depends on the bank. Where I work when we issue debit cards we give a disclosure with them that states that places such as hotels usually hold an additional charge for 'incidentals.'

I hope that you get your money back!!

Brittany Rashel · 06-04-2009, 11:13 AM

I checked my bank account on Tuesday morning. Here's the order of the charges that happened.

-bank looked at the pending charges Tuesday afternoon and saw that we were going to go negative about $10 with that $50 hold on there
-for some reason they charge us a $140 overdraft fee. I don't know why. We haven't overdrafted in over a year.
-Then we had bought groceries and things like that the next day (I do all of my money managing in a ledger and check the bank account every other day). Charge. I had forgotten paper towels so DH got them at the gas station. Charge. He also stopped by blockbuster on the way home since at that time we were supposed to have enough money for that. Charge. At that point the bank hit us with $175 overdraft fee.

I checked my online banking this morning and that's when I found out we were negative and immediately called the bank.

We bank with Fort Hood National, a branch of First Texas.

EDIT: oops, I meant that I went grocery shopping on Tuesday. Yesterday there was no money spent.

06-04-2009, 10:58 AM	#1 (permalink)
Brittany Rashel Surviving deployment #2 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Me: Ft Bliss, TX / Him: Iraq Posts: 9,154 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 62% Longevity: 38%	Hotel fiasco [money related issue] DH and I stayed at a hotel last weekend for my SIL's wedding. Well, we had to put down our debit card for incidentals and they charged us an extra $50. I called the hotel and they explained that the $50 hold would be refunded in about 3 days, it just had to go through the bank and be okay'd. Okay, not a big deal except for the fact that we didn't have alot of money in our account because of the trip to Austin. I check my account today and the hold was refunded but not before our bank decided to slap us with over $300 in overdraft fees. We wouldn't have gone over if not for that $50 from the hotel. So I was told by the supervisor (because the customer service guy was no help whatsoever) at the bank that if I could get the hotel to fax a letter to the bank saying that the charge was mischarge and voided that they would "analyze my charges" and see what they could do. That in itself doesn't sound extremely promising. So right now I'm waiting for the guy from finance for the hotel to call me back so I can get that letter faxed immediately. In reality, what are my chances of having all the overdraft fees dropped? I can not afford to pay $315 in overdraft fees! Especially when I didn't actually spend enough money to overdraft. __________________

06-04-2009, 11:00 AM	#3 (permalink)
His Mermaid Official COOTER KICKER!!!~ Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Seal Beach, CA Posts: 2,949 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 11% Longevity: 20%	What bank is this? I've had that happen to me and when my bank sees that the charge fell off they refunded the overdraft fees. They should have reviewed your account with out that fax from the hotel. Good luck! __________________

06-04-2009, 11:05 AM	#9 (permalink)
Cara Marie Mama of 2 beautiful boys! Join Date: May 2008 Location: Me: Wisconsin DH: Norfolk, VA Posts: 4,454 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 3% Longevity: 26%	I agree that it depends on the bank. Where I work when we issue debit cards we give a disclosure with them that states that places such as hotels usually hold an additional charge for 'incidentals.' I hope that you get your money back!! __________________

06-04-2009, 11:13 AM	#10 (permalink)
Brittany Rashel Surviving deployment #2 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Me: Ft Bliss, TX / Him: Iraq Posts: 9,154 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 62% Longevity: 38%	I checked my bank account on Tuesday morning. Here's the order of the charges that happened. -bank looked at the pending charges Tuesday afternoon and saw that we were going to go negative about $10 with that $50 hold on there -for some reason they charge us a $140 overdraft fee. I don't know why. We haven't overdrafted in over a year. -Then we had bought groceries and things like that the next day (I do all of my money managing in a ledger and check the bank account every other day). Charge. I had forgotten paper towels so DH got them at the gas station. Charge. He also stopped by blockbuster on the way home since at that time we were supposed to have enough money for that. Charge. At that point the bank hit us with $175 overdraft fee. I checked my online banking this morning and that's when I found out we were negative and immediately called the bank. We bank with Fort Hood National, a branch of First Texas. EDIT: oops, I meant that I went grocery shopping on Tuesday. Yesterday there was no money spent. __________________ Last edited by Brittany Rashel; 06-04-2009 at 11:58 AM.

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06-04-2009, 11:00 AM	#2 (permalink)
Loretta MilitarySOS Jewel Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 29,217 Classifieds: (2) Activity: 18% Longevity: 41%	Depends on your bank. I have USAA and they'd refund them immediately. BOA, not a chance in hell. Good luck, hun, I hope you get that money back!

06-04-2009, 11:01 AM	#5 (permalink)
USCGBoxerMom Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 11,078 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 0% Longevity: 50%	$300+ in overdraft fees....where do you bank?? That is huge.

06-04-2009, 11:02 AM	#6 (permalink)
amazinggrace Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 10,202 Classifieds: (6) Activity: 46% Longevity: 27%	Like Loretta says, it really depends on who you bank with. How did you get $300 in overdraft charges though? If you were only $50 or less over your balance?

06-04-2009, 11:02 AM	#7 (permalink)
clsmarathon Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2,560 Classifieds: (0) Activity: 45% Longevity: 8%	I would call the hotel and insist on a letter. In reality, though, most hotels will charge an extra above on a debit card, simply because they've been screwed over so many times by people using them with insufficient funds.

06-04-2009, 11:03 AM	#8 (permalink)
imjustme Account Closed Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 13,980 Classifieds: (8) Activity: 7% Longevity: 42%	If you haven't had major overdrafts or any in the past, they will probably work with you to at the very least reduce them, if not drop them completely. I'd just be really persistent with the bank, if you guys have been in good standing up until now, that this is not something that happens often and you'd really appreciate them helping you out and taking care of it this time. I'm wondering too what in the world bank this is!