Minibar charge

[judecorp]

Also, I got my credit card bill yesterday and found a mysterious $17.08 charge from Hilton Hotels on my statement, assumedly from our NYC stay. We shouldn't have had extra charges because we prepaid on Priceline.

I called this morning and the woman said it was a minibar charge. This is exactly what I expected them to say. Here was our conversation:

Me: I noticed a $17.08 charge on my bill. Do you know what that's from?
Her: I see it's a minibar charge.
Me: We didn't use the minibar.
Her: They must be missing items. Okay, I'll take the charge off your card.

Doesn't that seem a LITTLE fishy to you? I mean, if they REALLY thought I used $17 worth of stuff from the minibar, would they have agreed to reverse the charge so immediately? I mean, I was prepared to go into the whole story (the truth), that we had asked to NOT have a minibar key but they gave us one anyway, and then we wanted to bring it downstairs and hand it to a real person at checkout but they said to leave it in the room, etc. But I didn't have to. Because she just said, "Okay."

I wonder if this is a common problem - either them trying to get extra money out of people, or room cleaners sampling from the minibar. I'm just glad it will come off my card.

Comments

[sudrin.livejournal.com]

The Minibar is bad because it gives the Housekeepers responsiblity of keeping track of it. Having been a housekeeper I can tell you that after a while the hotel rooms all look the same. These items are PURE profit, so if you divine to scam them out of a few items on the minibar they are going to let you get away with it. However, if the entire minibar had been missing, I can assure you they would fight a little harder. And considering the absurd cost of minibar items, 18 dollars is like 2 candy bars and some drinks! I remember when I was in Vegas the first time for MMS my boss wouldn't even let me TOUCH the minibar he was so afraid they had some kind of magnetic mechanism like Indiana Jones or something that would immediately detect consumption and charge it to his room!

[goddamnelf.livejournal.com]

Cindy and I stayed at a hotel in New Orleans called the Monte De Lion, and our room had a minibar, and it was equiped with a sensor under each item, so if you even picked it up, it would charge you for it.

[smurfbrother.livejournal.com]

I think it's a pretty common problem - I've had it happen to me at least 2 or 3 times, and I never use the minibar. Every time, I've told the staff that I didn't use the minibar, and they've always removed the charges with no problem.

This just made me realize I could probably scam a free drink or so every time I stay in a hotel with a minibar.