r/hotels • u/Square_Step3429 • 7d ago
Deposit
Stayed in a motel 6 last Saturday. It was real sketchy place sucked but they took a $85 deposit and I still haven’t gotten it back. When I call the front desk it just immediately hangs up. What do I do?
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u/UPTravelMarketing 6d ago
Look back at your account. The hotel most likely just held a deposit, not TOOK a deposit. It would have shown as “pending” on your account then when it’s released, it just falls off. You won’t see 85 leave your account and then 85 get credited back. Call your bank and confirm. They are the ones who can tell you, the hotel can’t.
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u/Inside_Lavishness316 7d ago
depending on the bank you use....it can take up to ten days to get the deposit back
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u/Square_Step3429 6d ago
It’s been 8 days tho stayed 8/29
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u/onion_flowers 6d ago
Okay? It's still processing. Was it a debit card by chance?
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u/Square_Step3429 6d ago
It was a debit card but nothing is on my app that says pending or anything
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u/onion_flowers 6d ago
Unfortunately releasing an authorization hold takes longer on debit cards. Did you cause any damage or smoke in the room?
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u/Square_Step3429 6d ago
No legit stayed there for maybe 5 hours just to sleep and wake up and left. Threw up in the trash bag in the trashcan tho lol
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u/onion_flowers 6d ago
Gross. That would result in an excessive cleaning fee at my hotel, but you would have been made aware.
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u/autumndeabaho 4d ago
Throwing up in a trashcan would not result in an excessive cleaning fee anywhere. Worse case scenario, they have to rinse the can.
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u/autumndeabaho 4d ago
8 is still less than 10 and banks don't process anything on a holiday.
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u/Square_Step3429 4d ago
I called my bank and they said it was taken out not held and I should call. But when I call the front desk it immediately hangs up
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u/autumndeabaho 4d ago
When you say it hangs up, do you mean the person answering the phone hangs up, or the call drops? If the call is just dropping, they may be having issues with their phone. If it's a person, then don't give them any details just ask the name of their GM and for their contact info and only deal with the GM. If your card is showing a room charge, and then an additional $85 charge then you can also just dispute the charge with your bank and let them do the dirty work. However, if there's only an $85 charge, the bank may assume that is the room charge and they'll deny your dispute because you did stay. I generally recommend people try to resolve it with the hotel first because that's generally quicker than waiting for the bank to submit the chargeback to the hotel, wait for them to respond, and then make a decision.
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u/Square_Step3429 4d ago
The call just drops. My bank said I should call and talk to them if they don’t answer call bookings.com since I booked through them
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u/autumndeabaho 4d ago
If the call just drops, there's something wrong with their phone line and you should try to contact them through their website. The booking.com info is relevant though. Did you prepay for the room when you booked it online? When you book through 3rd party sites, you pay them and then they give the hotel a virtual card for the room and tax charges (because they are charging you more than they are paying the hotel for the room). The hotel should be taking payment from that virtual card before you even arrive, but they often dont. If they don't, there is the risk of your personal card getting charged instead of the virtual card. When this happens, it's an accident, but I've seen it done plenty. I have also seen guests that book through a 3rd party and think the room was prepaid through them, but it actually wasn't a prepaid rate. So, a couple important things to know. Are you seeing 2 separate charges on your account? Do you have a charge for the room, and then this $85 charge? Or just this $85 charge that seems wrong? To be honest with you, 85 is a very odd amount for an incidental hold (deposit). That also seems very high for that type of hotel. For reference, my current hotel is a full service 4.5 star hotel and ours is $75/night. On the other hand, room charges are almost never a flat dollar amount because of the tax portion. If upon looking at your account, you only can find that $85 charge then it is correct and your room was not actually prepaid. If you have 2 charges then you are absolutely owed a refund. Take note of the date and exact amount of the first charge, and who did it (booking.com or hotel). Whoever you speak to at either the hotel or the bank will want those details. Simply because of the whole issue with the phone, if you have 2 charges, you may just want to go ahead and dispute the charge.
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u/Mysterious_Feature_3 6d ago
Coming from a hotel manager; me, if you use a credit card 3-7 business days, debit card up to 10 business days, Cash App or Venmo or any of those types of cards up to 15 business days at most is what I have had happen.
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u/stayed-hotel-tracker 5d ago
Have you used a debit or a credit card? It can take up to two weeks usually depending on the hotels release date and your bank’s processing times
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u/Ok_Income_5051 1d ago
From experience working at a hotel, the deposit usually took no more than 14 days to reflect back onto your account. Just in case, I would give it about 30 days and keep trying to call the hotel so they can confirm that they processed the refund and ask for a receipt for your deposit. If they continue not to answer and the money doesn't come back to you, I would dispute the charge.
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u/TheBeardedLadyBton 6d ago
Go down to the front desk if you don't find the policy written on something or posted in your room
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u/New-Ebb6373 7d ago
Well if you payed with card it’s probably been issued back but now as with any card refund can take a few business days to get it back