Auricman Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 Last October on my way to LOS I spent 2 nights in Ermita, Manila. The amount for 2 nights came to 3,453 pesos (about $66) which I charged on my Visa card. When I got my credit card statement a month later, the amount for the 2 nights was listed at 34,533 pesos ($660). After disputing the charge, Visa credited my account for the overcharge. The Visa rep. told me that the hotel eventually paid back all but $19 of the overcharge, and he was glad that Visa got that much. He said that most of the time when Visa requests that a merchant pays back an overcharge, the merchant will ignore the request. If merchants know that they can get away with overcharging a credit card customer without penalty, will they often do this? I'd like to think that it was an innocent mistake to overcharge me by a factor of ten, but in the past other hotels have overcharged me also. One hotel in Spain and another in Paraguay double billed me for stays. Have any of you experienced credit card overcharging while travelling? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harlequinbkk Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 [color:"red"] If merchants know that they can get away with overcharging a credit card customer without penalty, will they often do this? [/color] Not sure if it was an innocent mistake or not, but I think the hotel will only be able to 'get away' with it if the customer does not complain to Visa. You point on the error to Visa, they compensate you, then they try to get the overpayment from the hotel. If the hotel declines, well, there won't be any more customers paying their bill by Visa at that hotel. Life is too short to have hassles like this - better to pay cash if it is feasible. Harlequin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
los Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 What was the amount stated on your reciept? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auricman Posted January 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 Good question. Fortunately I had kept both the invoice written in longhand by the clerk and it was itemized and correct. The charge slip was completely illegible, covered in a blue color. The original was kept by the hotel, but probably indicated the overcharge amount. Being in pesos, I probably overlooked the factor of ten overcharge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickfarang Posted January 5, 2003 Report Share Posted January 5, 2003 Never had an overcharge in Asia. One time at a San Diego, California motel, just after I signed the credit card slip, the clerk slapped his head and said "Where was my mind! I put tomorrow's date on it." and proceeded to tear up the slip and throw it away, and had me sign another one. You guessed it, he submitted both slips to the bank and I was charged twice. Fortunately, the credit card company believed my story. The only real solution is to use credit cards sparingly and to be every-vigilant. The ATM & cash combination seems to present the minimum risk. RickF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auricman Posted January 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 I agree, the ATM seems to be a better solution. However, I have heard that sometimes the machine will eat your card and that can be very inconvenient. Some people have also reported that the machine displayed that it cannot complete the transaction, but when they got home, the charge had been deducted from their account anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chilli13 Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 let me put it this way: I loves plastic & use it as often I can get away with it as numerous benefits involved such as less charges, bonus & avoids the hassle of predicting & carrying too much cash around. only thing to do to safeguard yourself is to watch the amount you sign for & check your statement in case a merchant tries to rip you off, errors etc. when that happens your card issuer should credit you back instantly & I never had a problem so far. only experienced a few cases where no charge ever turned out after paying with my card as to being double charged, extra charged at hotels etc. it had happened a number of times & either fixed by hotel or card issuer. happened most frequently in europe say france enjoy spending! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp1 Posted January 6, 2003 Report Share Posted January 6, 2003 Have any of you experienced credit card overcharging while travelling? yes, happened to me twice. Last autumn in Beijing at the Kempinski hotel. They added some mini bar charges which I had already paid upon departure from the hotel (had to send the copy of the bill to the CC company). I complained about it and got the amount refunded. Same happened to me at the Mandarin Hotel in Honkong some years ago. Got the overcharged amount credited as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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