Refund for mistaken credit card charge is less than initial charge, apparently due to exchange rates and/or fees

1/13/2023 8:56:57 PM

Technically, you could argue that the hotel’s actions have caused you to suffer a financial loss and you could sue them for compensation. It would be a less than slam dunk case, because I’m sure their T&Cs disclaim responsibility for any indirect damages like this, and in practice, unless your minibar was stacked with gold bullion, resorting to the legal system is unlikely to be worth it.

If it’s a major brand, you could drop a short, polite letter to customer service and they’ll probably give you some points for your trouble. If it’s an independent operation, maybe you’ll get a discount coupon for a future stay.

Anecdote time: back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, I bought some tickets from Jet Airways (India) for around $400, but turns out they had "upgraded" their systems the previous day and I was mistakenly charged over $14,000. (I wasn’t the only one either, and their issues made the news. This was also over my credit limit and I had another discussion with my bank about how that was possible.) Long story short, I was eventually refunded, but due to exchange rate changes got back about $150 less than I was supposed to. It took another round of complaints until they finally made me whole — and proceeded to go bankrupt a few years later.

1/13/2023 8:01:42 PM

The difference in rates – who does it go to?

The hotel charged in USD and refunded in USD – the hotel didn’t gain anything. The credit card processor paid in USD and was refunded in USD – they didn’t earn anything either.

Your own credit card issuer charged EUR and refunded EUR, and they charged more than they refunded, but did they gain anything? No, because they converted the USD charge to EUR and charged you what they had to pay, and similarly got a refund in USD and converted it to EUR to refund you back.

So who do you want to eat the difference? Clearly you don’t want to be "it", but someone has to and you have the least power in this process. So it remains you. You can potentially talk to the hotel, but they have no reason to give you back more USD than you initially gave them. Your bank will most definitely not give you money they don’t have to give to you.

As you said, it could have moved the opposite direction and then you’d be the one benefiting. You didn’t chose to make this gamble, but that’s how it works. It’s one of the risks of using international credit cards.

I don’t think contesting the charge with your bank will work, since you were refunded. You have no reason to contest. Unless the refund doesn’t actually match the original charge in the original currency, of course.

Credit:stackoverflow.com‘

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Hello,My name is Aparna Patel,I’m a Travel Blogger and Photographer who travel the world full-time with my hubby.I like to share my travel experience.

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