What action is recommended if your accommodation refuses to let you leave without paying additional fees?
- By
- Aparna Patel
- |
- 20 Jul, 2023
- |
Most hotels nowadays ask for a credit card at the time of check-in for any kind of ancillary charge so such a bait and switch type scheme sounds unlikely from a reputable hotel chain.
As many have suggested, if the charges don’t appear legit you can dispute them with your card company.
In this specific situation, the CAA has provided details of what to do at https://thomascook.caa.co.uk/customers/if-you-are-currently-abroad/managing-difficulties-with-your-accommodation/
In short, they advise not to pay anything unless their team specifically advises this in your personal circumstances. Ordinarily the accommodation providers would be expected to accept the CAA’s guarantee, which should be far more reliable than Thomas Cook’s guarantee that the providers were previously happily accepting.
Whether the contact number provided on that page is adequately staffed is another matter of course.
In general, the advice would be to contact whoever it is that you expect to be paying the hotel on your behalf (e.g. the travel agent who made the arrangements if they’re still trading, an insurance provider, or similar, or in this case the CAA), in order to clarify why the hotel isn’t accepting their payment or guarantee.
The original documentation providing details of the package, guarantees, insurance, etc. would also certainly have details of relevant emergency assistance numbers, so one can best prepare for unexpected situations like these by ensuring the relevant documentation is printed off and kept to hand.
Calling the police might be the way to go in jurisdictions within developed countries, but wouldn’t necessarily work in regions where governance is weak. In this case it would be better to pay the fraudulent bill using a credit card and then dispute the transaction once you’re safe and sound at home. It’s likely that the credit card company will take your side given that the payment was made under the threat of violence.
If the hotel insists you pay in cash and the police won’t get involved, your only recourse is to sue the travel agency when you return. Although it might not get you any money back given the bankruptcy.
Holding guests hostage is illegal, no matter what. If you are held “hostage” and they refuse to let you go you can tell them it is against the law of that country. You can also contact the police secretly or send a quick message secretly saying to get the police. You don’t want to be violent as you don’t want charges on yourself as well.
Contacting the police openly could result in further conflict, as the owners probably wouldn’t want you doing that.
You can get suggestions from In an emergency, how do I find and share my position? as how to find your position quickly and notify people of any emergencies.
Some counties have AML to automatically send your location:
In some countries, AML (Advanced Mobile Location) will automatically send your location to the emergency services when you call them.
Although in this case police assisted as well as mentioned in this news article, but the situation could escalate to a point where law is enforced:
“They had people by the doors, guarding the doors. Police were on the outside. The staff were manhandling some guests and fighting.”
Sometimes you just have to wait it out or avoid such resorts altogether.
- How much to tip in the United States?
- In US hotels, what happens if you skip checkout and just leave the hotel?
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘
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