Question for the board

[MusicCityMan]

You guys may have an answer.. You may not.. Either way, I'm making a phone call sometime tomorrow to try to find this out..

Saturday night I stayed at a hotel in Tampa after the Lightning game.. I had the reservations made more over a week..

Here's the question part of this.. When I checked my bank statement the other day.. I had a mysterious charge for a decent amount of $ on my account..

My bank believes that because I stayed at the hotel on the weekend, something along the lines of when they swiped my credit card, since it was a weekend.. the $ that were taken out was a charge that normally is put right back in.. but because it's a weekend.. it may not be put back in for 3 days or so..

Either way.. I'm calling the hotel tomorrow because I don't know why my bank account is about $100 short esp. since I made the reservations with the hotel over a week ago..

I'm trying to figure out why this amount of $ was taken from my account but have no clue.. lol..

[chadtm80]

Im sure it was Prob some kind of security deposit.. But would call them for sure.. And I wouldn't be waiting till tomorrow though

[MusicCityMan]

Chad.. their accounting people are gone for the night so I gotta wait till tomorrow..

That actually kinda makes sense.. Security deposit that'll be refunded I'd assume..?

[vbhoutex]

Chad.. their accounting people are gone for the night so I gotta wait till tomorrow..

That actually kinda makes sense.. Security deposit that'll be refunded I'd assume..?

Possibly, but if it is they should have told you about it. I have never had a security deposit taken out by a hotel.

[chadtm80]

I have heard of it.. They do, do it.. More so they go on your age.. How old are you MusicCityMan?

[Dionne]

Damage deposits are common. Especially if the unit your renting is in a party environment. Back in the late 80's we had a number of condos in Killington, Vermont....(ski area). We always charged a damage deposit. Although, the client was always aware that the deposit would be refunded after check out. On the business end the cool deal with deposits is that they are stored in interest bearing accounts. Certainly the balance revolved but remained high.

On the other hand if for some reason your card was swiped twice, you may have a problem.

Several weeks ago we were in NOLA. Stayed at the historic French Market Inn. Made the reservation via Orbitz. It was the weekend LSU played at the dome. A football weekend. At checkout our tab was much higher than anticipated. I tried to get it corrected. Even contacted Orbitz on the garuntee they advertise regarding rates.

Needless to say.....I didn't get a dime back. I should have verbally confirmed our rate at check in......that print out from Orbitz was worthless.

[coriolis]

If it's a round number like $100, a deposit makes sense. If it was $87.83 or something, you should have got an itemized bill.

[MusicCityMan]

This is basically what I was told today. Travelocity had to do some sorta verification thing.. {since I made my reserves there} and the charge I was charged should be back in my bank account by at the latest, sometime tomorrow..

I have been told by both the Tampa hotel, and my bank.. that if I don't have the $ back in my account b4 the end of the week... call either the hotel or the bank and something will get worked out..

[gtalum]

John, you should consider obtaining a credit card to use for hotel stays. Hotels are notorious for these holds on debit cards. You can even use a credit card when you check-in and then give them your debit card at checkout if you are worried about running up a balance on the credit card. This will prevent such holds from affecting your checking account in the future. Using a credit card (and paying the balance IN FULL every month) will also help you build a credit history, which will help you later on in life when you need a loan to buy a house.

[MusicCityMan]

Just for the record.. the $ are back in my bank account btw..