Security deposit fx fees

[superzheny]

Good day all, would like you opinion on this situation. I have had travelled to dozens of countries and stayed in hundreds of different hotels for work and leisure and this is the only hotel that had done this.

Booked it through Accor, shall not name the hotel, but it is in Melbourne Australia and is part of a multinational chain.

In my hundreds of hotels I stayed in, I have put up the security deposit with my credit card. The deposit is then either held as a holding charge which appears temporarily in my banking app or in some hotels it does not even appear at all.

But this particular hotel went ahead to bill security deposit. On check out, the deposit was refunded.

HOWEVER, as it was in a foreign currency, the charge and subsequent refund underwent the usual 3.25% fx fees. As a result I received back 6.5% less than what I "put up" as the deposit.

Repeated emails with the hotel resulted in them sending me the official statement from their end showing how they have refunded me, which technically they did. But I know it is not industry practice for hotels to actively "bill" the deposit.

Or am I truly mistaken and the hotel is right?

 

[Hisashiburi]

Usually the hotel bills the card as "pending" and does not actually charge the card unless something happens.

Some cards dont have fx fees though.

 

[belgarathc]

As far as I know, hotels usually do a hold on your credit card, and release it at end of your stay if nothing is to be charged. I once encountered a small car rental company that actually deducted the deposit amount from my card. Then it was refunded with a forex loss at my end. Sounds like what happened to you too.

 

[superzheny]

Exactly, of the 100s of hotels this is the only one that actively went ahead with the billing of the deposit. The deposit was formally billed even before my checkout.

But on Google reviews for that hotel no one else complaints about it. So I'm confused as to what is going on. Am I just being a Karen? Would u call this as "normal"?

 

[Rxgn]

you are not karen, this is not normal.

but if amt is small, just suck it up and lesson learnt. next time use this hotel again, put cash as deposit.

 

[MistaP]

Treat this as a lesson learnt. Next time you check in and the hotel wants a deposit, ASK if they will actually bill your card or put a hold on it. If billing your card, ASK to pay cash instead. By the way, assuming this was a business trip, you could still include the FX loss in your expense claim. Most employers should understand it is a legitimate expense.

 

[Atrina_Boy]

I usually pay cash in SGD for deposit. No issue for me so far. They usually clip the notes together with the invoice and return me after I check out