Advice? Hotel double charging friend / us

First try to work it out via email. Be firm, but courteous and positive - give them a chance to make it right. If you need to speak with them to sort it out, you should be able to make a call for free using some web-based app. If that fails, let them know you will not be paying, and you will bring the matter to your credit card companies - they should back you up. Social media? I wouldn't count on that for a positive resolution - much of what's on social media is fake nonsense (most hotel reviews, for example) and there are ways that businesses can manipulate and filter social media feedback. As a last resort perhaps, but start with the "do the right thing" approach.

Did Capital One give any indication of the contents of this nine-page letter from the hotel?

They told her the hotel has given them a 9-page letter telling them why she should pay (when we have already)

Sounds like the hotel has already responded. I would contact the credit card company immediately.

Is this really a scam or simply a screw-up at the desk where accounts were not properly marked and they are not able to figure it out? When you email them, email them scans of both of your credit card details and both receipts from the hotel for this so they can see exactly why you are stating that both rooms were charged twice by them. It sounds to me like your friend did not show them that you had paid for 1/2 of this. And if this fails, by all means her giving her credit card company both receipts should clarify this, since this shows one room paid for once, and both rooms paid for once, and the hotel can only show that each room was used once in this time. if all is as you state, I cannot believe CapOne won't back her.

A couple of things are unclear from your post: (1) Did you/your friend try to resolve the problem with the hotel prior to challenging the charge on the credit card?, (2) Did your friend dispute the entire charge or just the dollar amount of the duplicate charge?. It doesn't make sense to me that any business would write a" 9-page letter" to the credit card company saying you need to pay. Perhaps a 1-2 page letter with supporting documents? If you didn't contact the hotel first to explain the situation, they may think you are the scammer.

The best strategy is always to deal directly with the business first. At this point, I would write a polite, non-accusatory, brief letter to the GM. Write an opening sentence or two about wanting to correct a mistake on your bill. If this is your first contact with the hotel, you may want to apologize for not reaching out to the hotel before going through the credit card company.

Then bullet point the facts in a new paragraph of 4-6 to sentences: "Mrs. Smith reserved x rooms for x nights at $x/night for her family and my family on xx/xx/20xx. On arrival on xx/xx/20xx, I provided a credit card to pay for my family's 2 rooms, and Mrs Smith used the card used for reservation to pay for her 2 rooms. The total charges for x rooms and meals were $X. Her card was billed $X; my card was billed $X. It appears that we were double charged for my 2 rooms."

Then state what you want in a new paragraph. "I would like for Mrs. Smith's credit card to be credited the cost of our rooms, which is $X. Thank your for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to hearing from you soon."

Attach supporting documents, like the reservation and the folios for you and your friend. They may expect the letter to come from your friend if the money is going back on her card.

I would strongly recommend against social media threats, especially if this is your first interaction with the hotel. I would strongly recommend against charging the hotel with scamming you. I would strongly recommend against subtle and not-so-subtle digs like "The total charges for our substandard rooms and terrible meals were $X." Those sorts of things tend to make a business dig in its heels. Be dispassionate. Be courteous. State facts, not opinions. Also... be brief. No one wants to read 3 pages about this.

Good luck!

Looked the place up on Trip Advisor and Google. Really good reviews. It seems like a very legit business. If your issue is legitimate (and you have the documentation to support it), you should have little trouble getting this fixed.

Agree with Dave -- send the hotel a courteous, to-the-point business letter with copies of your documentation and a specific request for the action you want (maybe also put in a time frame for their actions/response.

Thanks to everyone for the great advice.

Dispute it with both credit card companies. Write a polite letter to the hotel with the documentation and supply a copy of the letter to both credit card companies.

If you want to involve social media, you could try using Facebook messenger -- I got a response from Air France when they cancelled/rescheduled a connection flight and re-scheduled my initial flight to 6 a.m. in order to avoid paying us a fine for late arrival.

Thank you everryone!!!

Let us know what happens...

Hope to update you soon.

We have had double or extra charges before. Generally good documentation to the credit card company solves the problem. We normally use a unused credit card for reservation and shift to our regular card on arrival. Two different credit card companies. Twice in 20 years have had both cards charge. Contested the reservation card with documentation from the other card and it resolved in about six, eight weeks. Now, if you are the type of person who throws away credit card receipts, you may be scewed.

It has been since July when you said you would update us. So what happened?

Yes, yes... what was the outcome?