Mystery charges on credit cards - how do you deal with them?

[pinkytoe]

Just got back a few days ago from vacation and noticed small charges from one of the hotels and the rental car even though they had both been prepaid. I used a Visa card and was never informed by anyone that there would be additional charges. Now I see online that there are class action lawsuits against companies for doing this. What recourse does one have when it is only $4 and $5 charges with no explanation of what they are for? And then...I prepaid our annual home and auto insurance for the year with the credit card and am now being billed for a convenience fee of $25. Doing busines with corporations just s-cks these days!!

[SteveinMN]

I don't know as the $4-5 charges would be worth the time it would take to track them down and eradicate them. Maybe a quick call to the hotel/rent-a-car agency (at off hours so you don't spend forever on hold) and bail if it's tying you up too long.

But I sure would be calling the insurance company to get that $25 charge reversed. You gave them all the money they asked for up front. I'm sure they know how much it would cost them to bill you every month or 3 months; it's lot more than $25. And you can bet it will happen next year, too.

[sweetana3]

At the very least, put the charges in dispute. The cc company will research. The company at the other end will end up paying way more for their mistakes. Make them explain the charges or they keep getting away with it.

[Simplemind]

Had the same thing happen to us on a recent road trip. I called the hotel and they said it was for water in the room. I told them that wasn't possible because we never drank any, in fact we went into town to buy it for the car. They said the manager would call us back and they never did. I disputed with VISA and my money was returned. VISA is great with that. I've needed to do it a couple of times and they took care of it immediately. $5 isn't going to break me but it's the principle of the thing.

[ToomuchStuff]

Do you have any receipts they gave you before you left? If so, check them first, if not, then dispute the charges.
Did any of the employee's get your cc from you while you were there? (you have to be worried about skimming, as well) Mom came back from a trip and the CC company had notified her, as someone where she was tried that. I had my CC info stolen a year or two back and they tried a little charge before trying to use it for a large charge.

Now the "convenience" fee, is because it is a convenience for YOU, not them, where they pay a percentage to accept CC, then they have the costs of phone line (business costs more then home), machinery, their markup for their hassle (called profit), etc. If it cost them money, then it gets passed on to the customer and they want to make money off of that. I'd much rather you pay for it then it to be spread to all of us in the way of higher prices, because you fell for "Visa, it is everywhere you want to be" false advertising. (speaking as a person who works at a place where no credit/debit cards is CLEARLY marked on the door, where the CC/DC stickers are supposed to be, as well as two other places, and people still don't read/pay attention)

[pinkytoe]

I decided the $4.27 hotel charge is not worth wasting any more time on. I will vote with my dollars though and never again use any Choice brand hotel. After reading up on it, these hidden fees are currently being legislated against as they are apparently a huge problem. I was thinking I should start a business of writing complaint letters to corporations. There would be a huge market I imagine.

[ToomuchStuff]

I decided the $4.27 hotel charge is not worth wasting any more time on. I will vote with my dollars though and never again use any Choice brand hotel.


So instead of a simple phone call, your going to pay it?

[frugal-one]

I decided the $4.27 hotel charge is not worth wasting any more time on. I will vote with my dollars though and never again use any Choice brand hotel. After reading up on it, these hidden fees are currently being legislated against as they are apparently a huge problem. I was thinking I should start a business of writing complaint letters to corporations. There would be a huge market I imagine.

As others mentioned, just call your credit card company and dispute the charge!

[SteveinMN]

So instead of a simple phone call, your going to pay it?
In my experience, it's rarely ever just "a simple phone call". When I was working full-time, finding an open-ended time to make a personal phone call (and hoping whoever answered was sentient) was very difficult. Now that I'm not working full-time, I do make many of those calls. But it's 10-20 minutes on hold listening to how important my call is, dealing with the agent on the other end who has been given all the responsibility of a trained monkey (and a charge to finish off the call as soon as possible), the transfer to the "people who can take care of you", and the time spent calling back because the line was dropped or their phone system does a lousy job of handling calls transferred back into the system.

Even in retirement, my time and aggravation are not worth chasing down $4.27. YMMV.

[pinkytoe]

Kiind of funny but I answered their hotel "we loved you please come again" email with my complaint about the mystery charge. I received an email a little while ago saying that the $4.27 charge was an authorization to hold for incidentals and would go back to my card within 10 days of departure. We'll see.

[sweetana3]

Why call? I send a note to my CC company with a complaint and, while watching TV, send a Facebook review on the company website with the details clearly laid out. I might also send an email to the travel review sites if really mad. (note I also send complimentary reviews to the same).

I called companies a couple of times and never got anyone that could take care of the problem or got bad customer service at that end. My brother recently got ahold of Taco Bell's company site due to a unfilled credit card paid for order. Of course they told him they automatically took care of it. NOT. Dispute that charge. Then if feeling charitable, call them or not.

Note that charges can come thru on your phone bills. From $1 and up. I got one of these unauthorized charges and my phone company tried to get me to take care of it with the internet company making the charge. I made such a fuss, because they could not provice me ANY documentation of the charge, that they took it off. Found out this has happened to millions. Congress allowed the pass thru.

It is a lot like a dog that bites people. If no one ever notifies the authorities, the dog keeps biting and the problem expanding. Eventually, someone in authority says "but no one ever complained."

[jp1]

Kiind of funny but I answered their hotel "we loved you please come again" email with my complaint about the mystery charge. I received an email a little while ago saying that the $4.27 charge was an authorization to hold for incidentals and would go back to my card within 10 days of departure. We'll see.

That doesn't sound logical. $4.27 is not enough to cover incidentals. And it's a really odd amount. And it doesn't take ten days to figure out if you used the phone or ate something from the mini bar. That sounds more like a 'hopefully you'll have given up on hassling us in ten days' kind of response'

[miradoblackwarrior]

Once upon a time, I had charges like that on my credit card. Someone has your number! I strongly suggest you talk directly to your credit card company immediately! sSomeone, perhaps at the hotel, has stolen your credit card info and is getting ready to charge up a lot! Please, I've had this happen to me. Foutunatly, I was lucky Visa informrd me. Ask for a new card!
Susan

[Teacher Terry]

I dispute anything wrong-no matter how small. However, I do it online with my bank. WE had our # stolen once & something small was charged first & then flying lessons across the country.

[Simplemind]

I can't say enough about how painless it was for me to report a couple of different incidences to VISA and they were on it immediately. One of them was on my dad's credit card. He subscribed to a magazine through one of those clearing houses. TOTALLY more for the subscription than it should have been. Then the charges would reoccur for different amounts here and there. What they were doing was calling him, asking him if he like the magazine and then saying by the way, could you verify your credit card number for us. With that they would put on a charge. I have a name for them but I won't use it here. They pray on the elderly. VISA was on that one right away as well. Never a hassle with them.