The $358 Triple Latte

[Bertha Venation]

Nope, not Starbucks.*

I park in the garage of the Westin Grand Hotel in DC. There's a place to get espresso in the lobby of the hotel. Yesterday morning I stopped before the walk to the office in the 10F windchill to get a triple latte. I had no cash, so I used my debit/"Visa" card.

This morning I check my bank balance and I am overdrawn more than $300. After my blood ran warm again, I went over my checkbook, verified that I hadn't forgotten to record a check or two, then called the bank.

The hotel charged me not $3.58 for my triple latte but $358.

Twice.

So much for getting the Christmas tree and a new toilet seat this weekend.

SHITFUCK-N-DAMN! I AM PISSED OFF!!

* When you live in the Styx, are addicted to espresso, and can't afford your own espresso machine, you take what you can get. So yes, I go to Starbucks from time to time. Don't get on my case about it.

[NJCher]

1. I would say that hotel owes you a free weekend

Point out all the inconvenience in a letter to the manager, copies to headquarters. Don't back off until they do something to make it "right."

The family without the Christmas tree is a particularly good point.


Cher

[ajacobson]

2. Wow

Cost of living much higher in DC than Detroit.

Seriously, call your debit Visa issuer and dispute the charge. They should reverse it immediately while they are checking it out.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Call the hotel immediately

And ask for an adjustment to your bill. Demand that they take off the extra espresso. Hint that if this isn't done immediately, and that you be given some gratuities besides, you are putting it in the hands of the district prosecutor.

But ye cats and little fishes, man! An espresso pot doesn't cost that much-my husband got one and we live in rural Arkansas! Go out and get one-or put it on your Christmas list. Surely a friend that hears your horror story will buy one for you, as well as a cappacino machine!

[peekaloo]

4. Ah, the Halliburton blend

no receipt on a debit card??????????

Contact them immediately.

[Deja Q]

5. Holy Hasenpfeffer!

Was that an oversight on their part? Hotels do excharge extravagant amounts of money for the most menial of things, but that is ridiculous! Definitely call 'em on it!

[thom1102]

6. Looks like it went into Soleft's wallet!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=530734

[Kamika]

7. call them and say your uncle is a lawyer

They will fix it asap

[Bertha Venation]

8. my uncle is not a lawyer

and they are fixing it as we speak because I asked them to.

It was a mistake. Not everyone is out to screw you.

[alwynsw]

9. Tou can get a fairly decent cheapie espresso machine at K-mart

fo about $40.00. Krups, I think, I'm too lazy to go to the kitchen to check. A cheapie grinder can be had for under $20.oo - making your home espresso experiment about $630.00 cheaper than a single cup of Starbucks.

If you're not boycotting Wal Mart, they're cheaper there.

[SOteric]

10. Dudette, dispute the charges with your bank/card carrier

if you cannot get a refund from the hotel espresso vendor. You shouldn't be penalised for someone else's sloppy bookkeeping.

[DS1]

11. Banks rarely give a shit about debit card disputes

They don't make much money off them, if this was a true credit card it'd be a different story.

[SOteric]

12. I guess I've been spoilt by my credit union, then

as they've been made to see things my way a time or two. :shrug:

[Bertha Venation]

13. must be good people at your CU

Our credit union sucks.

Update to follow.

[Bertha Venation]

14. UPDATE

After spending the last hour on the phone between the hotel and the bank, I will spare you the long story. Short story: I'm not getting a Christmas tree or a new toilet seat this weekend. The guy I dealt with was very nice and efficient and apologetic, but he could do nothing; the bank hamstrung me.

Thanks to all for your thoughts & ideas (except "tell them your uncle's a lawyer" -- was that a joke?). I intend to write the hotel management and, yes, will hopefully get a nice suite out of it.

[Bertha Venation]

15. oh yeah, one more detail

It wasn't two $358 lattes. It was two $300 "holds" that the hotel placed on my account.

Sheesh, screw the free weekend. They oughta give me a free week.

[thom1102]

16. ???????????Can do NOTHING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

How did the bank hamstring you?

Let me get this straight: you order a $3.58 capuccino, they charge you $358.00, not once, but twice (effectively the charged you $716 for a cup of coffee) AND THEY CAN"T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!?!?! That is when you ask to speak to his manager, and if the manager can't help you, you ask to speak with their manager, and so on, and so on until someone take responsibility for getting this fixed today.

Get 'em Bertha! Get mad. THEY STOLE THIS MONEY FROM YOU! Don't let them get the interest from your stolen money!

[Robb]

17. I agree

...This should have been fixed the moment you called them.

Call the paper or your local newsguys. Right now.

[LizW]

20. WTF?

I need to hear the long version of the story. I use my debit card all the time ( I hardly ever carry cash). How can this be possible?

Are they basically telling you that when you use their debit card, you bear all the risk of someone overcharging, and they offer NO protection?

That's highly distressing. I may have to rethink my use of the debit card. It's so easy for someone to rip you off that it's fairly inevitable it will happen sooner or later. But it is way too high a price to pay for convenience, imo.

At least tell me the bank didn't stick you for a bunch of overdraft fees or bounce a bunch of your checks.

[Bertha Venation]

21. the long version

Events before the snafu: the coffee person had trouble "with my card" -- no fault of mine -- and sent me w/ a receipt to the front desk for them to put the charge through. The clerk there had the same trouble. Before long I was late for work and told him so. He handed me my card and a receipt to sign. Yes, I checked the receipt before signing it; it read "latte: $3.58."

Back to today. I had the hotel guy, Davis, set up a conference call w/ me & the bank. The rep at the bank said, "with our old system we could have reversed these charges immediately, but we are technically unable to do so with our new system. The charges will have to go through the system as usual and that will take 2-3 business days." Actually, if the rep at the bank had been able to assemble a coherent sentence, this is what he would've said. It took ten minutes to understand that this is what he meant.

Yes, I went through the chain of command, and it yielded nothing else. When the bank hung up, Davis apologized again. I was very nice and said I appreciated that but wanted to talk to someone higher up. He said that no one of greater authority was at the hotel today, but that he would be at my disposal on Monday to talk to the bank. Little does he know that he and the highest-ranking manager at that hotel will be at the bank with me on Monday. If they're not they'll hand me a check.

Reality is that this is a mere inconvenience. Although we've lived paycheck-to-paycheck for almost a year, this really is only inconvenient. We're not starving -- there's food in the house. It's a drag not to be able to get our tree yet, but we will get it. The toilet seat can wait. In the grand scheme, this is just a sliver in the finger.

The hotel will, however, pay for the mistake. I'm not an unreasonable woman; I don't scream and vomit my anger out all over those in the service industries when they make mistakes. But that doesn't mean I take the minimum required fix, either.

As to using my debit/"Visa" card for a latte: only because I thought I had a $5 in my wallet and found I did not. I'd never have done this otherwise -- especially not at a hotel, where I imagine $300 holds are common when people check in.

It is a very nice hotel, and I look forward to staying there. I'll probably use the free weekend on MLK weekend; the 19th is Kathy's birthday.

[thom1102]

22. Hey bertha,

Did you get everything straightened out?

[Bertha Venation]

24. not yet, thom

More work on it tomorrow. I'll post an update.

[NicoleM]

28. Save your receipt.

Your bank will HAVE to give you your money back if you have a signed receipt showing that you agreed to pay $3.58. So hang on to it just in case this doesn't get fixed right away. If you need tips on how to dispute this with your bank, PM me. I used to work credit card disputes, and a few debit card disputes, too.

[SheilaT]

18. This is the sort of thing that's why

I don't use charge cards for small purchases. Perhaps if they'd only been off by one decimal point and charged once ($35.80) you might not have even noticed.

But do keep on complaining and demanding restitution. The hotel is absolutely at fault. The really, really ought to comp you something, if just ten lattes. And I don't understand why they can't set it straight with your bank IMMEDIATELY. Actually, since it was a debit not a charge card, they should cut you a check for the full amount $712.42 that they have of your money.

Good luck. Keep us informed.

[K8-EEE]

19. You shouldda gotten a single for $130 twice...

Oh that is a scary story!! I'm going to be more careful hitting that AMOUNT OK BUTTON!!

[radwriter0555]

23. Ya know... I should read through threads before responding....

Sounds like it will all work out just FINE.

Edited to eat crow.

[Bertha Venation]

25. Hey, Rad!

I'd really like to know what you wrote. As long as you didn't call me milquetoast. ;)

[radwriter0555]

27. I was blasting off about going to the hotel/shop and not the bank

when in fact you've BEEN to the bank, rendering my blistering if not sage commentary completely irrelevent!

But hey, with a little mustard, crow is delish!

[slackmaster]

26. And they didn't even give you the recipe for Mrs. Fields cookies?

What a bunch of crooks.

[Bertha Venation]

29. Latest Update

My bank balance has been restored. I faxed a terse letter to the general manager of the hotel, and am waiting to hear back from the bank.

The bank, I'm sure, will tell me "yes, the information you got on Saturday was correct, you were fucked and we knew it -- heh, sorry!"

The hotel, however, will offer me a free weekend or ... or ... else?