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Posted by on May 23, 2015 in Blog, Rants and Raves, Travel | 9 comments

Overcharged !!!

 

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You deceptive lying-ass shits!

I just opened up my Visa bill this month and caught you motherfuckers red-handed again.  Cold-blooded thieves!  That’s what you are!  And for this, you are going to pay.  Dearly!  Just wait till you hear what I have in mind next time I pay you a visit.  Already, I’ve got my revenge planned.

You, the villainous Hilton Corporation, with thousands of money-sucking hotels worldwide, enabler of the planet’s most obnoxious golden-haired waif, jerked me off on this month’s bill for an extra $500.  That’s right — fiiiiiive huuuuundred dooooooollars.  You thought I wouldn’t notice, didn’t you?  Well, I did notice!  Indeed, I might not have caught your “honest mistake,” except that $500 is basically a sports bet for me, and no one is going to break my balls and bash me in the ass for five bills unless it’s some shortstop in Cleveland I’ve never heard of making a throwing error to first base.  Then, I can live with losing the $500 after spewing off a load of F-bombs.

Which brings up to today’s hot topic:  If it’s really an “honest mistake,” why do we always seem to get charged TOO MUCH?  Why never TOO LITTLE?  Shouldn’t the mistakes balance out?

I’m loaded with evil conspiracy theories, and my latest is that Hilton consciously does this all the time.  My reasoning:  I’ve gotten hotel bill gang-banged three times over the last 18 months for extra charges I didn’t make when staying at Hilton properties.  Just a coincidence, you ask?  Am I the most unlucky customer in the world?  How come Hilton never forgets to charge me for the extra $9 can of Pringles out of the room fridge?  Huh?  Answer me that.

Thing is, I suspect they know very well that a large percentage of their upscale clientele — with limited free time to parse over fine details — submit their travel charges as business expenses and probably don’t even notice the overcharges.  Lots of business travelers slap their hotel stays and most meals on charge cards and likely don’t pay much attention to the details when they arrive sometime later.  So, Hilton and the other bloodsuckers squeeze out an extra dip or two from the bank accounts of unsuspecting victims who might not remember all the gritty particulars of a stay in at the Downtown Philadelphia Hilton three weeks earlier when they had too many cocktails.  Oh, wait — way too much information.

Other companies likely do this as well.  Perhaps the most notorious of all are grocery chains and drug stores, which I strongly suspect) intentionally charge higher prices on some of the items.  Getting whacked for 20 cents extra on an item or two doesn’t sound like a big deal, but when they kneecap millions of unsuspecting customers per month, that’s a nice little bonus for the ballbusters.

Rental cars, restaurant bills, hotel charges, retail stores — they’re all guilty of this practice.  Not everyone, everywhere.  I’ve shopped at Costco hundreds of times over the years and don’t recall a single incident where I was charged improperly.  But you can bet your paranoid ass many other companies are doing this to their customers, and mostly getting away with it.  After all, how many people are going to notice a 20-cent mistake, or an extra soda, or $500 too much slapped onto a $2,400 hotel bill for a week’s stay?

Which now brings up exacting my personal revenge.  I figure that I’ve wasted significant precious time with various Hiltons trying desperately to get my money refunded.  I’ve had to make phone calls, put up with getting disconnected, call back, get put on hold again, talk to accountants who mostly have the personalities of prison guards, wait for callbacks that sometimes never come, and basically plea my case like an indigent lawbreaker to try and get my money back.  Add in the time of writing this column (scream therapy), and I figure I’m owed at least $500 in financial restitution.

So, here’s my act of revenge.  Next time I stay at a Hilton, I’m going to pilfer all the towels.  I’m going to bundle up every beach towel and washcloth in the suite until the extra suitcase that I bring just for this purpose looks like a pregnant hippopotamus.  I’m going to snatch up every towel on my floor if I have to, and even purloin the maid’s cart, which is usually loaded with free goodies.  And if towels don’t cover my therapy — then watch out for pens, shampoo, and glassware.  I might even go after the light bulbs.  They better make damn sure the ironing board is nailed to the floor.  It’s total war, Miss. Paris Hilton.  Your company basically owes me $500 for my time, aggravation, and mental anguish — and you are going to pay.

When it comes to getting screwed over by Hilton, let’s just say I’m now throwing in the towel.  Make that, dozens of towels.  Into my suitcase.

9 Comments

  1. Walmart is the worst,charging me 4.48 instead of 3.00 for dr pepper yesterday plus many other times too numerous to mention.one error is barcodes on sale meats.old code on bottom sale code on top make sure cashier is not lazy.

  2. I’d be pissed, but instead of something benign like taking the towels, I would just call my credit card company and deny the charges, claiming they are fraudulent. Your credit card company should back you up, and then the burden is on Hilton to itemize the charges and you can take your sweet time reviewing them.

    As far as food store go, you can load up a couple of shopping carts full of various items, wheel them to the register, have the cashier ring you up, and then realize that you forgot your wallet.

    • Actually, in this case, the time to deal with this is at the hotel check out. If you’ve got a receipt that is different from your credit card charge, that’s red letter fraud. I know, though, we’re all in a hurry and have other things on our minds.

      That said, call the hotel chain back and tell them that if you can’t get this straightened out in this phone call, your next call will be to the credit card company to dispute the charges. That will usually get their attention. Buying things with a credit card gets you a great deal of leverage. Use it.

  3. its the principle that they know, if they get caught, they pay if its really needed,

    all other times they get away with it is pure profit.

    its done all over the place and not only within the hotels as such.

    most people are not willing to drag this into the Media ,s attention or are willing to suffer loss of more time to make sure justice will and is served.

    Sometimes those bastard companies are too big for any to fight against or stand up to..

    But sometimes it is a pleasure to do so..and that shows who you are

    and after 1 cross that border, many more will follow is the expression we have..

    Thank you Nolan for bringing this up and out in the open,

    I am sure more will follow soon re Marcel luske

  4. My take-away is that you admit to consuming $9 cans of Pringles, which informs the weight I put in your restaurant reviews.

  5. Don’t forget to steal the batteries from the TV remote and
    all of the toilet paper.

  6. Trump Chicago last weekend charged me $71 extra for a day of valet parking I didn’t use. Checked in Fri night, out on Sunday. They almost had me thinking that I should pay for 3 “days”, but I was there less than 48 hours, and you pay $71 for every 24 hours. I caught it a few hours after check out, called and they apologized and removed the extra $71. The 1-br suite for 2 nights plus parking set me back almost $2K, maybe they thought I wouldn’t notice or care! Was my first stay there, but as Trump deliberately and effectively caters to guests with remarkable attention to detail, I strongly suspect the over-charge is more strategic than careless.

  7. I stayed at the Mirage last year and they tried to charge me for a “scooter rental” which I never made.

  8. Of course the hotel will discover the towels and things missing, and they’ll charge you for all of it.

    There must be a better plot for revenge than this.

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