The Holiday Inn Great Falls Convention Center in Montana, charges a $9.95 ‘amenity fee.’ I guess this is a resort, because they have an entire page of their site dedicated to property amenities with photos of things like a bar where you pay for drinks, a dark looking gym, and a minimart to buy chips and candy.
At this point that sort of silly pricing – the amenity fee isn’t optional, so it should be included in your room rate – is pretty much table stakes. Especially for IHG properties, since that chain seems to do less than even Marriott policing what their franchisees do when loading pricing onto their site.
However this hotel is special. They charge an additional 3.99% “credit card surcharge.” That’s four percent!
There is a 3.99% Credit Card Transaction fee added at check out if they use a any Credit Card, including Debit Cards.
Montana state law caps credit card surcharges at 3%. This hotel fee is actually illegal. And 4% to use a debit card? The legal maximum for debit card interchange is currently $0.21 per transaction plus 0.05 percent, and a $0.01 fraud-prevention adjustment for eligible purchases. 4% is an absolute boondoggle.
Now, the FTC’s new unfair and deceptive fee rule is in effect. Is a credit card fee at a hotel mandatory? And does it have to be related to the cost of the service?
Hotels add on scam fees because they may not be subject to discounting in a rate agreement; they aren’t always subject to taxation; and they make a property look cheaper than competitor properties. When paid to a property on-site rather than at booking, the hotels may not owe commission on these charges, either. The chains let them get away with it!
But I wonder whether this hotel will be allowed to (1) get away with violating state law on credit card surcharges, and (2) charge customers extra for paying with a Chase IHG credit card? After all, franchisees are important to IHG – but not as important as Chase is.
(HT: Joe)
File disputes with the credit card. Easy win. They’ll eventually get the message.
Thank you, again, Gary, for continuing to ‘name and shame’ these locations. Avoid it. Contest it. ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’
@Mile – and you will be blocked from staying at an IHG property along with having your frequent stayer account closed (and points confiscated). Don’t say it won’t happen because it does. NEVER file a chargeback with a hotel or airline if you ever want to use them again.
BTW the chargeback would be denied since these are posted policies and you accept them by checking in. You got what you paid for (a night’s stay) and bonus right fraud or double billing so a charge back would be disputed by the hotel and denied by the card issuer.
The real question is what are current transaction fees for card processors and is it more than those legislated limits?
Congratulations Holiday Inn Great Falls Convention Center in Montana for making it to the VFTW Wall of Shame! Booooo.
“BTW the chargeback would be denied since these are posted policies”
You’re probably right, but I wonder if it would make any difference when it’s actually illegal.
In addition, as far as I know quite a few vendor agreements (i.e. agreement with their payment processor) also prohibit charging a credit card surcharge. This is why truck stops will often list a fuel price, and a second price with a cash discount. So, it’s entirely possible one could also find out who processes their cards and get them in trouble with their card processor too.
@L737 — Smithers, are they saying ‘boo,’ or ‘boo-urns?’
States have the jurisdiction of making credit card surcharge posting requirements.
Since this is an unregulated state just boycott this hotel and never spend a dime there again. A well written review indicating the extortion is also appropriate. There are no repercussions to facts.
I keep a list of these 3rd world businesses that I’ll never do business with if I can help it. It’s called boycotting with your feet.
@1990 — Ha! “I was saying boo-urns”
“BTW the chargeback would be denied since these are posted policies and you accept them by checking in. You got what you paid for (a night’s stay) and bonus right fraud or double billing so a charge back would be disputed by the hotel and denied by the card issuer.”
No major bank is going to deny charging back the fee once you point out that you were forced to pay it in violation of state law.
I doubt a bank would bother to proceed with a chargeback of such a low amount. I’ve disputed undisclosed resort fees and other small hotel charges and the banks have always credited me the amounts without bothering to contact the merchants.
These shenanigans won’t stop until the IRS comes with a hammer