A woman arrived at the Holiday Inn Bangkok Silom two days ahead of the rest of her group. She asked the hotel a href=”https://aseannow.com/topic/1358551-indian-tourist-causes-uproar-at-bangkok-hotel-over-credit-card-dispute/” target=_blank>to place a 14,626-baht (US$437) authorization hold on her card to cover all four rooms for a five-night stay.
But she also told staff to collect payment from a relative when he arrived. Front-desk agents followed that instruction at check-in on April 17th, swiping his card for the same amount, but only as an authorization, not a charge.
By the next night the man learned of the earlier hold, assumed he had been charged twice, and demanded an immediate refund—even though the original hold had already been voided.
Staff cancelled the second hold and re-authorized the woman’s card. But not before matters escalated, with shouts of “bloody rogues, bloody thieves, bloody fools” while thumping the desk and waving at staff. There was 3 minutes of sustained shouting – including opening lobby doors and yelling to passers-by.
Indian tourist has an insane freakout after being charged twice at a hotel
byu/Nuubae inActualPublicFreakouts
Staff remained calm, kept a formal tone, tried to explain the hold-versus-charge difference. Bangkok police arrived. Ultimately, no charges were filed; the family completed its stay and checked out without further incident.
Memes riffing on “Bloody Rogues / Bloody Thieves” spawned jokes and remix requests. And it’s now shorthand for losing it at customer service.
Hotels regularly authorize cards for room and tax plus incidentals. The money never leaves the account but the spending limit shrinks until the bank releases the hold—typically 2–14 days depending on the issuer. Debit-card trap – If you hand over a debit card, the “hold” removes funds from your available balance and may take a week or more to return. Credit cards are better!
Regardless, stay civil! More than the money, this family was giving their kids a lifelong memory of who their father is.
whoever they are, they’re as repulsive as angry canadians angry who booed during our national anthem.
@Don H,
…or ugly Americans yelling at Mexican servers at resorts in Mexico.
And treating them like slaves.
Seems they obviously don’t understand holds vs the money actually being taken, but I found myself in a similar situation and almost got as stressed as this guy.
I had just arrived in NYC and had used a suite upgrade at a Hyatt hotel. The suite would have cost $10000 for my nights (vs the ~$1500 of my actual stay) and because the hotel was new to Hyatt/perhaps an IT issue, they put a hold on my card for $10000, which was basically my limit at the time.
It caused me a lot of stress as I had bills that were auto paying that week and I had obviously planned to spend a couple thousand in NYC. My credit card company wouldn’t increase my limit because I was a relatively new customer. It took almost all week working with both the hotel and cc company to get the hold dropped. I was livid. BLOODY ROUGES!
I really don’t see a problem with what the hotel did. The only people who should have been there to talk to the hotel staff was the first credit card holder and the second credit card holder. Then find out who is going to put the charges on their credit card. No need for any of the rage. The problem was caused by the first credit card holder wanting the charges to eventually be placed on the second credit card holder’s card without that person being there and agreeing to it.
If you can’t afford the security deposit you shouldn’t be staying in any hotel
Sounds like a simple misunderstanding and/or mis-interpretation, language or cultural barrier. It’s a shame, because no one needs to get that animated, for, like, anything. Please, deep breaths, folks.
@Don G — Nah, their booing was worthy. Boo to you, too, sir.
@Steve M. — Thank you for reminding, Don G, that we’re often pretty awful to others, actually. We need to atone. Seriously, I feel for our long-time allies, our brothers to the north (and south!) Our leaders have been cruel to each of them for no good reason. We should be apologizing profusely for a generation after what’s happened recently (and continues to occur.) It’s shameful. ‘Sorry,’ just simply isn’t enough. Don’t worry, the decent who remain are we’re working on it, tireless. So, dear Canadians, please get out and vote so you don’t suffer the same fate as we. On Guard For Thee! Je me souviens!
@Don G – a MASSIVE “BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO” to you!
A lot of bank cards used for payment or holds for potential incidental charges at hotels in Thailand are debit cards or cards issued by banks in countries that may not have the same kind consumer-friendly-approaches to payment disputes as US bank card issuers. So the incidental charge holds and any other charges not expected by the hotel guests are a nuisance for the hotel guests. Sometimes they are even a nuisance for the hotel staff too.
Last year, at a relatively expensive resort in Thailand, Danish guests checking out of the hotel had a problem settling the bill because their bank card would keep rejecting the amount being sent for settling the bill. The problem was that the card had already been subjected to a hold amount that was so large that running the final settlement charge wouldn’t go through due to a charge limit on the card. The hotel then asked the guests to get cash to settle the bill. But good luck getting that much cash out on short notice from ATMs, as a lot of banks have daily withdrawal limits that can be rather low.
I’m used to seeing some “argumentative Indians” at Thai hotels. Seeing “argumentative Danes” — and it was a relatively older couple — at Thai hotels was more novel for me.
@GUWonder — Thank you for taking the time to explain the context, which many in the USA may have no idea or understanding, or even care, because, well, *gestures broadly* (they don’t tend to care about anything but what’s in their own backyards…) Your example with the Danes, who are most likely white Europeans, is a great way to de-fang the apparent bigotry that would often follow such an incident like this. You’re absolutely right, it doesn’t matter what ethnicity, national origin, etc. someone may be in this context–it’s the systemic nuance, such as the debit/credit cards hold terms, or hotel policies, and the potential conflicts that can arise. Any of us, Danes, Indians, Chinese, Americans, etc. we all can get upset at times. Again, thanks for saying what you said. 100%.
Money matters have a special way of making people lose their cool. Just look at the pitched inheritance-related drama that happens between siblings. Or how business leaders kept quiet about the US regime drama this year until they realized that the regime’s massive import tax plans were wiping out their net worth, eating into the financial prospects for their companies and so on.
Have to love money — it forces people to be more rational than they would otherwise be ….. even as it may come with emotional outbursts at times.
@GUWonder — Wait, do you mean to say that life isn’t a zero-sum game? Like, there can be win-win situations, perhaps, even, an achievable sense of equity, justice, fairness, etc. Woah. Wild. That almost sounds like a world worth living in, now, doesn’t it? As opposed to tyranny or oligarchy. Hmm. Fascinating stuff here.
As to siblings, unless there is a legitimate reason, why on Earth would any parent not simply go 50/50 between say, two daughters? Like, did no one read/watch King Lear?? ‘You get an inheritance, but only if you have 10 children, raise them all fundamentalist, and if I subjectively decide that you worked hard enough and were always ‘nice’ to me!’ Yeah, umm, run away. Love your family, but never rely on that illusory promise, please. Save yourself.
Indeed, money is power, and power is money. Some do ‘earn’ it, often with blood, sweat, tears, and really strong coffee or tea, but most who accumulate it in obscene sums, simply receive it or take it. It’s not always the case, but the exploitation of other people and resources is very much real. It’s like almost feudal to a degree, and it sucks that we drift backwards, instead of forwards these days. “Behind every great fortune lies a great crime.” — Honore de Balzac.
After recently living in Toronto for a couple of years, I’ve seen my share of incredibly argumentative and entitled Indians, as this example shows. The way they treat service people is horrible. Yes classless people exist everywhere, but the way they’re destroying Canada is unbelievable.