On Friday, November 1, 2019, I arrived at the Marriot Courtyard of Wayne, NJ at approximately 2:30 p.m. At that time, there was a woman alone at the front counter. I do not remember her name however, on my check out receipt, in which she was also present for, her initials may be KMB. I remember that on her badge, it said that she was a trainee. I have a soft spot for new hires, as that is one of my positions at my current job, dealing with new hires. I informed her that I was checking into my hotel room and she asked me if I was with the Saimson wedding party. I said yes and she proceeded to check me in, asking for the card I used when I booked the room and my driver's license. I was not sure if I had put my debit card or credit card to book the room so I handed her BOTH and she said she'd check. At that time, she brought up the charges for the room. I assumed I had already paid for the room because when I booked the room online, it asked me for a credit/debit card. She clarified that that is just to hold the room and I verified that I was not charged to the room. That was MY mistake for assuming so.
At that point, she then told me that she would need a credit card to do an authorization charge. I asked her how much and SHE SAID "$200". I Immediately told her that I did not have $200 to cover that authorization on my debit or credit card, both of which I had already handed to her. My personal business about my money and savings and all of that is my business, however, I was very candid with her and told her I did not have $200 in my debit or credit card. I told her that I was getting paid from my job the next day November 2nd and I had no problem paying for the room at checkout. She said they have to do the $200 authorization and I told her, if they do it, it will not go through because I did not have $200 in my account to cover it. At that point, she said she'd be right back and went behind the wall behind the counter. She could not have taken more than 20 SECONDS before she came back to me. I thought it was odd that she spoke to someone that quickly, but I was then distracted by her telling me that the MANAGER SAID that the authorization charge was waived and I was only responsible for paying for the room the next day at checkout. I was pleasantly surprised that it was that easy to waive it. If the issue had been pressed, I would have called my mother who was in the hotel at that time and asked her to cover the authorization charge. That would NOT have been an issue. She was the one who informed me that a MANAGER said the authorization was WAIVED. At that point, she handed me back my debit card and credit card, continued the check in, handed me my key cards and drivers license, and I proceeded to my room. The next day, I checked out at 9:30 a.m., she charged my DEBIT CARD for the charges for the room, and I left. No other mention of the authorization charge.
On the morning of Tuesday November 5, 2019, I logged into my bank account and checked my available balance on my CREDIT CARD. I had $13 of available credit on that credit card. I knew this was a mistake immediately as I should have had almost $200. I immediately called my bank and discussed this with them. At that point, the woman told me that there was a pending authorization charge from MARRIOTT COURTYARD in the amount of $170! I could not see this on my end but she assured me that's what it was. I asked my bank if they could release the funds and she said only the MARRIOTT could do it. At that point, that is when I hung up and called the Marriott.
I called the Marriott at 12:02 p.m. and spoke with Sylvia. At that point I realized what KMB had done (LIED TO ME) and was very upset. I explained the situation to Sylvia as I explained above. She tried to connect me to a manager but one was not available. I then asked Sylvia, "when you are checking in a guest, how much do you tell them is the authorization charge?" She quickly came back with, "$20." TWENTLY DOLLARS. Not $200!! Whether Sylvia was right or not, whether KMB was right or not, obviously your staff is not on the same page about this. However, back to the original issue at hand, I was lied to and told that I was not responsible for an authorization charge. I realized at that point that those 20 SECONDS that KMB took to "speak to someone" was a complete farce. She told me I would not be responsible, but then after I left to go to my room, probably panicked and charged my CREDIT CARD the $170. I'm not sure at this point why she charged me $170 when she originally told me $200 but then someone told my mother that normally the authorization is the price of the room. FINE. HOWEVER, not the point. None of this was expressed to me. Still have not heard from manager and charges still havent been released. read more