I just had a spectacularly sucky customer, in the best tradition of so many described here. I mean, it was classic.
The issue? His wife had checked into the hotel while he was still en route, and had allowed her credit card to be swiped and authorized for charges. The first that I heard of this was when he stormed up here and slammed down a new card for us to charge because the room was only to be held on his wife's card -- which turned out to be a debit card.
The problem with debit cards is that once the money is authorized for charges, if you don't charge your room on that card, the money is still held in limbo for five to ten days.
He knew how debit cards worked. He works for the bank. And I was going to release these charges right now.
"I'll do what I can, sir."
"No, you'll do it and you'll do it now."
We went back and forth for a bit before I finally got him to go away. I called the service that handles our credit card transactions, only to be told that because the cardholder (Mr. (censored)'s wife) doesn't have cancellation insurance or some such, there's nothing our service can do. The cardholder has to call their bank.
I had already told him he might have to call the bank, by the way, only to be told, "No, you'll fix it and you'll fix it now."
I called his room and told him what our service had relayed to me. He responded that on Monday they'll contact the fraud division of their bank and fix us good. It's an errant charge, and all.
The problem here is that there is no charge, much less an errant one. The money is being held, but it hasn't been spent. I dearly, dearly hope that his bank will be kind enough to inform him of that.
Lastly, if he works for the bank, he ought to know that there is a way to contact someone, even after closing in matters like this. But, maybe they don't do that at the bank where he works. Just because it's common practice at most every other bank in the country, who am I to judge? If he wants to wait until Monday to fix the problem, which could have been fixed half an hour ago if he wasn't such a (bleep), that's quite alright.
The issue? His wife had checked into the hotel while he was still en route, and had allowed her credit card to be swiped and authorized for charges. The first that I heard of this was when he stormed up here and slammed down a new card for us to charge because the room was only to be held on his wife's card -- which turned out to be a debit card.
The problem with debit cards is that once the money is authorized for charges, if you don't charge your room on that card, the money is still held in limbo for five to ten days.
He knew how debit cards worked. He works for the bank. And I was going to release these charges right now.
"I'll do what I can, sir."
"No, you'll do it and you'll do it now."
We went back and forth for a bit before I finally got him to go away. I called the service that handles our credit card transactions, only to be told that because the cardholder (Mr. (censored)'s wife) doesn't have cancellation insurance or some such, there's nothing our service can do. The cardholder has to call their bank.
I had already told him he might have to call the bank, by the way, only to be told, "No, you'll fix it and you'll fix it now."
I called his room and told him what our service had relayed to me. He responded that on Monday they'll contact the fraud division of their bank and fix us good. It's an errant charge, and all.
The problem here is that there is no charge, much less an errant one. The money is being held, but it hasn't been spent. I dearly, dearly hope that his bank will be kind enough to inform him of that.
Lastly, if he works for the bank, he ought to know that there is a way to contact someone, even after closing in matters like this. But, maybe they don't do that at the bank where he works. Just because it's common practice at most every other bank in the country, who am I to judge? If he wants to wait until Monday to fix the problem, which could have been fixed half an hour ago if he wasn't such a (bleep), that's quite alright.
Comment